Ashutosh's Corner

2012-01-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

CVA, Perceived Value and Pricing Power

Winning strategies of companies across the sector and geographies often maintain balance b/w following
• Low cost operations &
• Superior customer value

Some companies specifically innovation driven and in technology domain such as Apple are able to consistently report strong margins. To understand what lets these companies rake in higher margins in this competitive industry we need to understand two terms i.e. Actual Value/Unit, Perceived Value/Unit & Customer Value Added.
Actual Value Per Unit (AVPU) = Perceived Value Per Unit (PVPU) + Delta (∆)
Perceived Value Per Unit = Variable Cost Per Unit (VCPU) + Customer Value Added (CVA)
CVA or Customer Value Added is the additional value provided by the organization and as perceived by the society. Higher the perceived value of a company’s products, higher will be premium that can be added to the product price. Hence strong perceived value or higher CVA value can be driver for stronger financial results and vice versa.

Marketing campaigns, Advertising, Branding, Positioning, Innovation, Quality and other tools that can capture customer’s imagination drive up the perceived value. Though marketing campaigns play major role in branding and positioning of product but marketing teams shall be careful about using their tools due to diminishing returns beyond the inflection point. Managing perceived value and CVA are key to manage brand as well as pricing power hence perceived value as well as CVA should be an input into marketing campaigns. This is more true for consumer goods industry which shows oligopolistic behavior.

2011-12-30T05:48:00.000-08:00

Ashutosh's Corner

2011-12-29T06:15:00.000-08:00

Indian Monetary Policy Updates for Dec 2011

1. RBI kept CRR ratio and repo rate unchanged at 6.0% and 8.5%
2. Inflation (Nov WPI) declined from 9.73% to 9.11% in Oct but is way above RBI's year end target of 7%
3. RBI's credit growth target remain unchanged at 18%

RBI's Outlook
Due to high downside risks to growth and already moderating growth momentum further rate hikes may not be warranted. Hereon, monetary policy actions will respond to risk to growth

Risk to Growth
1. IIP growth turned negative from 2% in Sep to -5.1% in October 2011. Index of IIP was at 158.1 in October.
2. Manufacturing sector constitutes over 75% of IIP Index. Due to high interest rate and moderating demand scenario owing to high inflation, Manufacturing sector registered -6.0% growth in October.
3. Mining sector also registered de-growth by 5% due to current crackdown in mining sector. Lack of policy clarity and environmental clearances has impacted this sector
4. IIP Index was at 175.6 in Dec 2010 and at 193.1 in Mar 2011. Even though growth registered in 8 core sectors in Nov 2011 will show growth in IIP index in Nov 2011 but due to high base effect YoY numbers may look bad in Dec '11 to Jan '12 and we may even see contraction there.

Due to above substantial turnaround can be expected only in first quarter next year

10 Year G-Sec Yields

Before policy 10 yr G-sec yield which was around 8.5% corrected to 8.37%. This is positive for banks as no further provisioning will be required on AFS portfolio in Dec quarter

2011-12-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

FOREIGN CURRENCY RISKS FOR CORPORATES

Firms generate capital either by issuing equity or by borrowing debt and then they invest the capital to gain ROI. In current economic environment, even if a company is not exposed to foreign currency directly still it may have risks associated with foreign currency.

Various currency risks to a corporate can be broadly categorized as
1. Transaction Risk - Impacts cash flows

This risk arises whenever payable or receivable is in foreign
currency. So risk will arise if company sells on credit or pays with
delay, normally credit period is upto 90 to 180 days. Movement in
exchange risk may result in exchange risk loss or gain for the
company unless the risk is hedged, which comes at its own cost.

2. Translation - No impact on cash flows

This is less obvious as it has indirect impact on the company's
balance sheet and market rating. If company has exposure in foreign
currency by way of receviables, payables, investments or otherwise
then it has to first translate that exposure in domestic currency
before consolidating it in domestic balance sheet. Same amount of
receivables say USD 1000 in year 1 will be transalated to INR 50,000
(@50) and in year 2 it could be INR 45,000 (@45). In this case Asset
reduced by INR 5000 or by 10% YoY due to translation (assuming other
remain constant). Similarly it can also impact Debt to Equity ratio
(A = D+E), which will increase the borrowing costs for the corporate.

3. Economic Risk - Impacts unkown cash flows

Consider company X in country A and company Y in country B. Now
depending on econominc developments in two countries, their exchange
rate compared to another country say C where Customer is located can
change favorable for company X and other way for company Y which
will make X's products competitive and will negatively impact
company Y's sales forecast from the region. This is what US - China
tiff is all about. China's has artifically pegged its exchage rate
to low levels so that its products remain competitive worldwide.
Though artificially depreciating the currency has its own impact on
an economy but that is a different discussion altogether.

2010-07-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Finally I know my Regions :)

Friday morning 2nd July 2010, Weekend almost started as soon as I reached office as my desktop was just not waking up from the slumber.. Apparently, it was DEAD and I was happy. After a long time I went to library and went through journals and magazines when BOSS called up.

He asked 'kahan hei' (where r u?).I told I would be there in a minute. He insists 'where r u' ..I told Library and am coming :). (day before he was out smoking when I entered office @ 10:30, he arrives @ 7:30).

Big news, Ashutosh you have to handle toughest economies CHINA, TAIWAN and HONG KONG. It seems that they had asked 42 year old Chinese lady to put papers as I would handle this portfolio.

At least, she was Chinese and probably knew Chinese language...so why replace with me? Can't understand the logic but hurray at least I know my regions now :)

Meanwhile 3 IIM guys have just joined below us and then few from Narsee Munjee and other colleges at junior positions.

Good part about this job, Though I shifted from IT to Banking still I got designation matching my experience :) . Bad part...After 1.5 month in job, I have still now got my salary.

ICICI bank is my Borrower :)
So if you have loan from ICICI, you might be using my hard earned money :(

2010-06-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Me @ ICICI! Kissa Kursi ka!

Week 1:

Day1:
Reported at Andheri-E office. HR had earlier informed me to get medical done after arriving in Mumbai (didn’t tell that it has to be before joining). So, they asked me to go for medical and then to join the office next day. No salary for 24th May , the first day in office. Bad Omen!
Caught a cab for lower parell and went through medical tests same day. Thereon proceeded to BKC- ICICI bank’s headquarters and joined the office on same day to ensure 24th is ‘The day’ for salary 
HR still considers 25th as the day.

Day2: Asked for seat allocation. Discussed with Anirudh (boss). He told he will take care of it.

Day3,4,5: Friday and I was still without a seat, workstation and identity card. Got some gyan on international banking, bank products and ICICI from boss. Session were held in conference room, so still w/o seat!!

Week2:
Very optimistic that this week I would be most productive. Boss flew off to China for a week, super boss was out on a whirl wind world tour. No one to fight for me, so took initiative and ran door to door, drilled upto 4 levels to catch hold of person in authority. Blooper, the guy in question was not in India and none could take a call on his behalf..!

Wed, super boss came back to India and I apprehended him of the situation. He came out and surveyed the area to locate an appropriate work station for me. Finally things were working out but this was my perception! Next day, I prodded him further and got reply that my seat allocation is in his agenda. ‘Coz, he knows that I won’t be fully functional until I get my place in this building with ample capacity and empty seats.

Most unproductive week!

Week3

Boss came back from China on Monday but super boss was out on another trip. Frustrated, I went to HR who directed me to an AGM, someone senior than even my super boss.

Nonetheless, Anirudh asked me to analyze China market and asses risk off Chinese real estate meltdown. Hungry/Crazy for work, I stayed late night so that I could access computers of other colleagues after they leave! Did this for 2 days, passed on my suggestion and presented a ppt with typical MBA facts, figures and analysis. Enjoyed the work 

Today is 10th, Friday of 3rd week and I still don’t have a seat! No work station.
I could be found sitting in library, reading journals, articles, books etc. on topics unrelated to my current job but would help me in future job search. !!

Suggestion Galore!
Oldies suggested, I should at least get my i-card, SIM# and other formalities done but in ICICI, until u have a seat you are not an employee! So, can’t apply for GYM, SIM, salary coz I cant access ICICI system from other computers as only 1 profile could be accessed from a terminal. Coming from IT, it sound archaic and stupid!
Librarian refuses to issue books w/o a card.
Security refuses to issue card w/o telephone extn on my name.
Exchange guys cant issue phone until seat has been allocated finally.

Welcome to ICICI bank!!

After 6 years in Infosys, where I didn’t spend a single day on bench; ICICI has shown me what frustration means!

Let me know if you have another job, I would do that for free but you need to commit me a computer and a seat!

2010-06-07T10:47:00.001-07:00

Home search in Mumbai!

“2 diwaney sheher mein, raat aur dupahar mein, aabo dana dhoontey hein”
(Two insane searching for a home ) lines from Amol Palekar’s movie still hold true in Mumbai!!

Arvind (ISB batchmate and ICICI colleague) came to mumbai on 7th May, I came on 24th. He had searched most of areas near Dadar for 2BHK and I did same in Andheri E. Too many houses, too much confusion due to uncertainties. Neither of us were sure how long would we stick to this job, I was about to be married but dates were not fixed so couldn’t commit how long I would stay with him. On top of it, he wanted to be close to happening places and I just wanted to save some while staying in bigger houses (even if a bit far from BKC). Again, further the house costlier would be transport, so break even calculation. Of all, biggest issue was our commitment to job, Mumbai and my marriage after which I would anyways move out to individual apartment. And if we have to break the lease then why pay broker such exorbitant charges now?

Choices:
• Furnished/Unfurnished/Semi-furnished – Considering above uncertainties, choice was difficult
• 2BHK/1BHK/Studio – I wanted individual room
• Dadar/Andheri/Third place
• Paying Guest – Never on our list

Exploring Mumbai:
1. Bhakti Park: Wow! Amazing place. High rise building. Rent 20K for 1BHK unfurnished, 26K for 2BHK. Blooper ..no eating joints nearby and we didn’t want liability of a cook.
2. Andheri East – Nice big houses, old buildings, furnished 28K 2BHK. No lift?? Sher-e-punjab is all that I explored in this area
3. Sion: Old apartments, no lift, 4th floor. 20K 1 BHK – furnished (bhakti was better)
4. Kurla: Kohinoor Appartments. Nice construction but apartments empty in phase II. 1 Km walk from main road. Rainy season in Mumbai would kill us . 30K 2BHK unfurnished
Suddenly, we realized that all confusion could go off temporarily by taking a furnished PG option. Costlier option but will give time for us to think and plan. Hence we hit the road again, Arvind had explored PG options long back even before I came to Mumbai but I told him I could find him a house .

PG Hunt:
• Bandra West: Individual semi-furnished room on Turner and Carter junction, 100 m from sea and nice owners. But Bath/Toilet not attached. 12.5K p.m. Another Uncle’s house near Tawa restaurant 13K and furnished room with attached B/T. Liked both the options.
What we didn’t know: Uncle is a drunkard and would tell you stories about his wife who had left him some time back. Arvind was ok with this, I was Scared!!! I instead liked the one next to sea 
• Dadar: Arvind took me to a Gujrati uncle’s tailor shop. He called his guy in Gujrati and confidently told us to follow the guy, who took us to 4th floor by STAIRS. No lift. Déjà-vu

B/w Arvind liked a PG, Uncleji wala. Paid advance, moved in and moved out same night :)!!!

Now he is onto an auntiji wala PG!! She is 75, looks younger and plays cards in club!! Poor guy!

2010-06-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

IT to a banker!!

Post convocation (3rd April), I went to Chennai. Back on my way to Delhi (another train journey), I got information regarding my selection as Chief Manager, International banking group in ICICI bank. This was 5th job offer for me and I was again contemplating whether to say yes or no, so I bought some time instead. Interview for ICICI bank happened on 1st April 2010, just 2 days before the convocation and 3 days after our last exam in ISB. Though role sounded good but then JP Morgan had offered VP profile, so it was not about designation but where would I be after 5 years from now. Difficult choice!
Anyways, with no other option left except L&T Finance, I had to choose b/w two. I liked L&T profile but their salary was pathetic not that ICICI’s was presentable. So competition was not for better but worse of two. Nonetheless, I selected ICICI bank and planned to give a badly needed break from neck breaking job search.
I postponed ICICI joining by 3 weeks to recuperate from ISB injury as I was undergoing physiotherapy in Delhi.
Landed in Mumbai on 24th May 00:30 AM.
Checked in Deluxe room of hotel Regency in Chakala-Andheri (E) Mumbai.
Joined office same day in BKC (Bandra Kurla complex).
Impressed with BKC infrastructure, it truly is Finance hub in India with all central, private and public entities surrounding ICICI twin towers. 1st week in job is over, not much of induction but more of on the job training so far. 2 month of honeymoon period and then I would be given targets to get business from international banks in my region. Not sure but I think I might get toughest economies namely China, Singapore and Taiwan.

Finally out of IT and partly into Finance industry. Already talking about letter of credit, macro economics, fundamentals, bank guarantees, treasury. New world for a person with 6 years of pure play IT experience (non BFSI).
Not sure, how long would I cling to the job. When I came out of DCE (engineering), I changed 3 jobs in 3 months starting from Reliance energy to Siemens and finally to Infosys where I was forced to stay put!!

Getting married soon, bank balance is dwindling and responsibilities are increasing! Getting ready for another phase in my life!

2010-06-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

3 IDIOTS - 1st day 1st show

Watched 3 idiots, the Amir khan comedy. I mean dude, this is one of the best movie I have ever watched since ‘Dil Chahta Hei’ and 3 Idiots surpasses DCH by miles over.
Some facts that I would like to mention about 3 IDIOTS:

TIMING: It couldn’t have been better as right now is the placement season in depressed market, at least it is still depressed in ISB . So, MANTRA ‘All is Well’ really helps in this new age of communications where even rejection SMS come right on mobile while one is appearing for his exam..Wow. Climax

LEARNING: What is an IDIOT? Well Idiot doesn’t mean insane, Idiot is someone whom world assumes to be insane until the IDIOT come out a winner and people start following him  GANDHI, HITLER, BHAGAT, Ram Prasad (this one was amazing), history is full of example.

“So, be an idiot or follow the herd” … Take is yours!!!

2010-06-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Train Journey to Chennai 31st Dec 2009

Just found a word document in which I had saved some blogs, ones which I forgot to upload. So these ones were long due!!

Today, since 8:00 AM in morning, I had been applying for this Schneider and Directi jobs after successive rejections from all the big consulting firms. Also, I have to submit the IRR report article to IDFC before 31st and then couple of more things to go before I could board 4:00 PM train today, 30th Dec 2010. Papers were getting over on 29th, earlier I had planned to call my family from Delhi and Chennai to my college, ISB at Hyderabad but then Dad rules …he refused ‘coz of other commitments. So, this weekend just before my exams, I had booked train ticket for Hyd to Chennai on 30th.

I think break would help after string of rejections, especially when everyone else is getting calls. May be I got low CGPA or more experience or a combination of both and worst or best part is that I have IT background. So…dude which consulting firm would hire an old game from IT but as it has to be let us just assume I got better place to go than being a rookie in top 5.

Won’t crib nymore and I usually don’t but five shots felt like 41 shots by Bruce Springsteen…pumped up my emotions a tiny bit.

TWIST IN STORY:
I slept late yesterday, working on couple of applications, for which deadline was 31st noon but I would be travelling then. So, I had to finish my applications today on 30th if et all I wanted to go to Chennai. So, I got up at 8:00 (3 hour sleep, usual @ ISB) worked on application after application and by the time it was over it was 2:00 and my train was at 4:00. So, I called security guy to get me a cab or an Auto…but then it is “HYDERABAD IS CLOSED OUT DUE TO TELANGANA ISSUE today”. Wow ..a cropper out of nowhere, I had lost sense of time, didn’t follow news. Anyways, paid autowala 100% top up and within 30 minutes I was hitting the road.
For first time (for me), a train arrived this late (kacheguda express late by an hour). Finally got into it after having 4 samosas and 2 tea cups. Belly is bloating right now.

Train started at 5:00, and I am writing this blog from train itself.
I enjoy the experience of train, I am travelling in sleeper class a different experience in itself. Train just stopped, which station is this? ‘ JADCHERLA’..small town in Andhra Pradesh.

Train is jam packed with Special Forces, wary of Naxalites or Telangana activists who try to sabotage the trains. Thanks to them we feel safer.
Anyways, So I was describing how I enjoy travelling in sleeper class. Here comes my favorite ‘Coffe guy’, he can fix a coffee in less than 1 minute for just 5 bucks. And I have to toil at home, wish I had one at home. And then comes the ‘Samosa’ wala and Magazine and TT and small time hawkers and hunch. Well, travelling in sleeper class always brings me back to my roots and tells me that I am privileged to get elite education and exposure. Many intellectual brains don’t even see the sun for lack of opportunity and other constraints.

And suddenly, again comes back the feeling ‘ALL IS WELL’. Don’t worry, life is beautiful..there is so much to it. So why crib about pity things, placement, promotion, wining, loosing and all. In the end all that matters is ‘how happy you are’? But then this will also depend on how comfortable you are, which needs Benjamin Uncle. So, fight out in this ‘Dog eats Dog’ world but ensure that ‘Happiness’ is a ‘WAY’ of life rather than the ‘AIM’ of life.

Be Happy no matter what! All is Well.

This is why I decided…Ashu beta go…jee ley Zindagi…take a break when other break their brains. And here I am travelling to my Big Bro to celebrate ‘NEW YEAR’ 2010…year when I graduate for one final time. Year that may define my future or India as well as world economy future …Guess Guess!!!
Time to switch gears, am back to IRR report..only 63% battery is left and the whole report to finish. Don’t think I would take chance by recharging laptop from un-calibrated power plug !! Cheers for now!
By the way, we have already hit ‘Mehbubnagar’ station..and its 19:05 PM.
Night is beautiful, winter is just dawning and its cozy even in South India. Cool wind is blowing, just located a white temple with red light shimmering on the top of 5 tomb roof ..wonderful. This is why flights could never replace the train, Joy of travelling in train is immense and given liberty of time, I would always travel by train till the health allows

2010-05-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Blogging tools

2010-03-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

I had numerous discussion on this with my fellow ISBians, more or less with the BBG that includes my inner circle in ISB.

Well you must be wondering what BBG stands for..well I bet 1000 bucks u can't guess it.
BBG = Bakar Brahman group 'coz all of us usually roam around the campus and do absolute non-sense gossip on baseless topics...

Let me introduce you to my group:
Jasmeet Singh Marwah (meekest sardarji with Sharp brain, shortest ever temper, he is known as king of all narcissists in this universe)
Shashank Dixit (Frustatma - he is known to show frustration for no reason on anything that one cannot even dare to dream of..u call him and he will say...kyuuun utha diya)
Vishwanath Machiraju (Dance master, amazing skills - lives right next door and cribs at who took his milk, cups, sugar. It is usually me as I just go to good neighbors and let them help me to have tea at 4 AM in morning :))
Mouneesh Sinha (My quadi (same quarter), Bengali. He speaks so loudly that even when he thinks, I can hear in my room :) , his sentence starts with ...WAAAAAT [try to say what at loudest decible level and u may mimic him:)], if he fells sick only chicken can get him well and he thinks that veg food will make him sick )
Sudipta Ray (another bengali, she still owe me money, she is known to have guts to come to all parties without carrying purse...One needs to learn from her..we tried but paid :) )
Shweta Tewari (Suddi's quadi, chicken bhakt, another skillful dancer of our group, Jassi's right hand or may be its other way round)

Suddi and Shweta watched all episodes of Swayamvar (yes both editions)..and all kind of TV melodramatic serials.

Common link among all - Movies

We have watched almost every movie that has been released during our 1 year of stay at ISB. Also, used to watch old movies at mouneesh's quad while partying at our favourite spot - SV3 corner.

Will write a lot more on my stay at ISB...this is just beginning. I intend to provide a descriptive narrative of our life at ISB.

Past 1 year has passed by rather fast but it was fun, together we studied hard and partied nonetheless :)

This is 1 year that will stay with me for many reasons...friends that I made here..and ISB tag that will be with me forever..not to mention the knowledge gained.

But top of all....in all probabilities as my dad told me after my admission to ISB.
"Ashu, work hard but enjoy 'coz this is going to be your last student year". I remembered his words whenever I found it hard at ISB.

So, I will remember ISB for the learnings and fun that I had in last 1 year, after long 6 years of hard corporate life.

2010-02-27T12:25:00.001-08:00

PM Manmohan Singh recently mentioned, “Naxalism is single biggest internal threat to country”.
IS IT TRUE?
Not really, if we think in terms of current severity. We had Kashmir and Punjab, both driven by external support to internal discontented nationals.
But, if we evaluate the impact in terms of penetration then NAXALISM has potential to destroy Indian sub-continent. Unlike Kashmir or North-East, where terrorism impacted less than 5Million people, NAXALISM is prevalent in 30% Indian states and 450 Million people. Just imagine the impact on national politics and development if NAXALITES could further develop their support as they have been.
Remember BANGLADESH, how it suddenly appeared on world map after continuous oppression by its superior Punjabi and Sindhi rulers. We could run very well into such situation as Maoists run through single belt running from Andhra Pradesh to Nepal and then west Bengal.
HOW TO TACKLE MAOSIM?
Prime Minister and Home Minister suggested – Direct Action and use of power against Maoists
I agree – YES, I said it. I agree with use of force to CONTAIN the terrorism or Naxalism.
But, if you want to get rid of this issue permanently then INCLUSIVE growth is the only way out.
WHAT is stopping us from taking either kind of actions against them?
Think about it and think hard. Well, it is nothing but local politics as our politicians either get Maoists support in elections or use the issue to come to power. Either ways, local govt officials lack of antipathy and support from politicians provides these Maoists a safe heaven.
We can crack this by building closer coordination b/w central and local govt.
1. Train a new CRPF battalion to fight against guerrilla tactics, develop integrated intelligence unit across states and center.
2. Make poor believe that society is helping them:
Education: Initiate development activities in affected region, start by spreading education. Provide special assistance or scholarships to students from Naxal areas for higher studies.
3. Provide special assistance – subsidized fertilizers to farmers in the region.
4. Ensure PDS scheme is implemented and benefit reaches the affected families.
5. Bring industries, infrastructure development and connectivity in these areas. This will promote jobs and will hit the base of Maoist groups.
Will write more on this…
To write:
• Porter forces analysis of policing in Naxal areas – to identify SWOT
• Structured definition, analysis and conclusion of solution to the problem
• Letter to Prime minister and local parties – Tweet and Facebook Campagins

2010-02-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Oracle vs SAP

Interesting article (click the link above).
Summary of SAP vs Oracle (unbiased :))
Key determinants in ERP purchase decision:
• TCO (total cost of ownership)
• Functionality

Oracle has better support standards with Fusion, SAP is comparatively not that well interfaced with other systems (say via BPEL, not all modules support BPEL in SAP)

SAP implementations are larger (more modules), more complex and hence costlier. Customers with complex businesses usually go for SAP

Oracle with its high adaptability (fusion) is better for evolving and growing\dynamic companies due to better scalability, integration and platform independence.

Oracle: Vertical Specialization Lacked big time until it acquired and integrated some partner products
SAP: Strong industry\business process driven products (18-25 industries)

SAP offers business processes - Oracle offers flexibility, scalability and integration

2010-01-31T14:22:00.000-08:00

"India is walking a tight rope"

Indian GDP gets more than 50% from Service industry.

Service industry employees 1 Million workforce

Total Indian workforce is 500 Million

Lets reflect on India's growth and superpower status if IT comes down.

What needs to be done:
1. invest in infrastructure
2. Invest in R&D - Be a product driven economy

2010-01-03T10:25:00.001-08:00

QUOTE: Came across a beautiful Quote, that I usually try to live by!

“Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery but today is a gift and that’s why it’s called the PRESENT.”

So chill out while your work hard and learn to appreciate what you value most :)
Life is as beautiful as one sees it.

Don't try to achieve Happiness
Make Happiness a way of life!

2010-01-02T23:25:00.000-08:00

Carbon Trading: Is it right time for India to be aggressive on Carbon Trading?

Introduction
“In 1997, YOY increase in emissions accelerated from 1.5% to 3%, this was just after countries signed the Kyoto accord”. It seems that some developed nations were able to reduce carbon emissions. However, a closer analysis reveals that though the developed nations reduced oil consumption to control gas price, fuel was burnt at other places (China, South East Asia) and goods were shipped to meet the developed nations’ requirement. Did it give us a cleaner world? No, actually it worsened the climate and trade balance.

Was Kyoto accord, step to protect environment, a failure? And is Copenhagen another recipe for disaster? Why did Brazil and South Africa pull back their support to US soon after the summit? Why India is aggressive on Carbon trading? What stand should India as a nation take on this sensitive issue?

India along with China leads the world trade in carbon credits. According to government statistics1, around 35% of 819 projects registered under CDM, are from India. Due to high number of transaction and interface with international community, India needs to reconsider its policies and commitment before moving forward.
Let’s ponder over some of the steps taken world over and their impact on us.

Carbon Trading Industry - Origin

Carbon credits are a key component of national and international attempts to mitigate the growth of greenhouse gases (GHG). In 1997 Kyoto protocol, attempt was made to penalize irresponsible developed nations and to reward cleaner developing countries.

The idea was to allow market mechanisms to drive industrial and commercial processes in the direction of low emissions or less ‘carbon-intensive’ approaches. In 2000, the scheme was christened ‘Clean Development Mechanism - CDM’.

CDM validates and measures projects to ensure that they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely ‘additional’ activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken. Majority of carbon trading is driven by ‘Cap and Trade’ mechanism, which is ridden with flaws and needs makeover to avoid imbalance in world trade. Though treaty was a bold step but it overlooked issues such as one-way market, arbitrage and moral hazard.

Challenges from Cap and Trade Mechanism

As global carbon market stabilizes, existing trading margin will erode and hence developing countries are trying to sell maximum Carbon credits by 2012. Due to arbitrage opportunities in ‘Cap and Trade’ model, danger of another Lehman in making is hovering over, this time trading in futures and spots of carbon trading. EU recently lost more money to carousel fraud than they spent on Common Agricultural policy. These are some of reasons that raise questions on aggressive pace of carbon trading proposed in India, which was also reflected in Copenhagen.

Moral Hazard

Brussels and other part of Europe were infected by corruption in carbon credit market as corporate were forced to bribe to buy carbon credits. The way market is shaping up in India with lack of policies, its imperative that moral hazard and corruption could fail the cause.

Cap & Trade creates a sink-reservoir flow between pollutant and cleaner countries. It is most advantageous for energy companies with strong lobbyist and for government officials who can dole out kickbacks, from proceeds of pollution certificates, to favored industries. Unless ‘Cap and Trade’ model is replaced with a responsible and equi-distributive scheme, India will loose more on social capital than what it will gain from carbon trading.

India needs to take a balanced approach and tread carefully on carbon trading, lest nation burns its hands as EU did. We are more susceptible to the fragilities of ‘green gold’ market dynamics as genuine claims involve control and monitoring. These two aspects are in turn core drivers of one of biggest corruption syndicate in world.

"....Not publishing the complete article for now. Article has been written for publication in Indian Infrastructure Report 2010. Will publish complete article once Report is published in flesh and blood...."

Just found this article on economist today: China holds world hostage to its power

2010-01-02T23:23:00.000-08:00

Carbon futures and Spots – Is it another Lehman scenario in making?

Kyoto and Copenhagen will be good only on papers unless integrated sustainable solutions replace the hasten approach taken by world leaders.

India has very unique hierarchical structure, we need to implement comprehensive but practical analysis before becoming aggressive player in the market.

Till fossils are cheapest practical option available, its usage will increase. Raise price of fossils by including cost to society.

2009-11-30T12:16:00.000-08:00

Should Countries pursue Soft power?

Shashi Tharoor explains what defines India. Why India need might not need might of 5th largest economy, one of largest armies and 2nd largest population to win over world.

Indian food industry in London generates more employment than several other major industries (mining etc.) in UK together. How Indian bollywood is building soft power of India and why India will lead the world in time to come.

A powerful and invigorating speech.

2009-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

Game time:

Tomorrow is Fixed Income and securities exam..gory exam. Shashank had forwarded a game 3 days back...just finished all 13 levels. Want some more...gimme some online links for games please

Try this game:
http://www.gunshootinggames.net/game/46/13-Days-in-Hell.html

Hei do mention some links in the comment..remember share the wealth :)

2009-10-29T18:26:00.001-07:00

Typical Day at ISB.

5th term
So far @ ISB: Through with 7 month, 16 subject, approx. 32 papers, 90 case studies & 32 professors. Not to mention innumerable assignment, project reports and the kind of stuff that none could dare to try again :)

Have to appear for Options and Futures paper in 3 hours from now.
Took 3 finance course, screwed up myself..suicidial :(

My quadi mouneesh & I took turns, I slept at 3:30 AM, he woke me up at 5:00. I would get him up by 9:00.

This time of year, mornings are refreshing in hyderabad. Lush green grass, red and purple colored bushes and picturesque stone topography is looking beautiful under the clouds.

Here I go..studying OPFR...listening to "Message in a bottle" - POLICE (on my iPOD and intex speakers).

Gosh...what a life...dont want to leave...and dying to get out. Catch 22 :(.

Nyways...going back to kitchen for 8th cup of tea since yest evening...why r my eyelids so insistent on following law of gravity !!!

2009-10-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

“But then there should be a method to even madness! “

The problem:
It is imperative to understand that when we think about moving towards low carbon economy, actually we are discussing about, changing the way an economy works, the way society lives and sustains. Intellectuals often argue or rather state as a matter of fact, “Low carbon economy is of essence for the survival of human race (in future)”. High carbon obviously causes harms such as soil degradation, health issues etc., all of which impact GDP of our country directly or indirectly.
This section shall explain why is low carbon economy critical but also not so critical, a debate.

Examples stated above are immediate impacts, the one that are of very dear concern for our society.

Policies - Charting the coercive path:
But before we embark on the journey of changing the way our society works, we shall define as to who constitute the society. Defining the stakeholders in the society is critical to ensure that all the policies and modernization/growth will be inclusive; excluding none, not even often ignored lower strata.
India (191 billion pounds, tied with Japan) has been estimated to be third largest low carbon economy after US and China. India, unlike US and Japan, lacks technical knowhow to exploit the opportunity of low carbon economy.

This section will explain the path that govt. policies should take, a descriptive version of eagle eye view

Where do we start?

Set your house in order before asking others!
We shall explore innovative technologies or import existing technologies via public-private collaborations in areas such as fossil fuels (e.g. gasification of coal for higher efficiency), transportation, and improvement in electricity distribution. For example, we shall install electronic sensors to reduce energy losses in appliances as well as in electricity distribution.
To facilitate swift acceptance, alternative technologies should be made more affordable and sustainable. For example, if solar cells could be fabricated in India itself than solar energy could become affordable. Solar energy has been a failure in India thus far due to high cost, low returns i.e. inefficient market dynamics. Govt. has means, and if Govt. also has will power then such costs can come drastically down.

This section will provide suggestion on technology and sectors, where govt or pvt. Sector can make a mark.

Can we tame this behemoth, the major obstacle?

India with more than 1.2 billion population produces more carbon via human machinery than half of world taken together. Over last decade, India has seen a spurt in infrastructure development but with this pace we may never be able to catch up with our needs. Controlling the population will directly lower the carbon production, decrease the overall consumption and will reduce the pressure on infrastructure.
Last section will synthesize the thought shared above. I will also explain couple of tangential view points on how to achieve the target.

2009-10-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Surprise Business

Came across couple of nice articles on Surprise business.

Japanese version of surprise business.

It sounds like a hell of an idea, surprise surprise surprise.
I think in India, surprise business idea could be very successful if scaled up to include multiple offerings such as commodities (low cost), cold drinks, stationary and likes. It could be combined with traditional shops wherein existing traders will offer both traditional as well as surprise buy offer...this will help the idea to take off. Moreover, early movers will gain an element of freshness and hence might corner extra business.

Wonder..what if u r offered a drink that is not what u asked for...u can play bets on it :)
Or may be u went to buy cheap Reynolds...and thanks to an evangelist u come back with a Mont Blanc ..

This will be very much like a Derivative trading or to be blunt ...sort of betting..anxiety...experience...greed will drive this business.

To start with..airport, railway stations etc...high volume churners could be ideal location to kick start the business.

Later on this business can be converted to a chain and scaled up across the country and region.

2009-09-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

ELP - Soleckshaw

Reference:

India has an estimated eight million cycle-rickshaws

2009-03-17T08:32:00.001-07:00

Journey so far

“Life is filled with possibilities, one just needs to explore”

All this started not so long ago. Though it was always there in back of my mind but action was missing all along, probably waiting for some trigger.

Chicago was witnessing record snowfall in 2007 and it was snowing heavily even on that day. I was driving down the Hintz road in my Audi (used one), listening Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir when it struck me to hit library; Indian public trails library was very near to my place (Mallard Apartment) in Wheeling. Was it for the actual reason or just for doing something constructive so as to come out of forced hibernation, I don’t remember why I took that turn to library. Whatever was the reason but when I reached that library, I found more than couple of guys preparing for GMAT. Already two of my friends were deep into the GMAT and had even booked the dates for the exam.

Over the last year, I was very busy as onsite project lead of an IT project. But when I entered that library, I just came out of cocoon and I think it was in that frame that I decided that my old self could and should go for infamous GMAT exam. At that time, I was so naïve to the field that I didn’t know name of any other school except for ISB and Harvard. Since, I wanted to settle down in India, so ISB was dream school.

Initially, I enjoyed going to library but project was hectic and I was unable to spare even an hour. I didn’t want that craving to die and hence I again went to library in March and then couple of times in April. I was advised by one of my friend (he had appeared and scored 670) that to be serious, one should book the exam, set a target and then prepare. Instead, I assumed that I will give GMAT in May and started working towards it.

Cutting short, I started my preparations around mid March but got serious only in May. I started studying by self help books and was lucky to have Awendra( brilliant IITian) against whom I could benchmark myself. Since, Awendra was taking coaching from Kaplan, so I often went to him for general discussions. On Friday and Saturday, both of us would go to library and then return to his house for cup of tea (he used to prepare the tea  ). Discussions with Awendra were sometimes constructive but actually I wanted to keep meeting him as discussions with him relieved me of work related stress. Also, it helps to know that you can discuss your preparations with someone who is preparing seriously and that too from best in business.

Though, we always planned to discuss only studies so as to conserve time and energy but usually we ended up discussing all the possible topics under the sky ranging from Indian politics, to economics and shares. Though later in night I always used to feel guilty for wasting my time but I literally used to enjoy those discussions. Different perspectives on same topic were enlightening and gave new always threw new insights.

Other distractions:

Wheeling library is a beautiful place to be in, it has everything from free net access to silent room where one could practice online tests, what else could a person considering GMAT consider beautiful. But there is a catch; it also has a sprawling soccer field just next to it. Fortunately or otherwise, my colleagues had spotted this amazing field for daily soccer games. Being an avid sports lover, I can’t express the feeling that I used to have while climbing the stairs watching my team play soccer. Quite often, I would just park the Audi in library, take my kit out of trunk and head off to the field. This is one time pass, which never felt me feel like I am wasting my time. Soccer just rejuvenates me more than anything else, fierce nature of this game take all the tension out of you.

NGO and Marathon

Around same time I was looking for other extracurricular activities. I wanted to work with an India centric NGO in US, so I contacted couple of NGOs in New Jersey area but finally zeroed on Chicago chapter of TEAM ASHA, which is fund raising arm of ASHA.

Some TEAM ASHA members run marathon, and as a pre requisite members have to raise set target of funds. I joined the team and started training with them on Sunday mornings while I used to run alternate days by myself. On an average I used to run 5 miles or more..Sundays morning were hectic when I targeted 7-9 miles in later stages. I eventually settled for Chicago half marathon. Though I was not good on timing but I was happy that at least I finished what I started with little practice amidst hectic work, GMAT prep, NGO meetings all going on simultaneously.

Forgot to mention that my GMAT date and marathon were on consecutive weekends, so I stopped practicing in last couple of weeks...just no time. I got badly hurt, couldn't walk in the evening as i had not broken into my shoes :( as mandated for runners.

After looking at pathetic performance I first couple of tests, I thought I should drop MBA plans. But then I kept going on, did lots of practice on various books..still had poor results in June ends..GMAT was approaching on 12th July.
Awendra then suggested me a book from Manhattan…for Sentence correction. I bought the book and found it so good that I shifted my GMAT date by 2 weeks so that I can assimilate the wonderful rules and guidelines from that sweet little book. Since then I have recommended that book to so many aspirants and even they found it good. Trick is to use it with supplementary materials such as OG.

The DAY

Finally, I took exam on 26th July 2009.

I was both confident and nervous at same time, probably anxious would be right word. In last week before the exam, I had taken 3 mock tests and had scored more than 750 in all three..so I was high on confidence.

My exam centre was in Chicago downtown, next to beautiful lake and skyline. As a precaution, I drove till station and rode train to downtown. It was a beautiful day, neither too hot nor too cold.

I went to the test center (I had visited it earlier, to be on safer side). They provide you lockers in which I kept my belonging, can’t take food inside so had got a quick nutrient cake in bag for the break time.

After the usual formalities, i-card, authentication and all I was asked to take my seat for the exam. By now, confidence was nowhere to be seen and I was all about nervousness and anxiety.

Exam:

Though I am weak in essay writing but I had developed couple of frameworks by myself and had practiced a bit on those. Though essays that came were quite off the general topics but I just managed to scrape through but I knew I didn’t perform well, which further built on anxiety and pressure to do well in next sections.

(don’t remember which came first, English or maths but I did take due break for restroom and munching)

Anyways, I moved on to next section. Time management was again a cropper as I finished the section 12 minutes ahead of time. Man I was devastated, I spent lot of time on last few questions to increase accuracy but still had plenty of time on hand. I also spent around 7-8 minutes on single question # 13, which I was sure still went wrong.

I found english section relatively easier than practice papers, but my chances relied on accuracy of guesswork. All time management went awry when I finished my first section well in advance by 10 minutes..I repented my stupidity ‘coz in practice exams this trend usually resulted in lower accuracy for me (speed decreases the accuracy)

Now came the final screen…”Do you want to accept the score or to cancel the exam?”
I was so damn anxious and worried that I have failed big time, reflecting on practice exams, I thought I will get max 650-670, which wont help me nyways.
After deliberating for more than 5 minutes, I finally presses accepted and to my surprise I had scored 760

I jumped off my chair, left a note with receptionist for Awendra (he was in same center for mock test) and went to the river side. Meanwhile I called up my brother (in India), it was around 4:00 AM in India, still my brother Ashesh was waiting for the result and we both planned how shall I move forward. One thing we both agreed on is…its party time.

Finally I could chill out after grueling 5 months but not before I submit the applications
(soon I was to know GMAT was easiest of all steps)

What a feeling that was, Awendra and I both came back together. We had fun…went to Pankaj da’s place..partied with my roomies.

Result was worth the effort after all
Thanks to all who contributed to my journey thus far.

Pending:

Stage 2: application process

Stage 3: Finally I made it to premiere schools. I applied to IIM Calcutta (executive) and ISB. Cracked both..eventually choosed ISB.

Why and how?
Will come later as right now I am damn hard pressed at ISB…intellectuals here are killing me for performance…always short of time..confidence I have but uncertain markets and bad placement experience from engineering (during 02-03 downturn) are factors that worry a bit as markets are again down in 09-10

"Lets see..journey itself will explore the path henceforth as it has in past!"

2009-03-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

SPARK, what an event!
After coming back to India, I felt like I should get into stuff that could keep me from getting bored!
Now that Salsa intermidiate classes are over so what next? Hmm..what else could I do?
How does one pass time in his company? Work Work ..naaaah.

Lets teach the kids, as soon as this idea popped out of my brain, I contacted E&R (education and research) guys.And immediately I got a mail from Brijesh, who I later came to know is a gem of a person. More on him later but yeah he initiated me into CTY and Spark initiatives.

On 31st of January, Spark and CTY events were organized in Infosys. Being a socialy responsible coprporate, Infosys invites class 8th students for a competitive exam. Selected students from CTY get opportunity to work for 2 months in Infosys production projects.

Considering my experience (common I am not that old yet :( ), I had to keep teachers, wards and senior students engaged. Being a tutotr for 7 years, I knew that handling senior students and teachers won't be easy. But one can't shy away in front of juniors :), specially the fairer sex. So, I was ready for the dreadful encounter fearing the kind of questions that could pop out of such a crowd.

Event was well planned, volunteers were assigned due responsibilities and backup were also put in place. On 31st, all of us were ready to meet the young guns from all strata of Hyderabad schools.

Volume of participants is a story in itself; Arrangements were in place for approx 600 but its anyones guess what transpired when over 1000 participants eventually turned up.

Chaos is the word that come to mind, isn't it?

Man, was it a Chaos! aye, it surely was. But there was such a symmetry amidst the huge chaos, students in all the directions, in different uniforms. I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment, all I could hear was interference of different notes and syllables. No meaninful conversation could be heard but still it was beautiful. I don't know if this happens with others too but I have a habit of going back down the memory lane, revisiting similar events from my life.

Toughest task of the day was to segregate 8th std kids from other kids of same school and to keep a mapping of room and school so that their wards can track the students. Task was further complicated by the requirement that guys and girls should be in different rooms, thanks to Women special sessions :).
Nari Shakti key samney natmastak!

Eventually, I reached the hall and tried to settle down the crowd by getting into active one to many conversations. Oh dear, there were so many stunners; I got in touch with 4 smart guys from some school named Oak Ridge (I hope I got it right). One of these guys asked me, "Why did you come back from US?". Though, I had answered this question so many times but it got difficult for me. They were unable to appreciate that some people prefer working in home country even if it's India.Blame the pre recession US hype amoung Andhrites, which has still not died.
Phew, except when it comes to marrying ones duaghter to a poor IT chap in US!

Now how many of us believe in coincidence? My hand is up in support.

After the tiresome 4 hours, myself and Sunita (who was also in same hall as mine) were about to go for first tea break. Suddenly, one of Oak ridge guy (aye, coincidence) got severe Asthma attack, he was about to faint. To save the time, we took this smart guy in Sunita's car to the nearest pharmacy where he got the puff. But it was only temporary so we took him to Apollo and finally to CARE center in Jubille Hills.

Though I was tense because of the kid's condition but what was driving me crazy was deadly combination of Sunita's fast and nervous driving. Probably, she was worried for what if we make it late to the hospital.

Eventually, we arrived back just in time. Event was over! but we didn't miss the photo sessions :)

It was an eventful day that started with a calm prayer, had it's share of excitement, thrill and drama.
But like bollywood movies, day ended on a happy note:)

Finally, my take at end of day; such events are great not only 'coz one gets chance to contribute to society but also 'coz one's friend circle increases many fold and never forget the happiness factor :)

2009-01-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

ISB Pre-term References:

Accounting:

Financial Accounting :
Tools for Business Decision Making by Paul D. Kimmel, Jerry J. Weygandt, Donald E. Kieso, John Wiley & Sons, Third Edition, 2004
Schaum`s outline of theory and problems of financial accounting by Shim Jae K and Siegel Joel G, Tata McGraw-Hill, 2004 Bus

If you want to avoid buying costly books then refer this link:

http://www.principlesofaccounting.com/

Statistics:
Required Text Book: Aczel, A. D. and J. Sounderpandian, Complete Business Statistics, Fifth Edition, Tata McGraw Hill
Reference Text Book:
Murray R. Spiegel, 'Theory and Problems of Probability and Statistics', Schaum's series, McGraw Hill.

2008-10-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

I started writing this blog long time back when I joined this group but saved this as draft.
Lot of facts have changed so I should edit the article gramatically and factually to bring it closer to reality.
I was supporting orphanges in bangalore but then found that I am not satisfied by my contributions as I always doubted the intentions of nobel folks running the charity based orphanages.

When I moved to Chicago, I thought I should contribute back to the society in more scalable way. I did some research and found an organization that was contributing to the cause of education, the cause that is very close to my heart. But then the organization rejected my application as it doubted my ability to contribute while sitting miles away; the organization was in New Jersey. I called up the concerned person and he suggested that I should find something in Chicago itself. Wow...how could I be so dumb? I should have done this search earlier itself but then I had thought that not many US based organizations will work in area of education.
So. I learnt a lesson. Not to Assume:)

Anyways, I found sweet little organization ASHA, a group of volunteers spread across the continents and to my liking it is a flat volunteer based org. So no jhanjat but full control. Wow... I joined the group and started attending the session and took part in activities.
Over course of time, I came to know of sister org TEAMASHA, the revenue engine for ASHA.
So, I joined that too.
If I was amazed to find so many young and old ccommited Indians working for ASHA then I was left wondering how TeamASHA makes 15-75 year old people run on road over several months and that too in snow storms and rains.
The way Asha and TeamAsha work is so transparent and simple that I have decided that I will always be an active member of this org and will contribute to the cause in one way or another. After all teamAsha made a fat man like me to run Chicago marathon, no mean achievement. Not for me but for TeamAsha :)

Will write more about my marathon experience and activities in Asha some time later.

I have recently joined an energetic group of volunteers and runners from Asha and TeamAsha. For starters, Asha is an Organization started by few like minded people in US, those who had a vision and those who had energy to bring their aim to fruition. Currently, I am enrolled in TeamAsha, which is a fund raising arm for main Asha organization. Team Asha has many members who are training regularly to participate in Chicago marathon. Fund raising is a very responsible and neck breaking job but Team Asha has made it easy

2008-09-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

Subprime:

Subprime loans are no-prime loans or the loans at high risk.

Institutions provide high interest loans to people who have low credit scores. These loans run into high risk in difficult market times such as credit crunch of 2008.
Subprime mortgage loans are similar in risk profile as subprime loans mentioned above.
Late 2006, subprime mortgage industry entered what observers refer to as meltdown.
Lowering house prices over several years made people default on the loans
Steep rise in rate of subprime mortgage defaults and foreclosures caused more than 100 subprime mortgage lenders to fail or to file bankruptcy.

Why Subprime hit other markets?

US Banks and lending institutions had repackaged the subprime debts and sold these as attractive securities and investment engines that were snapped by EU and Asian markets.
So when crisis hit subprime mortgage industry, those who had bought into these so called growth engines found their investment valueless.
Unable to assess values of such properties led to uncertainties and banks stopped lending to maintain credit lines.
Market paranoia and credit holding led to credit crunch

Who is responsible?
Federal: Unable to monitor and regulate the market
Lenders: Greed led to such loans
Wall street: For backing securities based on high risk subprime loans
Loaners: for taking loan that they can’t repay, but they can’t be blamed.

2008-09-07T00:02:00.000-07:00

Socialist and Communist Vs Capitalist

Yesterday, my roommate Prasad called me a capitalist. I jumped at the opportunity and asked him to define himself. As soon as he declared himself as socialist, I asked him to take out his cheque book and donate 200 dollars for my charity organization. He is a smart guy so it was easy to trap him, he agreed with heavy heart:).
Isn't it fun, a capitalist asking a socialist to contribute forcefully for a charity organization that the capitalist supports and raises funds for. I know it sounds confusing but that is because definitions were not used correctly.

later, we had a discussion on socialists, communists and capitalists. As per Prasad, Ratan tata and Ambani are hard core capitalist but Murthy sir is a pure socialist. My view, to which Prasad agreed after 3 hours, is that Tata and Ambani may be capitalists but still they contributed more to Indian society than communist turened capitalist whom he termed pure socialist.

As per Prasad, a capitalist is worse than socialist because capitalists carries people forward for his own good, welfare of society is a by product for him. I mean common, why should one bother that capitalist wants his betterment if he is anyways carrying society with him. Once capitalist can do more for society than a socialist would do while thinking.

At least Prasad and I agreed on one fact that communism may not be successful any more.
Also, as far as I am concerned, old definitions of communist, socilaist or capitalist belong to a bygone era. Now, no one is in black and white, we have various shades now and hence no pure breed are left. What we have are opportunists, the most dangerous but successful breed of all.

I respect Murthy sir but it seems the new breed started around same time when he jumped from communist bullock cart to capitalist's jet airplane. Still, no doubt he did lot for India, but as a by-product.

2008-08-30T22:27:00.001-07:00

CASE : You have been appointed to head the team to build a dam across the River Zumba. Success in this project is critical for your company and would earn you a promotion. Failure would mean that your company would be bankrupt and will take along with it, its investors and its employees. Building a dam across the river would result in deforestation of a portion of the rainforests and would mean relocation of the tribals and destabilization of wild life at Zumba. There is resistance from environmental groups against your project. You are meeting the head of the resistance movement in one hour wherein you would have to explain your decision. Describe what you would do and why? (You will be evaluated on the creativity and practicality of your solution).

PRINCIPAL BASIC BENEFITS THAT WILL COME INTO EXISTANCE
AFTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER SOURCES
1. Flood control benefits; it decreases and remove the flood effects.
2. Land improvement benefits; are the extra benefits that will occur after
an increase in the soil productivity because of drainage and land improvement
pecautions.
3. Electricity energy benefits; are the energy benefit value of the more
economical project out of two alternative projects.
4. Transportation benefits;are the benefits that will happen in case of there
is waterway transportation in the project.
5. Providing drinking water and domestic water benefits are different
from each other and should be investigated one by one.
6. Irrigation benefits; defines the distinction benefits between dry and irrigated
positions

2008-08-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Points to Build on - Application
I truly believe it came down to these two things:

1. Your career progression and how well you could portray it in your essays. You need to have articulated clearly your impact to the company.

2. Your goals have to be really clear-I know it is cliched- but the successful guys goals flowed really well from his current role and he maintained a solid theme of his goals throughout the essays. His essays were not as "polished" but had a lot of passion for his goals. In contrast, my essays were pretty well edited and written but lacked the passion I feel. The guy who was WL had an equally impressive WE (he has made presentations to the CEO of the company, a Fortune 200 one. He has increased revenue of almost a $1BB for this company). But his essays were similar to mine- conservative and lacked that personal and passionate feel. Bottomline- dont try to replicate those essays found in books and let your true self come out.

3. Try to do something extra- submit an extra reco if the school allows. Make that extra trip to the school and try to get as much face time with the adcoms as possible. I think they might not be decisive factors but every little bit might help.

Having said that, for an Indian to get into M7 is a pretty tough task. I know there are a lot of desis in all the top schools but I am talking about pure acceptance rates for us is probably less than 10%. Even on this forum- we had a bunch of impressive desi profiles and I think mneo, ujjib and nupur (I am sure I am missing 1 or 2) are the few who have been admitted to an M7. I am not trying to discourage you at all- just trying to put things in perspective.

2008-08-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Be Bold and Ready to Boast of your success

It's OK to boast (a little):

Generally, while talking, we desis (especially those who studied and worked in India) have a tendency of being a little discrete about our achievements and successes. We do fine on paper with the essays, but when it comes to the interviews, I feel we do not play up our achievements for all they are worth. On the other hands, Americans are very upfront about it and they expect us to tell them how great we are - something we are not used to. Of course, this doesn't mean that we should all become narcissists! Just ensure that you clearly communicate your successes and what you did to contribute without holding back.

Show, don't tell (even in the interview)

Something else that I realized during my R-1 postmortem (and corrected it in R-2) was the fact that in most instances, I was 'mentioning' my achievements and not really elaborating them. Definitely not a good idea! In the later interviews, I would mention the achievement, then talk about something specific about it - either a particular incident or how that experience itself has contributed to my well-roundedness. Most interviewers give applicants a fair amount of leeway in guiding the discussions. So take advantage of this and give anecdotes to 'show' (and not just 'tell') your strengths.

The power of anecdotes

Personal experience are just that - personal. They make your interview a lot more personal and less scripted. The anecdote, being your's and therefore unique, will stand out from the usual drivel that interviewers constantly hear. Told well, a good anecdote will definitely pique the interviewer's interest in you. Another great thing that I noticed about anecdotes was that while telling them during the interviews, I automatically became more comfortable and was able to build up a stronger rapport with the interviewer. Sometimes the interviewer would pitch in with something similar from his own personal experience and we would really take off on a great conversation from there.

2008-07-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

GMAT Application Process

2008 Application Deadlines

Statement of Purpose
Why MBA?
IIM Calcutta(IIMC) PGPEX - Application Essays and Statement of Purpose

2008-07-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Quant - Probability + Combination + Permutation

If an integer n is to be chosen at random from the integers 1 to 96, inclusive, what is the probability that n(n + 1)(n + 2) will be divisible by 8?

A. 1/4
B. 3/8
C. 1/2
D. 5/8
E. 3/4

i. if n is multiple of 2 then n+2 will be such that n* (n+2) will always be divisible by 8. Total such cases = number of even nos = 96/2 = 48
ii. In addition to i above, if n+1 is divisible by 8 then it will also suffice the requirement. Total such cases = 96/8 = 12

So, probability = (48+12)/96 = 5/8

2
Meg and Bob are among the 5 participants in a cycling race. If each participant finishes the race and no two participants finish at the same time, in how many different possible orders can the participants finish the race so that Meg finishes ahead of Bob?

A. 24
B. 30
C. 60
D. 90
E. 120

i. (4+2+3+1)* 3! = 60
ii. There are 5! possible ways for the 5 participants to finish the race without any ties.
Logically, Meg will finish ahead of Bob in exactly half of these outcomes

5!/2 = 60

3.
A set consist of 2n-1 element. What is the number of subsets of this set which contain at most n-1 elements?

A. 2^(2n-2)
B. 2^(2n) - 2
C. 2^(2n) -1
D. 2^(2n)
E. 2^(2n-1)

for example, let n=2 then: 2n-1=3, n-1=1

the number of subsets: 3C1+1 (for empty subset) = 4

A. 2^(2n-2) ==> 4
B. 2^(2n) - 2 ==> 14
C. 2^(2n) -1 ==> 15
D. 2^(2n) ==> 16
E. 2^(2n-1) ==> 8

let n=3 then 2n-1=5, n-1=2

the number of subsets: 5C2+5C1+1 (for empty subset) = 10+5+1=16

A. 2^(2n-2) ==> 16
B. 2^(2n) - 2 ==> 62
C. 2^(2n) -1 ==> 63
D. 2^(2n) ==> 64
E. 2^(2n-1) ==> 32

4.
A group of 8 friends want to play doubles tennis. How many different ways can the group be divided into 4 teams of 2 people?

A. 420
B. 2520
C. 168
D. 90
E. 105

E.

N=8C2*6C2*4C2*2C2/4!=105

4!=4P4 - we should exclude arrangement of 4 pairs in different order.

5.

Rich has 3 green, 2 red and 3 blue balls in a bag. He randomly picks 5 from the bag WITH replacement. What is the probability that of the 5 drawn balls, Rich has picked 1 red, 2 green, and 2 blue balls?

2r 3g 3b

a total of 8 balls.

[2/8*(3/8)*(3/8)*(3/8)*(3/8)*] *[5!/(2!*2!)] (we have 5!/2!2! b/c we have 2 green picks and 2 blue picks and 1 red pick but we don't need to worry about that one--> 5*4*3*2/2*2=30) --> 30(2*3^4/8^5) 81*2*30 -->
162*30= 4860/32768 -->~14%

6. Standard Deviation + Probability
Three fair coins are labeled with a zero (0) on one side and a one (1) on the other side. Jimmy flips all three coins at once and computes the sum of the numbers displayed. He does this over 1000 times, writing down the sums in a long list. What is the expected standard deviation of the sums on this list?
A) 1/2
B)3/4
C)sqrt3/2
D)sqrt5/2
E) 5/4

Approach 1:
variance of binomial distribution is n*p*(1-p), n = 3, p = 1/2

variance = 3*1/2*(1-1/2)= 3/4

stdev = sqrt(variance) = sqrt(3)/2

After many trials sample standard deviation is close to theoretical standard deviation = sqrt(3)/2.

C is the answer

Approach 2:
http://www.gmatclub.com/forum/7-t58616

7.
How many subordinates does Marcia Have?

1) there are between 200 and 500 lists she could make consisting of the names of at least 2 of her subordinates.
2) there are 28 ways that she could decide which 2 subordinates she will recommend promoting.

D

1. nc0 + nc1 + nc2 + nc3 + ..... + ncn = 2^n
Hence, nc2 + nc3 + ..... + ncn = 2^n - n - 1
If RHS of above equation is between 200 and 500 => n = 8 as 2^8 = 256 while 2^9 = 512

So. sufficient

2. nC2 describes this situation.

nC2=n(n-1)/2=28 ==> n(n-1)=56 ==> n=8

8.

2008-07-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Probability Permutation and Combinations

2008-07-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

Whether Vs If

1). After Prepositions , we use only whether.

I haven't settled the question of whether I'll go back home.
There was a big argument about whether we should move to a new house.

2). Whether, but not if, is used before infinitives.

They can't decide whether to get married now or wait.

3). Whether is generally preferred in a two - part question with or.

The Directors have not decided whether they will recommend a dividend or reinvest the profits.

4). Use Whether when only 2 choices exist
I am not sure whether I could go.

As per American Oxford dictionary:
Use if for a conditional idea, whether for an alternative or possibility.

2008-06-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

AWA Hints from 6.0 Grader

Pick up the Princeton Verbal book. It gives a great, straightforward approach to tackling the AWA section.

Next, when you are writing your essays, take a very direct approach. The introduction and conclusion are the MOST important parts of your piece. Why? Because, as the books will tell you, the graders only take a few minutes to read over your essay, because they have a ton to read during their shift.

So my intro's are always like this:

"In today's society, blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Therefore, the author is incorrect in asserting that... and the alternate approach is more effective because..."

"The author introduces an argument that.... however, her reasoning is based upon 2 faulty premises, and one invalid assumption."

Make sure the reader knows EXACTLY what point you are trying to make. I always make my conclusion, or thesis statement, the last sentence in the introduction.

The body of your essay should then develop the idea you presented in the introduction. Make sure that each paragraph deals with one thought or piece of your overall argument, unless of course you are making a clear connection between two smaller ideas.

It is also important that you provide a real life example to support your position in the issue analysis essay. So get reading, or talk to your friends about current issues that you can call on to support your stance. Microsoft, intel - these are good for technology. Just find the basics, you don't need to come up with an obscure example, just something that shows you command a very good understanding of the issue.

Also, VERY IMPORTANT: ACKNOWLEDGE THE STRENGTHS OF THE OPPOSING ARGUMENT OR ISSUE. You want to show the reader that you understand that the opposing issue does have merit, but that your position is the superior choice. Don't expand too much on the strengths of the argument, but just make sure you mention them briefly. This applies moreso to the issue analysis, and not the analysis of an argument.

The conclusion then ties the introduction and body together, and provides some sort of link putting it all together. It should not just restate what you wrote in the introduction and the body of your essay - you should try to come up with a way to paraphrase what you have written. The idea is to restate the main idea of your essay without using the exact same language you used in the essay itself.

So to summarize, try to follow something like this for the argument analysis:

The author says this... but she is wrong based on reasons 1, 2, and 3.

New paragraph discussing reason 1

New paragrpah discussing reason 2

New paragraph discussing reason 3

1+2+3=6, 6 being the paraphrased conclusion linking everything together.

For issue analysis:

The issue is... and I take this position because...(make sure your position is fully established in the introduction.)

New paragraph elaborting on your position, provide some logical reasoning

New paragraph introducing a real life example supporting your position

New paragraph acknowledging that you understand the opposing view does have it's strengths - but regardless of this, your position is the superior one, and describe why, by introducing yet another new idea (if you can think of one) or by linking your reasoning from an earlier paragraph.

Conclusion ties it all together, but does not just repeat what you said in the body of the essay. You want to parahprase what you said, try to keep it interesting and remember this should be the cherry on top of your essay icecream.

2008-06-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

Reading Comprehension

Main Idea:
Look in the first and last paragraphs for the main idea. Any conclusion words
like therefore, thus, so, hence, etc. that you see are most likely introducing the main idea.
The correct answer will say the same thing as it says in the text, but using different words.
The Main Idea is not always stated explicitly in the passage – in fact, more likely than not, it is
not stated explicitly. Therefore, in order to answer this type of question when it is more
implicit:
Re-read the first line of every passage, and the last line of the first and last paragraphs. This
should give you the general structure or outline of the argument, with which you can answer
the Main Idea question.
After determining the general structure or content of the argument, eliminate answer choices
that are too broad or too specific, i.e. answer choices that go beyond the content of the
passage, or that deal with content only discussed in one paragraph of the passage.
Make brief notes – a couple of words- regarding the Main Idea on the text on your scrap
paper while you read.

Primary Purpose:
What is the author trying to do? What is his intention?

Note: A good main idea or primary purpose does not go beyond the scope of the passage,
nor does it limit itself to discussing only one part of the passage.

Detail Questions:
Location is everything, locate the specific corresponding section and answer accordingly.

Organization of the passage questions:
Re-read the first line of every passage, and the last line of the first and last paragraphs. This
should give you the general structure or outline of the argument, with which you can answer
the question.Remember to make brief notes about the structure of the text on your scrap
paper.

Test Strategy:
1) Aggressively read each paragraph for its main idea. If you can’t write down in a few words
what the point of each paragraph is, you weren’t reading actively enough.
2) Note any trigger words, same train of thought words.
3) Always eliminate bad choices first before answering.
4) "According to the passage/author" question type of questions. Whenever you see this
question, tell yourself, "Stop and stop thinking. I need to FIND, not think."
5) For main point or central idea type of questions, re-read the first and last sentences of each
paragraph before making elimination choices and answering. Getting the overall structure is
really helpful before answering.
6) Mostly you can weed out too strong an answer. Use of words like “only”, “definitely”, “p
ositively” or disrepectful words.

Sentence Correction:

Pronouns

Singular and Plural Clause
When two nouns are in the sentence doing an action together but they are linked with
i) Along with
ii) Together with
iii) With
iv) As well as
v) In addition to
vi) Accompanied by

This does not make the following action they do plural. Only “AND” can take the
two singulars and make their action plural.

Singular Pronouns (Memorize these)
It’s SANE to memorize this
Some---
Any—
No—
Every—

Relative pronouns are often used incorrectly today.
1) Referring to things or animals – that, which
2) Referring to people—who, whom
3) They – be careful that you don’t use this unless you’re positive there is a referring
noun.

Compound Subject
In compound subject joined by 'OR', the verb matches the closer part of subject.
1. Every day Joy or Clara rides the subway to work.
Here rides is Clara is singular and hence merits singular verb rides.
2. Every day Joy or Clara's sisters ride the subway to work.
Clara's sisters is plural and hence plural verb ride.

Test Strategy
1) Avoid Passive voice
2) Avoid Redundancy, shorter is better
3) 'Being' - Don't choose answers with 'being', 'thing'
4) Read answers back into sentences - very useful strategy

2008-06-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

The president of the Women's Freedom Association tried to convince her peers they should join forces to prevent discrimination in the workplace rather than continuing to be underpaid.

(A) they should join forces to prevent discrimination in the workplace rather than continuing to be underpaid.

(B) that they should join forces to prevent discrimination in the workplace rather than continue to be underpaid.

(D) for the joining of forces to prevent discrimination in the workplace rather than continue to be underpaid.

(E) to join forces to prevent discrimination in the workplace rather than continuing to be underpaid.

Explanation:
Choice B is correct. The error in the original sentence is faulty parallelism. Only Choice B has both elements in the same form, "join rather than continue". Choice C is incorrect because it uses the incorrect phrase "convince about".

Regarding the legalization of medicinal marijuana, the Governor is not concerned so much by its potential impact on elderly cancer patients but instead by its potential nationwide impact on innocent schoolchildren.

(A) but instead

(B) so much as

(D) but rather

(E) as

Explanation:
Idiom: Choice E is correct, as it provides the correct structure "not so much by....as by....".

2008-06-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

Active vs Passive

A) John was not ready to move to the new company because they had not rated it highly by any investment company.

B) Because of its low investment rating, John was not ready to move to the new company.

C) Because of it's low investment rating, John was not ready to move to the new company.

D) John was not ready to move to the new company because no investment company rated it highly.

E) John was not ready to move to the new company since it was not rated highly by any investment company.

Explanation:
(D). The first answer contains a pronoun (they) without an antecedent.
In addition, the sentence is ungrammatical, having a 'by'-phrase from a passive without the required form of 'be' in the verb.
Choices (A) and (E) have passives, always avoid passives in GMAT.
Choices (B) and (C) contain misplaced modifiers, making the correct choice (D).

2008-06-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

A) The old geezer aggravated his younger counterparts by consistently producing more work than them.

B) The old geezer aggravated the younger counterparts by consistently producing more work than they.

C) The old geezer irritated the younger workers by consistently producing more work than them.

D) The old man irritated his younger workers by consistently producing more work than them.

E) The old man irritated his younger workers by consistently producing more work than they.

Explanation:
(E) Geezer and counterparts are jargon and should be avoided.
A wound or sore is aggravated; a person is irritated.
They is subject of the understood produce, not the object. Hence (E) is correct.
The old man irritated his younger workers by consistently producing more work than they did (better than Them did)

2008-06-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Gerund follows the verb

Even though she didn't anticipate manager's proposal to strengthen her department.

A) to implement it, the advertising manager agreed with the personal

B) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed with the personal

C) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed with the personnel

D) to implement it, the advertising manager agreed with the personnel

E) implementing it, the advertising manager agreed to the personnel

Explanation:
(E) 'Personal' deals with a person's own special things; 'Personnel' deals with a lot of people.
Verbs like 'anticipate' must be followed by a gerund, the verb form in '-ing'. The correct idiom usage should read: a person 'agrees with' another person, not with an inanimate thing such as a proposal. Therefore, she agrees 'to the proposal.' (E) is correct.

2008-06-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

Different Than vs Different From

His approach to singing is .

A) different than the approach used by any other tenor

B) different from the approach used by any other tenor

C) different from the approach which is used by any other tenor

D) different then the approach of any other tenor

E) different from the approach of any other tenor

Explanation:
(E)
Different than is grammatically incorrect. The correct version of the idiom (different from) appears only in choices (B), (C) and (E). Moreover, Choice (D) uses 'Different then' which changes the meaning and makes no sense. Choice (C) contains 'used by' which is a passive voice construction, almost always avoided by ETS. The correct answer is (E).
B is probably more wordier than E.

2008-06-25T23:36:00.000-07:00

After Junko lay down, like a soft blanket.

A) having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her

B) having finished a hard day's work, she felt sleep descend on her

C) sleep descended on her having finished a hard day's work

D) having finished a hard day's work, sleep had descended on her.

E) having completed a hard day's work, sleep descended on her.

Explanation:
(B). As in other participial phrases, the subject of the phrase finished must be the subject of the verb in the main clause. This problem is corrected by (B) Otherwise it sounds as if 'sleep' had just finished a hard day's work.

2008-06-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

Less vs Fewer

Cynics charge that Major League Baseball lobbied for stadiums with fewer seats to reduce supply and increase ticket prices.

A. lobbied for stadiums with fewer seats to reduce supply and increase ticket prices.
B. lobbied for stadiums with less seats to reduce supply and increase ticket prices.
C. lobbied for stadiums that had fewer seats to reduce supply and increase ticket prices.
D. lobbied for stadiums that had less seats to reduce supply and increase ticket prices.
E. lobbied for stadiums that had less seats as a means of reducing supply so they could increase ticket prices.

Explanation:
Less = not countable, Fewer = Countable...eliminate B/D/E
C. Wordier
A. holds

2008-06-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

Tense

Several financial officers of the company spoke on condition that they not be named in the press reports.

A. that they not be named
B. that their names will not be used
C. that their names are not used
D. of not having their names
E. of not naming them

Explanation

A

A. that they not be named
Correct--> "spoke" refers to past tense, so here they not be "named" where named is past tense agrees with the sentence construction. Also "on the condition that" is the right grammar

B. that their names will not be used
--> "will" is future tense, "spoke" is past tense

C. that their names are not used
-->"are" is present tense,"spoke" is past tense

D. of not having their names
--> "not having names" in press report is not the right usage.

E. of not naming them
--> "not naming them" is not proper grammar

2008-06-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

Such As Vs Like

Based on the growth rates of large modern reptiles such as the Galapagos tortoise and examinations of fossils of juvenile dinosaurs, scientists estimate that the largest dinosaurs probably lived to be between 100 and 200 years old.
(A) Based on the growth rates of large modern reptiles such as
(B) On the basis of growth rates of large modern reptiles such as
(C) Based on the growth rates of large modern reptiles like
(D) On the basis of growth rates of large modern reptiles, like those of
(E) Based on such growth rates as those of large modern reptiles like

Explaination:
such as = for example, like = simlar...so eliminate C/D/E.

scientists estimate that the largest dinosaurs probably lived to be between 100 and 200 years old. - is the main independent clause

Subject - scientists
verb - estimate

The first dependent clause acts as adverb clause..
Confusion between A and B.
A - Based on X, scientists estimated Y
8 - On the basis of X , scientists estimate Y
B holds good

Based on always tricks in GMAT and mostly wrong.

2008-06-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

Reference Reading Material:

Sentence Correction:
Kaplan 800 - Read online

2008-06-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Nowhere in Prakta is the influence of modern European architecture more apparent than their government buildings.
(A) more apparent than their
(B) so apparent as their
(C) more apparent than in its
(D) so apparent than in their
(E) as apparent as it is in its

Explaination:

E would have been close, but the part in bold is not required -
as apparent as it is in its

Ellipsis SC.

(C) survives.

Elipsis:
Ellipsis - We often leave out words to avoid repetition, or in other cases when the meaning can be understood without them. This is called ellipsis.

Ellipsis can be applied only in parallel structure and if removing redundant words still makes sense.

Read more

2008-06-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Brutal 66

Although ice particles in the upper atmosphere benefit Earth in that they reflect and absorb solar radiation, acting as global thermostat and thus keeping Earth from either burning up or freezing over, they also accelerate the destruction of the ozone layer by reacting with chloroflurocarbons (CFC's).

A) acting as global thermostat and thus keeping Earth from either burning up or freezing over, they also accelerate
B)acting as a global thermostat and thus keeping Earth either from burning up or freezing over, while also accelerating
C)act as a global thermostat and thus keep Earth from either burning up or freezing over, while also accelerating
D)they act as a global thermostat that thus keeps the Earth either from burning up or freezing over, even though it also accelerates
E)they act as a global thermostat to thus keep Earth from either burning up or freezing over, but they also accelerate

Explanation:
Although ice particles in the upper atmosphere benefit Earth in that they reflect and absorb solar radiation, acting as global thermostat and thus keeping Earth from either burning up or freezing over, they also accelerate the destruction of the ozone layer by reacting with chloroflurocarbons (CFC's)

Although...they also....

C is flawed after "while also accelerating" isnt correct

Should be A

2008-06-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Past and Present Participle

The growth of the railroads led to the abolition of local times, which was determined by when the sun reached the oberver's meridian and differing from city to city, and to the establishment of regional times.
(A) which was determined by when the sun reached the oberver's meridian and differing
(B) which was determined by when the sun reached the oberver's meridian and which differed
(C) which were determined by when the sun reached the oberver's meridian and differing
(D) determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differed
(E) determined by when the sun reached the observer's meridian and differing

Explaination:

E)
The difference lies in active/passive voice
Local times were determined by X, it is the object of X. In other words, "local times" are not determining X but determined by X so past participle is correct.
However, local times are differing from city to city because it not only "differed" in the past but it is also "differing" today. We need present participle to logically illustrate that.

A, B and C make the second half a relative clause and lack in conciseness compared to the participial forms of D and E

A 1972 agreement between Canada and the United States reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump into the Great Lakes.

(A) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities had been allowed to dump
(B) reduced the phosphate amount that municipalities had been dumping
(C) reduces the phosphate amount municipalities have been allowed to dump
(D) reduced the amount of phosphates that municipalities are allowed to dump
(E) reduces the amount of phosphates allowed for dumping by municipalities

Explaination: D
C,E are out --> 'reduces' is the wrong tense
B --> 'phosphate amount' is awkard. Out.
A --> Out. Not trying to emphasize two past actions.

D. 'are allowed to dump' suggests what the 1972 agreement laid out for the two countries at that specific moment when it was enacted.

2008-06-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Few Good Questions:
CR

Very few software engineers have left MicroFirm Corporation to seek employment elsewhere. Thus, unless CompTech Corporation increases the salaries of its software engineers to the same level as those of MicroFirm's, these CompTech employees are likely to leave CompTech for another employer.

The flawed reasoning in the argument above is most similar to the reasoning in which of the following arguments?

a. Robert does not gamble, and he has never been penniless. Therefore, if Gina refrains from gambling she will also avoid being penniless.

b. If Dan throws a baseball directly at the window, the window pane will surely break. The window pane is not broken, so Dan has not thrown a baseball directly at it.

c. If a piano sits in a humid room the piano will need tuning within a week. This piano needs tuning; therefore, it must have sat in a humid room for at least a week.

d. Diligent practice results in perfection. Thus, one must practice diligently in order to achieve perfection.

e. More expensive cars are stolen than inexpensive cars. Accordingly, owners of expensive cars should carry auto theft insurance, whereas owners of inexpensive cars should not.

The correct answer is (D). The original argument's line of reasoning is essentially as follows:

Premise: The well-paid engineers at CompTech do not quit their jobs.

Conclusion: If MicroFirm engineers are not well-paid, they will quit their jobs.

You can express this argument symbolically as follows:

Premise: All A's are B's.

Conclusion: If not A, then not B.

The reasoning is fallacious (flawed), because it fails to account for other possible reasons why MicroFirm engineers have not left their jobs. (Some B's might not be A's.) (D) is the only answer choice that demonstrates the same essential pattern of flawed reasoning. To recognize the similarity, rephrase the argument's sentence structure to match the essence of the original argument:

Premise: All people who practice diligently (A) achieve perfection (B).

Conclusion: If one does not practice diligently (not A) one cannot achieve perfection (not B).

2008-06-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Links for free GMAT Exams
http://www.4tests.com
http://www.crack-gmat.com
http://www.petersons.com
http://www.manyagroup.com
http://www.ivyleagueadmission.com (Download rtf files and take printouts)

2008-06-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sentence Correction
Brutal 70 - Gmat Club
1000 SCs (719-756)
1000 SCs (757-796)

2008-06-21T19:47:00.001-07:00

Majority Are Vs Majority Is
“Majority” is one of those words that can be either singular or plural. Common sense works pretty well in deciding which. If you mean the word to describe a collection of individuals, then the word should be treated as plural: “The majority of e-mail users are upset about the increase in spam.” If the word is used to describe a collective group, then consider it singular: “A 90% majority is opposed to scheduling the next meeting at 6:00 A.M.” If you are uncertain which you mean, then choose whatever form sounds best to you; it's not likely to bother many people.

2008-06-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

Useful links for GMAT preparation

AWA Argument
AWA Issue
Tips for Sentence Correction
GMAT Grammer - Detailed concepts with Examples
GMAT - 1000 Sentence Correction Question Bank

GMAT Bible - Need to create account

Google Search Hints:
1. Search http://www.4shared.com/ with keyword 'GMAT' for GMAT related documents.
2. Search http://www.4shared.com/ with keyword 'GMAT.exe' for executable exam files. Combine same version of verbal and Math executables from 800GMAT to make a set of exam.
3. Free Quant and Verbal test,
Join gmatclub and participate in various discussions, you will learn a lot, not only on quant and verbal but also on other topics related to MBA applications.

AWA Issues Sample
GMAT Club Verbal and Quant Sample Tests

Interview Links

ISB - Coming from ex-admission committee member

2007-04-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

Niagra Falls

Meticulous Planning:
During long weekend on first week of Sep 2006, we planned to visit NY. Two days to go and venue was changed to Niagara, typical of us. I was not complaining, as Niagara is second (first is Grand Canyon) in my favorite list.

Ours was a party of 4 (Myself Ashu, Prateek, Nilesh and Talat). Incidentally we got a grand start, Prateek went to hire a car from Enterprise and came back booking a beautiful white Mini Van which could accommodate 7, this however came handy during the long journey as you can easily sleep in it and can even walk around to relax your legs.

Our Project mates kept telling us that we are making mistake as Prateek was only driver and it was a long journey but we had no choice, car was booked and I had even booked a Motel (with internet facility) which we would come to know belonged to a Sardarji, a nice fellow as far as free help is concerned, but he was a bit strict as I would get to know.

Chicago to Niagra:
We had planned to start early afternoon so that our driver could get some rest in night. Well to start with, Prateek went to downtown same day and was able to come back around evening only. So, we started around 5:30 PM on Saturday. We had taken prints of to and fro route and Talat was our Navigator. I was more of interested in enjoying the scenery and infrastructure along the beautiful route from Chicago to Niagara.

Interstate Infrastructure in US is wonderful as all the freeways (sort of national highways back in India) are very well maintained and are also well marked. Roads on this route will instigate you to cross all speed barriers and cops en route (they pop up from nowhere) will make sure that you remember your deeds. So one need to be careful on this route and has to hold on to impulse for speed.

As per Google Maps this is 10 hours journey but as we had only one driver so we completed this in around 14 hours and this is when we took only one stop over.

We started late evening at round 7:00 PM and covered most of later journey in dark to save time, though it is advisable to drive on this route during daytime to enjoy the scenic beauty. During this part of year, days are longer in US and hence we were able to enjoy drive at least for early couple of hours. We had bought good amount of snacks and mini van was very comfortable so after initial 4 hours of eating, reading and music, I was ready for a nap as was Nilesh, these are obvious advantages if you are not driving or navigating.

Freeways are quite open and simple to follow so we were able to cover most of distance without confusion.
Our first stopover was at a Rest Area along the freeway, there I came across a group of bikers who were on long drives on their super motor bikes, and they looked imposing in their leather costumes.

Night drive had exhausted all so when we came across a travel plaza it was but obvious that we should stay put there rather than over stretching to reach Niagara. It was early morning and I was in no mood to sleep so I decided to explore the place.

Slight drizzle and over cast conditions added to the beauty of the location. Behind the parking place I saw a water body, sort of small waterfall flowing through dense forest, it was looking beautiful and climate made place look romantic.

We had some coffee up there and then we decided to call Hotel Manager to arrange for early check in, this hotel guy literally rebuked me but I can only laugh over it as later I came to know that he was a sardarji.

Niagara Town
It was easy to locate the motel and after some rest we were raring to start exploring the falls. As suggested by motel owner we parked our van in parking lot facing Niagara Casino Hotel, this parking is free but you have to do some walking from here for reaching the falls. I think we walked for around a mile or a half more. If you want to park your car near the island then it will add to your costs and you may end up spending hour in long jam near parking but there is a free parking even near tourist information centre which though is at a comfortable distance but maybe tough to get if you are not an early riser.

It is important that you should get your tickets from ticket issuing authority which is located well before the tourist centre and unfortunately is not well marked which made us to crisscross a big area twice, this building is in centre of a park and at least we found it hard to locate without proper guidance.

We gathered some information from tourist centre, they even provide two types of package. Since we wanted to visit places at our pace and merit so we decided against going in their bus tours.

Cave of Wind

As soon as you cross tourist centre there is a bridge and alongside the bridge is a site map for Niagara Island. Sound of flowing water under the bridge filled us with excitement and though already tired we were feeling fresh. After reaching island, I was astonished to see the size of crowd for Cave of Wind. We had to stand in a long queue where they provided us with use and throw plastic suits to save our clothes from waterfall water.

We put on our plastic suits and got into the lift which took us to lower level from where we had to climb the wooden staircases to the Cave of the Wind waterfall. I had longed to be at this place since I watched Alfred Hitchcock’s Niagara starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotton.

It was an amazing location and our band of four guys was most enthusiastic of the entire crowd over there, we enjoyed the water and started singing songs at high volume. People were watching us but I was not bothered and continued songs in my cacophonic voice. I still remember feeling the splendid Niagara’s water falling directly over my head with astounding force, it was amazing stuff.

There were many Indians in Niagara and to my surprise I came across an old pal Gurminder (Gurri as I call him) whom I had last met couple of years back in Bangalore. Since then, I have started believing that life is long and world is round so we should always expect many such surprises.

Believe me, this place is absolute fun and it got funnier as none of us had thought that we would get wet in this place so no spare clothes, not that spare clothes would have helped much.

We were dead hungry after playing in water so as soon as we got out of the Cave of Wind we headed to a restaurant and reenergized ourselves.

Horse Shoe

Next target was Horse Shoe which is where actual Niagara fall is. I had some idea that this is going to be big but when we reached the spot from where we can have a view of falls, I was flabbergasted by the magnitude of falls and sound of waterfall. Location was picturesque, we were on US side, on left of me were grandiose Niagara falls while on other side of river was Canada and its skyscrapers. Niagara’s location must have played a big role in deciding the Canada and US borders.

We had tickets for Horse Shoe ride, this is a ferry ride which takes you towards the Niagara Falls against the current and certainly is worth.

This ride is painful and demands a lot of patience as you have to wait a lot and I really mean lot when I quote it. First there was a queue which took us to a lower level, then there was another queue to get life jackets and stuff. If this was not enough then another queue for ferry which took some good amount of time and all the while we were just standing there. Though it was a beautiful and attractive place but standing for so long especially when you don’t even have sufficient place to move is annoying, mind you we were in a queue.

Finally a shabby looking ferry arrived; I think Niagara authorities can spend some money in beautifying the ferries when they are charging so much for the tickets. Anyways, we got into the ferry and were cribbing the fact that we missed the front dock; a titanic pose would have been great in turbulent Niagara waters. We were able to look only at one side of Niagara which was looking amazing and powerful.

Suddenly, ferry rotated by 90 degrees and wow, I was facing Niagara all around me, to the left, right and front. This was out of the world view and I simply shouted with joy, it left me spell bounded. I was suddenly feeling humble in front of this all powerful flow of water which proves to me existence of almighty. I don’t know if I will ever see something so imposing, artistic, beautiful and powerful again in my life.

No one can explain in words this experience of facing Niagara Falls from such proximity.

Cave of Wind is nothing compared to this place, and after Horse Shoe I don’t think if anything can really excite you.

After the Horse Shoe, we took some snacks and went straight to the movie hall where they were showing a movie on Niagara’s history. I was waiting for this opportunity as I got a good sleep for 30 minutes, my friends laughed at my ability to sleep in all the noise.

We decided that we had enough and should get some rest so we went back to the motel.
For dinner we went to a street which is near the ticket office and falls just a short distance from Casino. There we had dosas and idli and many more Indian dishes by a roadside hawker stall, Indian food in this place.

Finally, we entered the huge Casino in Casino Niagara hotel where we lost some money. I lost about 20 dollars after which I stopped playing and rather watched. It took so much time for me to understand even the machine game and finally I understood that I am an idiot to put money on machines, one stands better chance on tables.

Next day we had planned for whirlpool ride.

Whirlpool

We had booked tickets for whirlpool ride on previous night and reached the place well in time. This office was next to a huge water body, probably the Niagara River but it was very still. They made us wear all the safety guards and then they started the boat which had capacity of around 36 people. They did some sort of tricks all the way like skids and stuff which though nice but didn’t seem worth 50 dollars. After some time we reached turbulent waters with huge rocks beneath it and this water was flowing through a gorge so we were surrounded by huge stones on two sides. Here flow of water to and from the rocks was causing lots of turbulence and causing the whirlpool effect. Waves were rocking the boat heavily and water was entering the boat with such a great force that after each wave some people from front were volunteering to go to back seats. I was on side seat so was enjoying double flow of water, frontal as well as from the sides. This was really funny and worth the money spent.

After all this, we had our lunch at an Indian dhaba and food was fabulous. Return journey was cool, excitement of previous days had drenched our energies so we just wanted to rest and soothing music worked well for that.
Nice Trip guys, hip hip hurray!

2006-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

Tadianmol Trek Trip

How it started
Another Friday night was going waste as I was still working in Bldg 40 of Infosys Electronic city campus. Suddenly my phone rang and my roommates asked if I am in a mood for an outing, other latecomers TT and Ashish were also there so we together zeroed on an interesting adventure. We decided to go for trekking on Tadianmol, which incidentally is also highest peak in Coorg.

I still had some work so I requested my friends to do all the packing and in meanwhile I finished my job and booked a Cab (Sumo). We wanted to start trek early in the morning and as estimated time of total journey from Bangalore to Base camp of Tadiandmol is around 8-9 hrs, so we decided to start at around 9 A.M., Indian standard time :):)

We were 6 roommates (TT, Ashish, Nitish, Chugh, Shalin and myself Ashu) and we had 1 visitor(Raman, Nitish's chaddi friend) from US.

Ashish and Shalin took over packing, Nitish and Chugh went for shopping for the food, cold drink and obviously for their fuel too. By the time I reached home all were set to go save our cab, not to mention driver’s mobile was not reachable. We asked our cook (he was of same age) too to join us and he readily agreed( obviously he had to made some pooris and sabji). Even though we started late by more than 2 hours, still we were in great mood.

Journey

We started off around 11:00 PM, we had never seen Tadiandmol and we had thought that it would be a well known and very well distinguished peak which could be located easily.

One of many mistakes that we committed was that none of us knew the local language and none of us had been there before due to which it took us about 3 extra hours to be at the exact place. We took 11 hrs to be at the base camp where the actual trek starts, special thanks to our driver who himself was on his first visit to this area.

First, we reached the bus stop of Aramane where we made ourselves comfortable by relieving ourselves of the unwanted burden, which had got accumulated on the way. It was already 9 AM and we were not sure if we had reached the right place, we had earlier planned to start trek early morning but climate was still very friendly. We did our breakfast and started off for the base camp, where we reached around 10:00 AM.

At the base camp we met another group of trekkers, we took some basic information from them. As usual, Mr. Glutton Nitish carried the food bag and was first to start, but we were not comfortable leaving him alone with food so we caught up with him.

Here we started off, eight of us. Clouds were playing with the sun and that was meant to make our job easier. After walking for about 2 hours we saw a plain area and our belly was asking some serious questions, so we decided to have our lunch in that desolated part of land. There was an old abandoned hut near the place, I just wondered who could have even thought of living in that lonely place. When we were mid way through the lunch, the leech menace affected our camp. Almost everybody was bleeding barring TT and me, Chugh was first to be attacked. We spread the salts on the leeches and that worked, this place has more leeches than other treks. Anyway thanks to tiny bloodsuckers we packed up our lunch and again started off, I already had my share :).

On this trek you have two options, first to trek on the trodden path or to create your own path by taking adventurous route. We decided on second option and left the trek path, jumped into the jungle and trekked in it for about 15 minutes. When we came out of it we realized what a folly we had commiteed because again we were struck by leeches and now in a major fashion but again as luck favored me, I was safe. We trekked for about 1.5 hours before coming across a peak was, we were happy to see it and thought that we were too fast. About 20 minutes before we conquered this peak, we came across a huge stone, it was magnificently big so one can never miss noticing this. We decided that we would sit on this on our way back. I had trekked hardly 10 minutes from this stone when my borrowed shoes gave up and sole was separated literally but due to leeches I could not have carried on without the shoe so I took out some plastic bags and tied it up.

We reached the peak but as soon as we neared its top we realized that we were so much very wrong, now we were able to see 3 more peaks standing tall behind first one. We choosed the tallest of them and started over there, by now all of our water stock was over and all were thirsty but as peak was in sight so we decided to carry on. This time again myself and Ashish decided to go for adventure and we decided to take a short cut by doing rock climbing while others decided to follow longer path along the steep valley. This rock climbing was best thing as twice I almost rolled over and had I fallen from that height I don’t know what would have happened to my body parts but surely I would have received multiple fractures if not dead. Ashish is quite athletic and lightly built so it was easier for him, then and there I decided that back home I would go to Gym (and that I did for sure). You know what, once you are in midway while climbing a rock then you have no choice but to make it J.

I had heard that mountains play games with you, they make you feel job to be easier than it actually is. As soon as we approached the top of second peak thinking that we made it, we were able to see couple of peaks behind this one too and again taller than the present one. Compared with this peak, the first one was a cake walk. By now Raman had started showing signs of wearing out, and asthma was complicating the matters for him. Others were also tired and I think some water would have really helped. We decided to take rest before proceeding for the final peak, as Raman was in trouble so we decided that we would not go beyond this peak even if we see one. Some of enthusiastic members were averse to the idea as we wanted to finish it off this time itself, it’s a crime to leave job half way through.

This mountain was really beautiful with absolute scenic beauty, makes you feel like you are in Switzerland. From the second peak we noticed something unusual about this bunch of peaks, somewhere near the top this peak had a very dense dark green cover, on other mountains we noticed only light green cover or some bare rocks. It increased the excitement. It took us another 30 minutes to reach the dense green cover, it was but a dense and wet forest. We were bit apprehensive about entering it as it was steep and we didn’t know what is on the other end or if this is just the top. What was worrying us was that it was quite damp and some giant trees of bamboos species were lying crumbled with some big animal’s dung on the ground, but common sense or ignorance says that no big animal lives on such heights so we decided to prod on. I still cannot think, of the reason why it was so damp and slippery, maybe because it was dense and it took some time for rain water to evaporate, it was more of a swamp.

As we climbed higher in the dense region, we felt that we were going deeper into the jungle and couple of our teammates again talked about going back but we insisted and carried on. Suddenly, when we crossed a bush and took a turn we were again out in open with cold wind blowing around. It was a wonderful sight, from there on we further climbed another peak before reaching the summit of this small mountain.

It was a breath-taking site, we had clouds around us so it was all misty, only other peaks were visible, no habitation even far away could be seen. Strong cold winds were blowing but due to trek we were all sweating. We took off our shirts and enjoyed the moment, we stayed on the top for some time before returning.
Just to add, even on top of that peak we had our favorite push up competition.

Retreat
During retreat we had no water due to which couple of our team members got cramps, so it would be advisable to save some water for part of climb down. On our way back we saw the same huge black stone and relaxed on it’s top. From other group we came to know that there was a waterfall nearby, so my cousin, and myself went to fetch some water, it was a very beautiful and scenic waterfall. (If you are retreating then this waterfall could be reached after walking about 50 meters on the right of the masculine black Stone, just try to follow the sound from the waterfall). My cousin tried to be fast and slipped into water, I told him to be careful and next moment even I was into the cold water. Anyway, we got the sweet cold water and there on it was easy journey.

All in all a great experience and I would suggest you to go for this trek around October to avoid harsh conditions. If you camp on the top in night then you can plan next afternoon in Coorg city.

Statistics
Distance : From Bangalore its about 250 Kms.
Nearest town: Vir Raj pet( about 30 Kms.)
Route : Tadiandmol is highest peak in Coorg, it’s in Madikeri district. On a
bus you have to get down at Aramane bus stop, this is if you are coming
from Vir Raj pet, which you would do if you start from Bangalore.
Trek : Aprox. 7 hrs, would advice to rest on the top of peak for a night.