Rahul Gandhi meets Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar !

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met the Chief Minister of Goa

 and former Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. These meetings took place

in the Chief Minister's Office located at Assembly House in Goa. 

In this 15-minute meeting, Rahul Gandhi went on to enquire the Manohar Parrikar's

health. Manohar Parrikar has been sick for a long time and his pancreas

is suffering from advanced stage of cancer. According to a senior Goa leader,

in this meeting, only about the health of Manohar Parrikar was discussed,

there was no talk about the Rafael dispute.

Manohar Parrikar has already been treated in Delhi, Mumbai and the US. 

On December 14 last year, he was discharged from the hospital and again

 took over the post of Chief Minister of Goa. In spite of illness, Parrikar has

appeared several times active.

Just a few days back, Manohar Parrikar was seen in a show in a program

where he wrote on the surgical strike on the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike

dialogue 'How's the Josh?' told. This video of Parrikar went viral on

social media.

Let me tell you that Congress President has reached Goa from Raipur in

Chhattisgarh, where he met the Congress MLAs. After this he met the

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Rahul Gandhi will be leaving for Kochi

from here, where he has to address party workers.

Significantly, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been targeting Prime

Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged scandal in the Rafael air strike.

 Manohar Parrikar was the Defense Minister when the deal was in place. 

Some time ago an audio tape was released by Congress leaders, which

claimed that files related to the Raphael deal were in the bedroom of

Manohar Parrikar.

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi had tweeted questions that the audio was

released a month. But no action has been taken in this case. Rahul Gandhi

had questioned the motive of the government. However, the

Bharatiya Janata Party has consistently denied allegations

made by Rahul Gandhi.

Honor View 20 launched in India with 48MP camera : Honor View 20 REVIEW

Honor View 20 has been launched in India. These smartphones

 will compete with OnePlus 6T. This smartphone looks special 

in some cases so far, let's take a look at its features.

For photographers, the company has also compressed this smartphone

with OnePlus 6T during the launch. The company claims that it has got

the world's first 7 nanometer chipset technology, which makes it fast.

Under the Link Turbo feature, the Honor View will analyze user's

network usage. and network condition and switch from WiFi to 4G. 

Overall, it will switch automatically where it gets more speed. 4G to 

WiFi or 4G with WiFi.

Honor View 20 REVIEW

The company has claimed that the camera of this smartphone has

Artificial Intelligence Power and Graphics Processing Power. 

The SONY IMX586 sensor has been used for the camera in

Honor View 20. 

Honor View 20 has a 6.4 inch Full HD Plus display. In it the company's

 house processor Kirin 980 has been given. The top model of this

smartphone has 8GB RAM. There is a small cutout on the corner above

 the display, in which the selfie camera is embedded. The camera is 25

megapixels. 

This smartphone dual rear camera setup has been given for photography.

 The company has also given pixel binding technology in it. One lens is

48 megapixels and the Sony IMX586 sensor. As a second lens, the

ToF (Time of Flight) sensor has been given in it. The battery of this

smartphone is 4,000mAh and the fingerprint scanner is provided on the

 rear panel of the smartphone.

Talking about the design, this smartphone has been given a Gradient

Design and it is visible in V shipped. During the event, the company has

 said that the company has worked hard for the V-Shap appearing on

the rear panel of the phone. The company claims that this smartphone

 gives a backup of 1.5 days.

NINE Liquid Cooling Tech is offered in this smartphone so that they do

 not heat the smartphones in heavy usage. In addition, there is triple

antennas in it. According to the company, there is a GPU turbo, so

that there is no lag in heavy gaming and the phone does not hang.

The company also launched Honor Watch Magic and the band at this

event. Amoled display is given in it and its battery life is 7 days. This

is a water registrar. The company has claimed that it gives more battery

 backup than any smart watch

Ganga Expressway from Meerut to Prayagraj : Yogi Announces

Yogi cabinet meeting in Prayagraj Kumbh -  Yogi Adityanath said that this time Kumbh is being organized very grandly by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Aquarius has the national flag of more than 70 countries in the world.

The state government's cabinet meeting was held on Tuesday in Maha Parva Kumbha,

which was held in Prayagraj. A cabinet meeting was held here under the leadership of

 Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. This is the first time that the Cabinet meeting of the

State Government was held in Kumbh area. In addition to Yogi Adityanath, all the

ministers of the UPA Government were present.

Several important decisions have also been taken in this cabinet meeting. 

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the Ganga Express will be built

from Meerut to Prayagarh, these expressways will be completely built on the banks

of the Ganga. This expressway will cost Rs 36,000 crore.The Prayagraj Mela

administration had prepared the preparations for this meeting. Between the strong

security arrangements, all the ministers of the Yogi Government have held the historic

meeting of the cabinet during the festival of Kumbh for the first time. In view of the

cabinet meeting, the administrative officer was seen taking stock of the preparations

related to it on Monday.

After the cabinet meeting, Yogi Adityanath said that this time Kumbh is being organized

very grandly by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Aquarius has the

national flag of more than 70 countries in the world.

The sadhus-mahants who came in Prayagraj Kumbh have also welcomed the

decision of the Yogi to meet the cabinet meeting in Prayagraj. Mahant Narinder Giri,

president of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad and Mahant Dharmadas, head of the factory

Ani Akhara also expressed happiness at this cabinet meeting.

Srilanka vs Bangladesh- ASIA CUP 2018 LIVE UPDATES

In the 1st match of Asia Cup 2018, Sri Lanka will lock horns with Bangladesh at Dubai International stadiumin the United Arab Emirates today. Both the teams are grappling with injuries ahead of the tournament opener clash which might bring changes in the playing 11 of both the teams. Bangladesh come into the tournament on the back of a 2-1 series win over the West Indies in the Caribbean, while Sri Lanka’s lost their last assignment, a five-match home series against South Africa, but have some momentum after having won the last two games of that series and then the one-off Twenty20 International.

Sri Lanka Team Updates

For Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews named Kusal Mendis as an option to open the batting with Upul Tharanga, while also bringing up Kusal Perera. Mendis has played 39 of his 47 games at No.3, 7 at No.4 and one at 5, but has never opened the batting for Sri Lanka before. If this switch is to be made, then Niroshan Dickwella either moves down, or out of the playing 11. For him, 28 of 41 innings have come opening the batting. Test regular Dilruwan Perera is in with a chance to make his first ODI appearance since April 1, 2017 as Akila Dananjaya is away for the start of the tournament due to personal reasons. Mathews can also turn to left-arm spinner Amila Aponso and Shehan Jayasuriya - who replaced the injured Danushka Gunathilaka - to beef up his spin department. The return of Malinga, indeed, has been one of the stories in the lead-up to the event, with the paceman not having played any international cricket since September last year.

Bangladesh Team news

On the other, the Asia Cup has been a tournament where Bangladesh have done well over the years. During the last edition at home, they were in final although the event was competed in T20 format. In 2012, they played the finals in the 50 over format. The side under Mashrafe Mortaza has the wherewithal to compete in the 50-over format with a good bowling line-up for slower decks like the ones that will be on offer in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The batting comprises a mercurial Tamim Iqbal and the seasoned Mahmudullah Riyadh. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan are fantastic on their days and the team would remain a dark horse in the tournament. Coming back to the todays match Bangladesh have a full-strength side to pick from, fitness permitting, with the mainstays Shakib, Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mustafizur Rahman all there.

With Afghanistan the third team in the group, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will try to make a good start to the tournament and make sure they don’t fall behind in the race for the Super Four – for that, they need a big performance up front.

Here is the playing 11 probables of both the teams

Sri Lanka playing 11 probables: Kusal Mendis, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Shehan Jayasuriya or Amila Aponso, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga

Bangladesh playing 11 probables: Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

Medical Tourism in India

                             As the word suggest it means visiting other countries for treatment of  any illness. The importance of globalization is now not only restricted to business and industrial development but also to many other service sectors. And one of the most growing among these service sectors is medical tourism. Presently medical tourism is growing especially in southern Asian countries like India, Malaysiya, Srilanka and Mauritius. But the maximum benefits have been taken by Indian corporate hospitals by attracting huge foreign patients for last decade. As they provide world class treatment in all types of diseases. The major issue for western world is cost of treatment. Now looking into low cost treatment available here, most of the insurance companies are now approving Indian hospital with JCI .As this certification is required for treating any foreign patient in Indian hospitals. JCI recommendation is highly regarded as the best quality certification for any global hospital. The various ailments covered under this policy involve from small OPD based services to major surgical procedures like knee replacement surgery, Heart surgery, liver transplantation, onco surgery, eye surgery, dental procedures. Now India is becoming a hub of this medical tourism as various medical institutions and corporate hospitals like Apollo, Fortis, Escorts and Medicity etc. have improved the quality standard and meet all the requirements ranging from efficacy to safety. They offer substantial reduction in cost of treatment and with excellent success rate.

Surjeet Singh

What are Sector Funds and How to invest in Sector Funds

Sector funds, as the name suggests, invest in particular sectors. The basic idea of a sector funds is to enable investor to take advantage of industry cycle .They have the potential to offer attractive return if the timing is right. However ,they do not provide the downside risk protection available in diversified funds.

Thematic fund lock for trends that are likely to result in the out performance of certain sectors or companies. In other words ,they key factors for these funds are those that can make a difference  to business profitability and market values. Thematic  funds  focus on structural as well as a cyclical factor that play an important role in the economy .

Who Should Invest In these Funds?

Sector funds can be an ideal option for investors who understand sector as well as its future potential and seek diversification within that sector. Besides, these funds can play a supporting  role in diversified portfolio by allowing investors to increase exposure to sector that may be under represented in their portfolio.

For those who invest in stocks directly , sector fund offer advantages over individual stocks ,as fund  manager   tracks the industry sector developments for investors .Since the performance of sector funds fluctuates depending in how the respective sectors industries are performing in the market ,a wrong selection of sectors  can adversely impact the overall portfolio returns. Therefore it is essential for a sector fund investor to have the ability to withstand short term fluctuations in order to enhance long-term returns.

Key Points

1.Sector funds can be ideal option for investors who understand a sector as well as its future potential ,and seek diversification within those sectors.

2.Sector and thematic funds carry a high degree of risk but also have the potential to provide better returns then diversified funds.

What should be the strategy for investing in these funds be?

Broadly speaking sectors and thematic fund should  constitute only a limit portion of an investor’s portfolio .Hence only those investors ‘s Who already have a well –diversified portfolio and who have the risk appetite to absorb extreme volatility should consider investing in these funds .

Individuals can adopt different strategies to reduce the risks generally associated with such funds. One such strategy is to have limited exposure to three –four sectors /themes .It is also advisable to review your portfolio to ensure that you are not investing in a sector them that you already have a sizable exposure to through other funds.

Before investing in these aggressive funds though , you need to access certain key criteria that may be important  to your profile. These are:

·          How diversified is your portfolio?

·         Do you have an appetite for risk and the temperament to track the volatile nature of sectors funds ?

·         Do you have the capacity to hold these funds  for the longer term ?Can you curb the urge to switch from one sectors /theme to another?

How Much exposure should one have in Sector/thematic funds?

As a thumb rule, for an individual who has decent exposure to equity funds and is conversant ,around 10-15 percent of portfolio can be invested in sector and thematic funds. Remember , who these funds can be riskier than diversified funds, they also have the potential to provide a better returns .The key is to select funds carefully and monitor their progress over the investment period .

What are the risks involved in thematic fund investing?

On the flip side ,there is always the risk  that the market may take a longer time to recognize the views of the funds house with  to particular them that forms the basic of a fund.

Besides there can be ambiguity in a fund’s definition of a them. For example, some of the infra fund have a low percentage of exposure to the crore infra sector and their portfolios have exposure to more sector then even a well –diversified equity fund. There is also the risk of a fund manager ‘s style becoming t o individualistic ,which may be difficult to follow if the manager decides to leave the fund.

Best Mutual Funds for 2012

The year  have been mixed bag for mutual fund investors .While equity fund investors have been having a harrowing time as the stock market plunged by 28 percent ,the rising interest rate scenario has been good for investors of dept fund like liquid funds ,ultra short term dept funds and fixed maturity plans (EMPs) . However, the RBI pause of rate hikes after 13 rates hikes in a row is likely to change the scenario .With inflation beginning  to moderate, further rate hikes may not be warranted. In fact clearly realizing   the risk to growth, the RBI has indicated a likely reversal in the cycle. If this materializes, the emerging interest rate scenario would warrant a few changes in the portfolio composition for dept fund investors .Here is how some of the dept fund categories are like to perform going forward.

Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs)

With bound yield closer their peaks, FMPs remain an attractive investment option currently, as, investors can lock in their money for various fixed maturities ranging from three months  to three years. FMPs aim to generate predictable returns and at the same time, protect investors from interest rate volatility. While structurally, FMPs may be similar to fixed deposits ,the tax efficiency of these schemes makes them a much better option .However ,one must be quite sure about the time horizon ,as the liquidity provided by these plans through listing on the stock exchange is not very efficient ,both in term of the liquidity itself as well as the pricing.

Ultra Short-Term Dept Funds

The investment objective of these schemes is not to generate reasonable returns and liquidity, primarily through investment in the money market and short term debt instruments .Although these are potentially better than the liquid funds the longer maturity of up to one year or so can result in slight volatility .If interest rates fall, the returns from these funs too will fall.

Key Points

1. The rising interest rate scenario has been good for investors of dept funds like liquid funds, ultra short-term dept funds and fixed maturity plans

2. While structurally FMPs may be similar to fixed deposits, the tax efficiency of these schemes makes them a much better option

3. If the interest rates fall, the returns from ultra short term dept funds too will fall.

Short-Term Debt Funds

Short-Term funds predominantly invest in dept instruments with one two year maturity. These are potentially better than ultra short –term funds, but can be more volatile, as the mark to market component in the portfolio is higher. However ,when compared to medium term dept funds and gilt funds ,short term dept funds experience lower interest rate volatility but offer attractive returns in a falling interest rate scenario. Therefore investors with a time horizon of 6-12 months can invest in these funds and reap the benefits when the RBI begins to cut the rates.

Debt/ Income Funds

 Income funds invest primarily in dept and money  market with the twin objectives of optimum returns and liquidity for meeting investros medium terms needs .These funds strive to earn study return by actively managing their portfolios on interest rate movments  and cridet risks.Since there  is an inverse realtionship between the interest ratres and bond prices,thease funds benifit from capital gains on bond in a falling interest rate scenario .However there is  also the risk  of bond market rally mot materialising in the manner being envisaged currently ,due to higher government borrowings and a depreciacting rupee.There for it will not be prudent for risk averse investors to invest in these funds just because everyone is taking about this emerging opportunity .Besides investors must have a time horizen of 18-24 month for investing in these funds .

Gilt Funds

Gilt fund also provide a great opprtunity to investors to benefit  from rate cuts.Gilt securities are interst bearingf instruments issued by the government  as a part of its borrowing programme .While gilt funds are ideally suited for those who are looking for saftly  as government securities carry zero default risk and are highly liquid,the downside is that the prices of government securities fluctuate sharplydue to higher sensitivity towards the interset rate moment.As a result ,gilt funds can be very volatile in the short- term.

Commodity prices and future in 2012

Politics rather than economics play a dominant role in determining the prices of this commodity .The rise in the prices of crude in 2011 again illustrates this point suitably enough. Brent crude oil prices have consistently remained over USD 100 per barrel since march 2011, Which sadly has nothing to do with a significant increase in demand .Rather, we find that the global oil demand has continuously been revised downward .The international energy Agency (IEA), in the recent monthly market report, lowered the global demand of crude oil by 0.2 million barrels per day (MBPD) TO 90.3 MBPD, it’s fourth cut  for the 2012 forecast .The rise in prices was more due to a disruption in supply from middle  east and north African (MENA) countries flowing political unrest there .

However, we believe that in terms of supply, things will normalize by the second half of 2012.Moreover, OPEC  alone is investing around USD  300 billion  in the next five year, which will improve the spare capacity leading to softening of crude prices in 2012,Nevertheless we cannot expect the fall in crude prices  to be sharp as we saw in 2008 ,on account of an increase in the break even cost of crude oil ,which is about USD 80-90 per barrel .Therefore in the absence of a robust demand ,we  expect the prices to be in the range of breakeven (USD-   80-90/bbl)levels  unless there is any significant  change in the equilibrium either due to demand destruction of the breaking up of the euro or any unforeseen political upheaval   that cause supply disruption .”Apart from the European crisis concern over Iran’s nuclear program will also dominate sentiments, says Deo.  

When we try to gauge the higher range of the crude prices, we find that according to Citi report USD 120 per barrel  is a pain point (Thought it is dynamic  and will change with moment of USD )When expenditure  on energy would consume about nine percent of the global GDP. Historically, this has proved to be recessionary for the world economy, and we believe that any increase in prices about that will trigger more supply from the spare capacity that is currently at MBPD, leading to downward pressure on crude prices. Hence we feel that the international markets crude oil prices will trade in the range of USD 80-120 IN 2012.

Whatever happens globally ,on the domestic front we cannot expect the prices to be in the range as we suffer from one extra risk point ,which is the INR’s movement against the USD .The rupee has already depreciated by almost 18 percent year till date ,with most of that happening in the last four months. A depreciating rupee adversely impacts downstream companies like HPCL, BPCL, etc. and positively impacts upstream companies like ONGC. Since fuel prices are yet to be fully decontrolled, any increase in crude prices increase and under recovery and subsidies that will impact the oil marketing companies adversely.

In the current scenario it is estimated that for every 1 depreciation against the dollar, the under recoveries of state run of marketing companies increase by approximately 8400 crore and the net of impact bills goes up by 9000 crore .We believe that in 2012, the prices are going to be more stable than in 2011 and are likely to hover around USD 100 per barrel. However this sector is still dominated by the state owned companies and the absence of any clear policy guidelines in term of implementing the Kirti Parikh report on de-regulating the sector will make returns from it is sector uncertain as the government can change its sharing burden.

Future of Copper in 2012

Copper which is also known as industrial application in construction, electrical, consumer product, etc-makes it an economic bellwether. Therefore it is no coincidence that the worsening global economic condition is accompanied by a sharp fall in copper prices .Since march 2011, copper prices have fallen by more than 30 percent . Rio Tinto got the order for making Olympics 2012 Medals Tally Update , where they will be manufacturing Olympics Gold , Bronze and Silver Medals . Shakeel Ahmed ,CMD, Hindustan copper explains such a fall by saying ,”There are actually two drivers  of copper prices :one is the  Chinese  economy and the second is the us economy .At the current moment ,the Euro  zone crisis is the biggest dampener that has led to correction in the prices of copper .”There would have been further fall had there been no production cuts in Chile, Peru the United States by four percent that account for almost half of the copper ore production globally.

However China, which accounts for around 401 percent of the worlds copper consumption, influence copper prices in a major way. The current weakening in the copper prices has a lot to do with that is happening in China. According in the international copper study group (ICSG , China’s apparent usage declined by six percent in the first half of the year. It’s refined copper imports too declined by 40 percent .This was mainly due to a lack of seasonal restocking that Chinese buyer undertake during the spring .Instead they turned to drawing on inventories amid historic high prices and tight credit conditions.

Going forward the copper prices in 2012 will be determined by the inventory cycle of China and the economic data coming from the USA and Europe .According to the ICSG, the world copper usage for 2012 is expected to grow by 3.6 percent, mainly supported by a growth of six percent in China .However if we want to put a range to the prices of copper this year, it would be at USD 4000 at the lower end and USD 80000 at the higher end .According to Ahmed ,”My mining cost of  production  is USD 3000 per ton , but since we have fixed costs of other activities , it take it to around USD  4000 per ton “This is applicable  to almost 90 percent of the total producers  of copper around the world.

As far as the upper range of copper prices is concerned, we believe that it will be around USD 8000 per ton .This will result from the demand pickup in the latter half of 2012,as the US home sales data will improve further .Japan will start its comprehensive reconstruction  programming after  the  tsunami and most notably ,China’s power industry that solved its  technical problems in 2011 will once again start demanding more copper Ahmed agrees with this adds ,”I do not see it going above USD  8000 per ton ”.

Coming back to India, the country faces an imbalance between copper production and its smelting capacity .in 2010, India reefing capacity in 2010; India refining capacity was more than one million ton, which requires 100 million tons of copper  ore (assuming one percent of copper content).Compared to that we have mined merely 3.6 million tons of copper  ore. However the demands for copper in India is just o.6 million ton and the rest of the refined copper is exported .Hindustan copper is the only company in the listed space that is vertically integrated and percent in the entire value china of copper .In addition to this the order two major players that have major refining capacities are Sterlite and Hindalco industries.

How to save tax safely?

The central board of direct taxes has recently allowed four firms to rise up to 30000 crore though the issue    of tax free bonds in FY 12.Tax free bounds means that the interest earned from these bounds is exempt under the income tax Act and is not added while computing   the total income .The national highway authority of India (NHAI) and the Indian railway finance corporation (IRFC) have been allowed to raise up to 100000 crore, while the housing and Urban  development (HUDCO)  and power finance corporation (PFC) have both been allowed to rise up to 5000crore .

NHAI is an autonomous authority of the government of India under the ministry of road transport and highway (MORTH). The main objective of NHAI is the development maintenance and management of the national   highway entrusted to it by the government of India .The infrastructure sector has been the prime factor in the growth story of India, and road development has been the focus within that. NHAI has been at the forefront for the same .NHAI is now tapping the market to raise funds aggregating to 5000crore, with an option to retain an oversubscription of up to 10000crore, through tax –free secured redeems –able non –convertible bounds.

The funds raised through this issue will be used to finance various upcoming project of the company .This issue opened on December 28,2011and will close on January 11, 2012. Of the total issue size, 40 percent is reserved for companies, Flls, mutual funds, etc. around 30 percent is for HNI investors, while the remaining 30 percent is retail   individuals .The bound has the highest credit rating of “AAA’ of from CRISIL, CARE and the Fitch, indicating the highest level of safety   and timely servicing of debt obligations This also tells us that the company has very strong fundamentals.

This minimum application size for the bonds is 50000 (50 bonds of 1000 each), following which one can apply in multiples of 1000 (1 bond).To be listed on the Bombay stock Exchange (BSE) and the national stock Exchange (NSF), there are two option available for investors in these bonds .Option I has a coupon rate of 8.30 percent for annum with a tenure of 15 years. Interest will be paid annually on October 1 of every year.

We are of the opinion that the Indian economy is growing at a very rapid pace, and in the longer run, we may not see the same kind of high interest rates that the being offered now .As the country grows the interest rates tend to reduce, which is evident from the fact that developed economies have very interest rates .So this is a good opportunity for long- term investor. However, the bound is more attractive to investors who come under higher tax brackets..In case of individuals who come under the highest tax bracket (30.9 percent), the effective yield work out to be 11.87 percent in the first option, while for the second option .the yield is 12.01 percent.

These bonds are unlike tax-saving infrastructure bonds which had a minimum lock-in period of five years  and where the interest  was taxable .Even though these bounds will be traded in the market , one should  note that the volume in the exchange in quite low. Hence, liquidity could be one of the problems .Also these bonds are treated as long term capital assets if they are held for more than 12 months, and there will be no tax deduction at source on interest earned. Hence, one should invest in the bond if one has a longer-term Horizon and does not require funds in the short run.

We believe that investing in the second option is better, as it’s effective yield is greater than that of the fist one.

Source: Dalal Street Journal

Impact of Inflation on Interest Rate

Inflation is at an all time –high these days. As a result, the cost of living has soared and the prices of essential commodities too have peaked .One element that few people tend to think about while considering inflation is the impact rising inflation has on one insurance needs. While the rules of thumb state that you should look at life cover of around 10times your annual income (after deducting your investment asset plus any liabilities), it’s also important to consider the impact of increasing inflation on your insurance portfolio.

Inflation refer to the general rise in prices   measured against  a standard level of purchasing power .The most well known measure of inflation are the consumer prices index (CPI), Which measure consumer prices ,and the GDP deflator  ,which measure inflation in the domestic economy .From 1969 to 2010,the average inflation  rate in India was  7.99 percent. So for instance, anything that could be purchased for 10lakh in 2011 would cost approximately 45lakh in 2031at eight percent inflation rate.

With respect a insurance, thought inflation also cause premium rates to rise, The most significant factor for consumer is the reduction is value of the benefit amount, For example a person who buys a life insurance policy of 10lakh may find that this coverage does not serve the purpose when s/he needs it. Thought 10lakh may have been sufficient amount at the time of purchase, s/he may not use the coverage for 20years.Finally when the insurance benefit may not be enough.

With the passage of time, yours family’s needs are bound to increase .Unforeseen events do occur, and all individuals wish that their family can sustain the same lifestyle even when they are not around to provide for them .Unless you are purchasing a term life insurance  policy for  a three five  year period ,Inflation is sure to catch  up. It is for the reason that the further value of money should figure in your calculations, and hence arises the need to continuously evaluate your life insurance needs, especially for periods of 10 years more.

A term life policy is generally paid over a long period of 10-30 years. Policyholders pay a fixed rate for term life insurance over this span of time .As the rate of inflation is commonly in the range of about seven to nine percent annually, the value of the rupee decrease by this percentage each year. Hence, one   is not able to acquire the same amount of coverage benefit as in previous year; the premium you pay per month for life insurance today will in rupee terms be the same, but will have lesser value 10 year from now due to inflation.

An increasing term insurance policy may provide the flexibility to increase the sum assured by five to 10 percent each year to reflect the rate of inflation .Thus it will hedge against the rising cost of living with the option of increasing the sum assured. Such policy insures adequate financial protection at an affordable cost. Most companies provides the enhanced insurance with appropriate rider option at a nominal extra cost, AS well rewards for healthy lifestyle  habits like non –smoking etc. If you are concerned about rising inflation and are buying a policy relatively young in a life, for example just after having a child, this may be suitable option for you .However, it’s worth nothing that the cost of insurance premium is also likely to rise to reflect the increase sum assured .So, you will need to be certain that you would be able to afford the increased premiums.

While many people fear inflation wreaking havoc on the financial markets and causing  a decline in the economy in general ,many overlook how inflation affect insurance .As inflation cause a loss of the Rupp’s  buying power ,It is also reduce  the value of an insurance  policy. Of course  , certain type of insurance coverage are more seriously  affected then other .Health coverage and auto insurance  premiums  change yearly, and hence  ,are less affected .Insurance policy held for many year before  use are those inflation  has the most significant effect on .While life insurance that inflation often  affects ,As a consumer is likely to pay premiums for decades  without using the insurance .By understanding how inflation  often effects ,as a consumer is likely  a premiums  for decades without using the insurance policies ,policyholders can take considered step to ensure  that the sum assured remains adequate at the time when it’s required .

Will Rupee Strengthen against Dollar

Although  the broader market index declined by 25 percent  in 2011,the performance was even worse in dollar terms ,because its declined by 36 percent .The reason for such a  dismal performance was sharp depreciation of the rupee  vis –a the us dollar in the second half of the year .Last year ,the rupee depreciated by 19.24 percent against the us dollar , with most of the depreciated –almost 18.66 percent taking place in the second half of the year alone .

For flls it was a double whammy, First the suffered the worth of a downfall in the equity market end the second was the concern of the depreciating rupee .The volatility in the rupee remained one of important reason why the flls shied away from the Indian equity market .However, with the down of this year .Thing are taking a turn for the better.

If we look at the rupee –dollar exchange rates, it primarily depends upon two factors –the balance of payment (BOP) and capital flows (both portfolio and direct investment).Last year the sudden and persistent rise in oil prices coupled with lower tax collection (owing to slowing economy) made the BOP situation worse. According to  Sengupta ,however ,BOP risk is overdone for India ,”He believes that the situation will improve here on ,”The reason is because the dollar itself   is strengthening .We think that the dollar will peak at around 1.25per Euro by March 2012,and will settle down at around 1.3by December 2012.Moreover ,we have a high current account deficit f there percent plus ,but that should be covered by capital inflows .We are  surprised by the upside  of inflows.ECB is USD 10 billion ,FDI is high ,NRI deposits have been high and the invisible number are high .If you see BOP , It is the same  at that in September last year. So it means that   it is low as a percentages of the GDP, he adds.

Therefore we believe that the risk to the rupee is less then what has been priced in. Also, out of the total external debt, almost 17 percent companies NRI deposits and a lot has been in trade credits to oil companies that will we rolled over .Even if we look at the de-leveraging of the European banks in India have around USD 6 billion borrowing, which is not that big, Sengupta explains .The market also seems to understand this and ,its reflected  in the current strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar. Year till-date (January 20, 2012), the rupee has already strengthened by 5.6 percent and in Sengupta’s opinion; it will be around 49 per US dollar by the end of year.

How to control Inflation

Beside the policy inaction, sky touching inflation was one of the biggest deterrents to FIIs. Inflation remained uncontrolled and high for more than 10 months of 2011 fiscal year . How ever it is not inflation in itself that acts against the Fll inflows. Rather the action taken by central bank to curb inflation has impacted the flows. The RBI has hiked its key policy rates 13 times (totaling 350basic point) since March 2010 to tame demand and in turn, curb inflation.

Since the fill investments are primarily driven by the stock market return, which in turn depend  on the corporate performance a sharp  increase in interest rates has and will probably impact corporate profitability .This has indirectly impacted Fill investments in the stock market .If we look at the rise in the interest cost (excluding financials) for BSF 500 companies between the march 2010 quarter , which the RBI started raising the interest rate , and the September 2011 quarter , it is up by almost 60 percent. For the latest quarter (Q3FY12), out of 199 companies (excluding financials), the interest cost is up by 33.62 percent on yearly basis.

In turn of percentage of sales, the interest cost has increased from 2.2 percent 2.8 percent of sales .This factor has played its on part in bringing down the overall profit margin of the companies from 9.8 percent to 5.1 percent in the same period .We believe that the interest rates have peaked of for now and we may see some sort of easting in FY13. Indranil Sengupta Chief Economist for India at Boa will reduce rates by 200bps in two parts first by 100 bps in the first half of fiscal 2013 and then by 100bps in the second half “He further said that this will lead   to “leading rates coming down by 150bps”.This definitely going to be a booster for the sagging Indian economy .The 50bps CRR cut effected by the RBI  in its January 24 meeting is a sign of thing to come .This cut itself is expected to inject almost 32000cror in to the system .

A cut in leading rates will not only reduce the cost of companies and help them to post good numbers, It will also help In another way .Lower interest rates will help equities to attract an increasing amount of portfolio allocation between equities and bunds .The lower interest rate will make the equities look cheap (though lower discount rates while valuing equities), and will make the bounds unattractive .In 2011, we received 42068 Crore in dept compared to the outflow from equities.

Data for the last few year also indicated that whenever there is a sharp decrease in interest rates, the Fll investment increase with a little lag effect .For example 2009, we received a total of USD 17 billon of FLL investment after the reduction in key policy rates by 1.75 percent in addition to the 2.5 that we witnessed in the last quarter of 2008.”Even during 1995-1996, when the market was similar to what we saw last year, there was huge rally immediately after the first rate  cut itself “,says Jyotivardhan Jaipuria ,MD &HOR ,DSP Merrill Lynch (India ).Therefore be we believe that   a reversal of  interest rates in 2012is definitely going to reverse the trend of Fll ,and they will start investing  in Indian equities again. 

Mission Marrow

Nothing can be better than a cause for serving human beings struggling for their life.Especially ones who are struggling from fatal and genetic disorders .Today I watched a news showing a recent development in this cause for saving people suffering from thalacemia and blood cancer where the patients need regular and frequent blood  infusion as they their body can not make blood cells mainly RBCs .This can treated partly or even completely with bone marrow transplantation. In this technique of bone marrow transplantation , bone marrow from a healthy being generally from within family member is collected surgically and then transferred to the patients.
Then the patient can start manufacturing their own blood cells after some times.But they have to rely on the donor blood cells or bone marrow. But in the new technique , the donors do not have to undergo a surgical procedure for donating their bone marrow but the cells are transferred just like routine blood donation. An NGO has taken initiative in this regards to spread the awareness about this technique so that more and more donors can come forward to help these patients who are in a poignant situation and have to rely on the mercy of few people.
The mission is called Mission Marrow. So far this Mission has huge number of registered themselves .
Everyone of us can be a part of this mission marrow , by just registering themselves , and if their bone marrow matches , then they can help that particular patient. In-fact the marrow of all the relative does not matches easily as only 25% of patients get their marrow matched with their family members. And in case of non-blood relation or strange , the marrow matches with 1 in 40,000 samples.
So far 19 million people have registered themselves in this mission marrow campaign across the world with USA donors leading in this figure who contribute almost 12 millions , second being Germany with 0.8 millions, Australia 0.13 millions and rest of the countries have just presence like India has only 8000 donors registered themselves for this . The scarce in this registration could be the level of awareness in these countries and fear of surgical procedure which is now a myth.Any one can check the details of hospitals in their respective countries about which hospitals are offering this registration. Even celebrities have started participating in this campaign by registering themselves like bollywood actor Salman Khan has registered him in this cause. But this number is not enough if we see the marrow match ratio , so more the number of registration more the number of patients will be saved.

Where to get High PR backlinks ?

Well, this title may be intimidating for many young and brilliant newbies landing in the field of online marketing of websites or any products. For many reasons either a new online product like website or an old product during their expansion mode might need a booster at a point of time when they feel they reached a deadlock due to inept methods of promotion. This might be true if the do not anticipate the competition in advance and so deliberately create a deleterious and irrevocable situation. Especially when they eye on the business through genuine and loyal search on web. This mindset is responsible for dalliance leading to non-productive resource usage and reducing the profit of an organisation.

The consequences leads to onerous for all the employers dependent on the business. Albeit this situation may augur few creative idea generation from young Babbitt to offer solution , but will this really work in a shorter span of period when the competitors have pulled up their socks and have managed to beleaguer all their peers. This kind of situation is can reversed by an appropriate online marketing strategy like hiking the rank of website or product on the search engines , but is ti possible to achieve this feat in a short span of time , well the answer would be a big YES .

The IT solution providers have now uncovered very valuable information about various active and spearhead of search engines used globally especially the giant Google and Bing which share almost 97% of total search engine market , rest of them are just for their presence.

All these activities are focused on increasing the page rank and Google rank. Search engines decipher the quality of any website through the content present on the site or the number of backlinks to the site.

One of the best site that has managed to cater all these , especially the best answer to "Where to get High PR Backlinks" is  http://www.SeoDataService.com

The site has all the spearheads of cyber world ranging from a simple portfolio site to large e-commerce site as their clients.If any try to have a discourse with any of these clients , they will certainly reply as SeoDataService has reformed their Google ranking by increasing the number of  backlinks within stipulated time.

Thanks