How the Sensex is calculated
Sharat Chandran, Commodity Online
For the premier Bombay Stock Exchange that pioneered the stock broking activity in India, 128 years of experience seems to be a proud milestone. A lot has changed since 1875 when 318 persons became members of what today is called The Stock Exchange, Mumbai by paying a princely amount of Re 1.
Since then, the country's capital markets have passed through both good and bad periods. The journey in the 20th century has not been an easy one. Till the decade of eighties, there was no scale to measure the ups and downs in the Indian stock market. The Stock Exchange, Mumbai in 1986 came out with a stock index that subsequently became the barometer of the Indian stock market.
Sensex is not only scientifically designed but also based on globally accepted construction and review methodology. First compiled in 1986, Sensex is a basket of 30 constituent stocks representing a sample of large, liquid and representative companies.
The base year of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100. The index is widely reported in both domestic and international markets through print as well as electronic media.
The Index was initially calculated based on the "Full Market Capitalization" methodology but was shifted to the free-float methodology with effect from September 1, 2003. The "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology of index construction is regarded as an industry best practice globally. All major index providers like MSCI, FTSE, STOXX, S&P and Dow Jones use the Free-float methodology. (See below: Explanation with an example)
Due to is wide acceptance amongst the Indian investors; Sensex is regarded to be the pulse of the Indian stock market. As the oldest index in the country, it provides the time series data over a fairly long period of time (From 1979 onwards). Small wonder, the Sensex has over the years become one of the most prominent brands in the country.
The growth of equity markets in India has been phenomenal in the decade gone by. Right from early nineties the stock market witnessed heightened activity in terms of various bull and bear runs. The Sensex captured all these events in the most judicial manner. One can identify the booms and busts of the Indian stock market through Sensex.
Sensex Calculation Methodology
Sensex is calculated using the "Free-float Market Capitalization" methodology. As per this methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the Free-float market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period. The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company. This market capitalization is further multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization.
The base period of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The calculation of Sensex involves dividing the Free-float market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor.
The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the Sensex. It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index adjustments arising out of corporate actions, replacement of scrips etc. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate Sensex every 15 seconds and disseminated in real time.
Dollex-30
BSE also calculates a dollar-linked version of Sensex and historical values of this index are available since its inception.
Understanding Free-float Methodology
Free-float Methodology refers to an index construction methodology that takes into consideration only the free-float market capitalisation of a company for the purpose of index calculation and assigning weight to stocks in Index. Free-float market capitalization is defined as that proportion of total shares issued by the company that are readily available for trading in the market.
It generally excludes promoters' holding, government holding, strategic holding and other locked-in shares that will not come to the market for trading in the normal course. In other words, the market capitalization of each company in a Free-float index is reduced to the extent of its readily available shares in the market.
In India, BSE pioneered the concept of Free-float by launching BSE TECk in July 2001 and Bankex in June 2003. While BSE TECk Index is a TMT benchmark, Bankex is positioned as a benchmark for the banking sector stocks. Sensex becomes the third index in India to be based on the globally accepted Free-float Methodology.
Example (provided by rediff.com reader Munish Oberoi):
Suppose the Index consists of only 2 stocks: Stock A and Stock B.
Suppose company A has 1,000 shares in total, of which 200 are held by the promoters, so that only 800 shares are available for trading to the general public. These 800 shares are the so-called 'free-floating' shares.
Similarly, company B has 2,000 shares in total, of which 1,000 are held by the promoters and the rest 1,000 are free-floating.
Now suppose the current market price of stock A is Rs 120. Thus, the 'total' market capitalisation of company A is Rs 120,000 (1,000 x 120), but its free-float market capitalisation is Rs 96,000 (800 x 120).
Similarly, suppose the current market price of stock B is Rs 200. The total market capitalisation of company B will thus be Rs 400,000 (2,000 x 200), but its free-float market cap is only Rs 200,000 (1,000 x 200).
So as of today the market capitalisation of the index (i.e. stocks A and B) is Rs 520,000 (Rs 120,000 + Rs 400,000); while the free-float market capitalisation of the index is Rs 296,000. (Rs 96,000 + Rs 200,000).
The year 1978-79 is considered the base year of the index with a value set to 100. What this means is that suppose at that time the market capitalisation of the stocks that comprised the index then was, say, 60,000 (remember at that time there may have been some other stocks in the index, not A and B, but that does not matter), then we assume that an index market cap of 60,000 is equal to an index-value of 100.
Thus the value of the index today is = 296,000 x 100/60,000 = 493.33
This is how the Sensex is calculated.
The factor 100/60000 is called index divisor.
Saturday, 23 February 2008
12 things your CV should NOT have
12 things your CV should NOT have
Kshipra Singh
Your CV is your marketing brochure through which you try to sell a commodity, ie your skills to the potential buyer ie the prospective employer. The sole purpose of your CV is to fetch you an interview call. Nothing more, nothing less.
However, creating a CV isn't as simple as just using flowery language and pretty fonts. There are certain things that put recruiters off and if you want to make a good impression, make sure you do not commit these mistakes in what is arguably the most valuable document of your job hunt.
While the rules listed are well-founded, they are not carved in stone. At times you will need to break the rules. If you want to add these things knowingly and purposefully to your CV we advise you to do that.
The points mentioned here are not listed in the order of priority; instead they are listed in the sequence in which they usually appear on a CV.
~ Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proofread your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.
A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.
For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.
Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
The author is a contributor to www.CareerRide.com, a website that addresses technical and personal aspects of an IT interview.
Kshipra Singh
Your CV is your marketing brochure through which you try to sell a commodity, ie your skills to the potential buyer ie the prospective employer. The sole purpose of your CV is to fetch you an interview call. Nothing more, nothing less.
However, creating a CV isn't as simple as just using flowery language and pretty fonts. There are certain things that put recruiters off and if you want to make a good impression, make sure you do not commit these mistakes in what is arguably the most valuable document of your job hunt.
While the rules listed are well-founded, they are not carved in stone. At times you will need to break the rules. If you want to add these things knowingly and purposefully to your CV we advise you to do that.
The points mentioned here are not listed in the order of priority; instead they are listed in the sequence in which they usually appear on a CV.
~ Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.
~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.
~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.
~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.
~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proofread your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.
A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.
~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.
~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.
~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.
~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.
For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.
~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.
~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.
~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.
Now that you have run through the list, take a fresh look at your CV and prune away unnecessary details and unaffordable blunders that could have cost you your dream job.
The author is a contributor to www.CareerRide.com, a website that addresses technical and personal aspects of an IT interview.
Class X exams: 7 tips to finish your maths paper before time
Class X exams: 7 tips to finish your maths paper before time
Suresh Kumar, TCYonline.com
Many students, even some really intelligent and talented ones, have a strange enemy. They often find it difficult to finish the paper within the allotted time. They are forced to leave a few questions just because they run out of time and often it has been found that the questions they leave are those which they otherwise could do very easily. It can be very disappointing if you are forced to skip such easy questions.
But how can you avoid a situation like this? Many people suggest a single tablet for this "Time management". But how to manage time and how to stop it from running out is a difficult proposition, especially for an average 14-15-year-old tenth grader.
Here are certain tips by experts from TCYonline.com to help you out to finish your paper well before time.
1. Understand your exam
The most important thing is to understand the examination you are about to take. In the class X mathematics paper, there are 30 questions in four sections A, B, C and D and we have 180 minutes to answer these questions. Here, a rough calculation is that we get about six minutes to answer a question. But that is not the fact.
The question paper contains 'very short answer' type, 'short answer' type and 'long answer' type questions and the time requirement for each type is different. An ideal allotment for the four sections is as shown below:
Section A 10x2 20 minutes
Section B 5x4 20 minutes
Section C 10X5 50 minutes
Section D 5x10 50 minutes
2. Use the first 15 minutes effectively
You get a good 15 minutes in the beginning to read the question paper -- use this time to do just that, READ. Read all the 30 questions in 15 minutes. While reading, mark the questions into categories viz easy, manageable and tough. This is done to have an overall idea about the questions and make a rough plan.
3. Don't worry about the tough ones
The moment you find that there are a few tough questions; it is natural that you start worrying about them. This is not required and will only harm your performance.
The fact is that they may look a bit tough on the surface, but when you actually work on them you will find most of them to be much easier than they seemed. So be happy about the easy ones and don't get unduly worried about the tougher lot.
4. Prioritise your attempt
Always attempt the easy questions first and then move on to the manageable ones and ensure that you complete them before taking on the difficult ones. This will ensure that you are not leaving any question that you know.
Once you successfully attempt all the easy and manageable questions, your confidence will grow and you will be mentally ready to take on the more challenging questions.
5. Ensure speed and accuracy
Use quicker methods in calculations to ensure that you are not wasting time and your answers are correct. Mostly, we take a lot of time to solve a problem if we happen to make some error in the process.
For example, if you make an error in the sign of a term (+/-), you may not be able to solve questions involving quadratic equations or linear equations. Therefore avoiding silly mistakes is very important to save time. Always follow the tricks we discussed in speed strategies.
6. Keep an eye on your watch
Keeping an eye on your watch is of course not to increase your stress. This is just to see that you are broadly adhering to the time allocation we discussed in the beginning. A minor variation is not at all a reason to worry.
7. Avoid thinking too much about a question
Thinking about the questions before you attempt them is essential; but not to such an extent that you waste a lot of time on one question.
Also you need not write a very lengthy answer to a question just because the question is easy and you know it very well. Remember, you need to just answer the question and nothing more. Any over-attempt will be a mere waste of time.
Additionally, you must practice the habit of finishing samples papers in 140-150 minutes. This will help you simulate and exercise examination pressures better.
Suresh Kumar, TCYonline.com
Many students, even some really intelligent and talented ones, have a strange enemy. They often find it difficult to finish the paper within the allotted time. They are forced to leave a few questions just because they run out of time and often it has been found that the questions they leave are those which they otherwise could do very easily. It can be very disappointing if you are forced to skip such easy questions.
But how can you avoid a situation like this? Many people suggest a single tablet for this "Time management". But how to manage time and how to stop it from running out is a difficult proposition, especially for an average 14-15-year-old tenth grader.
Here are certain tips by experts from TCYonline.com to help you out to finish your paper well before time.
1. Understand your exam
The most important thing is to understand the examination you are about to take. In the class X mathematics paper, there are 30 questions in four sections A, B, C and D and we have 180 minutes to answer these questions. Here, a rough calculation is that we get about six minutes to answer a question. But that is not the fact.
The question paper contains 'very short answer' type, 'short answer' type and 'long answer' type questions and the time requirement for each type is different. An ideal allotment for the four sections is as shown below:
Section A 10x2 20 minutes
Section B 5x4 20 minutes
Section C 10X5 50 minutes
Section D 5x10 50 minutes
2. Use the first 15 minutes effectively
You get a good 15 minutes in the beginning to read the question paper -- use this time to do just that, READ. Read all the 30 questions in 15 minutes. While reading, mark the questions into categories viz easy, manageable and tough. This is done to have an overall idea about the questions and make a rough plan.
3. Don't worry about the tough ones
The moment you find that there are a few tough questions; it is natural that you start worrying about them. This is not required and will only harm your performance.
The fact is that they may look a bit tough on the surface, but when you actually work on them you will find most of them to be much easier than they seemed. So be happy about the easy ones and don't get unduly worried about the tougher lot.
4. Prioritise your attempt
Always attempt the easy questions first and then move on to the manageable ones and ensure that you complete them before taking on the difficult ones. This will ensure that you are not leaving any question that you know.
Once you successfully attempt all the easy and manageable questions, your confidence will grow and you will be mentally ready to take on the more challenging questions.
5. Ensure speed and accuracy
Use quicker methods in calculations to ensure that you are not wasting time and your answers are correct. Mostly, we take a lot of time to solve a problem if we happen to make some error in the process.
For example, if you make an error in the sign of a term (+/-), you may not be able to solve questions involving quadratic equations or linear equations. Therefore avoiding silly mistakes is very important to save time. Always follow the tricks we discussed in speed strategies.
6. Keep an eye on your watch
Keeping an eye on your watch is of course not to increase your stress. This is just to see that you are broadly adhering to the time allocation we discussed in the beginning. A minor variation is not at all a reason to worry.
7. Avoid thinking too much about a question
Thinking about the questions before you attempt them is essential; but not to such an extent that you waste a lot of time on one question.
Also you need not write a very lengthy answer to a question just because the question is easy and you know it very well. Remember, you need to just answer the question and nothing more. Any over-attempt will be a mere waste of time.
Additionally, you must practice the habit of finishing samples papers in 140-150 minutes. This will help you simulate and exercise examination pressures better.
Web application to track browser history
Web application to track browser history
Avid net surfers who want to keep track of information they have browsed earlier without duplicating effort, now have a unique web application that helps them locate information in a jiffy from their previously browsed pages.
"Hooeey enables internet users to re-use their browsing history in a productive manner to reduce time spent in searching for previously visited web pages, to easily share interesting web pages with others and use the provided dashboard to manage their browsing time more efficiently", Rajiv Purnaiya, Managing Director, Hooeey, told PTI.
While providing a safe and universal platform for the entire browsing experience, Hooeey delinks the browser history from the browser. Additionally, Hooeey adds a social networking layer, allowing one to share specific sites with others, both on Hooeey network and other social bookmarking services.
Hooeey services can be accessed for free at www.hooeey.com.
"Our main focus is to save time and effort of the users by leveraging IT tools and adopting a different approach that combines seamless web hop recording with complete transparency and user control", said Rajiv, the founder of CyberBazaar (acquired by WebEx), the first firm in the country to provide audio and video and web conferencing.
Hooeey allows the users to track all their browsing history from any search engine and "also has the advantage on browser's history files as it works on both platforms like Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Some distinctive features of Hooeey include: records web hops automatically, interesting sites can be tagged while a user is online or offline, one can create a contact list and send links to friends, has self-determinable folders which help to structure links.
"It is completely automatic and does not require any user intervention. The application can be plugged into your browser and then a user can create a Hooeey online account if he wishes to store the information," Rajiv said.
Every page that the user goes to is recorded in the application along with the time and date and one does not have to manually bookmark any page. In case, the user does not want to record the information, there is a one-click stop.
To keep track of all data, Hooeey has built-in analytics service which breaks down browsing habits with various helpful charts and graphs. Thereafter, one can hand pick any site for tagging and sharing.
User's privacy, said Rajiv, is of paramount importance. "Our approach is based on complete transparency and the user is always in control. We have added some specific tools and features especially to make the user feel at ease."
"We are targeting the application at avid surfers, researchers, students and even journalists. Enterprises and companies can also use hooeey to aggregate the knowledge base that their employees are adding on a daily basis", he said.
The company has kept its options open on the suggestions made on the web application by the target audience, Rajiv said.
Avid net surfers who want to keep track of information they have browsed earlier without duplicating effort, now have a unique web application that helps them locate information in a jiffy from their previously browsed pages.
"Hooeey enables internet users to re-use their browsing history in a productive manner to reduce time spent in searching for previously visited web pages, to easily share interesting web pages with others and use the provided dashboard to manage their browsing time more efficiently", Rajiv Purnaiya, Managing Director, Hooeey, told PTI.
While providing a safe and universal platform for the entire browsing experience, Hooeey delinks the browser history from the browser. Additionally, Hooeey adds a social networking layer, allowing one to share specific sites with others, both on Hooeey network and other social bookmarking services.
Hooeey services can be accessed for free at www.hooeey.com.
"Our main focus is to save time and effort of the users by leveraging IT tools and adopting a different approach that combines seamless web hop recording with complete transparency and user control", said Rajiv, the founder of CyberBazaar (acquired by WebEx), the first firm in the country to provide audio and video and web conferencing.
Hooeey allows the users to track all their browsing history from any search engine and "also has the advantage on browser's history files as it works on both platforms like Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Some distinctive features of Hooeey include: records web hops automatically, interesting sites can be tagged while a user is online or offline, one can create a contact list and send links to friends, has self-determinable folders which help to structure links.
"It is completely automatic and does not require any user intervention. The application can be plugged into your browser and then a user can create a Hooeey online account if he wishes to store the information," Rajiv said.
Every page that the user goes to is recorded in the application along with the time and date and one does not have to manually bookmark any page. In case, the user does not want to record the information, there is a one-click stop.
To keep track of all data, Hooeey has built-in analytics service which breaks down browsing habits with various helpful charts and graphs. Thereafter, one can hand pick any site for tagging and sharing.
User's privacy, said Rajiv, is of paramount importance. "Our approach is based on complete transparency and the user is always in control. We have added some specific tools and features especially to make the user feel at ease."
"We are targeting the application at avid surfers, researchers, students and even journalists. Enterprises and companies can also use hooeey to aggregate the knowledge base that their employees are adding on a daily basis", he said.
The company has kept its options open on the suggestions made on the web application by the target audience, Rajiv said.
Friday, 22 February 2008
First 3 hours after stroke crucial
First 3 hours after stroke crucial
ANI
WASHINGTON: A new study has found that the first three hours at the start of a stroke are crucial for the treatment of the victim.
The study found that rhe damage caused by stroke can be reduced by giving tPA treatment, the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain, to the patient. If given intravenously within the first three hours of the start of a stroke, or injected directly into the brain within six hours, tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes. The analysis showed that delay kept many patients away from receiving tPA.
"Efforts to speed up patients’ arrival at the hospital are absolutely crucial. We have very effective treatments; we just need to get patients to the hospital as fast as possible," said Lewis Morgenstern, professor of neurology, emergency medicine and neurosurgery at the U-M Medical School. Morgenstern added a person experiencing a stroke really needed to get to a hospital within two hours of the start of a stroke to have the best chance of receiving tPA.
ANI
WASHINGTON: A new study has found that the first three hours at the start of a stroke are crucial for the treatment of the victim.
The study found that rhe damage caused by stroke can be reduced by giving tPA treatment, the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain, to the patient. If given intravenously within the first three hours of the start of a stroke, or injected directly into the brain within six hours, tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes. The analysis showed that delay kept many patients away from receiving tPA.
"Efforts to speed up patients’ arrival at the hospital are absolutely crucial. We have very effective treatments; we just need to get patients to the hospital as fast as possible," said Lewis Morgenstern, professor of neurology, emergency medicine and neurosurgery at the U-M Medical School. Morgenstern added a person experiencing a stroke really needed to get to a hospital within two hours of the start of a stroke to have the best chance of receiving tPA.
First 3 hours after stroke crucial
First 3 hours after stroke crucial
ANI
WASHINGTON: A new study has found that the first three hours at the start of a stroke are crucial for the treatment of the victim.
The study found that rhe damage caused by stroke can be reduced by giving tPA treatment, the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain, to the patient. If given intravenously within the first three hours of the start of a stroke, or injected directly into the brain within six hours, tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes. The analysis showed that delay kept many patients away from receiving tPA.
"Efforts to speed up patients’ arrival at the hospital are absolutely crucial. We have very effective treatments; we just need to get patients to the hospital as fast as possible," said Lewis Morgenstern, professor of neurology, emergency medicine and neurosurgery at the U-M Medical School. Morgenstern added a person experiencing a stroke really needed to get to a hospital within two hours of the start of a stroke to have the best chance of receiving tPA.
ANI
WASHINGTON: A new study has found that the first three hours at the start of a stroke are crucial for the treatment of the victim.
The study found that rhe damage caused by stroke can be reduced by giving tPA treatment, the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain, to the patient. If given intravenously within the first three hours of the start of a stroke, or injected directly into the brain within six hours, tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes. The analysis showed that delay kept many patients away from receiving tPA.
"Efforts to speed up patients’ arrival at the hospital are absolutely crucial. We have very effective treatments; we just need to get patients to the hospital as fast as possible," said Lewis Morgenstern, professor of neurology, emergency medicine and neurosurgery at the U-M Medical School. Morgenstern added a person experiencing a stroke really needed to get to a hospital within two hours of the start of a stroke to have the best chance of receiving tPA.
Sobha begins building first residential project in Dubai
Sobha begins building first residential project in Dubai
Staff Report GULF NEWS Published: February 21, 2008, 01:15
Dubai: The Sobha Group has broken ground on its first residential development in Dubai. Building work started on Sobha Daffodil at Jumeirah Village on January 28.
Sobha Daffodil is a 178-apartment development located in Jumeirah Village.
The four and ten-storey complex offers a contemporary living environment with rooftop garden, large temperature controlled swimming pool and fully equipped Club House.
Apartment units range from studios to three-bedroom apartments.
Staff Report GULF NEWS Published: February 21, 2008, 01:15
Dubai: The Sobha Group has broken ground on its first residential development in Dubai. Building work started on Sobha Daffodil at Jumeirah Village on January 28.
Sobha Daffodil is a 178-apartment development located in Jumeirah Village.
The four and ten-storey complex offers a contemporary living environment with rooftop garden, large temperature controlled swimming pool and fully equipped Club House.
Apartment units range from studios to three-bedroom apartments.
Music therapy for stroke patients
Music therapy for stroke patients
REUTERS
LONDON: A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.
And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the experts said. Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.
"These findings demonstrate for the first time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood," the experts, who were led by a psychologist from University of Helsinki, wrote. Strokes are one of the worldwide leading causes of death and permanent disability.
REUTERS
LONDON: A little Beethoven is good for the brain, according to a Finnish study published on Wednesday showing that music helps people recover more quickly from strokes.
And patients who listened to a few hours of music each day soon after a stroke also improved their verbal memory and were in a better mood compared to patients who did not listen to music or used audio books, the experts said. Music therapy has long been used in a range of treatments but the study published in the journal Brain is the first to show the effect in people, they added.
"These findings demonstrate for the first time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood," the experts, who were led by a psychologist from University of Helsinki, wrote. Strokes are one of the worldwide leading causes of death and permanent disability.
Kids become goal oriented at 3
Kids become goal oriented at 3
ANI
WASHINGTON: Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that kids exhibit goal-oriented behaviour as early as the age of 3.
The study found that by around the age of 3, children appear to shape their behaviour in response to the outcomes they've come to expect.
Anticipated outcomes that kids value, move them to act more than outcomes that they don't value – a hallmark of emerging autonomy.
For the study, the researchers trained 72 kids between 18 months and 4 years old, divided into three 10-month age bands (averaging 1.3 to 2.2 years, 2.3 to 3.075 years, and 3.08 to 4 years) to touch a red or green butterfly icon on a touch-screen display to see different cartoon video clips.
The children came to link one butterfly with one cartoon sequence and the other butterfly with another.
The researchers then devalued one of the outcomes by showing that sequence repeatedly, until the children became bored with it.
As a result, the less-viewed cartoon clips became, by contrast, more interesting and valuable.
The researchers then re-tested the kids, who should now have associated one butterfly with a valued cartoon and the other butterfly with a less-valued cartoon.
They found that relative to the younger children, those who were 32 months (nearly 3 years) and older touched the butterfly for the less-valued cartoon significantly less often than they touched the butterfly for the more novel cartoon.
During that test, the cartoons were not actually presented; the children had to rely on their memories of which butterfly icon produced which cartoon.
The study therefore showed that the actions of the older children behaviour depended on the current values of the outcomes, whereas the actions of the younger children did not.
Ulrike Klossek, PhD, co-author of the study, pointed out that although all the children were sensitive to changes in outcome value and preferred the less-repeated cartoon, only the older children actually acted in a way that, based on their experience, would get them their favourite cartoon.
The researchers said that although adults take goal-directed action for granted, it's not in us from birth but rather emerges in a normal developmental timeline that appears to emerge roughly between the ages of 2 and 3 years.
“One possible interpretation is that the period between 2 and 3 years of age brings about a transition in behavioural control from stimulus-outcome learning to fully intentional goal-directed action," the researchers said.
By age 3, kids can pursue specific goals even if they cannot directly sense those goals, which may now be more abstract.
The older kids are sensitive to how goals change in value, begin to internalise their relationship to and control over events, and start to act in ways that will help them achieve the goals they value most – such as more exciting cartoons.
“This capacity [to internalise one's control over the environment] is an important component of becoming a fully autonomous intentional agent," the researchers said.
The study is published in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
ANI
WASHINGTON: Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that kids exhibit goal-oriented behaviour as early as the age of 3.
The study found that by around the age of 3, children appear to shape their behaviour in response to the outcomes they've come to expect.
Anticipated outcomes that kids value, move them to act more than outcomes that they don't value – a hallmark of emerging autonomy.
For the study, the researchers trained 72 kids between 18 months and 4 years old, divided into three 10-month age bands (averaging 1.3 to 2.2 years, 2.3 to 3.075 years, and 3.08 to 4 years) to touch a red or green butterfly icon on a touch-screen display to see different cartoon video clips.
The children came to link one butterfly with one cartoon sequence and the other butterfly with another.
The researchers then devalued one of the outcomes by showing that sequence repeatedly, until the children became bored with it.
As a result, the less-viewed cartoon clips became, by contrast, more interesting and valuable.
The researchers then re-tested the kids, who should now have associated one butterfly with a valued cartoon and the other butterfly with a less-valued cartoon.
They found that relative to the younger children, those who were 32 months (nearly 3 years) and older touched the butterfly for the less-valued cartoon significantly less often than they touched the butterfly for the more novel cartoon.
During that test, the cartoons were not actually presented; the children had to rely on their memories of which butterfly icon produced which cartoon.
The study therefore showed that the actions of the older children behaviour depended on the current values of the outcomes, whereas the actions of the younger children did not.
Ulrike Klossek, PhD, co-author of the study, pointed out that although all the children were sensitive to changes in outcome value and preferred the less-repeated cartoon, only the older children actually acted in a way that, based on their experience, would get them their favourite cartoon.
The researchers said that although adults take goal-directed action for granted, it's not in us from birth but rather emerges in a normal developmental timeline that appears to emerge roughly between the ages of 2 and 3 years.
“One possible interpretation is that the period between 2 and 3 years of age brings about a transition in behavioural control from stimulus-outcome learning to fully intentional goal-directed action," the researchers said.
By age 3, kids can pursue specific goals even if they cannot directly sense those goals, which may now be more abstract.
The older kids are sensitive to how goals change in value, begin to internalise their relationship to and control over events, and start to act in ways that will help them achieve the goals they value most – such as more exciting cartoons.
“This capacity [to internalise one's control over the environment] is an important component of becoming a fully autonomous intentional agent," the researchers said.
The study is published in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Experts create mother of all lasers
Experts create mother of all lasers
IANS
NEW YORK: Scientists have developed the mother of all laser beams — one that has focussed power equal to all the sunlight heading Earth's way.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently created the record-setting beam, which measures 20 billion trillion watts per square centimetre, Sciencedaily reported. "I don't know of another place in the universe that would have this intensity of light. We believe this is a record," said Karl Krushelnick, who was part of the team that created the laser.
The laser contains 300 terawatts of power, or 300 times the capacity of the entire US electricity grid, and its power is concentrated in a 1.3-micron speck — about one-100th the diameter of a human hair.
Of course, a beam like this cannot be sustained for long. This one lasted just 30 femtoseconds. A femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second, the researchers said in a paper published in the online edition of the journal Optics Express.
Such intense beams could help scientists develop better proton and electron beams for radiation treatment of cancer, among other applications. The laser can produce this intense beam once every 10 seconds, whereas other powerful lasers can take an hour to recharge.
The team managed to get such high power by putting a moderate amount of energy into a very, very short time period. In addition to medical uses, intense laser beams like these could help researchers explore new frontiers in science.
IANS
NEW YORK: Scientists have developed the mother of all laser beams — one that has focussed power equal to all the sunlight heading Earth's way.
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently created the record-setting beam, which measures 20 billion trillion watts per square centimetre, Sciencedaily reported. "I don't know of another place in the universe that would have this intensity of light. We believe this is a record," said Karl Krushelnick, who was part of the team that created the laser.
The laser contains 300 terawatts of power, or 300 times the capacity of the entire US electricity grid, and its power is concentrated in a 1.3-micron speck — about one-100th the diameter of a human hair.
Of course, a beam like this cannot be sustained for long. This one lasted just 30 femtoseconds. A femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second, the researchers said in a paper published in the online edition of the journal Optics Express.
Such intense beams could help scientists develop better proton and electron beams for radiation treatment of cancer, among other applications. The laser can produce this intense beam once every 10 seconds, whereas other powerful lasers can take an hour to recharge.
The team managed to get such high power by putting a moderate amount of energy into a very, very short time period. In addition to medical uses, intense laser beams like these could help researchers explore new frontiers in science.
Women memorise better than men
Women memorise better than men
ANI
WASHINGTON: Women are better than men at memorising things in certain respects, according to a new study.
Psychologists Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman in Stockholm, Sweden, have discovered that women can excel in verbal episodic memory tasks like remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events.
The researchers have also found that men can outperform women in remembering symbolic, non-linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing. According to them, this result indicates that a man is more likely to remember his way out of the woods than a woman.
However, their study also suggests that women are more likely than men to remember the location of car keys, which involves both verbal and visuospatial processing.
“In addition, women are better than men at remembering faces, especially of females, and the reason seems to be that women allocate more attention to female than to male faces,” say Herlitz and Rehnman.
In the course of the study, three groups of participants were presented with black and white pictures of hairless, androgynous faces. The researchers described the pictures as that of ‘female faces’, ‘male faces’ or just ‘faces’.
It was found that women were able to remember the androgynous faces presented as female more accurately than the androgynous faces presented as male.
The researchers also discovered that women performed better than men in tasks requiring little to no verbal processing, such as recognition of familiar odours. They said that the female episodic memory advantage increased when women utilized verbal abilities, while it decreased when visuospatial abilities were required.
The researcher duo believes that environmental factors, such as education, also seem to influence the magnitude of these sex differences. They concede that the probability of genetically-based differences between the quality of male and female memory is still unknown.
The findings appear in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science .
ANI
WASHINGTON: Women are better than men at memorising things in certain respects, according to a new study.
Psychologists Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman in Stockholm, Sweden, have discovered that women can excel in verbal episodic memory tasks like remembering words, objects, pictures or everyday events.
The researchers have also found that men can outperform women in remembering symbolic, non-linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing. According to them, this result indicates that a man is more likely to remember his way out of the woods than a woman.
However, their study also suggests that women are more likely than men to remember the location of car keys, which involves both verbal and visuospatial processing.
“In addition, women are better than men at remembering faces, especially of females, and the reason seems to be that women allocate more attention to female than to male faces,” say Herlitz and Rehnman.
In the course of the study, three groups of participants were presented with black and white pictures of hairless, androgynous faces. The researchers described the pictures as that of ‘female faces’, ‘male faces’ or just ‘faces’.
It was found that women were able to remember the androgynous faces presented as female more accurately than the androgynous faces presented as male.
The researchers also discovered that women performed better than men in tasks requiring little to no verbal processing, such as recognition of familiar odours. They said that the female episodic memory advantage increased when women utilized verbal abilities, while it decreased when visuospatial abilities were required.
The researcher duo believes that environmental factors, such as education, also seem to influence the magnitude of these sex differences. They concede that the probability of genetically-based differences between the quality of male and female memory is still unknown.
The findings appear in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science .
New way to tell age through eyes
New way to tell age through eyes
REUTERS
LONDON: A new way to decipher a person's age by looking into the lens of the eye could help forensic scientists identify bodies, Danish researchers said on Tuesday.
Their new technique uses radiocarbon dating to measure special proteins known as lens crystallines that develop around birth and remain unchanged for the rest of our lives. They are the only part of the body apart from teeth that do so. The researchers correctly identified the ages of 13 people within one-and-a-half years by analyzing a carbon isotope called carbon 14 trapped inside the crystallines, they reported in the journal PLoS One.
"In forensics we are always looking for ways to identify deceased persons," said Niels Lynnerup, a forensic scientist at the University of Copenhagen, who led the study. "We found with this method you can determine almost to the year, the year of birth."
Scientists have long used radiocarbon to date fossils or bones. More recently, researchers have applied the technique to tooth enamel to tell the age of people who have recently died, Lynnerup said. The technique employed in the lens analysis is based on the sudden increase in atmospheric carbon 14 beginning in the 1950s until a test ban a few years later when the Soviet Union and the United States began testing nuclear bombs.
These experiments more than doubled the amount of atmospheric carbon 14, which gradually began to decline toward normal levels after the ban, Lynnerup said.
Scientists have recorded these levels annually, giving the Danish team a benchmark to date a person's birth by matching the corresponding year in which the carbon 14 atmospheric content was as high as in the person's eye lens. The researchers also said their technique could one day help scientists in other fields date proteins and other molecules in the body to determine when cancer tissues or cells develop.
REUTERS
LONDON: A new way to decipher a person's age by looking into the lens of the eye could help forensic scientists identify bodies, Danish researchers said on Tuesday.
Their new technique uses radiocarbon dating to measure special proteins known as lens crystallines that develop around birth and remain unchanged for the rest of our lives. They are the only part of the body apart from teeth that do so. The researchers correctly identified the ages of 13 people within one-and-a-half years by analyzing a carbon isotope called carbon 14 trapped inside the crystallines, they reported in the journal PLoS One.
"In forensics we are always looking for ways to identify deceased persons," said Niels Lynnerup, a forensic scientist at the University of Copenhagen, who led the study. "We found with this method you can determine almost to the year, the year of birth."
Scientists have long used radiocarbon to date fossils or bones. More recently, researchers have applied the technique to tooth enamel to tell the age of people who have recently died, Lynnerup said. The technique employed in the lens analysis is based on the sudden increase in atmospheric carbon 14 beginning in the 1950s until a test ban a few years later when the Soviet Union and the United States began testing nuclear bombs.
These experiments more than doubled the amount of atmospheric carbon 14, which gradually began to decline toward normal levels after the ban, Lynnerup said.
Scientists have recorded these levels annually, giving the Danish team a benchmark to date a person's birth by matching the corresponding year in which the carbon 14 atmospheric content was as high as in the person's eye lens. The researchers also said their technique could one day help scientists in other fields date proteins and other molecules in the body to determine when cancer tissues or cells develop.
Anger slows down healing process
Anger slows down healing process
AFP
PARIS: The adage that laughter is the best medicine has been backed by an unusual investigation which says that people who seethe with anger take longer to recover from injury.
Previous studies have linked ill tempered behaviour, whether brow-beating or road rage, with higher incidence of coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke, especially among men.
But the new study, published on Wednesday in the British journal Brain, Behaviour, Immunity, is the first controlled experiment that directly measures the impact of ire on the healing process.
Researchers at the University of Ohio inflicted minor burns on the forearms of 98 volunteers who were then monitored over eight days to see how quickly the skin repaired itself.
The subjects had each taken a battery of psychological tests beforehand to assess how easily and often they felt and expressed wrath, and were then ranked on an "anger scale".
Persons who took certain pharmaceutical drugs, smoked cigarettes or drank excessive quantities of caffeine-laden coffee were excluded, along with individuals who were extremely over- or under-weight.
The results were startlingly clear: individuals who had trouble controlling expressions of anger were four times likelier to need more than four days for their wounds to heal, compared with counterparts who could master their anger.
But the researchers were also surprised to find that anger has its nuances, too.
Subjects described as showing "anger out" (regular outbursts of aggression or hostility) or "anger in" (repressed rage) healed almost as quickly as individuals who ranked low on all anger scales.
Only those who tried but failed to hold in their feelings of upset and distemper took longer to heal.
This same group also showed a higher secretion of the stress hormone cortisol, which could at least partly explain the difference in healing time, the study noted.
Earlier research has shown a clear link between cortisol and anger. Hostile men who yelled at spouses during marital spats secreted more of the endocrine modulator within minutes, as did teachers experiencing high levels of stress in the classroom.
High levels of cortisol appears to decrease the production at the point of injury of two cytokines crucial to the repair process, suggests the study.
Cytokines are proteins released by immune-system cells. They act as signallers to generate a wider immune response. "The ability to regulate the expression of one’s anger has a clinically relevant impact on wound healing," concludes lead author Jean-Philippe Gouin, a psychologist at the University of Ohio. "Those who has low anger control secreted more cortisol following exposition to this stressor. This individual difference in the response to the blistering was related to longer healing," Gouin added.
Anger-control therapy could help patients recovering from surgery or injury heal more quickly, the paper says.
AFP
PARIS: The adage that laughter is the best medicine has been backed by an unusual investigation which says that people who seethe with anger take longer to recover from injury.
Previous studies have linked ill tempered behaviour, whether brow-beating or road rage, with higher incidence of coronary heart disease, hypertension and stroke, especially among men.
But the new study, published on Wednesday in the British journal Brain, Behaviour, Immunity, is the first controlled experiment that directly measures the impact of ire on the healing process.
Researchers at the University of Ohio inflicted minor burns on the forearms of 98 volunteers who were then monitored over eight days to see how quickly the skin repaired itself.
The subjects had each taken a battery of psychological tests beforehand to assess how easily and often they felt and expressed wrath, and were then ranked on an "anger scale".
Persons who took certain pharmaceutical drugs, smoked cigarettes or drank excessive quantities of caffeine-laden coffee were excluded, along with individuals who were extremely over- or under-weight.
The results were startlingly clear: individuals who had trouble controlling expressions of anger were four times likelier to need more than four days for their wounds to heal, compared with counterparts who could master their anger.
But the researchers were also surprised to find that anger has its nuances, too.
Subjects described as showing "anger out" (regular outbursts of aggression or hostility) or "anger in" (repressed rage) healed almost as quickly as individuals who ranked low on all anger scales.
Only those who tried but failed to hold in their feelings of upset and distemper took longer to heal.
This same group also showed a higher secretion of the stress hormone cortisol, which could at least partly explain the difference in healing time, the study noted.
Earlier research has shown a clear link between cortisol and anger. Hostile men who yelled at spouses during marital spats secreted more of the endocrine modulator within minutes, as did teachers experiencing high levels of stress in the classroom.
High levels of cortisol appears to decrease the production at the point of injury of two cytokines crucial to the repair process, suggests the study.
Cytokines are proteins released by immune-system cells. They act as signallers to generate a wider immune response. "The ability to regulate the expression of one’s anger has a clinically relevant impact on wound healing," concludes lead author Jean-Philippe Gouin, a psychologist at the University of Ohio. "Those who has low anger control secreted more cortisol following exposition to this stressor. This individual difference in the response to the blistering was related to longer healing," Gouin added.
Anger-control therapy could help patients recovering from surgery or injury heal more quickly, the paper says.
Air Arabia's Kozhikode service to start on Tuesday
Air Arabia's Kozhikode service to start on Tuesday
Staff Report GULF NEWS Published: February 21, 2008, 01:15
Dubai: Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier in the Middle East and North Africa, yesterday said that it will launch service to the South Indian city of Kozhikode beginning February 26.
Flights will initially operate three times per week between Kozhikode, the third largest city in Kerala, and Air Arabia's hub in Sharjah. By the end of May the service will be expanded to six per week.
Air Arabia is the first airline in the Middle East to commence operations to Kozhikode.
Air Arabia's tenth destination in India, Kozhikode is also the carrier's third destination in Kerala.
In the state, the carrier currently provides daily service to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
Air Arabia now serves 38 destinations in the Middle East, North Africa, South and Central Asia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We are extremely pleased to announce the launch of service to our newest destination in India, demonstrating once again Air Arabia's unmatched commitment to the Subcontinent," said A.K. Nizar, head of commercial department for Air Arabia.
"Serving the greatest number of destinations in India of any regional airline, Air Arabia provides timely, efficient and cost-effective travel solutions for passengers travelling to and from the world's second most-populous nation.
"The addition of Kozh-ikode to our growing destination network is particularly significant for the Indian expatriate population in the UAE and the wider Gulf region, which includes an especially large percentage of non-resident Indians who call Kerala home.
"We are confident that the launch of Air Arabia service to Kozhikode will prove highly popular with both residents and the increasing number of visitors who seek to explore this historic city on the Arabian Sea," Nizar said.
Sensex may hit 29,000 by June 2009
Sensex may hit 29,000 by June 2009
TNN
Like Mumbaikars caught unawares by the recent spell of cold wave, investors have been struggling to adapt to the recurring bouts of volatility on the bourses over the last one month. But the weathermen of Dalal Street are expecting sunny skies by the end of this calendar year. Five of the six participants at the ET Round Table see the bellwether BSE Sensex between 20-22,000 then.
The panelists included Narayan Ramachandran, MD & Country Head, Morgan Stanley; Pankaj Vaish, MD & Head equities and fixed income, Lehman Brothers; Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, MD & CEO, Tata Asset Management; Gaurang Shah, MD, Kotak Life; Rashesh Shah, CEO, Edelweiss Capital; and Motilal Oswal, Chairman, Motilal Oswal Securities. The session was moderated by Ramesh Damani, director, Ramesh S Damani Finance.
Only one participant, Ved Prakash Chaturvedi felt that the market was likely to be around 18,000 levels on December 31, 2008. “But that does not mean that mutual fund investors will not make money,” he added.
Mr Ramachandran expects a modest performance by the Sensex in the current calendar, but expects the benchmark to touch 29,000 by June next year. Slowing corporate earnings is one factor that most market watchers feel could hold back the market. However, the ET panelists are not too worried about it.
According to Mr Ramachandran and Mr Vaish, interest rates are showing signs of slackening and that could provide a support to corporate earnings over the next couple of years. “These (recent outflow of FII money) are not big things...they are just minor....India has attracted a lot of money and most of it came because of the fact that India is an attractive destination for money,” said Mr Ramachandran. “The real thing that will decide is where fundamentals are going. I feel that they (fundamentals) are solid,” he added.
Mr Shah felt that issue was not about whether earnings will grow 18% or 12%, but about the rate at which the Indian GDP would grow. ”If you expect corporate earnings growth of 11-12%, it means we are looking at a GDP growth of 4.5 to 5 to 6%. But if you expect GDP growth rate to be around 8%, give or take 200 basis points, then a 17-18% corporate earnings growth is not difficult. And I haven’t seen anybody—Indian or global—question India’s 8% GDP growth rate,” Mr Shah said.
While foreign funds have pulling out over the last few months, domestic liquidity has been a strong pillar of support and this trend is expected to continue, feels Mr Chaturvedi. “The kind of money we have seen that has flown in from the domestic investors in the last one year is certainly heartening,” said Mr Chaturvedi. “My guess is that if you combine insurance and mutual funds and other (domestic) sources of inflows into the market, close to $2 billion of fresh money is coming into the market every month,” he added.
Mr Gaurang Shah sees more investors tapping the stock market through Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), mainly because of the handsome returns these products have delivered in the last four years of the Bull Run.
He excepts inflows of roughly $5 billion through various insurance schemes during the current quarter, a significant portion of which will be accounted for by ULIPs.
“I think relative disadvantage of insurance as a instrument vis-à-vis other fixed interest products has come down, which is also because real interest rates have reduced across the world over the last 10 years. So I see money continuing to come in,” he said.
TNN
Like Mumbaikars caught unawares by the recent spell of cold wave, investors have been struggling to adapt to the recurring bouts of volatility on the bourses over the last one month. But the weathermen of Dalal Street are expecting sunny skies by the end of this calendar year. Five of the six participants at the ET Round Table see the bellwether BSE Sensex between 20-22,000 then.
The panelists included Narayan Ramachandran, MD & Country Head, Morgan Stanley; Pankaj Vaish, MD & Head equities and fixed income, Lehman Brothers; Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, MD & CEO, Tata Asset Management; Gaurang Shah, MD, Kotak Life; Rashesh Shah, CEO, Edelweiss Capital; and Motilal Oswal, Chairman, Motilal Oswal Securities. The session was moderated by Ramesh Damani, director, Ramesh S Damani Finance.
Only one participant, Ved Prakash Chaturvedi felt that the market was likely to be around 18,000 levels on December 31, 2008. “But that does not mean that mutual fund investors will not make money,” he added.
Mr Ramachandran expects a modest performance by the Sensex in the current calendar, but expects the benchmark to touch 29,000 by June next year. Slowing corporate earnings is one factor that most market watchers feel could hold back the market. However, the ET panelists are not too worried about it.
According to Mr Ramachandran and Mr Vaish, interest rates are showing signs of slackening and that could provide a support to corporate earnings over the next couple of years. “These (recent outflow of FII money) are not big things...they are just minor....India has attracted a lot of money and most of it came because of the fact that India is an attractive destination for money,” said Mr Ramachandran. “The real thing that will decide is where fundamentals are going. I feel that they (fundamentals) are solid,” he added.
Mr Shah felt that issue was not about whether earnings will grow 18% or 12%, but about the rate at which the Indian GDP would grow. ”If you expect corporate earnings growth of 11-12%, it means we are looking at a GDP growth of 4.5 to 5 to 6%. But if you expect GDP growth rate to be around 8%, give or take 200 basis points, then a 17-18% corporate earnings growth is not difficult. And I haven’t seen anybody—Indian or global—question India’s 8% GDP growth rate,” Mr Shah said.
While foreign funds have pulling out over the last few months, domestic liquidity has been a strong pillar of support and this trend is expected to continue, feels Mr Chaturvedi. “The kind of money we have seen that has flown in from the domestic investors in the last one year is certainly heartening,” said Mr Chaturvedi. “My guess is that if you combine insurance and mutual funds and other (domestic) sources of inflows into the market, close to $2 billion of fresh money is coming into the market every month,” he added.
Mr Gaurang Shah sees more investors tapping the stock market through Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs), mainly because of the handsome returns these products have delivered in the last four years of the Bull Run.
He excepts inflows of roughly $5 billion through various insurance schemes during the current quarter, a significant portion of which will be accounted for by ULIPs.
“I think relative disadvantage of insurance as a instrument vis-à-vis other fixed interest products has come down, which is also because real interest rates have reduced across the world over the last 10 years. So I see money continuing to come in,” he said.
Eight Indian funds in world's top-10 infrastructure list
Eight Indian funds in world's top-10 infrastructure list
REUTERS
MUMBAI: Eight Indian equity funds featured in the world's top 10 infrastructure funds in 2007, helped by local shares recording their best gains in four years, data from fund tracker Lipper showed. Five of them, led by ICICI Prudential Infrastructure Fund, grabbed the top five ranks in the world among 58 such funds tracked by Lipper globally.
The Indian funds rose an average 79.9 per cent, outperforming their global peers that showed an average return of 18.7 per cent. "Infrastructure was one of the dominant themes of 2007 in India, because of which local funds outperformed the general market and were also able to beat their global peers," Dhruva Raj Chatterji, research analyst with Lipper, said.
Infrastructure funds were the best performers among Indian funds for two years in a row, with four of the top 10 funds notching gains of 90 percent in 2007, compared with a 55 percent plus jump by six of the top 10 in 2006.
The main BSE index rose 47 per cent in 2007. Investors are betting on an estimated $500 billion investment expected over the next four to five years to strengthen the country's transport and power backbone, triggering a spurt in infrastructure fund launches.
At least nine of India's 33 fund firms offered infrastructure related equity funds in 2007 and two so far this year, taking the total number of such funds to about 18 in the Rs 5.5 trillion fund industry, data from fund tracker ICRA showed.
However, recent gains have boosted valuations, Chatterji said, although the Indian Infrastructure theme is expected to continue to garner interest. Shares in Larsen & Toubro Ltd and power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd rose about 189 per cent and 125 per cent respectively last year as compared with the 47 percent gain of India's benchmark index.
But the two stocks, even after dipping between 17 per cent and 19 per cent this year in a widespread market rout, still trade at 48 and 32 times their forecast earnings, far higher than the main index's 17.5, as reported by the media.
REUTERS
MUMBAI: Eight Indian equity funds featured in the world's top 10 infrastructure funds in 2007, helped by local shares recording their best gains in four years, data from fund tracker Lipper showed. Five of them, led by ICICI Prudential Infrastructure Fund, grabbed the top five ranks in the world among 58 such funds tracked by Lipper globally.
The Indian funds rose an average 79.9 per cent, outperforming their global peers that showed an average return of 18.7 per cent. "Infrastructure was one of the dominant themes of 2007 in India, because of which local funds outperformed the general market and were also able to beat their global peers," Dhruva Raj Chatterji, research analyst with Lipper, said.
Infrastructure funds were the best performers among Indian funds for two years in a row, with four of the top 10 funds notching gains of 90 percent in 2007, compared with a 55 percent plus jump by six of the top 10 in 2006.
The main BSE index rose 47 per cent in 2007. Investors are betting on an estimated $500 billion investment expected over the next four to five years to strengthen the country's transport and power backbone, triggering a spurt in infrastructure fund launches.
At least nine of India's 33 fund firms offered infrastructure related equity funds in 2007 and two so far this year, taking the total number of such funds to about 18 in the Rs 5.5 trillion fund industry, data from fund tracker ICRA showed.
However, recent gains have boosted valuations, Chatterji said, although the Indian Infrastructure theme is expected to continue to garner interest. Shares in Larsen & Toubro Ltd and power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd rose about 189 per cent and 125 per cent respectively last year as compared with the 47 percent gain of India's benchmark index.
But the two stocks, even after dipping between 17 per cent and 19 per cent this year in a widespread market rout, still trade at 48 and 32 times their forecast earnings, far higher than the main index's 17.5, as reported by the media.
Thursday, 21 February 2008
10 golden rules to become rich!
10 golden rules to become rich!
February 21, 2008 11:35 IST
Once you decide to put your money to work to build long-term wealth, you have to decide, not whether to take risk, but what kind of risk you wish to take. Here are 10 investing rules that can make you rich:
1. There's no escaping risk
Once you decide to put your money to work to build long-term wealth, you have to decide, not whether to take risk, but what kind of risk you wish to take.
Yes, money in a savings account is dollar-safe, but those safe dollars are apt to be substantially eroded by inflation, a risk that almost guarantees you will fail to reach your wealth goals.
And yes, money in the stock market is very risky over the short-term, but, if well-diversified, should provide remarkable growth with a high degree of consistency over the long term.
2. Buy right and hold tight
The most critical decision you face is arriving at the proper allocation of assets in your investment portfolio -- stocks for growth of capital and growth of income, bonds for conservation of capital and current income.
Once you get your balance right, then just hold tight, no matter how high a greedy stock market flies, nor how low a frightened market plunges. Change the allocation only as your investment profile changes. Begin by considering a 50/50 stock/bond-cash balance, then raise the stock allocation if:
You have many years remaining to accumulate wealth.
The amount of capital you have at stake is modest.
You don't have much need for current income from your investments.
You have the courage to ride out the stock market booms and busts with reasonable equanimity.
As these factors are reversed, reduce the 50 per cent stock allocation accordingly.
3. Time is your friend, impulse your enemy
Think long term, and don't allow transitory changes in stock prices to alter your investment program. There is a lot of noise in the daily volatility of the stock market, which too often is 'a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'.
Stocks may remain overvalued, or undervalued, for years. Realize that one of the greatest sins of investing is to be captured by the siren song of the market, luring you into buying stocks when they are soaring and selling when they are plunging.
Impulse is your enemy. Why? Because market timing is impossible. Even if you turn out to be right when you sold stocks just before a decline (a rare occurrence!), where on earth would you ever get the insight that tells you the right time to get back in? One correct decision is tough enough. Two correct decisions are nigh on impossible.
Time is your friend. If, over the next 25 years, stocks produce a 10% return and a savings account produces a 5% return, $10,000 would grow to $108,000 in stocks vs. $34,000 in savings. (After 3% inflation, $54,000 vs $16,000). Give yourself all the time you can.
4. Realistic expectations: the bagel and the doughnut
These two different kinds of baked goods symbolize the two distinctively different elements of stock market returns.
It is hardly farfetched to consider that investment return -- dividend yields and earnings growth -- is the bagel of the stock market, for the investment return on stocks reflects their underlying character: nutritious, crusty and hard-boiled.
By the same token, speculative return -- wrought by any change in the price that investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings -- is the spongy doughnut of the market, reflecting changing public opinion about stock valuations, from the soft sweetness of optimism to the acid sourness of pessimism.
The substantive bagel-like economics of investing are almost inevitably productive, but the flaky, doughnut-like emotions of investors are anything but steady -- sometimes productive, sometimes counterproductive.
In the long run, it is investment return that rules the day. In the past 40 years, the speculative return on US stocks has been zero, with the annual investment return of 11.2% precisely equal to the stock market's total return of 11.2% per year.
But in the first 20 of those years, investors were sour on the economy's prospects, and a tumbling price-earnings ratio provided a speculative return of minus 4.6% per year, reducing the nutritious annual investment return of 12.1% to a market return of just 7.5%. From 1981 to 2001, however, the outlook sweetened, and a soaring P/E ratio produced a sugary 5% speculative boost to the investment return of 10.3%.
Result: The market return leaped to 15.3% -- double the return of the prior two decades.
The lesson: Enjoy the bagel's healthy nutrients, and don't count on the doughnut's sweetness to enhance them.
5. Why look for the needle in the haystack? Buy the haystack!
Experience confirms that buying the right stocks, betting on the right investment style, and picking the right money manager -- in each case, in advance -- is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Investing in equities entails four risks: stock risk, style risk, manager risk, and market risk. The first three of these risks can easily be eliminated, simply by owning the entire stock market -- owning the haystack, as it were -- and holding it forever.
Owning the entire stock market is the ultimate diversifier. If you can't find the needle, buy the haystack.
6. Minimize the croupier's take
The resemblance of the stock market to the casino is not far-fetched. Yes, the stock market is a positive-sum game and the gambling casino is a zero-sum game . . . but only before the costs of playing each game are deducted. After the heavy costs of financial intermediaries (commissions, management fees, taxes, etc.) are deducted, beating the stock market is inevitably a loser's game. Just as, after the croupiers' wide rake descends, beating the casino is inevitably a loser's game. All investors as a group must earn the market's return before costs, and lose to the market after costs, and by the exact amount of those costs.
Your greatest chance of earning the market's return, therefore, is to reduce the croupiers' take to the bare-bones minimum. When you read about stock market returns, realize that the financial markets are not for sale, except at a high price.
The difference is crucial. If the market's return is 10% before costs, and intermediation costs are approximately 2%, then investors earn 8%. Compounded over 50 years, 8% takes $10,000 to $469,000. But at 10%, the final value leaps to $1,170,000 -- nearly three times as much . . . just by eliminating the croupier's take.
7. Beware of fighting the last war
Too many investors -- individuals and institutions alike -- are constantly making investment decisions based on the lessons of the recent, or even the extended, past. They seek technology stocks after they have emerged victorious from the last war; they worry about inflation after it becomes the accepted bogeyman, they buy bonds after the stock market has plunged.
You should not ignore the past, but neither should you assume that a particular cyclical trend will last forever. None does. Just because some investors insist on 'fighting the last war,' you don't need to do so yourself. It doesn't work for very long.
8. Sir Isaac Newton's revenge on Wall Street -- return to the mean
Through all history, investments have been subject to a sort of law of gravity: What goes up must go down, and, oddly enough, what goes down must go up. Not always of course (companies that die rarely live again), and not necessarily in the absolute sense, but relative to the overall market norm.
For example, stock market returns that substantially exceed the investment returns generated by earnings and dividends during one period tend to revert and fall well short of that norm during the next period. Like a pendulum, stock prices swing far above their underlying values, only to swing back to fair value and then far below it.
Another example: From the start of 1997 through March 2000, Nasdaq stocks (+230%) soared past NYSE-listed stocks (+20%), only to come to a screeching halt. During the subsequent year, Nasdaq stocks lost 67% of their value, while NYSE stocks lost just 7%, reverting to the original market value relationship (about one to five) between the so-called 'new economy' and the 'old economy.'
Reversion to the mean is found everywhere in the financial jungle, for the mean is a powerful magnet that, in the long run, finally draws everything back to it.
9. The hedgehog bests the fox
The Greek philosopher Archilochus tells us, 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one great thing.' The fox -- artful, sly, and astute -- represents the financial institution that knows many things about complex markets and sophisticated marketing.
The hedgehog -- whose sharp spines give it almost impregnable armour when it curls into a ball -- is the financial institution that knows only one great thing: long-term investment success is based on simplicity.
The wily foxes of the financial world justify their existence by propagating the notion that an investor can survive only with the benefit of their artful knowledge and expertise. Such assistance, alas, does not come cheap, and the costs it entails tend to consume more value-added performance than even the most cunning of foxes can provide.
Result: The annual returns earned for investors by financial intermediaries such as mutual funds have averaged less than 80% of the stock market's annual return.
The hedgehog, on the other hand, knows that the truly great investment strategy succeeds, not because of its complexity or cleverness, but because of its simplicity and low cost. The hedgehog diversifies broadly, buys and holds, and keeps expenses to the bare-bones minimum.
The ultimate hedgehog: The all-market index fund, operated at minimal cost and with minimal portfolio turnover, virtually guarantees nearly 100% of the market's return to the investor.
In the field of investment management, foxes come and go, but hedgehogs are forever.
10. Stay the course: the secret of investing is that there is no secret
When you consider these previous nine rules, realize that they are about neither magic and legerdemain, nor about forecasting the unforecastable, nor about betting at long and ultimately unsurmountable odds, nor about learning some great secret of successful investing.
In fact, there is no great secret, only the majesty of simplicity. These rules are about elementary arithmetic, about fundamental and unarguable principles, and about that most uncommon of all attributes, common sense.
Owning the entire stock market through an index fund -- all the while balancing your portfolio with an appropriate allocation to an all bond market index fund -- with its cost-efficiency, its tax-efficiency, and its assurance of earning for you the market's return, is by definition a winning strategy.
But if only you follow one final rule for successful investing, perhaps the most important principle of all investment wisdom: Stay the course!
[Excerpt from Investing Rules from the Masters by John C. Bogle, a doyen of the American mutual fund industry who was designated by Fortune magazine as one of US investment industry's four 'Giants of the 20th Century.']
Source:rediff.com
February 21, 2008 11:35 IST
Once you decide to put your money to work to build long-term wealth, you have to decide, not whether to take risk, but what kind of risk you wish to take. Here are 10 investing rules that can make you rich:
1. There's no escaping risk
Once you decide to put your money to work to build long-term wealth, you have to decide, not whether to take risk, but what kind of risk you wish to take.
Yes, money in a savings account is dollar-safe, but those safe dollars are apt to be substantially eroded by inflation, a risk that almost guarantees you will fail to reach your wealth goals.
And yes, money in the stock market is very risky over the short-term, but, if well-diversified, should provide remarkable growth with a high degree of consistency over the long term.
2. Buy right and hold tight
The most critical decision you face is arriving at the proper allocation of assets in your investment portfolio -- stocks for growth of capital and growth of income, bonds for conservation of capital and current income.
Once you get your balance right, then just hold tight, no matter how high a greedy stock market flies, nor how low a frightened market plunges. Change the allocation only as your investment profile changes. Begin by considering a 50/50 stock/bond-cash balance, then raise the stock allocation if:
You have many years remaining to accumulate wealth.
The amount of capital you have at stake is modest.
You don't have much need for current income from your investments.
You have the courage to ride out the stock market booms and busts with reasonable equanimity.
As these factors are reversed, reduce the 50 per cent stock allocation accordingly.
3. Time is your friend, impulse your enemy
Think long term, and don't allow transitory changes in stock prices to alter your investment program. There is a lot of noise in the daily volatility of the stock market, which too often is 'a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'.
Stocks may remain overvalued, or undervalued, for years. Realize that one of the greatest sins of investing is to be captured by the siren song of the market, luring you into buying stocks when they are soaring and selling when they are plunging.
Impulse is your enemy. Why? Because market timing is impossible. Even if you turn out to be right when you sold stocks just before a decline (a rare occurrence!), where on earth would you ever get the insight that tells you the right time to get back in? One correct decision is tough enough. Two correct decisions are nigh on impossible.
Time is your friend. If, over the next 25 years, stocks produce a 10% return and a savings account produces a 5% return, $10,000 would grow to $108,000 in stocks vs. $34,000 in savings. (After 3% inflation, $54,000 vs $16,000). Give yourself all the time you can.
4. Realistic expectations: the bagel and the doughnut
These two different kinds of baked goods symbolize the two distinctively different elements of stock market returns.
It is hardly farfetched to consider that investment return -- dividend yields and earnings growth -- is the bagel of the stock market, for the investment return on stocks reflects their underlying character: nutritious, crusty and hard-boiled.
By the same token, speculative return -- wrought by any change in the price that investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings -- is the spongy doughnut of the market, reflecting changing public opinion about stock valuations, from the soft sweetness of optimism to the acid sourness of pessimism.
The substantive bagel-like economics of investing are almost inevitably productive, but the flaky, doughnut-like emotions of investors are anything but steady -- sometimes productive, sometimes counterproductive.
In the long run, it is investment return that rules the day. In the past 40 years, the speculative return on US stocks has been zero, with the annual investment return of 11.2% precisely equal to the stock market's total return of 11.2% per year.
But in the first 20 of those years, investors were sour on the economy's prospects, and a tumbling price-earnings ratio provided a speculative return of minus 4.6% per year, reducing the nutritious annual investment return of 12.1% to a market return of just 7.5%. From 1981 to 2001, however, the outlook sweetened, and a soaring P/E ratio produced a sugary 5% speculative boost to the investment return of 10.3%.
Result: The market return leaped to 15.3% -- double the return of the prior two decades.
The lesson: Enjoy the bagel's healthy nutrients, and don't count on the doughnut's sweetness to enhance them.
5. Why look for the needle in the haystack? Buy the haystack!
Experience confirms that buying the right stocks, betting on the right investment style, and picking the right money manager -- in each case, in advance -- is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Investing in equities entails four risks: stock risk, style risk, manager risk, and market risk. The first three of these risks can easily be eliminated, simply by owning the entire stock market -- owning the haystack, as it were -- and holding it forever.
Owning the entire stock market is the ultimate diversifier. If you can't find the needle, buy the haystack.
6. Minimize the croupier's take
The resemblance of the stock market to the casino is not far-fetched. Yes, the stock market is a positive-sum game and the gambling casino is a zero-sum game . . . but only before the costs of playing each game are deducted. After the heavy costs of financial intermediaries (commissions, management fees, taxes, etc.) are deducted, beating the stock market is inevitably a loser's game. Just as, after the croupiers' wide rake descends, beating the casino is inevitably a loser's game. All investors as a group must earn the market's return before costs, and lose to the market after costs, and by the exact amount of those costs.
Your greatest chance of earning the market's return, therefore, is to reduce the croupiers' take to the bare-bones minimum. When you read about stock market returns, realize that the financial markets are not for sale, except at a high price.
The difference is crucial. If the market's return is 10% before costs, and intermediation costs are approximately 2%, then investors earn 8%. Compounded over 50 years, 8% takes $10,000 to $469,000. But at 10%, the final value leaps to $1,170,000 -- nearly three times as much . . . just by eliminating the croupier's take.
7. Beware of fighting the last war
Too many investors -- individuals and institutions alike -- are constantly making investment decisions based on the lessons of the recent, or even the extended, past. They seek technology stocks after they have emerged victorious from the last war; they worry about inflation after it becomes the accepted bogeyman, they buy bonds after the stock market has plunged.
You should not ignore the past, but neither should you assume that a particular cyclical trend will last forever. None does. Just because some investors insist on 'fighting the last war,' you don't need to do so yourself. It doesn't work for very long.
8. Sir Isaac Newton's revenge on Wall Street -- return to the mean
Through all history, investments have been subject to a sort of law of gravity: What goes up must go down, and, oddly enough, what goes down must go up. Not always of course (companies that die rarely live again), and not necessarily in the absolute sense, but relative to the overall market norm.
For example, stock market returns that substantially exceed the investment returns generated by earnings and dividends during one period tend to revert and fall well short of that norm during the next period. Like a pendulum, stock prices swing far above their underlying values, only to swing back to fair value and then far below it.
Another example: From the start of 1997 through March 2000, Nasdaq stocks (+230%) soared past NYSE-listed stocks (+20%), only to come to a screeching halt. During the subsequent year, Nasdaq stocks lost 67% of their value, while NYSE stocks lost just 7%, reverting to the original market value relationship (about one to five) between the so-called 'new economy' and the 'old economy.'
Reversion to the mean is found everywhere in the financial jungle, for the mean is a powerful magnet that, in the long run, finally draws everything back to it.
9. The hedgehog bests the fox
The Greek philosopher Archilochus tells us, 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one great thing.' The fox -- artful, sly, and astute -- represents the financial institution that knows many things about complex markets and sophisticated marketing.
The hedgehog -- whose sharp spines give it almost impregnable armour when it curls into a ball -- is the financial institution that knows only one great thing: long-term investment success is based on simplicity.
The wily foxes of the financial world justify their existence by propagating the notion that an investor can survive only with the benefit of their artful knowledge and expertise. Such assistance, alas, does not come cheap, and the costs it entails tend to consume more value-added performance than even the most cunning of foxes can provide.
Result: The annual returns earned for investors by financial intermediaries such as mutual funds have averaged less than 80% of the stock market's annual return.
The hedgehog, on the other hand, knows that the truly great investment strategy succeeds, not because of its complexity or cleverness, but because of its simplicity and low cost. The hedgehog diversifies broadly, buys and holds, and keeps expenses to the bare-bones minimum.
The ultimate hedgehog: The all-market index fund, operated at minimal cost and with minimal portfolio turnover, virtually guarantees nearly 100% of the market's return to the investor.
In the field of investment management, foxes come and go, but hedgehogs are forever.
10. Stay the course: the secret of investing is that there is no secret
When you consider these previous nine rules, realize that they are about neither magic and legerdemain, nor about forecasting the unforecastable, nor about betting at long and ultimately unsurmountable odds, nor about learning some great secret of successful investing.
In fact, there is no great secret, only the majesty of simplicity. These rules are about elementary arithmetic, about fundamental and unarguable principles, and about that most uncommon of all attributes, common sense.
Owning the entire stock market through an index fund -- all the while balancing your portfolio with an appropriate allocation to an all bond market index fund -- with its cost-efficiency, its tax-efficiency, and its assurance of earning for you the market's return, is by definition a winning strategy.
But if only you follow one final rule for successful investing, perhaps the most important principle of all investment wisdom: Stay the course!
[Excerpt from Investing Rules from the Masters by John C. Bogle, a doyen of the American mutual fund industry who was designated by Fortune magazine as one of US investment industry's four 'Giants of the 20th Century.']
Source:rediff.com
What you must do before you abandon your PC
What you must do before you abandon your PC
Jay Dougherty, February 21, 2008
If you've been using a computer for some time and need to abandon it - either because you're leaving a job or moving to another machine - you need to be concerned about security. Simply put, once you're gone, a lot of information can be retrieved about you just by inspecting the digital traces you leave behind.
So before you say goodbye to a PC, follow this list of to-do items to ensure that no one gains information about you that they do not need to know.
The applications on your PC keep a record of almost everything you do. By default, your Web browser probably leaves tracks from a lot of the sites you've visited, stores the user names you use online, the files you've downloaded, and even passwords, if you allow it.
Many business applications also keep track of the documents you've last worked on or edited. "Histories" are useful to those who need quick recall of what they last worked on, but they're anathema to those who require privacy.
There are ways to selectively clear usage history with each of the applications that keep such records. But because it's difficult to remember exactly which applications are keeping a record of how you've used a computer, a better solution is to turn to a tool that specialises in removing traces of every document you've worked on or website you've visited.
Clear History, for instance, removes the history of activity kept by most popular applications. It can clear not only document and Internet history but also can ferret down into more arcane data and registry information, removing any record of your activity.
If the PC you've been using contains sensitive files, it's not enough simply to delete them. Even if you delete a file and subsequently remove it from the recycle bin, a savvy user can reconstruct deleted data and potentially gain access to files that you thought were gone for good.
So to delete sensitive files, you have to turn to something more robust than the delete key. Software-based file shredders fit the bill. Most of these applications work by scrambling the contents of a file using special algorithms.
Your e-mail probably holds plenty of information you'd rather not see fall into the hands of someone who comes along to use a computer after you. So it's critical that you know how to destroy e-mail you do not want others to see.
First, though, that deleting e-mail from a machine that has been connected to a corporate network probably does not actually remove all traces of messages you've revived or sent. Many companies are required by law to keep copies of the e-mail their employees generate, so your best course of action is to plan ahead and never send sensitive information by e-mail from work.
You can delete e-mail messages individually using the Delete key on particular messages. Remember, though, that deleting e-mail messages this way just sends them to the Deleted E-mail folder, where they will need to be deleted again. Holding down the Shift key while deleting messages sends them directly to the recycle bin in Outlook and Outlook Express.
If you have the option to completely wipe out a hard drive before leaving a machine or returning it, take advantage of it. A study by researchers at Britain's Glamorgan University showed that more than half of the used hard drives purchased from eBay contained retrievable personal and financial information.
Reformatting an old hard drive isn't enough, since even a standard reformat can leave the data on a disk vulnerable to retrieval by savvy users.
So you need to look into disk shredding tools before passing on a hard drive that may contain sensitive information. As with file shredders, you'll find plenty of commercial utilities that can accomplish this task, but capable free ones exist as well.
Look to the popular Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net), for instance. This programme runs from a boot disk or drive and proceeds to securely erase any hard drive that it finds on a system.
Jay Dougherty, February 21, 2008
If you've been using a computer for some time and need to abandon it - either because you're leaving a job or moving to another machine - you need to be concerned about security. Simply put, once you're gone, a lot of information can be retrieved about you just by inspecting the digital traces you leave behind.
So before you say goodbye to a PC, follow this list of to-do items to ensure that no one gains information about you that they do not need to know.
The applications on your PC keep a record of almost everything you do. By default, your Web browser probably leaves tracks from a lot of the sites you've visited, stores the user names you use online, the files you've downloaded, and even passwords, if you allow it.
Many business applications also keep track of the documents you've last worked on or edited. "Histories" are useful to those who need quick recall of what they last worked on, but they're anathema to those who require privacy.
There are ways to selectively clear usage history with each of the applications that keep such records. But because it's difficult to remember exactly which applications are keeping a record of how you've used a computer, a better solution is to turn to a tool that specialises in removing traces of every document you've worked on or website you've visited.
Clear History, for instance, removes the history of activity kept by most popular applications. It can clear not only document and Internet history but also can ferret down into more arcane data and registry information, removing any record of your activity.
If the PC you've been using contains sensitive files, it's not enough simply to delete them. Even if you delete a file and subsequently remove it from the recycle bin, a savvy user can reconstruct deleted data and potentially gain access to files that you thought were gone for good.
So to delete sensitive files, you have to turn to something more robust than the delete key. Software-based file shredders fit the bill. Most of these applications work by scrambling the contents of a file using special algorithms.
Your e-mail probably holds plenty of information you'd rather not see fall into the hands of someone who comes along to use a computer after you. So it's critical that you know how to destroy e-mail you do not want others to see.
First, though, that deleting e-mail from a machine that has been connected to a corporate network probably does not actually remove all traces of messages you've revived or sent. Many companies are required by law to keep copies of the e-mail their employees generate, so your best course of action is to plan ahead and never send sensitive information by e-mail from work.
You can delete e-mail messages individually using the Delete key on particular messages. Remember, though, that deleting e-mail messages this way just sends them to the Deleted E-mail folder, where they will need to be deleted again. Holding down the Shift key while deleting messages sends them directly to the recycle bin in Outlook and Outlook Express.
If you have the option to completely wipe out a hard drive before leaving a machine or returning it, take advantage of it. A study by researchers at Britain's Glamorgan University showed that more than half of the used hard drives purchased from eBay contained retrievable personal and financial information.
Reformatting an old hard drive isn't enough, since even a standard reformat can leave the data on a disk vulnerable to retrieval by savvy users.
So you need to look into disk shredding tools before passing on a hard drive that may contain sensitive information. As with file shredders, you'll find plenty of commercial utilities that can accomplish this task, but capable free ones exist as well.
Look to the popular Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net), for instance. This programme runs from a boot disk or drive and proceeds to securely erase any hard drive that it finds on a system.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
