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 2.5-3 crore. 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

Shailaja Lall

Abizer Diwanji

There are stirrings in the insurance sector - foreign joint venture firms are raising their stake to 49 per cent while their Indian partners retain management control. Experts discuss how the control issue is likely to play itself out

Winds of change in insurance boardrooms

Vijay Iyer

Milind Kothari

Rohan Phatarphekar

Time and negotiation needed for the govt and corporates to come out of the maze around transfer pricing-related issues; the current half-hearted approach will not work, say experts

Tackling transfer pricing

Moving on Aadhaar

Preparing for the Fed

My housing society has taken insurance for our residential building, which covers damage for natural calamities, etc. Do I need to take a separate insurance for my flat? What additional benefit will the insurance for my flat give? It is recommended the flat owner should avail separate insurance cover as:(a) The housing society generally does not cover the contents (furniture, fixtures, etc) of individual flats. Society covers the structure and other common areas that belong to it.(b) You should also check the coverage and the sum insured opted for by the society under their policy. In case you feel the sum insured is not appropriate to cover all the losses, you can opt for a separate policy for your flat, which could cover the structure and contents.My school alumni association is hosting an alumni meet during the summer holidays and many former students are expected to attend from all over the world. Someone suggested taking insurance for the event in case it gets cancelled. Is such a

General Insurance: Rakesh Jain

It is natural to assume that a press note from a government department or a ministry would be the official statement of the department or ministry concerned. So, it came as a surprise when a recent release from a social sector ministry clearly mentioned that the statement was "unofficial" and should be attributed to "sources". Those in the know say this was a practice followed by ministries for which it sometimes became imperative to hide the source of information. Will "unofficial" statements now become the rule rather than the exception?

Officially unofficial

The Press Information Bureau (PIB), the government's official information dissemination arm housed in Shastri Bhawan, has made it mandatory for all non-accredited journalists (those who do not possess a PIB card) to get prior permission to enter the building from designated officers. It also insists that once a journalist gets permission to meet an official, she must meet the said official and not someone else. After the meeting is over, it is imperative for the journalist to return her permission slip to the authority concerned. As some officials pointed out, while these rules have always existed, they were never implemented strictly. But after the case involving the leak of classified documents from government offices blew up, they have been reinforced. Shastri Bhawan houses critical infrastructure ministries such as those for petroleum, coal and mines, besides human resource development.

Once bitten, twice shy

Besides getting a lukewarm response from investors, the first two initial public offerings (IPOs) of this year - that of Ortel Communications and Adlabs Entertainment - have another thing in common. The two companies have a political connection. Cable and internet services provider Ortel is promoted by Lok Sabha MP and Biju Janata Dal member Jay Panda. For its part, Adlabs Entertainment, which runs an amusement park, Adlabs Imagica, is promoted by Manmohan Shetty, father of Pooja Shetty Deora, who is married to former Congress Union minister Milind Deora. The Ortel IPO wasn't fully subscribed to, while Adlabs had to slash its issue price by 20 per cent.

Political floats

This refers to the editorial "The wrong prongs" (March 20). The intention of the government to unearth the black money accumulated abroad is laudable and deserves all administrative and legal support, but it cannot be treated as a lasting solution to curb the menace of black money. As rightly highlighted, the generation of black money in the domestic economy and its easy movement to international economies need to be mercilessly plugged with strict regulation, supervision and enforcement of existing laws of the country, with modifications and reforms. The sources of black money generation are innumerable - real estate transactions, massive corruption and bribes liberally practiced with the connivance of the enforcement authorities and laxity of governance standards prevalent in all institutions. All such transactions need to be forcefully curbed.Ethics and values in economics, trade and commerce have been literally absent and this needs to be fixed through cultural changes starting rig

Letters: Stopping black money

Nitin Desai's article "Reviving animal spirits" and Rahul Jacob's column "Make (believe) in India" (Caveat India, March 19) show how hard it will be for India to become a manufacturing-led economy and exporter. One misses a mention of the real distress that is developing in the rural sector. What is not appreciated is that most farmers have little or no marketable surplus production. An increase in procurement prices does not help them at all. For them, the rising cost of inputs such as fertiliser, diesel, pesticide, power and services has sharply eroded their ability to maintain their standard of living and buy FMCG goods.India faces a huge challenge. It has to engineer an increase in domestic savings so that investment can be made in physical, defence and social infrastructure, and also in domestic consumption. This will ensure that the expanding industrial sector can sell its output because exports are not going to increase immediately. Of course, this is an accounting impossibility

Letters: Tough road ahead

This refers to Yamini Aiyar & Shrayana Bhattacharya's article "Class struggle" (BS Weekend, March 21). Education is primary to all individuals, but only the family provides it in the beginning. The future of any society depends on it. The current state of primary education in the country's rural areas is of utmost concern. But policy-makers don't have the vision or the will to touch it, as it is not going to help them reap any immediate political dividends. Jawaharlal Nehru had that vision and started "Bal Bhavan" activities, which the Congress supports even today.India is a young democracy in need of a clear vision and support as a whole rather than a part. We have very good politicians, but a rare statesman.Dushyant Nathwani  VadodaraLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Needed - A visionary

In-Q-Tel. It was founded by the CIA and located in Virginia, United States. It is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability. Dalda. All are actively involved in the launch of Apple's new watch, scheduled to be launched soon. Cinthol. AT&T's exit from the Dow Jones Index which is being replaced by Apple (AAPL). Phubbing, which comes from Phone Snubbing. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken is  the owner of a controlling interest in the world's third-largest brewer, Heineken International. She is the daughter of Freddy Heineken, the Dutch industrialist, and Lucille Cummins, an American from a Kentucky family of bourbon whiskey distillers. Android wear brand from Google. Gemalto. It produces two billion SIM cards a year that makes it the largest manufacturer. Ol

Answers to the Strategist quiz (#400)

The 3D printing industry globally passed the $1-billion mark in 2012 and continues to grow at 22.4 per cent annually. 3D printing can be applied to diverse range of industries and is especially useful in the manufacturing process where a lot of detailing is requiredn Rise in shipments2.3 million 3D printers will be shipped in 2018 versus 1,30,000 shipped in 2014n Prices to dropMore than four out of five 3D printers shipped in 2018  will cost under $2,500n Printed products to drive revenuesIn 2018, more than $13 billion will be spent on 3D printers and 3D printing materialn Metal 3D printing a high growth areaMetal 3D printing experience 75.8 per cent annual growth in 2013 and is till in it infancyn Consumer application>  An average 3D printer for consumer starts from $1,000>  The markets for best use of consumer application are education and toy sectorSource: By Enda O 'Reilly, director, Needa.ie; Link: http://www.needa.ie/Shredders/s/Small-Office-Shredders

The future of 3D printing

What to do about cheating in examinations?

Copying nation

No more patience

Draconian strategy on black money ill-advised

The wrong prongs

Where do our politicians get those Urdu couplets that they so confidently recite during their speeches and that seem perfectly tailored for a given situation? A senior minister recently admitted that he knew a shayar, or a poet, who supplied him with "original" couplets for key occasions without giving out the name of the shayar concerned. Politicians from the rival Congress party managed to figure out who that shayar was and contacted him with a proposal to supply them with Urdu couplets to suit political occasions. The shayar turned them down, leading the minister to comment that the shayar was way more faithful to his friends and causes than several career politicians were.

The faithful shayar

In the course of a discussion following a book launch in the capital, the moderator had to repeatedly request the audience to put their buzzing mobiles on silent mode. However, a few minutes later, it was the turn of the moderator's phone to ring loudly. The visibly embarrassed moderator said, "I thought I had put it on the silent mode, but it seems to have a mind of its own."

Smart phone

A day before India's quarter-final match against Bangladesh in the ICC World Cup 2015, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's hometown sent out a message of thanks with a difference. Public sector engineering consultancy firm Mecon announced that it would rename its stadium in Ranchi's Shyamali colony (Dhoni grew up in the same colony) after the Indian skipper. The stadium would be known as MSD Mecon Stadium from January 1, 2016.

Business Standard

Business Standard

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