Month: August 2022

Tips on how goal-based investment can help fulfil your luxury dreams

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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You have a beautiful house and a loving family, your job is going great and everything is perfect. But something’s missing. As you grow older, with the lack of sound financial planning, you realise that your constrained finances are limiting your capacity to dig into the luxuries of life.

Nobody wants to look back on their years with regret. A little financial planning can help you happily enjoy a stress-free life. Here are some tried and tested tips on how goal-based investments can help individuals organise and control their financial future, taking them towards the big-ticket luxuries they aspire for.

What is goal-based investment?

What is the first thing you do when you plan a vacation? Do you book your tickets first? Or plan the itinerary down to minutest details? Or finish your packing? All of these will happen later. You first choose your destination. The place you wish to visit.

The same approach is to be used in investment. The first thing that you should do with your money is deciding your goal, for which you need to save money. Investing without a purpose is akin to gambling, which may not be sustainable in the long term and can be halted at any point if an emergency arises. So, always start with your goals — this is what goal-based investment is all about.

You may have several ambitions, from purchasing your dream house to planning your retirement. Goal-based investment provides you with not just a sound investment plan but also a roadmap to achieving your objectives and, as a result, a stress-free future.

Also Read: Tips for balancing home loan payments and other financial goals

Why should one define goals before investing?

Your desires grow stronger day by day, but will you be able to fulfil them with no financial planning? Here are a few reasons why you should start thinking about goal-based investing.

Seek clarity and make wise investment decisions

Goal-based investing provides you with a clear image of your financial objectives. For example, if you are saving and investing for a home today by sacrificing a foreign vacation, you know you are on the right path. The focus and determination required to achieve your financial goal teach you financial discipline and improve your money management skills, allowing you to invest wisely.

You will know when and how much money you will need to meet your goals. Hence, you will be able to make informed investment decisions. You will understand your specific requirements, so you can determine which life insurance policy you need; if mutual funds are a viable investment; and how much money you would require to retire comfortably.

Also read: India@75: Money Money Money, an investment guide for millennials

Risk profile and return appetite

Just saving money is not enough. If the interest rate on your savings account is less than the rate of inflation, you will not be able to meet your goal. Hence, you need to invest in suitable investment options in order to compound your capital over the years.

The basic purpose of investing is to compound the capital over a longer period of time. You may invest in SIPs, ULIPs, a life insurance policy, etc. Depending on your risk appetite, you may need to use a combination of various investment products to fulfil all of your objectives efficiently.

You may improve your returns by allocating each rupee of your investment to a specific financial goal. Various investment options should definitely be added to meet a variety of objectives. This diversifies your portfolio, lowering your risks while improving your long-term wealth-building prospects.

Also Read: 7 habits that you need to become financially self sufficient

Financially Secure

You can free yourself from the vicious circle of ‘debt and desire’ with goal-based investment. Whether you want a car, a vacation, your dream home, or a big fat destination wedding for your child, you may have to rely on borrowing. Debt, regardless of its size or purpose, adds stress to one’s life.

Compare that to having enough cash in your bank account to cover all of these expenses. Knowing you do not have to borrow to fulfil your financial objectives gives you peace of mind and independence. That is made feasible through goal-based investment.

Baby steps towards your goals

Before anything, in order to make goal-based investments, you have to take baby steps by identifying the goals. Goals should be SMART — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. To budget accordingly, once the goals have been established, you should further divide them into short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals.

Last but not least, you have to calculate the future worth of each goal, remembering to factor in inflation. Once you’ve determined your target amount, determine how much time you have to achieve it. After you’ve completed all of this, you may realise how tension-free your life is now than before. So, what are you waiting for? Set the first goal.

The author, Akhilesh Gupta, is the Chief Investment Officer of Aviva India.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fiscal deficit touches 20.5% of annual target in April-July period

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The central government’s fiscal deficit touched 20.5 percent of the annual target at the end of July 2022-23 against 21.3 percent a year ago, reflecting an improvement in public finance, as per official data released on Wednesday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit — the difference between expenditure and revenue — was Rs 3.40 lakh crore during the April-July period this financial year.

Fiscal deficit is a reflection of government borrowings from the market. As per the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government’s receipts, including taxes, stood at Rs 7.85 lakh crore or 34.4 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23. During the year-ago period, it was nearly the same at 34.6 per cent.

#Government | July revenue spend Rs 1.45 lk cr Vs Rs 1.65 lk cr (YoY)

▶️July tax revenue Rs 2.19 lk cr Vs Rs 1.64 lk cr (YoY)

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) August 31, 2022

The tax revenue stood at Rs 6.66 lakh crore or 34.4 percent of this year’s BE. Last year too the government had managed to mop up 34.2 percent of its annual estimate during April-July. The data further revealed that the central government’s total expenditure was Rs 11.26 lakh crore or 28.6 percent of the BE 2022-23, almost same as in the year-ago period.

Capital expenditure was 27.8 percent of the full-year budget target compared to 23.2 percent in the corresponding period last year, as per the monthly account of the Union government up to July 2022, released by the CGA. For 2022-23, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be Rs 16.61 lakh crore or 6.4 per cent of the GDP.

Also read: India’s GDP grew 13.5% in June quarter of FY23 — details here

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

COVID-19 treatments for better protection against future variants identified, claims study

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Researchers have identified new therapies for COVID-19 that they say could provide better protection against future variants and outbreaks.

An international team led by researchers from the University of Kent in the UK and the Goethe-University in Germany tested the sensitivity of different SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta viruses to combinations of the four currently approved antiviral drugs with betaferon.

Betaferon is a class of antiviral drug that is also naturally produced in the body and protect it from virus infections. The recent COVID-19 waves have caused fewer hospitalisations and deaths than the initial ones – largely due to the immunity provided by vaccines, the researchers said.

However, many people have defects in their immune systems and cannot effectively protect themselves from COVID-19 by vaccination and rely on effective antiviral therapies, they said.

The researchers noted that threat of resistance formation for antiviral drugs, which can happen quickly and cause problems with treatment, also adds to the need for new treatments for future-proofing our protection against COVID-19.

The study, published in the Journal of Infection, found new combination therapies that are highly effective in cell culture experiments and that may reduce the formation of novel variants.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India: Kerala reports highest COVID-19 deaths, positivity rate over 2%

“These are exciting findings that will hopefully help to improve the treatment of vulnerable COVID-19 patients and to avoid the formation of resistant viruses as much as possible,” said Professor Martin Michaelis, from the University of Kent.

Currently, there are three approved antiviral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19: remdesivir, molnupiravir, and nirmatrelvir – the active agent in paxlovid. Moreover, aprotinin is an approved drug, whose anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity was discovered by the same research team, and it was recently shown to be beneficial in COVID-19 patients.

The findings show that interferon combination with molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir, and aprotinin were much more effective than interferon combinations with remdesivir.

This may explain, why remdesivir/interferon combinations have so far shown limited improvement compared to remdesivir alone, according to the researchers. Interferon combinations with the other three drugs should be tested in the clinics, they said.

“If these findings are confirmed in patients, I hope that more effective therapies will help us to reduce the formation of novel dangerous COVID-19 variants,” said Professor Jindrich Cinatl from Goethe-University.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Gold faces longest monthly losing streak since 2018 as US dollar gets stronger

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gold prices fell on Wednesday and were on track to post their longest streak of monthly losses since 2018 as traders anticipated more interest rate increases by central banks to combat red-hot inflation.

Spot gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,710.70 an ounce by 0956 GMT. Bullion has lost about 3 percent so far in August, set for its fifth straight month of declines.

U.S. gold futures dipped 0.8 percent to $1,722.90.

Expect gold to fall to $1,600 by year-end as Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s determination to bring down inflation through tighter monetary policy will result in higher U.S. real rates and a stronger dollar, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Inflation has hit multi-decade highs in many parts of the world, forcing central banks to tighten monetary policy. Gold is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

ALSO READ: Rupee hovers near 80 mark against dollar

“The Fed does not have intentions to significantly ease in the near term,” said DailyFX currency strategist Ilya Spivak. “Their focus is on inflation.”

Traders will look at the U.S. private payrolls report due at 1215 GMT for further clues on the resilience of the American labour market.

ALSO READ: How much gold you can hold in India and how is it taxed? Check limits here

“(But) don’t expect the data to materially affect the direction of the gold price, although a strong number could drive it lower,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

Spot silver fell 2.5 percent to $18.03 an ounce and was set for its biggest monthly drop since September 2020.

Platinum slipped 0.7 percent to $841.40 and was headed for a more than 6 percent drop over the month.

Palladium, meanwhile, dipped 0.4 percent to $2,078.81.

ALSO READ: Gold price today: Yellow metal falls, white metal 0.4% away from lifetime low

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Verbal spat between AAP and BJP over Delhi education model

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A verbal spat broke out between BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia and AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj on Wednesday over the Delhi government’s education model. Bhatia said he visited a Delhi government-run school in Greater Kailash on being asked to do so by the AAP MLA.

He alleged that Bhardwaj “failed to provide the list” of 500 new schools. However, the AAP MLA responded saying the BJP spokesperson “refused” to visit schools that have been newly constructed by the Delhi government.

“The AAP MLA had asked me to visit Kautilya School on Wednesday and said that he would provide the list of 500 new schools. However, after I visited the location, the AAP MLA failed to show the list,” Bhatia alleged.

Taking to Twitter, Bhatia futher challenged the AAP government to make the list of 500 new schools public. “Arvind Kejriwal, please make the list of 500 new schools public. The world should know whether these schools exist or not. They had promised it in their election manifesto,” Bhatia wrote.

Countering the allegations, Bhardwaj said, “Bhatia visited one of the government schools in Greater Kailash but didn’t enter the premises and left. We further requested him to visit another government school which is still under construction. Gaurav Bhatia reached the location but left without even taking a look at the building. The AAP was ready to show all new 500 schools in Delhi but then, he asked just to provide the list,” the AAP MLA claimed.

Also Read: V K Saxena to take legal action against AAP leaders for alleging corruption charges

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asia Cup 2022 IND vs HK highlights: India beat Hong Kong by 40 runs to progress into Super Four

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Catch the live scores and updates from match 4 of the Asia Cup 2022 between India and Hong Kong being played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IndiGo, Virgin Atlantic announce codeshare agreement

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The country’s largest airline IndiGo and British carrier Virgin Atlantic on Wednesday announced a codeshare agreement. The agreement will allow Virgin Atlantic to sell seats to passengers connecting onto IndiGo flights.

The initial codeshare destinations in India include Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Delhi and Mumbai. The additional destinations will include Kochi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Pune, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Vadodara, Indore and Visakhapatnam, a release said.

ALSO READ: IndiGo, SpiceJet fall while Jet Airways gains after DGCA’s domestic flight data

Under the codeshare partnership, customers booking a Virgin Atlantic ticket will be able to fly on the airline’s London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai flights and connect to and from 7 additional cities in India.

Later this year, the agreement will be expanded to cover a total of 16 destinations throughout India, as well as connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s extensive US network operated via London Heathrow, the release said. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence.

ALSO READ: Mumbai-bound IndiGo aircraft develops snag at Goa airport, passengers disembarked safely

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SBI to sell Jaipur based Anamika Conductors to recover Rs 102 crore

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Country’s largest lender SBI will sell non-performing loan account of Anamika Conductors through e-bidding in late September to recover dues of Rs 102 crore.

Anamika Conductors has an outstanding of Rs 102.30 crore. SBI has put the reserve price for the e-auction, scheduled to be held on September 28, 2022, at Rs 22.13 crore.

SBI said in terms of its policy on transfer of stressed loan exposures, it is placing the loan account of Anamika Conductors for transfer to eligible ARCs/banks/NBFC/FIs.

The bank, however, said it reserves the right not to go ahead with the proposed transaction or modify any terms and conditions at any stage, without assigning any reason.

Founded in 1988, Anamika Conductors is a Jaipur-based company engaged in manufacturing of aluminium conductor wire, aluminium alloy conductors and power cables. It also has presence in wind energy production with mills situated in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Also Read: Tata Sons Articles of Association: Split in top leadership roles and other major decisions

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

HC directs Telegram to disclose details of channels violating copyright law

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Delhi High Court has ruled that no person or organisation, even an infringer, may claim the defence of free speech and the right to privacy to escape the repercussions of unlawful behaviour. The high court made the remark while ordering messaging app Telegram to provide in a sealed cover information about channels that were propagating specific content in breach of copyright law, including their mobile numbers and IP addresses.

When dealing with a lawsuit filed by a coaching facility and its owner against the unauthorised sharing of its teaching materials on various channels on the platform using masked identities, Justice Prathiba M Singh ruled that Telegram’s reliance on the laws of privacy and the right to free speech and expression was entirely inappropriate in these particular facts and circumstances. The plaintiffs would be helpless to pursue damages, the judge ruled, unless the owners of the infringing channels were made public.

Also Read: Spectacular journey of Campa Cola, Indian soft drink market leader of 1980s

Telegram relied on both Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which protects the right to freedom of speech and expression, and Article 21 of the Constitution, which provides for the protection of privacy. In these situations, the same is wholly inappropriate. The right to freedom of speech or the right to life including the right to privacy cannot be used by any person or entity, let alone an infringer, in order to escape the consequences of illegal actions, said the high court in its order dated August 30.

In response to Telegram’s submission of it being an intermediary under the Information Technology (IT) Act and thus being obliged to not disclose the details of the originator of the information, the high court opined that mere disabling or taking down of channels was an insufficient remedy as these channels were clearly hydra-headed and were surfacing one after the other owing to the ease with which they can be created. The provisions of the IT Act and the Rules, it added, have to be construed harmoniously with the rights and remedies provided to the copyright owners under the Copyright Act and even the IT guidelines do not, in any manner, obviate the duty of Telegram as a platform to take all effective steps required to protect the intellectual property rights.

Justice Singh also clarified that merely because Telegram chooses to locate its server in Singapore, the copyright owners cannot be left completely without any remedy against the actual infringers in law. Unless and until the identity of the operators of these channels who are ex facie infringers of the Plaintiffs’ copyright are disclosed, the plaintiffs are rendered remediless for recovering damages. ‘Take down’ or blocking orders are merely token relief for the interregnum and without monetary relief of damages, coupled with mushrooming of infringing platforms, the copyright owner’s spirit to create and write may be considerably negated, said the high court.

Also Read: India to remove fare caps for domestic airlines from today: How it will impact travellers?

The Supreme Court recognises that if there is a law in existence to justify the disclosure of information and there is a need for the disclosure considering the nature of encroachment of the right then privacy cannot be a ground to justify non-disclosure, so long as the same is not disproportionate, the judge said. The high court emphasised that if the protection of copyright is not evolved as per the changing times, it would have a chilling effect on the progressive initiatives taken by educators in sharing their materials and ensuring accessibility in the age of cloud computing and diminishing national boundaries in data storage, conventional concepts of territoriality cannot be strictly applied.

“In the facts and circumstances of the present case, Telegram (Defendant No.1) is directed to disclose the details of the channels/devices used in disseminating the infringing content, mobile numbers, IP addresses, email addresses, etc., used to upload the infringing material and communicate the same, as per the list of channels filed along with the present application, If there are any further list of infringing channels, the same be also submitted to Telegram within one week. The data relating to the infringing channels and the details as to the devices/servers/networks on which they are created, their creators, and operators including any phone numbers, IP addresses, or email addresses, used for this purpose shall be disclosed by Telegram within a period of two weeks thereafter. The said information shall at this stage be filed in a sealed cover with the Court,” it ordered.

Also Read: Tata Sons Articles of Association: Split in top leadership roles and other major decisions

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maruti Suzuki Swift Hybrid India launch soon — expected price, mileage and features

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Maruti Suzuki is set to launch its latest hybrid offering, the Swift Hybrid, in the Indian market soon. As per reports, the Swift Hybrid could be launching in September this year. The car was earlier showcased at the Auto Expo 2020 and was launched for the overseas market. The Maruti Suzuki Swift Hybrid is expected to be priced at around Rs 10 lakh in the Indian market.

Here’s what to expect from the India-spec Swift Hybrid:

Swift Hybrid expected engine

The Swift Hybrid is expected to pack an electric motor coupled to a 1.2-litre petrol engine and a lithium-ion battery pack. The 1.2-litre petrol engine in the Swift hybrid will make 91PS power and 118Nm of torque while the electric motor is expected to put out 13.5PS of power and 30Nm of torque. Maruti Suzuki is expected to offer a 5-speed AMT and manual transmission with the hybrid version of the Swift and paddle shifters.

Also read: These Sept car launches will rev up the festive season for auto sector

Expected features

The Swift Hybrid is expected to get some additional features over the standard Swift, including ventilated front seats, cruise control, paddle shifters and heads up display.

Mileage

The Swift Hybrid was earlier unveiled at the Auto Expo, Noida in 2020. The model showcased was a Japan-specific version, with a claimed mileage of 32 kmpl in the Japanese cycle test. Some reports even suggest that the Swift Hybrid may run up to 48.2 kmpl.

Also read: Impact of Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder in SUV Space

Design

The exterior of the Swift Hybrid is expected to be like the regular Swift, with some cosmetic updates. The interior too is expected to be similar as the regular swift, with a touch screen infotainment system, along with slightly premium features over the regular Swift.

How do hybrid cars work?

Hybrid electric vehicles are powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) and generally consist of an additional electric motor, which uses energy stored in batteries. Hybrid electric vehicles do not need to be plugged in to charge the battery as they are charged by the ICE. 

Also read: Maruti Suzuki raises 5 red flags that could affect auto demand

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow