A price index for agri commodities: A Business Standard and Indicus Analytics initiative

Indicus price monitor

Business Standard

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

Realty check

How can my heir(s) claim stake to my assets if the will is lost after death?In the absence of a will, a succession certificate becomes the primary document through which your heir(s) can claim stake in your moveable assets. This document gives your family the authority to transfer assets like accumulated wealth, shares and bonds in their names after you. For immovable properties, a probate is needed instead of a succession certificate.How can they obtain a succession certificate?To obtain a succession certificate, your heir(s) will have to apply to the high court. High courts have a separate department to issue these. The court charges two to four per cent (varies across states) of the value of the estate or a maximum of Rs 75,000 as fee. Usually, it takes four to six months to get a succession certificate

Tipping point

Every Monday, Business Standard analyses one family's finances and suggests a suitable way forward

Case study

Free-speech hypocrisy

Overhaul state-run bank chiefs' selection process

Non-performing managers

When Tina Ambani, wife of Anil Ambani and a former actor, appeared in a Central Bureau of Investigation court on Friday to depose as a witness in the 2G telecom licensing case, she expectedly created a sensation. Everyone craned to get a look and women constables ran up to get her autograph before proceedings began. The conspicuous exceptions were a corporate chief and a former bureaucrat both of whom are involved in the controversy. During the proceedings, while the attention of those in court were rivetted on Mrs Ambani's non-answers, the CEO was initially deeply involved with some work on his iPad and then heard falling into a discussion with the former telecom ministry official on the fall of the market and the weakening rupee.

Attention deficit

Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta's running feud with Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily over a gas price increase due next year has taken a new twist. Not being content with filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, Dasgupta has written a complaint to the prime minister against a change of responsibilities among top ministry officials. But Moily had put the changes on hold after Dasgupta had filed the PIL, so that the joint secretary overseeing the pricing issue was kept in place instead of being transferred as originally planned because of his expert knowledge of the issue. Asked if he had been responsible for this status quo, Dasgupta insisted that the transfer of the joint secretary concerned was going ahead."Who is feeding you all these lies?" the veteran Left leader demanded. "Do not trust anyone in the petroleum ministry, what I am telling you is the correct information as far as petroleum ministry is concerned. The joint secretary has been

True lies?

India's north-south cultural divide has long been a fact of life but more than six decades of independence has ensured a greater degree of integration on either side of the Vindhyas. But the old confusion over names reigns among a certain generation of Indians - especially those born before independence. Thus if Bharatiya Janata Party's L K Advani consistently and blithely addressed N R Narayanamurthy (left) as "Krishnamurthy" at a corporate awards ceremony some years ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh repeatedly referred to current Chief Economic Advisor and Reserve Bank Governor-in-waiting Raghuram Rajan (right) and Raghuraj Raman at a recent book release ceremony.

Due south

India is known to be a reservoir of economists. There are a lot of facts about the Food Security Bill (FSB) - which is before the Parliament for discussion - that need to be published. It is a well known fact that a family of five people cannot consume more than 600 kg of wheat or rice in a year. It is also clear that more than 80 per cent of the population/households in villages have their own 600 kg of wheat or rice since they are farmers or have the capacity to purchase grains with their own funds. Under the FSB, 75 per cent of the households in villages will be provided subsidised foodgrains. For this, our government will have to invest in procuring food grain, store it in godowns and then after meeting the transportation cost etc, the grains will be given to 75 per cent of the people at subsidised rates in the same villages where the grain is grown.My short question is, why is the government trying to provide subsidised foodgrain even to those who have their own grain in their hou

Letters: Food security facts

India's economic success story of the 2000s was powered by robust hiring in the information technology (IT)/IT enabled services sector, led by advancement in telecommunications and laissez-faire policy. It is a matter of deep concern therefore, that the booming IT majors of today feel their business model has changed. They use a mysterious palliative "non-linearity" to describe this phenomenon, which in non-geek means "we don't need too many new hires." This "non-linearity" has coincided precisely, and rather inconveniently, with a historic increase in the number of youngsters entering India's workforce. With one white collar job creating ten brown-collar jobs, the impact of white-collar joblessness on law and order is easily foreseeable. Perhaps the home ministry should step up its creation of khaki-collar jobs.Rohan Soares  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: l

Letters: Khaki-collar jobs?

This refers to Ajoy K Das' letter "IOB's glitch" (August 23). The author claimed that when the Bank's operations came to a standstill, the chairman and managing director (CMD) was out of station inaugurating the Bank's 3,000th branch. In fact the system was functioning normally on August 17-18. The CMD returned to Chennai on August 18 and the technology breakdown occured on August 19 only. He was very much at the headquarters montioring the troubleshooting personally, till normalcy was restored.K V Krishnan, General Manager,Indian Overseas Bank  ChennaiLetters 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: IOB clarifies

This refers to the report "Musharraf charged with Bhutto killing" (August 21). With this development, Pervez Musharraf's apprehension that he would not get a fair trial has been proved right. This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that a former military ruler has been indicted in a murder case. Does this mean that the military hold in Pakistan is on the decline? And, does a similar fate await President Asif Ali Zardari when he demits office next month?Deendayal M Lulla  MumbaiLetters 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: Musharraf in the mire

Your borrowing cost is rising as interest rates are moving up. But it also provides you with an opportunity to earn a higher return on your deposits. Most private sector banks have raised their deposit rates in the past few weeks and as cost of funds turned expensive the lenders also increased their loan rates. On the other hand, most public sector banks have not revised their deposit rates as their liquidity positions are relatively better.Consequently, the state-run lenders have not changed their lending rates also. An analysis of interest rates of large private and public sector banks suggest that retail customers will earn higher return on short-term deposits with private lenders. For deposits maturing in one and three years, there is not much variation on interest rates of private and public sector banks. However, borrowing cost will be lower if retail customers choose to take loans from public sector banks.

Money Matters: Where to borrow, where to keep

How much is a top executive worth? For women, it's 17% lessMany women who've made it to the top of S&P 500 companies are yet to find equality in pay. Last year, top women executives earned an average $10.94 million, about 17 per cent less than their male counterparts. Typically, women start their careers at a lower pay scale, but even when they reach the top, the gap persists. A look at the 10 highest paid women executives:

Women at the top

The National Capital Region urban rail connectivity project has set a target to link Delhi to nearby towns and cities: Panipat in Haryana, Alwar in Rajasthan and Meerut in UP. The three lines would stretch over 381 km. The initial projected cost is ~55,825 crore (~72,170 crore including central and state taxes, and expected cost rise). We compare the project with other Metro projects, weighing their costs per km at the time of construction:

Rail transport systems: How costs chug Along, km by km

With the Food Security Bill still stuck in Parliament after Members of Parliament (MPs) from Andhra Pradesh didn't allow the House to function for a long time, help for the Congress came from Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav, who decided to take it upon himself to ensure that the House functioned and the Bill is passed during the monsoon session. Most political parties were of the view that MPs of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress, who have been disrupting the House must be suspended so that the Food Security Bill and the coal block allocation scam could be discussed. During a meeting with the Speaker, it was decided that the prime minister will intervene during the discussion on the coal block scam after the MPs were suspended. However, things could not work out as per plan because when Yadav telephoned Chandrababu Naidu to inform him about the decision, the TDP chief didn't take the call. Yadav tried to reach Naidu several times but he just refused to come on th

No clear line

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is keen to see his party win the Gurgaon seat from the Congress because, according the estimates of the BJP, Modi has a very strong fan following in the satellite town and if he can ensure that people come out to vote for him, the BJP candidate will win. Keeping this idea in mind, the main opposition party is talking to Rao Inderjit Singh, the Congress MP from Gurgaon, who has already met most leaders of the party at least six times in the past few weeks.

Eyeing Gurgaon

Lessons from Samsung's India successSamsung replaced Nokia as the country's largest seller of mobile phones in terms of revenue in 2012-13, according to a survey conducted by Voice & Data, a telecom publication. Of the Rs 35,946-crore market, Samsung had a 31.5 per cent share, compared to Nokia's 27.2 per cent. While Samsung's share increased sharply from 25.1 per cent in 2011-12, Nokia's fell from 38.06 per cent, the survey of 30 mobile phone makers said. Nokia, till not so long ago, had over 70 per cent share of the market. That high a share was unsustainable. As India became the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world, most new entrants targeted Nokia, the market leader, for volumes - just like rivals have been eating into the dominant shares of Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp in the car and two-wheeler markets, respectively.For Samsung, it is the second big victory in India. A few years ago, it had ended LG's long reign at the top of the consumer electronics market (ag

Price isn't everything

After a dismal show in the quarter ended March, private equity (PE) investments in the June quarter more than doubled

Surge in PE investments

Govt should help industry take advantage of depreciation

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