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| May 08, 2008 | | Drowned in debt, what do you do?
Having more debts than one can handle is not a hopeless situation. Respite is available in the form of debt counselling and also with the law
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| May 06, 2008 | | McChowmein? He made it a reality
A little over four years ago, when Ashish Kapur quit his job as an engineer with GE, packed his bags and came back home from America
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| May 05, 2008 | | Daily investment through mutual funds
A systematic investment plan that invests every day in the stock market can capture the movements for the investor. An analysis of its performance.
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| May 03, 2008 | | Indians go for luxury villas in Mauritius
The price? If you can scrape together Rs 18 crore (Rs 180 million), you could commandeer a two-bedroom Foster + Partners-designed casa with a private pool, a quite extraordinary roof, some spectacular views, and the glamour and privacy that comes with the high life.
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| April 30, 2008 | | Taxpayer: Budget joys and inflation woes
Overall, Budget 08-09 offers the aam taxpayer many benefits. No doubt, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has done his bit in preparing a favourable pitch for the upcoming general elections. Be that as it may, it's some relief in an year when the invisible tax called inflation is threatening to unhinge household budgets. In his Budget Speech, the FM said there is merit in equating the tax rates on dividends that are distributed taxed @15% to short-term capital gains taxed @10%.
Cash crunch? 8 questions to ask yourself
Considering that no one wants their finances to capsize, going through rough patches can take a lot of skill. Pay hikes, home loans, stockmarkets,prices—what turn will these take? We get answers to these questions
Should I invest in equity shares now?
Don't invest at one go. Go slow, buy in dips, and in small quantities. Then, stop looking at the ticker.
Are my funds in ULIPs safe?
The costs in most Ulips are front-loaded and, hence, it is important to make them run their full course.
What should I do with my home loan?
At this juncture, floating rates are likely to go up
Should I stay invested in MFs?
Monitor investments closely and make purchase and redemption decisions solely on the basis of the relative performance of the funds and the demands of the portfolio.
Is this the right time to buy a house?
Deceleration of economic growth will impact purchasing power
How will I spend on major items?
If growth continues at 7-9 per cent, the spending and saving behaviour is unlikely to change.
Should I dump my stock portfolio?
If your interest is for the short term, then you should avoid taking any position at this stage
What kind of hike will I get this year?
The job market is seeing consolidation and HR experts feel hikes will be more moderate in the future
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| April 29, 2008 | | IMF: Incompetence by design or default?
Experiences of the past decade now tell us that this unaccountable and unsure system is untrustworthy, unworkable and hence unacceptable
Use tax sops and buy a house
Make the Income Tax Act work for you by using its tax saving provisions to fund the purchase of not only your first house, but also of the second one.
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| April 24, 2008 | | 10 rules for a profitable investment portfolio
Asset allocation - the way you divide your capital among different investment options - accounts for more than 90 per cent of your portfolio's overall return. Which is why it's so very important to get the asset allocation right in your investment portfolio.
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| April 22, 2008 | | Inflation - who's to blame?
The government can flight inflation by using monetary policy that aims to curtail demand through higher interest rates and lower liquidity.
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| April 19, 2008 | | Cartoons are now adults' business
Animation is serious business today, says , with high-profile houses pumping in big money into these films.
The day the music died!
No more countdowns, no more artistes - television's music channels have rescinded their niche for non-music reality shows.
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| April 18, 2008 | | Why CEOs don't blog
If the top management (especially the CEO) understands the merits of blogging, then that company eventually goes on to build an effective blogging strategy.
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| April 14, 2008 | | How to calculate your inflation
While the WPI may give a particular inflation figure, in reality, the real rate differs from person to person. An illustration on how to calculate it for yourself.
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| April 12, 2008 | | When coffee shops turn into offices
Coffee shops support a huge and growing workforce that cannot or will not be tethered to that piece of real estate that we all recognise as a formal office.
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| April 10, 2008 | | Rich-for-life investing principles
According to life cycle investing theory, individuals travel through different life stages with different investment goals and risk tolerances associated with them. Each individual would have to determine for him or herself how much risk they want to assume to achieve greater returns, as evidenced by a move to the right on the risk/return line.
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| April 02, 2008 | | Is the Blackberry email a security threat?
While other countries allow intelligence agencies to snoop on email, a host of other transactions, including e-commerce, using similar encryption levels will be affected.
17 tax-free incomes for you
Under the provisions of Section 10(1) of the Income Tax Act, agricultural income is fully exempt from income tax. However, for individuals or HUFs when agricultural income is in excess of Rs. 5,000, it is aggregated with the total income for the purposes of computing tax on the total income in a manner which results into "no" tax on agricultural income but an increased income tax on the other income.
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| March 28, 2008 | | The man to thank for babus' fatter wallets
No less than 4.5 million government employees will soon have more money in their pockets. And they can thank Justice Bellur Narayanaswamy Srikrishna for it. Still, public records do not have much information on the man.
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| March 27, 2008 | | Pensioners angry at 2006 'divide'
Those who retired prior to January 2006 will get only a 15 per cent hike. The commission's recommendations come into effect from January 2006. For instance, an officer who retired in the higher administrative grade-1 (equivalent to an additional secretary in the central government) prior to January
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| March 26, 2008 | | How to pick valuable stocks
The earnings per share (EPS) ratio indicates the earning of a common share in a year. This ratio enables investors to actually quantify the income earned by a share, and to determine whether it is reasonably priced. The ratio is arrived at by dividing the income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted average of the number of common shares. In countries, where employees are given stock options, investors check a company's fully diluted earnings per share.
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| March 25, 2008 | | ICICI Prudential's success story
It is a real life story. A story of an insurer that has managed to hold on to its lead in the marketplace for seven years.
What your work says about you
Meaningful work doesn't just belong to old-world craftsmen, though. Meaningful work happens even in big corporations. And when it does, it makes them even bigger.
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| March 24, 2008 | | All about the new Pay Commission recommendations
Cabinet Secretary and Secretaries to be kept in distinct pay scales at Rs 90,000 and Rs 80,000 a month, respectively.
What is a Pay Commission? How will it impact govt?
The Pay Commission is an administrative system/mechanism that the government of India set up in 1956 to determine the salaries of government employees. The First Pay Commission was established in 1956, and since then, every decade has seen the birth of a commission that decides the wages of government employees for a particular time-frame.
Meet the master of art auction!
Neville Tuli has been having a good week. A few days after his arts institution Osian's was evaluated at Rs 840 crore (Rs 8.4 billion), with Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital acquiring a 9.4 per cent stake in it for Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million), Tuli's recent auction of Indian modern and contemporary art fetched an astounding Rs 30.38 crore (Rs 303.8 million), in a market soothsayers have been predicting the end of for some time now.
Will the stock market sink further?
Without doubt, bears have raided. We try to fathom what further damage could they cause, for how long and how to cope with it.
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| March 19, 2008 | | Are high crude oil prices here to stay?
Rising geopolitical uncertainty, a falling dollar and the growing speculative interest in commodities trading will keep crude prices volatile.
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| March 17, 2008 | | The 10 biggest falls of the Sensex
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex sank by 951 points on black Monday on panic selling by funds, triggered by weak global cues.
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| March 14, 2008 | | Rahul Gandhi wants bigger farm loan waiver
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made a strong speech in Parliament demanding the widening of the scope of relief granted to farmers through the loan waiver scheme announced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Budget 2008-09.two crucial changes to widen the arc of relief as the party prepares for crucial electoral battles ahead.
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| March 13, 2008 | | Stocks that you can buy, sell or hold
I think this time around the markets will take that much more time to consolidate and ride back up. We have hardly ever been in a bearish phase over the last 3 to 4 years. So even if we take 4 to 5 months to get back to a bullish phase it is fine and only healthy for the markets, says market expert Pranav Sanghavi.
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| March 12, 2008 | | Will the loan waiver relieve farmer distress?
Ultimately, it boils down to whether a loan waiver will help without taking action to improve irrigation facilities and to ensure remunerative prices for farmers.
How to save income tax through planning
The first step in tax saving through family tax planning is to adopt the concept of divide and rule. The simple rule is that each family member must have his or her independent source of income so as to legally become an independent tax payer under the provisions of the income tax law. Under the income tax law it is not possible to arbitrarily divide one's income amongst different members of the family - and then pay lower tax in the names of different family members.
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| March 11, 2008 | | Shah: The man who makes 'crorepatis'
Rashesh Shah is not your typical Gujarati businessman. He was among the first in his family to study in an English-medium school. He didn't just step into his father's business -- manufacturing and selling school exercise notebooks -- as all good conservative Gujarati boys tend to. He went on to study higher and higher (he followed a BSc in statistics with a one-year diploma from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and then a two-year MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.
'Real' lessons that B-schools don't teach
The lessons of life would be a lot harder but for this theoretical grounding of the B-schools
Defaulted on home loan EMI? Here's help
It is important to know that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act empower the bank to take possession of the property that is mortgaged to them, to recover the loan outstanding from the borrower.
Buying stocks? Follow these 4 steps
More than your investments, its how you behave in bullish and bearish markets that will determine where you end up several years from now. Avoid costly mistakes: Stay away from risky offerings, whether it is futures or commodity trading, and for that matter, trading in general. Understand equities as an asset class: Any promise of more than 15 per cent, based on past performance, should be seen with a lot of caution. Higher the returns, more the risk.
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| March 08, 2008 | | Are the fund managers listening?
While in other corrections, anybody who bought at the lower circuits never repented, some investors who did on January 22 are repenting as 50 per cent of Nifty stocks are below that day's level as I write on Friday morning. While derivative traders and margin money investors panicked in January-February, if values don't improve investors who have put their own money to work may begin to panic. Are the fund managers listening?
From bullock cart to biofuel
In Indian villages, the concepts of bio-fuels and carbon footprints do not exist. Yet, people use cycles, bullock carts, rickshaws and their own two feet, none of which cost the environment anything.
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| March 07, 2008 | | 3 steps to turn worry into action
You already have the means to change the pattern of escalating worry by using the power of your mind. The systematic Evaluate-Plan-Remediate approach allows you to examine the process of worry and break it down into smaller, more manageable problem units that can be solved or resolved.
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| March 06, 2008 | | Dismissing an employee? Tough job!
Deciding whether to dismiss an employee puts significant emotional strain on any manager – no matter how experienced he or she is. By acknowledging the difficult aspects of this event, you can more effectively manage your emotions and stress level.
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| March 04, 2008 | | How you can save more money now
If one optimally uses all the tax benefits extended, an individual earning up to Rs 3 lakh (Rs 300,000) may not be liable to any tax especially if he uses the provisions of Section 80C and 80D well.
'Gap between India's rich and poor is growing'
K M Chandrasekhar finds his new assignment a bit like being a journalist (a bit like what you do, he says); one deals with one issue today and then forgets about it for a while.
All about the new tax scenario
What are the changes in the new tax rules and how would they affect you? Check out the changes for individuals as well as corporates, as indicated by KPMG in a study.
The art of self-control a key to success
One of the greatest powers in negotiation is the power of not reacting. Human beings are reaction machines. As Ambrose Bierce once said, "[Speak when you are] angry, [and] you will make the best speech you will ever regret."
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| February 23, 2008 | | A house that redefines luxury
A New Delhi house is replete with all accessories of luxury, including an indoor swimming pool.
A yacht for the price of a car
With a fast-expanding pool of billionaires and millionaires, India is now an important market for pleasure-craft peddlers.
Detachable jewellery to suit all times
Detachable jewellery is fast becoming a trend as jewellery lovers get to experiment with a single piece of jewellery and wear it differently on different occasions.
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| February 21, 2008 | | Trip abroad? Important money tips
Carrying part of the money as currency and the rest in a travel card makes for a hassle-free holiday abroad at the least cost
Venture fund for defence firms
The $100-million fund, which has the option to raise a further $200 million, will benefit small and medium enterprises engaged in defence production.
The top 10 Web sites you never heard of
A list of most useful and entertaining sites from the far reaches of the Web so that when these sites go mainstream, you'll be one step ahead of the crowd
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| February 15, 2008 | | Never let your trading profits turn into a loss
There might be a lot of public orders resting at $121 to buy the stock, but all the orders to buy at that price won't be filled. If they are all filled at $121, there's a reason why informed insiders would be willing to sell all the public wants to buy at the $121 level. My selling out my position at $120-7/8 would be warranted because the price of the stock should drop pretty drastically after all the public orders to buy at the 121 support level are taken out.
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| February 14, 2008 | | IT: Five challenges for five years
India's IT headway may well have put the country on course to a dominant position in the sector but the journey through the next five years is not without its share of challenges.
What's a recession? How will US slowdown hit India
A recession is a decline in a country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for two or more consecutive quarters of a year. A recession is also preceded by several quarters of slowing down.
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| February 13, 2008 | | Get paid up to Rs 12 lakh to play
Earn up to Rs 12 lakh per annum while playing games. All you need is a passion for gaming and the will for hard work.
Posco on backfoot in Orissa
Tension mounted in Dhinkia village in the Posco project site near Paradip in Orissa as the survey teams, conducting a socio-economic survey of the project site, came eyeball to eyeball with the villagers of Dhinkia, who vehemently oppose the project.
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| February 12, 2008 | | Skills they don't teach at B-schools
However, more often than not, the emotional skill training that is required to complement these is often forgotten. Inherent personal skills that we all have are not only not accentuated, but often downplayed to the extent that they are made completely worthless.
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| February 09, 2008 | | Check out these lifestyle pickup trucks!
Mahindra & Mahindra already offer the Scorpio pickup. Called the Getaway, it features the same 2609cc CRDe engine from the Scorpio, 115 bhp and a hefty 28.3 kgm of torque.
Posco project: A village under siege
As it pits itself against the sarkar and the "company" in a $12 billion stakeout, Latha Jishnu speculates about the future of a small village with an idyllic - but apparently doomed - way of life.
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| February 07, 2008 | | 7 super tax saving, fixed income plans
If you like the safety of a steady predictable income, every month, quarter or year, then there are a number of tax-saving instruments available for you. In fact, most of the tax-saving paper you could buy earlier was in this category. For those who are uncomfortable with fluctuating incomes that market-linked instruments give, these are the products for you.
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| February 04, 2008 | | Why Emaar MGF is a big bet for investors
However, in the long run, one could expect Emaar MGF to do an encore of DLF. Long term investors who buy into the great Indian growth story will reap handsome rewards from this issue.
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| January 28, 2008 | | Unravelling India's innovative streak
India has a veritable history of scientific innovation. This drive to innovate, recycle and make the most of what we have has today given India a competitive edge.
Time to plug flaws in market system
Traders looking for quick gains were in for a rude shock as Nifty and its derivative stocks plummetted. Apart from educating retail investors, there are some systematic flaws that need to be plugged.
No-load funds are here
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has scrapped entry loads on direct applications to MFs. This means that if you invest directly with the fund house by submitting your application forms at any of its collection centres, you don't need to pay entry loads (presently 2.25 per cent). Internet transactions done through the MF's website are also now exempt of loads.
Stock market: Is the worst over?
The unprecedented fall in stock market had numerous reasons backing it up. As the market gets bullish again, it is wiser to be disciplined and patient with your investments.
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| January 25, 2008 | | Blueprint out for real estate funds
Invest in real estate, they say. It costs only Rs x a square foot, they add. But you cannot buy a couple of square feet of land even as an investment. And that's why the idea of a real estate investment trust, or Reit, is so attractive.
How Chindia will impact the world economy
The rapid aging of Chinese population attributed to its one child policy implemented over two generations will impact its domestic economic growth. On the other hand, while India is at present one tenth in size of China, it will experience accelerated growth in less than ten years with better infrastructure, political reforms and fi nancial transparency.
Get the most out of your mutual fund
You now have to wade through concepts such as asset allocation, rupee cost averaging and rebalancing, understanding of which is essential to make your investment a success. These weighty words could make the timid give up any thoughts of investing.
It's time to buy India story again
According to a Credit Suisse report, the steep Sensex fall has validated two fears: (1) The Indian market is linked to global developments; and (2) Foreign flows are the biggest drivers of the market.
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| January 23, 2008 | | Meltdown: 'Many Gujaratis went bankrupt'
Gujaratis, the community that boasts of the largest number of investors in the stock market, are witnessing extraordinary financial turmoil with many families going bankrupt overnight, literally.
Does the pharma sector need more regulation?
In India, access to affordable medicines has long been dependent on government regulation of the patent system and pricing of essential drugs in the domestic market.
What drives the Tata Motors strategy?
"The toughest part was continuing to believe that we could do it," Tata told journalists covering the Auto Expo in New Delhi, where he unveiled the lowest-priced car in the world. He added that "a promise is a promise", hinting at the ability of his company to deliver even in the face of brutal scepticism.
20 stocks that can make you rich
Check out the more than 20 stocks that experts believe can make you a fine packet over time.
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| January 19, 2008 | | Cramster: An entrepreneur's success story
If you are a serious motorcycle tourer, you could pay through your nose for imported gear -- or you could buy made-in-India Cramster stuff.
Why top executives are turning entrepreneurs
A new, earned respect is motivating executives to step into an entrepreneur's risky, challenging and not-so-steady shoes. They will now be in control of their own destinies - and will have no one to blame or to credit whether they flounder or flourish.
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| January 16, 2008 | | Some must-have skills for the future
Dramatic changes at workplaces are necessitating new skills that existing schools and other institutes don't provide. Here are some must-have future skills.
What will be your pay hike this year?
Based on our extensive research, interactions with experts and HR professional, we present the salary outlook for eight sectors across junior, middle and senior levels.
How to tell when a share's price may fall
Although business situations are seldom identical, success in business can be analyzed; patterns of managerial behavior are recorded, categorized, and taught in graduate business school classes. In the same way, there are common contributors to failure which are discernible in deteriorating investment situations.
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| January 15, 2008 | | Anil Ambani to pip Mukesh as richest Indian?
According to one calculation, Reliance Power IPO is likely to gain close to $27 billion for Anil Ambani, which when combined with the existing market capitalisation of his companies will work out to be close to $75 billion!
India's poor: From raw deal to new deal
In the face of failed poverty reduction programmes, the govt. should implement cash transfer scheme to alleviate poverty in India.
How Samsung plans to regain No.1 spot in India
Samsung, the consumer electronics giant, is adopting new product innovation and retail strategies to reach deeper and wider into the Indian market.
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| January 09, 2008 | | How to invest safely: 5 great tips
You need not worry about getting swept off your feet if the equity market party gets wilder in 2008. Here are five ways by which you can make your moves safer
Why you should buy gold, not jewellery
The beginning of the new year is is the right time to buy gold. But invest in gold funds, or bars, and not jewellery.
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| January 08, 2008 | | The Sensex story: From 1K to 21K
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex crossed the 21,000 level in early morning trade for the first time on Tuesday on heavy buying by funds.
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| January 05, 2008 | | Music industry: The future is now!
Traditional ways of popularising music and making it purchasable are giving way to more innovative and interactive ways and even conservative major labels have now woken up to the benefits of working more uncompromisingly with companies that sell and promote music on the digital front.
January 1 -- the magic of it
There's something magical about January 1. It might be just the way that the human brain is wired, but the first day of the first month of the year is a gleaming tabula rasa, empowered by the future rather than weighed down by the past.
The slow transformation of the Indian state
As the country slips into a new year, the defining reality about the relationship between the citizen and the state is the transition, however partial, from the first view to the second. In its own way, the transition has just found expression in the Gujarat elections, and it will be reflected again as 10 more states go to the polls this year, before the big test in 2009.
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| January 03, 2008 | | Be a smart manager, win Rs 25,000
Rediff Business presents the TCS Smart Manager Case Contest # 31 for managers, along with The Smart Manager, the management magazine! We give you a profile and the history of a company. All you have to do is study it and post your solution by clicking here, in 500 words or less.
Mumbai airport: What will it be like
G V Sanjay Reddy, vice chairman of the GVK Group, elaborates on his plans for the much-awaited Mumbai airport makeover.
Did you really get the MF you bought?
Check the asset allocation of your diversified equity fund to see that you really have a lower-risk scheme.
Which insurance product should you buy?
Don't buy a cover because your neighbour, whose needs are different from yours, has bought it. Buy only according to your own need.
India's best Ulips
Introducing the never-before tool for retail investors, Outlook Money's annual Ulip ranking.
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| January 02, 2008 | | 8 guidelines to make money from IPOs
IPOs offer opportunities for making quick money which few other forms of investment can hope to match, particularly during the market's bull phase.
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