Indian Mutual Funds ..How to find SIP Return !!

With the market being volatile ..everybody talks about doing SIP with Mutual Funds than bulk inivestments. But sometimes its hard to understand & find what is the SIP return for a particular Mutual Fund in Indian Market ..

So here is the solution :

Note the URL : http://www.valueresearchonline.com/learning/CalcSIPReturn.asp
(For this above URL, you need to Login to www.valueresearchonline.com)

This above URL will provide SIP as well as Obsolute Return for a given fund for an AMC.

For Example :

Magnum Contra - Growth for Jan-2006 to June-2006 :

Annualised SIP Return over period : -3.31%
Non-SIP return(absolute) over period : 16.33%


Franlin India Prima - Growth for Jan-2004 to June-2006

Annualised SIP Return over period : 34.76%
Non-SIP return(annualised) over period : 31.72% (note the return here !!)

Again an caution that, do not go by the misconception that Obsolute return will provide more returns than SIP. This is only true for market which is having upword trend, which was the case for last 1 year ...not more it seems !!

So now you are more smarter to understand the SIP ;)

Lost on Indian Roads !! ..Internet Helps you :)

I have been seeing lot of Map Websites which helps to locate Routes, National Highways in India.

There is one famous website which probably lot of people who search for Route maps for Indian Highways is : http://www.mapsofindia.com. It surly has good source of information ..But we always ask for more. So there are these others which I find good.

With the Golden Qua

Following are the websites offering Route Maps for Indian National Highways.

http://www.maptell.com

• Very good Interface for finding route maps
• ZoomIn & ZoomOut Operations
• You can save the Image & Print for reference

See the US Interstate kind of Legend !!.This is for National Highway.

http://www.mapmyindia.com

• This is a great website to get Local City Maps
• Good Website for searching any place e.g. Location of Bank/Parks
• Good if you are searching for a route map
  

http://www.mapsofindia.com

• Good website with Route Maps
• Distance calculations with different cities
• They have a CD package which they sell for maps
• You can print maps for reference

Something I am searching for long time is a Driving Direction Website, which provides me driving directions to a place from Start to End !! ..Mapmyindia does provide that ..but that is on map only ..it will show you start-end legends. I am looking for something like www.mapquest.com for India !!

Oracle Certified Associate : OCA 10g !!

I just cleared my 10g OCA !!

It was a good experience to refresh my knowledge on Oracle 10g Database. I was thinking about giving this exam for long time :) ..I thought its a good way of learning new technology & enhance skills in a area on which you do not work daily.

There is lot of debate our OCP/OCA overall & I do not want to get into that ..:) Personally I feel it does help a person to enhance the skills its being done in right spirit & not just by cramming the exam guides & dumps !!

Advantages of Certification

• New Feature Knowledge
• Enhanced skills in a area you want to learn more
• Good understanding of concepts
• Get into Reading/practicing something new apart from routine work !!
  

Again OCP is not substitute for any experience. Oracle Database has such a varied & vast architecture, its not possible to claim expereince just on the basis of exams. One needs o have good practical real life experience in order to be a good Oracle DBA !

Travelogue - Yercaud

Yercaud is a calm-quiet picturesque hill station located on Shervaroys hill ranges, with lots of coffee estates, eucalyptus and silver-oak trees.

LOCATION :
Yercaud is located in Tamil Nadu at around 4000-5000 feet above sea level. Its around 180 kms from Bangalore. It is around 30 kms from Salem and takes around 90 minutes drive from Salem. There are regular buses to Yercaud from Salem new bus junction. The nearest airports are either Bangalore (180 Kms) or Chennai (215 kms). The nearest Railway Station is Salem Railway Station.

CLIMATE :
The weather in Yercaud is pleasant. Summers (April-June) are mild, while winters (November-February) are cool.

ACCOMODATION :

• Budget Hotels : TNTDC, Star Hotel, and various cottages
• High End : Sterling Resorts, Shervaroys , Sterling Holiday Cottage(pref.)

FOOD :
TNTDC Hotel : This one has a decent vegetarian hotel, and the other veg hotels are one at Udupi hotel near the Yercuad bus stand and one at Shervaroys.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS :

• Yercaud Lake : Located right at the center of the hill-station, it has both pedal and row boats, maintained by TNTDC.
• Shervaroys Temple : Located at the top most point of the hills. The main dieties are Cauvery amman and Shervaroyappan. The priest maintains that there is a tunnel behind the dieties, that goes all the way to Thalacauvery temple in Coorg.
• Botanical garden : This one is open during the weekends, mainly used by botanical students. This garden has a wide variety of herbs. A delight for those who have an in interest in botany.
• Ladies Seat : This one gives a panaromic view of Salem Town. The name came after this view was frequented by a English lady during pre-independence days.
• Gents Seat : Yercaud;s menfolk, wanted a seat of their own, so they made one for their own.
• Rose Garden : This one has a wide variety of roses.
• Estates: The whole hill station is filled with private estates. The estates generally grow Coffee, Silver-oak, Eucalyptus, Black pepper, "Kamla" Orange. For those who like "Narasus" coffee, the coffee comes from Yercaud, they have their own estate here.
• Garden right across the Lake : This one has a Japanese style garden, don't miss this one.
• Montfort School : A convent school, which has students from all over Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES/TRAVEL TIPS : For those who would like to unwind themselves during the weekend, this is a perfect spot. Moving around yercaud is so easy with all directions everywhere well placed.

The good part of going to Yercaud from Bangalore is Driving. As I like driving very much, it was fun driving on cool 4 laned Highway(thanks to Atalji) .Upto Krishnagiri(230 kms) you can go very fast(evg of 65 kms/hour). Just be careful of people crossing. The Ghat to Yercaud after Salem is about 22 kms, its good drive, but need to be careful about vehicles coming from opposite direction while going up, as they come very fast.

The season here is during April/May, other months are off-season. Please bring in Cameras & Binoculars and a woolen shawl/sweater during winters. Enjoy the morning walks and treks. Just like any other hill-station, you can get variety of scents, lotions, honey etc, etc, be careful where you buy the stuff. Even if you buy stuff, buy in small quantities.

I will compile some photo's soon !!

Picsquare : Great Service + Quality

I just saw my own blog being referred at the http://www.picsquare.com on their News Page !!

I am very much happy with their service. Photo's were delivered to me in 2 days. There was email when the photos were shipped. The quality of photos is good & is printed on Kodak Paper !!

I am going to try out their services more & will certainly talk about them to most of my friends. Infact many have my friends have already registered & are ready to use the service !!

Internet Works !! ..I like all the service which internet provides to you on your desktop !! ..At the same time it is important that companies should provide good service on internet ..that will make them more profitable as the Internet community grows in India

Indian Postal Service : SpeedPost Getting Better !!

I had another nice experience with Indian Postal Services : SpeedPost Service specially.

I had one important letter which I posted with SpeedPost on 5th July 2006 to Pune. I was expecting it to be delivered on 7th July 2006 by evening. But it did not.

So I called the SpeedPost Manager at GPO Bangalore to inquire about it on 8th July. The lady politly took all the details & assured me that she will call me back for the status.

To my surprise, SpeedPost Manager called me back in the evening to confirm that the letter is delivered & it was delayed due to heavy rains in Mumbai !!. I am happy to see that the Tracking works & even if the Internet Tracking is not working for some reason, you can call the SpeedPost Managers.

Its good to see the service being improved & responsive when you need.

I wonder how many of us use Indian Postal Services & what their expereinces are ?

Quick Getaway From Bangalore : Janapada Loka, Kanva Reservoir, Kamat Lokaruchi

It was nice day spent with our friend. I was very much excited to see the progress on the Bangalore - Mysore Highway & it was good experience to drive on nice 4 laned road.

For Rs. 75/- ( Includes Jwar Roti, 2 curry's, rice, sambhar,rasam,butter milk, papad & banana !!). The meals are really wholesome & feels good. I know its lot of food, but the taste is mild, I liked the rasam very much. I would definitly recommend the north karnataka meals if you happen to go there !!

We just wanted to have a good day spent nearby bangalore & it was well done trip !

As we started late around 11:30, we wanted to stop for lunch at Kamat Lokaruhi. Its a nice restuarent by http://www.kamatyatri.in. They are famous for their chain of restuarents in South India & infact all over the world !!..The food is vegeterian & alwys tastes good. We had the North Karnataka Meals(a south indian term for Thali). It was very good meal for Rs.
Beside Kamat Lokaruchi there is Janapada Loka. Janapada Loka is a treasure-trove of Karnataka’s folk heritage. The 15-acre complex houses museums, an open-air theatre, a studio and other structures. The museum, drawn from the life and arts of a large number of tribal and rural folk across Karnataka, has an amazing collection of 5000 artefacts that represent the essence of Karnataka’s folk culture.

Outside Kamat, there are stalls of Terakota & other stuff made by artists there. Its a nice to take stuff & you can bargain for less. The prices are reasonable as compared to something being sold in Bangalore shops.

We could purchse something for quite reasonable price. Being sunday, lots of people were there in Kamat Lokaruchi !!.

Quick Facts :

• Kamat Lokaruchi

• 55 Kms from Bangalore
• Good Food
• Quick Service
• Chilrens Play Area

We went to Channapatna after having our lunch. Its around 10 kms from Ramanagar. The objective was to purchase some wood toys for my daughter !!. There are lots of shops( so called Handicraft Emporiams) on the left side of the road when you reach the Channapatana town. Do not do there unless you see something specific you want & its there !!.They charge too much for all items on display. They would do bargain, but still the charges are high. Take a right turn into the town & find some local shops selling same items for reasonable price.This what all we bought!!
We found a good shop in the town, we which is just in front of Reliance Petrol Station. The shop has good articles..Wood Toys, Frames etc..all reasonably priced. To our surprise he was speaking Marathi !! He gave his shops Number to us Nagaraj : (080) 7255182. He also does good custom made wooden paintings of Gods. These are paitings which are partially done by embossing & carving the wooden peices together.

It was worth visiting this small shop in the town.

After our shopping we went towards the Kanva Reservoir. Its on the left side when you are going towards bangalore. There is a board which says Kanva Reserviour - 10 kms !!

The road towards Reserviour is ok, not too bad except few 1-2 kms of bad patches.

Its a nice place to spend some time.

Best of Photography : Oracle HQ, Belmont, CA !!

Look at above photo..Taken @ Oracle HQ, Redwood Shores, Belmont, CA ..My best clicked photograph. Thanks to excellent natural weather on that day !! ..Note that I haven't done any changes to the photo using any tool :)

This was taken using Kodak DX-7440.

Coincidence !! ..6 Years

Today July 3rd 2006 is Monday. July 3rd 2000 was Monday too. But not on 2001/2/3/4/5 !

What a conincident !! ... July 3rd 2000 was Monday, when I joined Oracle India, Bangalore. Today I have completed 6 years here ..Today also Monday 3rd July-2006 !!

So many years past, I met all the 3 people who joined along with me on the same day & said "Congratulations"!! What a surprise to see them here :) ..I mean they are still here !!. In these 6 years I have seen people coming & going(part of Software job !!)..But we 3 who joined on the same day are still here ..working for the same organisation/Line of business ..is there something in the Date ?

I still remember the day I first came to Bangalore from Pune & my first day of joining. Surprisingly I do not remember much about the same joining experience for my previous companies whom I worked with !! ..It was nothing special that happend when we joined at Oracle, but its that the moment we entered the office & waiting in a conference room for HR person to come ..are still in my memory like a Digital Image :)

So many things changed in last 6 years !! ...But good memrories(& somtimes bad !!) always stays with you :)