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Manage your Online Professional Presence through LinkedIn

Having an Online profile on a networking site is almost mandatory today for professionals looking for (changing) jobs. Almost every potential employer ensures to check your online presence before short-listing you for the job. What they’re looking for is your online professional presence. And in today’s world, you need to have one out there for them to find. For most professions, an online professional profile will only help you. And the best place to go to build one is LinkedIn. (While they would surely go through your Facebook pages as well, they may not conclude much from it given it’s more of a social networking site than professional networking). LinkedIn is the most common site that the employers would screen through as part of their evaluation of whether to hire you or not. Here are some important tips of what to take care of while designing and maintaining your online professional presence on Linked In. 1.        Complete your profile...

Presentation Skills - How to keep your audience rooted

How many times have you seen that while you are presenting a topic, your audience doesn't seem to be interested in listening to you? Or when you are the audience, you just didn't feel like listening to this speaker?  Here are some tips (well, they are the obvious ones) that will help you keep the audience rooted and motivated to watch you when you stand to make a presentation. 1. Eye contact. Maintaining eye contact with the audience is very important. Look at your audience at all times when you speak. You’ll look more honest and will be liked. You want the audience to believe what you are saying. Can you ever believe someone speaking to you without looking at you in the eyes? 2. Have fun. Watching you should not be a punishment - neither for you nor for the audience. A presenter with a sense of humour, fun and energy tells audiences there’s something worth listening to. But don't over do. You're the presenter, not the clown! 3. Smile. " Smile, ...

DERIVATIVES Overview Part 1

DERIVATIVES Overview - Session 1 WHAT IS A DERIVATIVE?   A derivative is an instrument whose value is "derived" from the price of some underlying instrument, reference amount or index. It generally represents a contractual relationship between two parties. Cash flows are exchanged between parties based on price/index movements. The terms of the agreements may be customized or they may be standardized to facilitate exchange clearance. Customized agreements are usually referred to as Over The Counter Transactions. (OTC) Generally doesn’t require physical delivery of the reference asset. WHAT ARE DERIVATIVES USED FOR? Trading -  Speculation (e.g., bet on movements in an underlying security, index, interest rate, commodity, currency or other financial instruments).  -  Arbitrage (utilized by many fund managers to take advantage of expected market movements or arbitrage opportunities, hoping to decrease financing costs or increase yields on exis...

Is a Higher Poverty Line justified? May be Not!

The announcement of poverty line for India pegged at Rs 32 per day in urban areas and Rs 26 for rural areas based on June 2011’s price index had gathered much attention and criticism itself. The planning commission has taken another bold step to revise it further downward to Rs 29 for urban areas and Rs 22 for rural areas on March 19.  The Planning Commission has cited that there is a decline in poverty level from 37.2 percent in 2004-05 to 29.8 percent in 2009-10. Even the absolute number of poor in the country has fallen. While the critics see this as an excuse from the government – already struggling to meet its expenditures - to avoid serving the poor by providing subsidies. But there is an economic sense in what the planning commission or the government seems to be doing. Let’s assume that the entire daily income of the country is Rs 100 and is earned by 5 people as follows: A: Rs 50 B: Rs 20 C: Rs 15 D: Rs 10 E: Rs 5 The government has limi...

Key Features of Budget 2012-2013

Key Features of Budget 2012-2013 APPROACH TO THE BUDGET  For Indian economy, recovery was interrupted this year due to intensification of debt crises in Euro zone, political turmoil in Middle East, rise in crude oil price and earthquake in Japan.  GDP is estimated to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2011-12, after having grown at 8.4 per cent in preceding two years.  India however remains front runner in economic growth in any cross-country comparison.  Monetary and fiscal policy response for better part of past 2 years aimed at taming domestic inflationary pressure.  Growth moderated and fiscal balance deteriorated due to tight monetary policy and expanded outlays.  Indicators suggest that economy is turning around as core sectors and manufacturing show signs of recovery.  At this juncture, it is necessary to take hard decision to improve macroeconomic environment and strengthen domestic growth drivers.  Twelfth Five Year Plan to be launched with the aim of “fa...