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Business Standard analyses one family's finances and suggests a way forward

Case study

Business Standard

Business Standard brings you a snapshot of average current rates and unit sizes in localities that offer property in a price range of Rs 30-50 lakh. If you are looking at buying real estate and your budget falls within this range, an idea about prevailing rates would come in handy

Realty check

Problems of an unreformed sugar sector have not vanished

A misleading recovery

IMF outlook is a warning to complacent policymakers

Domestic imperatives

With beef - whether to eat it or not - at the centre of most debates these days, exporters have listed bovine cuts - boneless and frozen - as among the top 36 items that can ensure a jump for India's outbound shipments. Exports of meat items, including buffalo meat, rose almost 10 per cent to $4.90 billion in 2014-15 from $4.49 billion in 2013-14, according to figures released by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. It should be noted that beef exports from India do not include cow meat and comprise only buffalo meat. The list of 36 items was presented by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations at a meeting with Commerce Secretary Rita Teotia. The meeting was held in the context of the continued decline in merchandise exports for the ninth month in a row in August.

Beefing up exports

While the five-year-old South Asian University (SAU) is gaining traction, one worry is the rules are different for students from different countries. The university's few hundred students come on a special South Asian visa (except, of course Indian students), but those from Pakistan have to contend with a 'one-city limit'. This means they need special permission to travel to Gurgaon or Noida. Since the SAU attracts students predominantly from the Saarc countries, one wonders if this is the best way to encourage regional cooperation in South Asia.

For better cooperation

Multi-level marketing (MLM) companies such as Amway are known to incentivise their salespeople to spread the word and recruit others down the line. The incentives largely depend on a salesperson's ability to widen the company's sales network. Prime Minister Nerandra Modi appeared to have taken a leaf out of MLM's rulebook when, at a rally in Bihar's Aurangabad district last week, he urged everyone in the audience to contact 50 voters each after leaving the venue and convince them to bring about a change in the government for development. He said the coming Assembly elections in Bihar were not about electing a party, leader or an individual; they were about who could change the destiny of the youth.

New marketing mantra

Shyamal Majumdar has lucidly enumerated the maladies of meetings at the workplace in his column, "When meetings become your only work" (October 9). It is true that much productive time is wasted on meetings.On many occasions, as is clearly mentioned in the column, participants of a meeting are not correctly picked, with the result that those not concerned with the topics to be discussed, end up attending it and whiling away their time. Also, after a meeting has gone on for a while, some attendees tend to deviate from the topics under discussion, thereby taking up a lot of the time allotted for the meeting. After a meeting is over, if one were to analyse what transpired or what was achieved during it, the answer would be a blank.In most cases, the person chairing a meeting does not conduct it according to the agenda decided prior to the meeting. If the agenda is worded properly and suitable time slots are mentioned against each item to be discussed, it would persuade participants to pre

Letters: Set the agenda, stick to it

With reference to the editorial, "Toxic food" (October 8), Silent Spring's author Rachel Carson was probably the first person to draw attention to the destruction wrought by agrochemicals. Industry launched a massive - and eventually, unsuccessful - campaign to defame her. India and the world have experienced a chemical revolution. Chemical use has exploded and every day we are being exposed to numerous substances. The air we breathe is polluted and the food we eat is contaminated with pesticide residues, often beyond permissible levels. This does not include eggs, poultry, dairy products and other animal-origin food loaded with antibiotics, which also affect our health adversely.It seems the Darwinian concept, survival of the fittest, has been twisted to 'survival of the un-fittest'. Bees and other insects, which play a crucial role in pollination and make it possible for us to eat many fruits, vegetables and other food, are affected by pesticides as well. Our major food crops require

Letters: Silent killers

The Reserve Bank of India is trying to revive real estate demand in India by cutting interest rates and risk of home loans. Arguments are put forth about the deflationary nature of the current economy and the necessity of monetary action to boost prices. Yes, commodities such as steel, cement and oil are facing deflationary pressure. But real estate, which benefits from soft commodity prices, has not seen any price correction.It is surprising that the steep rise in prices of properties due to the liquidity-generated price bubble is being ignored by policymakers. Instead of allowing the market to settle at a level where real estate prices would be affordable for the masses and thus lead to revival of demand, policymakers are fuelling a further price rise by injecting liquidity into the housing market.The argument that interest rate reduction would make homes more affordable for those yet to own one is surprising. A one per cent dip in home loan interest rates cuts the equated monthly in

Letters: Not a prudent move

Integrate traditional knowledge, rational methods

Lessons from Ms Tu

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan rarely loses his temper; so district collectors sought cover when, during a meeting to assess agricultural losses due to deficient rains and pest attacks, he blasted them for not doing their work properly. Madhya Pradesh has declared drought in 23 districts, with about two million hectares hit by drought. Collectors of Vidisha and Sagar districts were especially the target of Chouhan's ire. The Vidisha collector reported that the entire crop in the district had been damaged, but the quantity of grains reaching the mandis had increased from 1,072 quintals last year to 3,630 quintals this year. The Sagar collector reported that 369,000 hectares had been hit by drought. Chouhan told them to do a thorough inspection and revise their figures.

Chouhan loses temper over discrepancies in drought figures

Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharti had a unique explanation for the alleged spurt in cow slaughter. She said since fodder prices had risen, it was becoming harder for people to look after cows and hence they were killing the animals. Addressing a media conference in her Lok Sabha constituency of Jhansi, she appeared to go into a meditative mode silently reciting something, when asked a question by a reporter. Then another reporter asked her about her health. She told the reporter he was mad and urged him to record her statement. On the issue of beef, she refused to say anything at all.

Uma 'meditates' to escape questions

The Indian mutual fund sector saw an overall net outflow of Rs 77,142 crore in September. Liquid schemes alone witnessed a net outflow of Rs 60,861 core. This was mainly on the back of the half-year closing phenomenon, which made large institutions and companies redeem their units. These large clients invest in liquid and money market schemes of mutual funds for a shorter duration. Typically, money redeemed September comes back by the end of October.

Ebb & flow

Govt should free IITs to be financially sustainable

Reforming IIT fees

Trans-Pacific Partnership launches new global trade regime

Beyond borders

The war of words in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls has reached a hysterical crescendo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed a series of rallies in Munger, Samastipur, Nawada and Begusarai, and is expected to address a few more before the first phase of polling in the state. On the podium before him in Munger was a banner with the slogan, "Badliye sarkar, badliye Bihar" (change the government, change Bihar). He used every opportunity to attack the ruling party and its allies in the state. He said the election was a clear two-way contest: on one side was "Jungle Raj" and on the other, "Vikas Raj". Targeting the "mahagathbandhan" (the Janata Parivar alliance) he said the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were sitting "with those who jailed Jayaprakash Narayan during Emergency". "Laluji, elections come and go but please do not forget these are the people who stood with you," he reminded RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Hitting where it hurts

Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali's concert in Mumbai was cancelled on Wednesday after Shiv Sena, part of the ruling alliance in Maharastra, threatened to disrupt it. The party said it would not allow artistes from Pakistan to perform in the city while India continued to be threatened by terror originating in that country. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi lost no time in hitting out at the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue. Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra tweeted the singer was welcome to perform in Delhi. "Sad that #GhulamAli is not being allowed in Mumbai, I invite him to come to Delhi and do the concert. Music has no boundaries. #BanTheBan," he posted. AAP national spokesperson Preeti Sharma added: "We have immense respect for his talent and his spirit of universal love and would like him to give India a chance to atone for the insult caused by the small-minded, political opportunism of the Shiv Sena and the BJP."

Music to the ears

Soon after it was announced that Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich was the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, social media regulars started retweeting a tweet from the handle @SvAlexievich. The handle had announced her win a good two hours before the official announcement. The tweet read: "Swedish Academy awarded to me the Nobel Prize in literature 2015. I receive now a call from Sweden. I'm happy, very happy! Thanks." Some people pointed out that she broke protocol. Then came the anti-climax as the handle tweeted, "This account is hoax created by the Italian journalist Tommaso De Benedetti." A case of journalistic licence?

Licence to tweet

A V Rajwade's column, "Monetary transmission, base rates and ALM" (October 8), helps us look for reasons beyond the earlier adamant approach of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in managing base rates. Bad asset-liability management, high non-performing assets (NPA), inefficiency infused by bad human resource policies and government interference in the conduct of banking business contribute to the inability of banks to reduce interest rates on loans.It is common knowledge that net interest margins in India are much higher than those in some other countries. Till the RBI obliged by reducing base rates by 50 basis points on September 29, the blame for high credit cost was put squarely on the monetary policy. Earlier too, stakeholders and analysts were aware that banks were not lending out of funds provided by the RBI at bank rate. The twist came when the finance ministry announced its intention to cut the return on small savings and public provident fund balances on the day the RBI announc

Letters: Base rate basics

Apropos Kanika Datta's column, "Technology, the god with clay feet" (October 8), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of Digital India is indeed beset with hurdles. While technology is a double-edged sword capable of yielding decent or deleterious results, depending on the purpose, India continues to be essentially a tradition-bound country, despite the spread of education and exposure to modernity. Even the technology-savvy - like Modi - are anchored in rituals and customs.A major hurdle in breaking away from incongruous old ways is the hold family values and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have on politicians and the masses. Dowry deaths and honour killings are taking place even in rich and well-educated households.A discipline-based organisation, the RSS has not been at ease with changes taking place the world over in social, economic, scientific and religious spheres, considering them a threat to national culture. Assimilation of different cultures has been one of the strengt

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