Monday, August 30, 2010

Pension Plans

8/30/2010 10:15:00 PM Prasad No comments

I was talking to my Insurance Advisor today and just realised that effective 1st Sept 2010, the rules with respect to the Pension Plans, Health Care plans and ULIP plans will change. After going into the details, the changes in the ULIP didn't bother me much. The only change that I found was that the lock-in period of your investments would be 5 years, as compared to the current 3 years. Anyways, I dont see any point investing into a ULIP just for 3 years. There are supposed to be long term plans and need to invest over a longer period of time to get better returns,

Then coming to the Pension Plans. The changes are apparently as follows. In the current Pension Plan, on maturity, one can withdraw the amount completely and use it as per one's requirements. With the new plan this wouldn't be possible. One has to go for an annuity plan, ie one will get regular pension at maturity on a monthly basis. One cannot invest the money directly from the pension into another investment plan. And a insurance rider is compulsory even though you are not really looking for it from the pension plan.
I did feel that, this plan takes off some of the freedom utilising the money at the end of maturity. Though a pension plan is primarily supposed to give you monthly returns as against a one time return.

So those who think that the current plan is good, you have another day to do so :)

Expect the unexpected

8/30/2010 10:05:00 PM Prasad No comments

Some monday's are better off than others. In the morning I decided that I will be in a happy mood, regardless of the issues that we are facing these days. At times, just the thought of being happy keeps you happy all through the day. Even though there was tons work to be done, I was light and was feeling good about something.

Its that one thought that you keep in the beginning of the day, that helps you make the remaining part of the day..

Tata Crucible

8/29/2010 10:05:00 PM Prasad No comments

It was another sunday spent well. Another afternoon spent participating a great quiz, and then more importantly seeing the Bangalore finals.

I reached the St John's Auditorium much earlier than I thought, but I wanted to be since I hadnt registered myself for the quiz. So on-spot was the only option and didnt want to take any chance.

The prelims finally started only at 4, and had 25 nerve racking questions, probably I got only 5 of them correct. Good enough for my preparation and my calibre :)
In the finals of the TATA track, there were 5 teams from TITAN's which has qualified and one from TATA elxsi . I thought that it would be the clash of the TITAN's but then in a remarkable feat, it was the TATA elxsi which won the finals, and yes 3rd time in a row at Crucible. I could see one team which had won previously many crucibles, just missing out this time.

In the non TATA track, it was Yahoo India, the defending champion which was leading from the beginning, but was given a tough fight by the closely following HSBC. Though HSBC team answered most of the TOUGH question's it was finally the defending champions, who kept the trophy again.

The IBM team kept thinking and the Wipro Team which was Applying Thought couldnt do much. The Onmobile team couldnt do well even in the Mobile related questions :)

The winners in each Track won a cash prize of 75k and runners pocketed a cool 35k.

But my winner in this quiz was Tata Elxsi, who single handedly won the quiz. Hope he wins the All India Quiz.

Team Work

8/22/2010 10:51:00 PM Prasad No comments

Probably the nth time that I am watching the movie, Chak de India, but am never tired of seeing it. So much to learn from it everytime. What can we ever achieve without team work ? How can we take a project towards a conclusion unless every one works together rather than for own's benefit ?
Wish I could see every one working as a team .

Goa Trip During the monsoons...

Its always a pleasure to drive during the monsoons. Now that I had a planned vacation but also the train tickets booked to go to Goa, it wasn't a too difficult decision to go with the newly found idea.
We decided to drive on a saturday early morning. Since my sister had a new found obsession with football and managed to get herself hurt with a few stitches to go along with it, the driving was to be done only by me..
Which means around 12 hours of driving all the way to Goa.. sounded a bit scary, but after reviewing the maps and planning it out, we were mentally prepared for it.
Another fear which I had in my mind was driving in hot sun, which could easily tire me out, and A/C in the hot sun doesn't go well with me and I end up with a bad headache. Though I equipped my self with my nasal drops, which is the best solution for the headaches, I was looking for a cloudy weather with a bit of drizzling, which would only make the journey all the more beautiful. Appears that nature heard to me and gave me the same.

Some of the things that I learnt on this trip.
When you are driving all by yourself, and the drive is long, you need to take it slow. More like a test match. Don't tire yourself mentally by doing too many overtaking and just go on a reasonable speed. 100 is what I maintained unless the road was too tempting and just clear. On winding roads, I kept to a 60-80 which was very convenient and I was comfortable. That helped not to get myself tired nor the co-passengers.

I took regular break's though the stretch which I took didn't have the many Kamath Upachar's but taking a additional breaks for photography and quite bites did help.

Route that I had taken was quite good. I took NH4 which is the Bangalore Hubli highway which is around 400 kms. This is a straight patch and excellent roads. You can easily cruise on 100 and above that on this road.
I had my first stop near chitradurga. The weather was too good and so was the view. It just rejuvenate's you.

From GoaTripJuly2010

The beautiful clouds on the route only made it better for the drive.

From GoaTripJuly2010

Once we reached near to hubli, we were welcomed with nice rains. It was challenging but at the same time very refreshing.

From GoaTripJuly2010

On reaching Hubli, we took the State Highway SH63. It's again a very nice road. Its about 150 kms, by the time it hits the NH17 near Karwar, Ankola to be precise.
Some parts of the road on SH63 was winding, but not much, and I was constantly driving at 80kmph. while other parts it was easy to travel at 100kmph.

The route on from Hubli to Ankola was scenic and lot of beautiful forests.

From GoaTripJuly2010

Probably one should spend driving on this route and also visit the waterfalls on the way.

From GoaTripJuly2010

Once you reach Ankola on NH17, there is a Kamath Upachar, where you can take a break. On this entire route there are a number of Gas stations.

Once on Nh17,from Karwar, it was another 100kms to Margao. So totally it was around 650 kms from Bangalore to Margao and with the breaks I covered it in 12 hours, and thanks to the rains and the cloudy weather, it didn't tire me out. Starting early from Bangalore ie at 5:30 in the morning did help to beat the Bangalore traffic. If starting late in the day, it would be a better option to hit the NICE road and get off into the Tumkur road. That should save you a lot of time.

The return trip, which was done after a week, was done on the same route back. Though it was not that cloudy and raining, it was pretty comfortable. Some of the pictures are put below.

From GoaTripJuly2010

A small Village on the SH63.

From GoaTripJuly2010

The statehighway, SH63, its again very good road.

The only issue on the NH4 road is that, there are not many places one can stop, unless you decide to get into the cities/towns on the way. Make sure to pack up with fruits, water and even tea would would be a good help.

Lalbagh Flower Show Aug 2010

8/08/2010 08:53:00 PM Prasad Flowershow lalbagh 2010 No comments

Hmmm, another flower show. Was not sure that I will make it , but it was the turn of events, rather the turn of the car that made it. This was the only weekend which it would have been possible since the next weekend, it would be flooded with people.

Some tips, if you are still planning for the next weekend.
Avoid taking the camera and taking pictures if you are not going for the first time. Since I guess it best just to enjoy it with your eyes. If you really want to take pictures, go on a week day,early morning.

Don't go on the outside circumference, go around the inner one. That's where the nice flowers are which are new to the flower show.

Well, I did manage to get a few pics, and here they are. I got thoroughly drenched in the rains too, and that only added to the whole experience.