A few things you must know

1. What are Markets?
A stock market is a market for the trading of company stock/ shares, and derivatives. This includes securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. Market is a place where buyers and sellers of securities can enter into transactions to purchase and sell shares, bonds, debentures etc.

• 1.1 Primary markets:
  The primary market is that part of the capital markets that deals with the issuance of new securities.
• 1.2 Secondary markets:
  The secondary market is the financial market for trading of securities that have already been issued in an initial private or public offering. In the secondary market, securities are sold by and transferred from one investor or speculator to another.

(more...)

2. What are shares?
A share is one of a finite number of equal portions in the capital of a company, entitling the owner to a proportion of distributed, non-reinvested profits known as dividends and to a portion of the value of the company in case of liquidation. Equity is a share in the ownership of a company. It represents a claim on the company’s assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company increases. The terms share, equity and stock mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.

3. What is a stock exchange?
A stock exchange, share market or bourse is a corporation or mutual organization which provides facilities for stock brokers and traders, to trade company stocks and other securities.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Limited, or BSE has a nation-wide reach with a presence in 417 cities and towns of India. Its index, or market indicator is known as the Sensex.

The S&P CNX Nifty, or simply Nifty, is the leading index for large companies on the National Stock Exchange of India. It consists of 50 companies representing 24 sectors of the economy, and representing approximately 47% of the traded value of all stocks on the National Stock Exchange of India (more...)

4. Who is a broker?
A stockbroker is person who is licensed to trade in shares. Brokers also have direct access to the sharemarket and can act as your agent in share transactions. For this service they charge a fee. They can also offer additional services like advice on shares, debentures, government bonds and listed property trusts and non-listed investment options (cash management trusts, property and equity trusts. (more...)

5. What is a Demat A/c?
A stockbroker is person who is licensed to trade in shares. Brokers also have direct access to the sharemarket and can act as your agent in share transactions. For this service they charge a fee. They can also offer additional services like advice on shares, debentures, government bonds and listed property trusts and non-listed investment options (cash management trusts, property and equity trusts. (more...)

6. Buying and selling of dematerialised securities
What is the procedure for selling dematerialized securities?
The procedure for selling dematerialized securities is very simple. After you have sold the securities, you would instruct your DP to debit your account with the number of securities sold by you and credit your broker's clearing account. This delivery instruction has to be given to your DP using the delivery instruction slips given to you by your DP at the time of opening the account. (more...)

How can I purchase dematerialized securities?
For receiving demat securities you may give a one-time standing instruction to your DP. This standing instruction can be given at the time of account opening or later. Alternatively, you may choose to give separate receipt instruction every time some securities are to be received. (more...)

7. How to receive income from shares?
We invest in shares to make money – either through a share’s capital growth, i.e. the amount by which the share price increases in value over time, or through the dividends it pays to its shareholders. Dividends are payments made by companies to shareholders from their profits. (more...)

8. How much should you invest?
Asset allocator and other tools…

9. How to make investment decisions?
The stock market has, perhaps, the most exciting investment opportunities for the investor community. At the same time, it could be unnerving and scary. In fact, equity investment has always remained a big challenge, not only for retail but institutional investors, too.

In short, investing in equities can be a difficult proposition for retail investors. However, equity must form a part of every investor’s portfolio. The proportion could vary, depending on the investor’s age, monetary requirements, risk appetite, etc.

To cope with volatility, it is important to have a disciplined and systematic approach to equity investment. Set your own rules and more importantly, follow them religiously. Indeed, the mantra for successful equity investment is a well thought-out, disciplined investment strategy.

A long-term monetary commitment, adherence to discipline in investment and decisions based on company fundamentals are essential ingredients for successful equity investment. (more...)

10. How to track your investments? (Portfolio tracker)
Portfolio tracker

Pak's internal politics to be decided themselves: US

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration continues to refuse taking a position on the political developments in Pakistan, saying that its "internal politics" would be decided by the people of the country.

Maintaining that the US had no role to play in developments, which could see a power-sharing deal between President Pervez Musharraf and PPP chief Benazir Bhutto, and the return of exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif, both the White House and the State Department on Thursday said America is only keen on seeing free and fair elections in Pakistan.

"We would expect that the internal politics of Pakistan is going to be something that they themselves are going to decide," State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey said when asked if Sharif going back to Pakistan was a good development.

"Our expectation is that any outcome in this situation or in some of the other political discussions that have been going on that we've talked about is that the outcome is going to be consistent with the rule of the law and the Pakistan constitution," he added.

Casey did not gave a substantive answer to a query on whether Washington has sought clarification from Pakistani authorities about the negotiations between Bhutto and Musharraf and whether the President is willing to give up his uniform.

"President Musharraf said that he’d address this issue of dual leadership of both his civilian -- his combined civilian and military role as Army chief and as President in accordance with the Constitution. As I said on Thursday, he's made commitment in that regard, and we would expect that he’d honour them," Casey said.

Hyderabad blasts: SIT arrests one suspected ISI agent

Hyderabad blasts: SIT arrests one suspected ISI agent Friday August 31 2007 13:01 IST UNI HYDERABAD: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the twin blasts that rocked the city on august 25, has arrested a suspected ISI agent. Police sources said SIT had arrested Shadab from his house at Malakpet area on Thursday night. SIT was grilling the suspected ISI agent to get vital clues in connection with the twin blasts. The sources said Shadab had links with Shahed alias Bilal, the most wanted Bangladeshi terrorist, who resorted to violent acts in the country by triggering blasts. Shadab also contacted Shahed over telephone several times. ISI agent Abdul Sattar, who was arrested in the city recently, also confessed that Shadab had links with ISI and other terrorist outfits. Three more persons, who were picked up from several places in the city, were also being interrogated by the police.

Super dad... Interesting

AJMAN - AUG 20: A one-legged father-of-78 is preparing for his next two marriages as he closes in on his target of having 100 children by 2015. UAE national Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already had 15 brides, though he divorces wives to make way for new ones in order to stay within the legal limit of four. His youngest child, Tariq, is 20 days old and his oldest, Ayoob, is 36. And he has more babies on the way from two of his three current wives.

Daad Mohammed lost a leg in a road accident and plans to have an artificial limb fitted in Jaipur in India - and while there he hopes to find one of his new brides. One more has already been lined up in Baluchistan, Pakistan.

"In 2015 I will be 68 years old and will have 100 children," he said. "After that I will stop marrying. I have to have at least three more marriages to hit the century.

"Two of my wives are pregnant and they will give birth within two months.Tariq was delivered by my wife Mariam. He is healthy and happy and will have two more brothers or sisters soon. And I am also happy because Allah is giving me more children." The retired truck-driver, policeman and soldier has two other babies - fourmonth-old Alma and eightmonth-old Sara.

Two other children, Adnan and Sulaiman, are under two years old. His wives and exwives include Bedouins from the UAE plus women from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Oman. They live in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Daad Mohammed, whose home is in Al Bustan, Ajman, spends time with each of them and has a family gettogether every Friday.

He is head of possibly the largest single UAE dynasty with 127 members, including 49 grandchildren, and has 15 houses. Two of his wives have died. Now he is going to have the same type of artificial limb - known as the Jaipur foot - that Indian dancer Sudha Chandran uses.

"After Ramadan, I will go to Jaipur to get an artificial leg and marry a beautiful Rajasthani girl," he told Emirates Today. "I have had seven Indian brides.

"At present I use a crutch to move around. I am told that the Jaipur foot works better than other artificial limbs." Daad Mohammed said he received generous support from the Ajman Government, including houses and cash. He was paid a military pension of Dh24,000 a month by the Abu Dhabi Government.

"Even though my family is big, I don't have any problem managing the budget," he said. "If I buy fish for the entire family I have to spend a minimum of Dh500 per day. If the menu includes mutton at least Dh1,000 per day is required, and that's just for the meat." And despite having so many offspring he does not overlook the vital duty of any dad. He added: "I take care of their requirements - and pay pocket money to each and every child."

Narayana Murthy on India, IT and entrepreneurship

N R Narayana Murthy, chief mentor and chairman of India's IT major Infosys Technologies, is one of the world's most admired entrepreneurs. Hence when he came to Mumbai to speak on entrpreneurship, one could not help attending the event. Here are a few gems from the IT czar's mind:

Never before in the last 1,000 years did India receive so much attention as it has been receiving in the last 10 years.

Never before in the last 50 years post independence, urban India has hogged as much limelight as it is doing now.

However, in this regard, one must admit that the progress has not been that great in rural India. Indian villages have not gone as far as we had wanted them to be. My wife Sudha spends a lot of time in rural India (Infosys Foundation trustee) and she tells me that television has a tremendous influence in shaping rural Indian minds. It is because of the television that there is a much greater awareness of how things should be.

Accountability of government has increased hugely, thanks to some responsible journalists and television anchors.

This is the time when we must consolidate our gains and build a solid future. It's a daunting challenge no doubt which the entrepreneurs of this country must brave.

Image: Never before in the last 1,000 years did India receive so much attention as it has been receiving in the last 10 years, says N R Narayana Murthy.

Sowing the seeds of peace

With the echoes of the bomb blasts still ringing out on the streets of Hyderabad, 13 teenagers from Mumbai laid out a future of tolerance, peace and understanding on Monday.

In front of an intimate crowd of journalists and onlookers, they discussed their participation in the three week-long Seeds of Peace camp in Maine, USA, this summer.

Seeds of Peace, a US-based non-governmental organisation, works with youth from conflict-ridden regions -- India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, for instance -- and aims to impart the skills required for acceptance and coexistence.

"Once you scratch the surface and look a little deeper, you find prejudice in every sector of society. We are working to combat this. The best place to start is with the leaders of tomorrow," said Ferzan Mehta, co-ordinator for the Indian programme since its inception in 2001.

The Indian delegation, comprising nine high school students, two students peers and two delegation leaders, showcased videos of the internationally integrated cabins and photographs of the trust-building exercises that form the crux of the Seeds of Peace experience.

They allowed us a glimpse inside the ultra-secretive 'Dialogue' sessions, where students from opposing nations get together and passionately discuss issues of contention.

Following the multi-media presentation, two students spoke to the crowd. They described meeting teenaged participants from Lahore, Pakistan, and engaging them on political, social and personal levels.

Afterwards, in individual interviews, the youngsters shared their thoughts on the entire process.

Specifically, they described their mindsets before, during and after the camp.

Blasts: Dhaka rejects Indian claim

Bangladesh on Monday rejected the Indian claim that a terrorist group based on its soil was involved in the weekend bombings in Hyderabad.

"The allegations are baseless, I reject them," Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury was quoted as saying by the media.

He was asked about Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's statement that available information pointed to the involvement of international terrorist organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Earlier, the adviser condemned the attacks saying such abhorrent violence is a blot on the conscience of humanity.

"Our thoughts today are with those who lost their dear ones in this dastardly act," he wrote in a letter to Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Chowdhury told reporters that the Bangladesh government would never retreat from protecting the country's interests in the face of any wrongful allegations.

Parliament attack: Shoukat Guru moves SC

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Delhi government on a fresh petition filed by Shoukat Hussain Guru against his conviction in the Parliament attack case.

A bench of Justices P P Naolekar and R V Raveendran issued notice after senior counsel Shanti Bhushan argued that the conviction was illegal and unconstitutional.

Bhushan claimed that Shoukat was convicted under Section 123 of the Indian Penal Code (concealing facts), an offence for which he was never charged.

The apex court had earlier heard Shoukat's review and curative petitions.

Guru has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in the 2001 Parliament attack case.

CAT 2007: Your ten-week study strategy

CAT 2007 is right around the corner, in November. This year, nearly 2 lakhs aspirants will attempt the ultra-competitive exam -- the largest number of test-takers ever.

But less than 1% of them will earn admission to one of the highly selective Indian Institutes of Management.

Faced with such a daunting challege, how can you best use the last 90 days for CAT preparation?

How should you analyse your mock CAT scores?

How can you detect the difference between easy, medium and difficult questions?

What's the best way to maximise your percentile?

Chat with examination experts Rakesh Kumar and KB Sharma on July 31 between 3 pm and 4 pm IST and get the answers to your questions!

CAT 2007: Ten-week study strategy

CAT 2007: The benefit of mock testing

Rakesh Kumar Rakesh, an Executive Management Graduate from IIM-Calcutta, is a quantitative assessment expert at Top Career & You.

K B Sharma KB Sharma is working with Top Career & You as a Senior Verbal Trainer and is responsible for development of Verbal content for CAT Preparation.

Bollywood: Just like 2005

There's something very familiar about Bollywood these days. No, I'm not referring to them being copies of Hollywood, European, Korean or our own old classics. It seems to be a playback of 2005. Check it out:

Then (2005)	Now (2007)
Iqbal: A touching and inspirational story about a handicapped boy making it to team India. Wonderful cast. And boy! Can Shreyas act!	Chak De! India: A touching and inspirational story of how a socially ostracised ex-hockey captain leads a bunch of 16-odd but zestful girls to make them Hockey World champions. Shah Rukh [Images] can act, bhidu!
No Entry [Images]: Mindless but hit comedy with Salman Khan [Images] as the crowd puller.	Partner: Mindless but hit comedy with Salman drawing the crowd, Govinda [Images] the applause.
Bunty Aur Babli [Images]: Shaad, Abhishek and Rani's wafer thin road caper that was a hit.	Jhoom Barabar Jhoom: Shaad, Abhishek, Preity's [Images] wafer thin table talk caper that did not jhoom.
Page 3: Madhur Bhandarkar's interesting collage and expose of Mumbai's pseudo-celeb ciruit. A surprise hit.	Metro: Anurag Basu's interesting collage of fragile relationships in Mumbai. A surprise hit.
Salaam Namaste [Images]: Two people in Sydney with diametrically opposite ideas about love live in together, fall in love and... give us a hit film.	Namastey London [Images]: Two people with diametrically opposite ideas about love get married, fall in love in London... and give us a hit film.
Sarkar: Ramu's interpretation of the classic The Godfather with a glowering Bachchan and a smouldering Abhishek. RGV's biggest hit.	Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag: The classic Sholay [Images] reinterpretated with Bachchan glowering as Gabbar, er, Babban. Expected to record RGV's biggest opening for sure. Also in B centers where people are mistaking it to be a porn flick.
Black: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's [Images] extravagant drama that awed many, shocked some, and saw its financial investors in the red.	Saawariya: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Rs 50 crore extravagant love story with, gulp, newcomers. Rani and Salman pitch in with guest appearances. Right now, everybody has ants in their pants regarding this one.
Parineeta: Pradeep Sarkar's impressive debut period movie with a wonderful soundtrack. Based on Sarat Chandra's novel.	Laaga Chuneri Mein Daag: Pradeep Sarkar makes his debut with Yash Raj Films.
Paheli [Images]: A popular folk tale retold on celluloid featuring Shah Rukh and the beautiful Rani. Remained a riddle for the audience.	Jodha Akbar: Historians say this too is a folk tale. Hrithik [Images] and Aishwariya come together after Dhoom 2 [Images]. Will it create history or become so?

Cook, Bell tons weigh on India

England [] turned in a fine all-round showing to beat India by 104 runs in the first One-Day International of the NatWest series in Southampton on Tuesday.

Spurred by maiden centuries from Alastair Cook [] and Ian Bell [], the hosts, beaten 0-1 in the Test series, put up a handsome 288 for 2 after being put in to bat and then dismissed India for a paltry 184.

India were done in by three run-outs and fine bowling by James Anderson, who claimed four wickets for 23 runs.

Had Dinesh Karthik not scored a stubborn 44 off 45 deliveries that included four boundaries, the defeat could have been humiliating.

England innings:

Opener Cook scored a well-paced 102 while Bell hit an aggressive 126 not out as England exposed the inadequacies in the Indian bowling in the day-night encounter at Rose Bowl.

Cook and Bell put on 178 runs for the second wicket after the early dismissal of Matt Prior [], who was promoted as opener.

It was a maiden hundred in limited-overs' cricket for Cook. He got those runs off 126 balls and struck eight fours before playing on while trying to accelerate the scoring.

Bell, who struggled with the bat in the Test series, redeemed himself with an attacking knock, scoring a century at a run-a-ball before stepping up the gas in the closing overs.

Kevin Pietersen [] was not required to unleash his big hits, yet he scored 33 off only 25 deliveries.

The unbroken third-wicket stand between Bell and Pietersen was worth 67 runs while 78 came off the last 10 overs.

Zaheer Khan [], whose first eight overs had decent figures of 1 for 33, went for 16 runs in the last two overs.

Ajit Agarkar [], the other seasoned specialist seamer, conceded 65 without any return.

Rudra Pratap Singh and Sourav Ganguly [] too went for five runs an over.

And with part-timers Sachin Tendulkar [] and Yuvraj Singh [] too proving costly, captain Rahul Dravid [] was left wondering whether he was right in inserting England in.

Dravid seemed to have done the right thing by asking England to bat when Prior departed in the 11th over with 43 on the board.

But Cook and Bell combined wonderfully to frustrate the Indian attack. The pair scored only 58 runs by way of boundaries as they focussed on finding the gaps, rotating the strike and running hard between wickets.

The 23-year-old Cook, who scored his first Test hundred against India on debut in Nagpur last year, brought up his maiden one-day hundred against the same opponents in only his sixth one-day international.

The pair especially thrived in the middle overs when India's part-timers, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, operated along with leg spinner Piyush Chawla.

Cook began carefully, helping himself to a couple of boundaries only when Ajit Agarkar over-pitched it or drifted onto his pads.

However, once he had Bell for company, he began to express himself more freely, driving R P Singh and sweeping Chawla to reach his 50 off 74 balls, inclusive of four fours.

Once he was past his fifty, Cook started enjoying his exchanges with the Indian spinners in the middle overs, making lovely use of his feet.

He cut Yuvraj Singh to the point boundary before driving Zaheer Khan past mid-wicket. A lovely short arm pull off R P Singh took him to 99.

Cook completed his hundred with a single to cover in the 40th over of the innings. It came off 122 balls and was inclusive of eight delightful boundaries.

He was out in the 42nd over, bowled off an inside edge to R P Singh for 102.

Bell made a confident start, driving R P Singh on the rise to the cover boundary. He wasn't shy of going over the top either, dispatching Ganguly over mid-wicket and pulling Tendulkar high over deep square leg.

And when Chawla came on to bowl, he charged down the wicket and hit him for a six to long-off.

Another glance to the fine leg boundary off Tendulkar gave him his half-century.

He then continued to milk the bowling and made the most of everything that was offered as a gift.

He went on to complete his first hundred, with a flicked boundary off Agarkar in the 45th over and celebrated his landmark leaping in the air and pumping his fists.

It took him exactly 100 balls and he hit eight fours and a six.

Towards the end of the innings Bell and Kevin Pietersen used the long handle to good effect to help England post an impressive total.

India innings:

Chasing a stiff target of 289, India were tottering at 34 for 4 by the 12th over, Anderson being the wrecker-in chief with figures of 3 for 19, which included the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir [] and Yuvraj Singh after Sourav Ganguly was run-out in the third over.

Ganguly was run out to a superb piece of fielding by Monty Panesar [] when he attempted a second run and was sent back by Tendulkar. The southpaw scored two off six balls.

Left-hander Gambhir (3) then chased an away delivery from Anderson and ended up nicking it to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Anderson then dismissed Tendulkar and Yuvraj in the space of five deliveries in the 12th over.

Tendulkar, who was repeatedly troubled by the darting new ball, flicked the right arm seamer straight to Ravi Bopara at midwicket. His 17 came off 33 balls and contained one four.

Yuvraj then poked at an out-swinger and his outside edge was taken one-handed by Cook in the slip cordon.

It could have been easily five down but Andrew Flintoff's [] searing short-pitched delivery, which Dhoni [] skied to Prior, was ruled 'no-ball'.

Tendulkar too had a reprieve when on eight. The master batsman was completely beaten by an in-cutter from rookie seamer Stuart Broad, and the ball clipped his front pad on its way to the keeper.

Television replays, however, showed that the ball had brushed the top of the off-stump although the bails remained in place. The batsman, fielders and umpires seemed unaware of it.

Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni somewhat steadied the innings with a 68-run stand in 18.4 overs before the former gloved a catch behind to give Flintoff a wicket and mark his return to international action after missing the Test series defeat due to an ankle injury. Flintoff claimed one for 12 off seven overs.

Dravid was dismissed for 46 in the next over, caught behind, to give Dimitri Mascarenhas his first international wicket and impressive figures of one for 28 from his 10 overs of medium pace.

The innings then fell apart due to some terrible running between the wickets that led to Ajit Agarkar and Piyush Chawla both being run out.

Anderson then yorked Zaheer Khan while Panesar completed the rout by bowling R P Singh with the last ball of the 50th over, leaving Karthik not out on 44.

The second match of the series is in Bristol on Friday.

Yahoo Challenge to Google Has Roots in Open Source

If you want to get your hands on an open source version of some of Google's core technologies, maybe you should ask Yahoo.

Yahoo has emerged as one of a major sponsor of Hadoop, an open source project that aims to replicate Google's techniques for storing and processing large amounts of data distributed across hundreds or thousands of commodity PCs (see Baseline's report: How Google Works). Last year, Hadoop project founder Doug Cutting became a Yahoo employee, and at July's Oscon open source conference he and Yahoo's director of grid computing Eric Baldeschwieler detailed how they are applying the technology.

Cutting, formerly of Excite and Xerox PARC, has founded or co-founded a series of projects related to creating an open source platform for search under the banner of the Apache Software Foundation. His work on Lucene (a Java software library for Web indexing and search) and Nutch (a search engine application that builds on Lucene) led to Hadoop, which started as a Nutch sub-project aimed at efficiently spreading the workload for compiling a search index across multiple computers. Since he doesn't work in a Yahoo office, Cutting says his employment is really more like being paid a salary to work full-time on his Apache projects and help Yahoo work efficiently with the open source community. On the other hand, he does work with Yahoo to get the most out of the technology.

The basic technique Hadoop uses is part of what has allowed Google to manage the massive data processing challenges associated with indexing the Web—and do it economically. Google has not released source code for its Google File System or the associated distributed computing environment, known as MapReduce. But what Google has done is publish academic papers on the computer science behind both—presumably knowing full well that competitors and open source programmers would be likely to create their own implementations.

In addition to giving a presentation on Hadoop at Oscon, Cutting participated in a panel discussion on new system programming and architecture techniques moderated by O'Reilly Media CEO Tim O'Reilly. While Cutting declined to speculate on Yahoo's motives for backing the project, O'Reilly called it an example of open source being "the natural ally of the number two player" in a market and a way of leveling the playing field.

In a follow-up blog post, O'Reilly wrote that Yahoo evidently wanted to make this a "coming out party" showcasing its backing of the project. "In fact, I even had a call from David Filo to make sure I knew that the support is coming from the top," he wrote. (While his co-founder Jerry Yang is better known as the public face of Yahoo, Filo is the geekier of the two and has always played a strong behind-the-scenes role in the company's technology decisions.) O'Reilly thinks Yahoo is trying to give itself "geek cred" by reaching out to the open source community with projects like Hadoop and its Yahoo Hack Day events.

Of course, Google has its own outreach programs, which it uses to cement its reputation as a technology leader and boost recruiting. One reason Google gives for not releasing source code for things like its distributed file system is that the software is too deeply intertwined with other components of its operational systems and can't be easily separated out. That's the story Google representatives repeated at Oscon when an audience member asked why they hadn't open sourced more of the software they use to manage their data centers.

For his part, Cutting downplays the idea that Yahoo is using the Hadoop project as some sort of competitive weapon. "While we do compete, we don't compete over this stuff," he says.

Google hasn't explicitly encouraged the development of Hadoop or provided clues about how to produce a MapReduce system, Cutting says. On the other hand, he notes, there's actually a Google-sponsored course at the University of Washington that uses Hadoop to give students hands-on experience using MapReduce for distributed computing.

The Hadoop style of distributed computing is mostly good for batch-oriented analysis of unstructured data (such as compiling an index of the Web), rather than interactive applications (providing an immediate answer to a query), Cutting says. However, yet another Lucene project spin-off called HBase is in the process of trying to replicate Google's BigTable. BigTable is another technology Google has described publicly, a database management system for structured and semi-structured information that builds on the Google File System and MapReduce and uses that structure to provide more interactive answers to queries across very large data sets.

But the HBase effort is still in an early, pre-alpha stage of development, and most of what you can do with Hadoop is inherently batch oriented—aimed at shrinking the time required to perform an analysis from days to hours, but not for delivering an answer within seconds. "If you need to make changes and see them in real time, Hadoop is not the answer," Cutting says. "What it's really great for is just munging through tons of data."

Hadoop includes a version of the distributed file system originally created for Nutch along with a version of MapReduce, both written in Java. As in Google's MapReduce, the Hadoop version automates the division of computer-intensive tasks into smaller sub-tasks that are assigned to individual computers in a cluster. Each computation is broken into two stages: the "Map," which produces an intermediate set of results, and the "Reduce" function, usually devoted to sorting and aggregating data to produce a final result. In the context of compiling a search index, the Map phase would involve thousands of computers each assigned the task of indexing a subset of the Web crawl data, and the Reduce phase would be sorting and merging those results into the final index.

"It's a very simple programming metaphor, where people can catch on quickly and start using it," Cutting says. "Your first program can be something that can be expressed on a page and does something useful." Those with a Unix background may find the MapReduce technique to be a little bit like using "pipes," a technique for chaining programs together by having the output from one program fed as input into the next.

The Hadoop runtime environment takes into account the fact that when computing jobs are spread across hundreds or thousands of relatively cheap computers, some of those computers are likely to fail in mid-task. So one of the main things Hadoop tries to automate is the process for detecting and correcting for those failures.

A master server within the grid of computers tracks the handoffs of tasks from one computer to another and reassigns tasks, if necessary, when any one of those computers locks up or fails. The same task can also be assigned to multiple computers, with the one that finishes first contributing to the final result (while the computations produced by the laggards get thrown away). This technique turns out to be a good match for massive data analysis challenges like producing an index of the entire Web.

So far, at least, this style of distributed computing is not as central to Yahoo's day-to-day operations as it is said to be at Google. For example, Hadoop has not been integrated into the process for indexing the Web crawl data that feeds the Yahoo search engine—although "that would be the idea" in the long run, Cutting says.

However, Yahoo is analyzing that same Web crawl data and other log files with Hadoop for other purposes, such as market research and product planning.

Where Hadoop comes into play is for ad-hoc analysis of data—answering a question that wasn't necessarily anticipated when the data gathering system was designed. For example, instead of looking for keywords and links, a market researcher might want to comb through the Web crawl data to see how many sites include a Flickr "badge"—the snippet of code used to display thumbnails of recent images posted to the photo sharing service.

From its first experiments with 20-node clusters, Yahoo has tested the system with as many as 2,000 computers working in tandem. Overall, Yahoo has about 10,000 computers running Hadoop, and the largest cluster in production use is 1,600 machines.

"We're confident at this point that we can get fairly linear scaling to several thousand nodes," Baldeschwieler says. "We ran about 10,000 jobs last week. Now, a good number of those come from a small group of people who run a job every minute. But we do have several hundred users."

Although Yahoo had previously created its own systems for distributing work across a grid of computers for specific applications, Hadoop has given Yahoo a generally useful framework for this type of computing, Baldeschwieler says. And while there is nothing simple about running these large grids, Hadoop helps simplify some of the hardest problems.

By itself, Hadoop does nothing to enhance Yahoo's reputation as a technology innovator, since by definition this project is focused on replicating techniques pioneered at Google. But Cutting says that's beside the point. "What open source tends to be most useful for is giving us commodity systems, as opposed to special sauce systems," he says. "And besides, I'm sure we're doing it differently."

Bodies bared to protest at shrinking of glacier

Hundreds of people posed naked on Switzerland's shrinking Aletsch Glacier yesterday for US photographer Spencer Tunick as part of a Greenpeace campaign to raise awareness of global warming.

Tunick, perched on a ladder and using a megaphone, directed nearly 600 volunteers from all over Europe and photographed them on a rocky outcrop overlooking the glacier, which is the largest in the Alps.

Later he took pictures of them standing in groups on the mass of ice and lying down. Camera crews were staged at five points on the glacier to take photographs.

Glaciers are sensitive to climate change and have been receding since the start of the industrial age but the pace of shrinkage has accelerated in recent years.

The environmental group Greenpeace, which organised the shoot, said the aim was to "establish a symbolic relationship between the vulnerability of the melting glacier and the human body".

The Aletsch descends around the south side of the Jungfrau mountain in the Upper Rhone Valley. Alpine glaciers have lost about one-third of their length and half their volume over the past 150 years. The Aletsch ice mass has retreated by 115 metres in the last two years alone, said Greenpeace.

Tunick has staged mass nude photo shoots in cities across the world, from Newcastle in Britain to Mexico City, where a record 18,000 people took off their clothes in the Mexican capital's Zocalo square in May.

Speaking to Geneva's Le Temps newspaper in an interview published before the shoot, Tunick said his photographs were both works of art and political statements.

"I will try to treat the body on two levels. On an abstract level, as if they were flowers or stones. And on a more social level, to represent their vulnerability and humanity with regard to nature and the city and to remind people where we come from."

Switzerland has about 1800 glaciers and almost all are losing ground.

Lifestyles of the Rich & FAMOUS

Rich and famous. It's one of the most successful combinations in the world, but it can also be fraught with acrimony as these statistics show: Sources: nytimes; forbes; bbc; cnn; ft.com; businessweek.

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$3.57 million

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The amount Ocean's 13 star Ellen Barkin, 53, wants billionaire-ex, Ronald Perelman, 64, to pay her film production company, Applehead Pictures, LLC, following her acrimonious 2006 split from the Revlon head honcho and billionaire. Barkin auctioned off her glittering cache of jewelry -- gifts from Perelman -- for $20.4 million, a welcome addition to her $21.4 million divorce settlement, after parting with the monied businessman.

7.5 per cent

Shares of Australian Fairfax Media controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which may have been enough to kill an unflattering profile of Murdoch's young wife, Wendi Deng, just days before News Corp unloaded its stake in Fairfax. Murdoch's affairs of the heart seem just as complicated as his business dealings, but the thrice-wed mogul's current wife boasts as many exs as her media baron husband.

$15.7 million

Breach of contract suit filed by Ivana Trump, later settled out of court, against Riccardo Mazzucchelli, whom Ivana wed after her much publicized split from "the Donald". Her divorce settlement was said to include $20 million, the family estate, a $5 million housing allowance, as well as all her jewelry and use of the family estate in Palm Beach. Currently the canny businesswoman -- who's also involved in a trademark dispute with Donald over the use of her name for real estate services -- is rumoured to be contemplating a third marriage, to 35-year-old model Rossano Rubicondi.

$23 billion

Net worth of third baron of Thompson, David Thompson and family, according to Forbes, 2007. Canada's wealthiest bachelor, and the 10th richest man in the world, took over the helm of media conglomerate, Thompson Corp. on the death of his father last year, and dashed the hopes of many a damsel with the announcement of his engagement to former O.C. star, Kelly Rowan, 41.

70

Age of perma-tanned tycoon, self-made billionaire and flamboyant former Italian PM, Silvio Berlusconi. While he may be Italy's richest and most powerful man, with a net worth of $12 billion, Silvio was forced to say scusi in a very public fashion to his wife of 20 years, Veronica Lario, who took out a newspaper ad in a left of centre newspaper demanding he apologize for openly flirting with two lovely ladies at an awards ceremony.

$15.2 billion

Estimated fortune of French billionaire, and CEO of luxury goods behemoth, PPR -- of Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, & Balenciagea fame -- Francois-Henri Pinault, 44. Pinault announced both his upcoming nuptials to Mexican actress Salma Hayek, 40, as well as the impending birth of the happy couples first child. Pinault's holding company, Artemis S.A. controls over 40 per cent of PPR, as well as it's own famous brands, which include Converse sneakers, Samsonite luggage, the Vail Ski Resort, and Christie's auction house.

10 per cent

The number of underperforming managers fired each year by America's most admired businessman, ex GE CEO Jack Welch, during his tenure at the top of General Electric in the 1980s. Welch's third wife, Suzy -- editor of Harvard Business Review for a brief period -- co-authored Winning with her husband, who knew all about being top dog. During Welch's tenure, GE increased market value from $14.7 billion to more than $431 billion at the end of 2004, turning it into the largest and most valuable company in the world.

12 minutes

Length of soccer superstar David Beckham's much anticipated initial appearance July 22nd with the L.A. Galaxy, who signed the former England captain for five years, for a record $263 million, more than

$1 million per week. The arrival of Beckham and Spice-Girl wife Victoria, in la la land on July 13, was met by a media frenzy, as the couple, reportedly worth over $100 million, moved into their $23 million Beverly Hills mansion, that comes with 10 security guards.

American guilty of backing Islamic terror

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Former Chicago gang member Jose Padilla was found guilty Thursday of supporting Islamic terrorism overseas.

Jose Padilla was originally accused of planning a "dirty bomb" attack in the United States.

Co-defendants Adham Hassoun and Kifan Jayyousi were also found guilty of the three counts charged: conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim people in a foreign country; conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists; and providing material support for terrorists.

Padilla was originally arrested on accusations that he planned to set off radioactive "dirty bombs" in the United States. Thursday's convictions are not related to those accusations, and prosecutors did not present the "dirty bomb" plot to the jury.

A federal court jury in Miami deliberated for just under two days before handing down the verdict. Jurors declined to speak to the media. "They've had enough," said court clerk Ivan Marchena. Watch latest news of Padilla verdict from CNN's Susan Candiotti »

All three defendants face life in prison when they are sentenced on December 5.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales -- who is on vacation this week -- issued a statement saying, "The conviction of Jose Padilla -- an American who provided material support to terrorists and trained for violent jihad -- is a significant victory in our efforts to fight the threat posed by terrorists and their supporters."

Padilla received a "fair trial and a just verdict," the White House said in a statement.

"We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all," the statement said.

Defense attorneys argued at trial that Padilla went overseas only to study Islam.

Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron, told CNN her son will appeal the verdict.

"I'm not surprised by anything in this place anymore," she said. "This is a Republican city."

Lebron blamed President Bush for the outcome of the trial and said there was not enough evidence in the case to convict her son.

Attorneys for the other defendants also vowed to appeal, saying they were "stunned" by the decision.

"An innocent man was wrongly convicted today and we're going to do what we can to clear his name," said William Swor, the attorney for Jayyousi.

"We're all stunned ... because Dr. Jayyousi is innocent, because there was no evidence presented except pieces of conversations spun from another language that have so many different meanings.

"We're going to fight to get him released," he added.

Padilla attorney Anthony Natale declined to comment on the outcome.

The verdict is a "critical vindication" for the U.S. Department of Justice and its post-9/11 strategy for prosecuting terrorism cases, said Kendall Coffey, former U.S. attorney in Miami who comments on legal matters for CNN.

"I think this is huge for DOJ," he said, "given the case's background of controversy and the government's mixed results in other (terror) trials."

He said the verdict also raises questions about whether military tribunals are necessary.

"Critics of the post-9/11 war on terrorism can point to this and say you don't need military tribunals, you can get the job done with civilian trials," Coffey said.

During the trial, prosecutors played more than 70 intercepted phone calls among the defendants for jurors, including seven that featured Padilla, 36. He is a Brooklyn-born convert to Islam.

FBI agent John Kavanaugh testified that the calls were made in code, which Padilla used to discuss traveling overseas to fight with Islamic militants, along with side trips to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

In closing arguments, Padilla's lawyers argued he never spoke in code. His voice is heard on only seven of 300,000 taped conversations.

They also tried to rebut a key piece of prosecution evidence -- an al Qaeda terrorist training camp application or "mujahedeen data form."

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A covert CIA officer -- who testified in disguise at Padilla's trial -- said he was given the form in Afghanistan, and a fingerprint expert found Padilla's prints on the form, prosecutors said.

"The al Qaeda application virtually sealed his fate," said Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School. He compared the document's value as evidence to "putting a duffle bag with severed heads on the table."

But Michael Caruso, Padilla's defense attorney, said the prints on the form were not consistent with someone who filled out the document.

"Jose at some point handled the document, but did not fill out the form," Caruso said.

Just as prosecutors did not present the dirty bomb plot to the jury, neither were jurors told that Padilla was held in a Navy brig for 3½ years without charges before his indictment in the Miami case.

Turley said the case was troubling because it appears Padilla was kept in the brig in violation of his rights, for no legitimate reason.

"The evidence changed very little in the 3½ years Padilla was held without charges or access to a lawyer as an 'enemy combatant,' " he said.

Before trial, his lawyers tried to argue that he was no longer mentally competent to stand trial after years of solitary confinement and abuse -- allegations the government strongly denied.

Padilla was taken into custody in Chicago as he stepped off a flight from Pakistan in 2002, and Bush declared him an "enemy combatant" and had him transferred to military custody. He was never charged as an "enemy combatant" and was eventually transferred from military to civilian custody where he was finally charged.

Churchill inducted into state cabinet

Panaji, Aug 14 The Governor, Mr S C Jamir today sworn in Mr Churchill Alemao, the Save Goa Front MLA from Navelim, as a minister in the state cabinet headed by Mr Digambar Kamat. He was latter allotted public works department and co-operation portfolio.

Mr Alemao, who arrived 15 minutes late for the ceremony, took the oath of office and secrecy in Konkani. He has been inducted into the cabinet following vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr Ramkrishna Dhavlikar. His supporters accorded him rousing welcome on his arrival at the Raj Bhavan.

Mr Alemao, who was co-chairman and spokesman of the Goa Democratic Alliance had late last night withdrawn support to the GDA and extended it to the Congress-led government.

The swearing-in ceremony was held late this evening at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat, the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik, the Finance Minister, Mr Dayanand Narvekar, the Health Minister, Mr Vishwajit Rane and the Water Resources Minister, Mr Filipe Neri Rodrigues.

Others present included the Revenue Minister, Mr Jose Philip D’Souza, the Transport Minister, Mr Pandurang Madkaikar, the Urban Development Minister, Mt Joaquim Alemao, the Panchayat Minister, Mr Manohar Azgaonkar and the Deputy Speaker, Mr Mauvin Godinho.

Also present on the occasion were MLAs, Mr Chandrakant Kavlekar, Mr Shyam Satardekar, Mr Nilkanth Halarnkar and the CCP mayor, Mr Tony Rodrigues.

Also present were many senior Congress leaders, including Mr Ramakant Khalap, senior state officials and a large number of supporters of Mr Alemao. Earlier, the Chief Secretary, Mr J P Singh read out order of appointment of Mr Alemao as a minister in Goa cabinet.

Later addressing reporters, the Chief Minister said that he would welcome further support to his government, even as he said that no one has approached him so far to extend support but he did not rule out more support coming to him in future and that they come at the last moment to extend the help.

He said that all those who have extended support to him (Mr Atanasio Monserrate, Mr Churchill Alemao and Mr Reginaldo Lourenco) were ideologically with the Congress and had been in the Congress and had affinity to it.

Mr Kamat also said that these MLAs would have never been comfortable in the company of the Bharatiya Janata Party as their ideologies would have never met with one another, adding that they must have realised about it during their short stint of 15-20 days with the saffron party.

He also said that there would not be any change in the regional plan following the support extended by Mr Monserrate, even as he went on to add that the new regional plan would be prepared as per the promises made in the Congress manifesto and that there would be no deviation from the party’s stand.

He denied that there would be reshuffling of portfolios even as he said that he would allot one additional portfolio to his colleagues. He also denied that disqualification petition against Ms Victoria Fernandes has been dropped or that she has approached him to extend her help to him.

Mutual Funds chat with Rahul Goel

Do things like mutual funds baffle you? Are you aware of the investment options they provide?

What are the best mutual funds available in the market? Which funds accrue maximum profits?

What are the crieria for evaluating a fund?

Which funds provide the best SIP options? Are SIPs the easy way of making quick bucks?

When and how should one buy mutual funds?

To get answers to your queries, speak to mutual fund expert Rahul Goel on August 16 at 1 pm.

Goel is a director and CEO of Mumbai-based Quantum Information Services Pvt Ltd, the owner of www.equitymaster.com and www.personalfn.com.

While Equitymaster is an independent equity research initiative, Personalfn acts as the financial planner for thousands of individuals across the world. Personalfn also offers fee-based mutual fund recommendation services.

Goel is a CFA and has completed diploma in management. He has been with Quantum for nine years and has been critical in shaping up Equitymaster's research effort. Rahul is currently responsible for all business development activities at Quantum.

Goa BJP leaders should settle in Delhi: Digambar

Panaji, Aug 9 The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat today said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders should leave Goa and settle in New Delhi. They have not only been rejected by the people of the state during the last assembly elections but also have not been of any use to the people, who elected them, during the hour of crisis that the state witnessed during the last week.”

The Chief Minister said that the BJP MLAs preferred to enjoy the comforts of five star luxury while the people were struggling to cope with the natural calamity (heavy rainfall) that struck the state last week rendering many homeless.

“This shows that they are interested in their own welfare rather than that of the people who elected them’” he added.

He was speaking at a function to observe the Quit India Movement Day, here.

He said that BJP’s only agenda was to grab power at any cost and that the BJP leaders have stooped to all time low to “fulfil” their desire to be in power. He further said that his government still enjoyed the majority in the House and that it would carry forward its work for the upliftment of common man.

Congress leaders, speaking on occasion, came down heavily on the BJP for attempting to dislodge the Congress-led government in the state, without either having mandate or any reason for making the attempt.

The Congress leaders also explained to the gathering the significance of the day and the contribution of the Congress party and its leaders in the fight for independence and subsequently in the liberation of Goa.

The Congress leaders also used the occasion to expose the misdeeds of the BJP (as part of launching a campaign to “reveal” its true face) during its rule and its attempts to dislodge the Congress-led government that had begun to work for the common man from the day Mr Digambar Kamat was sworn-in as the Chief Minister after June elections.

The Congress workers were urged to expose various misdeeds of BJP to the people.

The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president and the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik told the gathering that the Dhavalikar brothers (Mr Ramkrishna and Mr Pandurang who were part of the government) should explain to the people of the state as to why they decided to change their loyalty within a few hours.

The GPCC president wondered what made them change their minds even as he wondered whether it was because of his decision to re-open the Tanuja murder case. “They should explain to the people why they left the alliance government in a huff,” he added.

Other Congress leaders including Mr Dayanand Narvekar (Finance Minister), Mr Manohar Azgaonkar (Panchayat Minister), Mr Mauvin Godinho (Deputy Speaker), Mr Ramakant Khalap (former Union law minister), Mr Girish Chodankar, Mr M K Shaikh, Mr Shambubahu Bandekar and Mr Vishnu Wagh also spoke on the occasion.

Soha Ali goes shopping

Reader Naren Thakur spotted Soha Ali Khan [Images] at Atria Mall in Worli, Mumbai.

"Soha was very well mannered and elegant," he said.

Schoolboy kidnapped in Patna, second in a week

Unidentified persons on Friday kidnapped a Patna boy on his way to school.

Akash Pandey, a class 7 student living in Raja Bazaar's Chanakyapuri, was on his way to the DAV school at Shastri Nagar when three persons in a green car intercepted him, bundled him into the vehicle and sped away, eyewitnesses said.

The boy was on his bicycle when the kidnappers intercepted him near the J D Women's college.

Some people who were dropping their wards chased the van, but could not catch up with the vehicle.

According to eyewitnesses, the green coloured car bore the registration number BR 1M 9612. The police, however, suspect that the number might be fake.

The area from where the kidnapping took place in considered to be a VIP locality. Former Bihar chief minister Jaganath Mishra resides there and the DAV school in which Aakash studied is located there.

Soon after getting information of abduction, the police began trying to locate the vehicle. They sealed all exit routes from the state capital and began searching all vehicles.

Meanwhile, Aakash's father Yogendra Pandey said he had not received any call for ransom from the abductors. Being a salaried person he was not even in a position to satisfy ransom demands, he said. Pandey also ruled out personal enmity or rivalry.

He said Aakash was not keeping well for the past few days and this was the first day he left for school after recovering.

Akash's kidnapping comes five days after the body of Roshan, a class 8 student of the Patna Central School, was found in Kankarbagh locality of the state capital on August 6, three days after he was allegedly abducted by his friends.

Within the past one year, about 14 school students had been abducted from the state capital.

As per the reports compiled by the state authorities, the most abductions had taken place in Patna. On several occasions the high court too had taken suo moto notice of the kidnappings and had directed the state government to initiate measures.

The state government had chalked out strategies to provide security cover to the school children and mobile police teams patrolled the school areas.

Police personnel were also deployed at the gates of all most all schools and the concerned police stations were entrusted with the responsibilities for the security of the students in their jurisdiction.

Market report

Sensex down 370 points, ONGC drops 3% Buying is emerging at lower levels, and the Sensex is now down 371 points at 14,729. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,283, down 120 points. Bharti is still down over 4% at Rs 832. RCom is still down 3.6% at Rs 517.

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Market report	August 10, 2007 13:05 IST

Sensex down 370 points, ONGC drops 3% Buying is emerging at lower levels, and the Sensex is now down 371 points at 14,729. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,283, down 120 points. Bharti is still down over 4% at Rs 832. RCom is still down 3.6% at Rs 517. HDFC has dropped 4% to Rs 1,935. ONGC has declined over 3% to Rs 838. ICICI Bank and SBI continue to be down over 3% each at Rs 859 and Rs 1,600, respectively. Reliance is still down 2.6% at Rs 1,794. Hindalco, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and BHEL are also weak. Market breadth continues to be bearish - out of 2,463 scrips traded till now, 1,816 have declined. Sensex @ 1233 hrs: The Sensex is still down 400 points at 14,700. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,280, down 123 points. Sensex @ 1211 hrs: The Sensex is now down 440 points at 14,660. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,270, down 133 points. Sensex @ 1146 hrs: The Sensex is now down 407 points at 14,693. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,272, down 131 points. STRONG>Sensex @ 1118 hrs: The Sensex is now down 410 points at 14,690. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,270, down 133 points. Sensex @ 1105 hrs: The Sensex has now dropped 387 points to 14,713. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,282, down 121 points. Sensex @ 1037 hrs: The Sensex is now moving in a narrow range, and is down 338 points at 14,762. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,302, down 101 points. Sensex @ 1018 hrs: The Sensex is still down 334 points at 14,766. NSE Nifty is trading at 4,300, down 103 points. Sensex @ 1004 hrs: The Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 425 points at 14,675, and dropped to a low of 14,570 in opening deals. The index is now down 423 points at 14,677. NSE Nifty is down 121 points at 4,282. Sensex @ 0957 hrs: The Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 425 points at 14,675. It is now down 510 points at 14,590.

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