Catch and Cater

Green Banks – transition to Clean Energy

The World of Financial Market is in for a transformation every passing day in order to provide best service. Vendors, irrespective of their type of trade or size and volume of transaction are being supported by the technological innovations that comes to their aide. From street vendors to small traders to big corporates and business houses are dependent on the Digital Transactions, that pushes the paper currency to the archeological era, without any compromise on the quality of service.

In contrast to my earlier posts, I was prompted to take up the effects of impending Climate Change globally and what can be done as a responsible citizen.

Banking and financial sector stands tall to grasp any technological innovations when it comes to serving the society. We are already in the grasp of Digital transformation in financial transactions in the form of ATMs, Mobile Banking, Paperless digital payments, Block Chain, Big Data, Mobile Apps, Automated Wealth Managers and Fintech. The current decade has already engulfed by innumerable online financial transactions as customers prefer to stay indoors and use the technological developments thrust upon them.

On the other hand, corporates and business houses especially in the financial sector are encouraged to expand their business environmentally to facilitate clean energy development.

The concept of Clean Energy Institutions or Green Banks was originally developed in the US in the year 2008 followed by the adoption of an amendment to the federal cap and trade bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Simultaneously in UK in year 2009 a state-backed infrastructure bank was established exclusively for financing to green projects.

Green Banks are mission driven institutions that use innovative financing to accelerate the transition to clean energy to fight climate change, prioritize and care for deploying clean energy. They focus on commercially viable technologies, as opposed to early-stage innovative technologies, as they have been tested and can reliably produce revenue to project-owners. They also harness a diverse set of financing techniques, including credit enhancements, co-investment and securitization.

Also called ethical banking or sustainable banking, green banking is a category of banking practices considering all the social and ecological factors with an aim to defend the environment and preserve natural resources.

Green Banking is an umbrella term referring to practices and guidelines that make banks sustainable in economic, environment and social dimensions. It aims to make banking processes and the use of technology and physical infrastructure as efficient and effective as possible, with zero or minimal impact on the environment.

Green Banking optimizes costs, reduces the risk, enhance the banks’ reputations and contribute to the common good of environmental sustainability and serves both the commercial objective of the bank as well as its social responsibility.

The prime benefit of the green banking approach is the protection of the natural resources and the environment. Green Banking avoids paper work to the optimum level and focuses on electronic transactions like use of ATM, mobile banking, online banking etc. for various banking transactions by customers.

The concept of Green Banking actively develop a pipeline of clean projects and seek out opportunities in the market. All Green Banks have the mission to address climate change, though many also have additional objectives such as improving resiliency or serving low-income communities.

Green Banks use financing not grants, which means that capital financed should be repaid so that the same can be utilized financing another clean energy project. In other words these banks focus on markets where there is potential to pay back as also on projects which are proven and technically viable and well past the research and development stage.

With their focus on clean energy transition, green banks aim to maximize market penetration as quickly as possible in order to displace dirty energy.

It is equally important to note that Sustainable Development Goal 7 as designed by United Nations General Assembly targets Affordable and Clean Energy by 2030.It aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Access to Clean Energy is a very important pillar for the wellbeing of the people as well as economic development and poverty alleviation.

The goal has five targets to be achieved by 2030, with the first three are “outcome targets” or universal access to modern clean energy, increase global percentage of renewable energy and double the improvement in energy efficiency and the remaining two are “ means of achieving targets”, viz: to promote access to research, technology and investments in clean energy and expand and upgrade energy services for developing countries.

Green Banks can play an important role to this end for achieving SDG # 7 as above. Progress in expanding access to electricity has been made in several countries notably India, Bangladesh and Kenya. The global population without access to electricity and clean energy decreased to about 840 million in 2017 from 1.2 billion in 2010. Renewable Energy accounted for 17.5 % of global total energy consumption in 2016. Between 2018 to 2030, the annual average investment will need to reach approximately $ 55 billion to expand energy access, about $ 700billion to increase renewable energy and $ 600 billion to improve energy efficiency.

Following are some of the strategies that can be taken up by Banks in India for Green Bank initiatives:

1.Carbon Credit Business: Corporates and business houses are to be encouraged to produce fewer than the allocated carbon emissions and are to be allowed to trade or exchange the balance of the carbon credits with other benefits.

2. Green Banking Financial Products: Banks are to be encouraged to deal in Green Projects or Green based products as also to offer green loans with low rate of interest.

3. Paperless Banking: Customers and account holders are already encouraged to use cash deposit machines or ATMs.

4. Energy Consciousness: Banks and Corporates are to make use of the energy efficient devices and equipments for their day to day operations.

5. Mass Transportation: Employees and Office goers are to use common transport for their mobility.

6.Environmental Buildings: Banks should resort to green environment friendly buildings for their corporate offices, branches and ATMs.

7.Green Revolution: Banks are adapting plantation programs in rainy seasons to save the environment as also supplies Plants to Schools and Colleges.

Some of the Indian Banks who are taking up the Green Banking initiatives:

State Bank Of India: SBI became the first bank in India to venture into generation of green power by installing windmills for captive use. The Bank also offers Green Home loan scheme which supports environment friendly housing projects and offer subsidy and reduction on interest rates.
Punjab National Bank: PNB’s lending policy allows the bank to extend loans to those borrowers who can produce NOC from Pollution Control Board.PNB is the only bank who conducts Energy and Electricity Audit of all its offices and branches as a measure to energy efficiency.
Bank Of Baroda: BOB has implememted Lending Automation Processing Systems for appraisal of retail and SME Loans in order to reduce paper consumption. Lending for Real Estate projects the bank adopts to rain water harvesting and solar energy projects.
ICICI Bank: The Bank’s Green initiative includes-
- a)Instabanking: In order to reduce carbon foot-print of customers, the bank encourages internet banking, i-mobile banking, IVR banking.
- b)Vehicle Finance: The Bank’s Auto Loans offer 50% waiver on processing fee on car models which uses alternate mode of energy with identified models being Maruti’s LPG version of Maruti 800, Omni and Versa, Hyundai’s Santro Eco, Civic Hybrid of Honda etc..
IndusInd Bank: Human aur Hariyali campaign which introduced solar powered ATM’s.
IDBI Bank: Entered into agreements with multi lateral agencies and buyers of carbon offer complete range of clean development mechanism(CDM) related services tailor made to suit the needs of its customers.
Axis bank: Encourage Customer to avoid Paper Statement andaccept e-statement.
Small Industry Development Bank Of India: SIDBI offers a line of credit for financing Energy Saving Projects in MSMEs in order to reduce energy consumption, enhance energy efficiency andreduce carbon-dioxide emissions.
Yes bank: YES BANK is the first Indian signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project and has documented its carbon footprint.

The World is being slowly invaded by global warming and expects governments and public in general to get prepared for the same while constantly applying for innovative ways to avoid such situation. Financial institutions and banks in particular have an important role to play by way of creation of a strong and successful low carbon economy. In future, business with a higher carbon foot print would be seen as a riskier business and banks may not finance such entities.

In effect Green Banking will become order of the day with more and more organizations falling in line to protect the environment and come out with clean energy projects.

Make Money, the legal way

As we are in the Final Session of the current pandemic that has consumed 6,027,059 lives across the globe as on date with medics and researchers successfully fighting the same with Vaccines, we are facing another form of a deadly virus that swallows human lives in the name of addiction to illegal games and online gambling sites.

He was a well-educated Employee of Barclays Bank, had a loving wife and two kids with an annual salary of around, Rs.28 Lacs, took to suicide along with his wife and kids just because of his addiction to online gambling. Started with a marginal amount of Rs. 1,000/- initially, went on to play non-stop as he was lured with petty credits to his account to the tune of Rs. 5,000/- to 10,000/- by investing huge amounts, and in-spite of losing Rs. 1 Crore and further deep into it by taking loans from his friends as also pledging his properties with an imaginable expectation of gaining or recovering lost money. As happens normally in such gambling he ended up with huge loans that has finally took the entire life of precious family.

19 Nov’21 was another fateful day for 31 yr old auto rickshaw driver S Murugan of East Tambaram who took his own life after losing 20 lacs in playing illegal card game. He was addicted to playing nonstop on borrowed money only to lose it.

On a sad note triggered by the above incidents, I would like to share my thoughts on one’s urge to make quick money and how soon one’s wallet will drain with all enduring ill effects.

“ While Money can’t buy happiness, it certainly let’s you choose your own form of misery” Groucho Marx

Let us check some of the legal frameworks that goes against engaging in illegal games:

According to the Public Gambling Act of 1867, practically all forms of gambling are illegal in India. placing bets on horseraces or cricket matches is prohibited, even though there are certain exceptions.
Income Earned from Online Betting attracts 30% flat rate of Income Tax excluding cess as per Sec 115BB of the IT Act. The net rate including cess will be around 31.2%.In other words Income earned after taxes nets to around 68.80% of which one may have to pay Interest on money borrowed for such bettings.
Since Gambling are not fully legal in most countries, they attract Fines which will range from a few hundred dollars up to $ 1000 or more.
Imprisonment including fines for Gambling can be significant, sometimes as much as $ 20,000 or more.
As per the gaming act, 1960 betting and gambling are prohibited, while under Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Criminal Charges including sentence in federal prison up to five years.

With continuous lockdown and bank accounts getting dried, people are looking for ways of making ends meet and turn to online gambling which has eventually become a death trap for those who set out to play for profit. From mercenaries to high-ranking officials, people from various sections has lost their money in online gambling.

We do come across the ugly face of gambling in the form of swindling for gains. Due to his addiction to gambling, an accountant working with a Kerala government treasury, swindled Rs. 2.70 Crore from the treasury and is currently behind the bars.

In regards to online games apps like Rummy culture, Rummy Circle etc. (which are freely marketing through commercials starring movie and cricket stars), the game is played using the 13 cards available in the app. A player might win the game initially and double the amount when he plays using Rs.100 or Rs.500. However, the app will show its color when he plays by depositing more money through e-wallets. The player will eventually find that his wallet has gone empty. He will be provided with bonus amounts to motivate him to continue playing. That is when the player is deceived by the app by not issuing the cards and by flipping the card when playing for a large amount.

“Every time you borrow Money, you are robbing your future self “ Nathan W Morris

Gaming Parlors encourages Game of Chance played randomly without any prior knowledge or understanding and in most cases the player will lose money and hence illegal and Game of Skill played by experts using certain skills such as analytical decision making, logical thinking and capability and are thus brain storming and invigorating, but still leads to addiction in due course.

We have embraced Digitalization to a great extent in the last decade, and has eventually landed with too many cashless transactions for most of our payments, that has given life to many payment platforms like GPay, PayTM and the likes. This has resulted in faceless hackers who are in action to make easy money by acting as your banker or digital pay agent. Bankers are sending frequent alerts to be cautious when receiving calls from unknown numbers and do not share any vital information including any OTP for authorizing payment from your account.

On a different note, there are legal ways of increasing one’s income which includes online casino affiliate website – which requires some level of web development competency. Platforms like WordPress, Wix and Squarespace are built around making it simple for anyone to create a professional-looking website, and their tools help you do just that.

While you don’t need a complex website to make money, you might want to create an optimized website, so as to stay different from other affiliate websites.

It becomes mandatory to have more traffic, with a catchy search term or caption followed by quality content. As an affiliate, your goal is to be the top result for a given search term. The higher up your result on the page, the more traffic to the website which eventually provide more affiliate revenue.

Content is the king in the world of SEO. We should post regularly with good content, since Google is yearning for compelling, relevant content because its entire model is built around displaying searchers with the best result for their queries. This way we can have good revenue recorded in the legal way.

The world is abound with lot of opportunities to have financial growth legally, in the form of investments in Shares, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Property, Fixed Deposits, Retirement Plans etc.

A Financial Investment is the dedication of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Such Investments requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money or effort.

“Discipline leads to habits, habits leads to consistency, consistency leads to growth “

In financial investments the time horizon or the specific interval of time that the investment is held is very important followed by Investment Strategy which determines the different types of assets that are usually bought or sold at a specific time so as to optimize the income.

Generally speaking, the higher the risk that an investor takes, the higher the reward a financial investment could return.

Off late the Financial Market is being invaded by Cryptocurrency(CC) and one has to check its legality before embracing the same.

A Cryptocurrency, in a lay man’s language is a digital currency different from paper money, designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

As of 13 Feb’2022 RBI and the Union Government in India have not given any sort of recognition to Cryptocurrencies and therefore they are not legal in India, as confirmed by Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman. Authorized source revealed that Cryptocurrencies will never become legal tender in India, instead the government is keen to introduce Digital Rupee based on Block Chain technology to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23.

“Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement and the ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value” Eric Schmidt

Investing in Crypto assets is risky but also potentially extremely profitable.CC is a good investment if you want to gain direct exposure to the demand for digital currency, while a safer but potentially less lucrative alternative is to buy the stocks of companies with exposure to CC.

On 11 March 2022 an Indian American among two were indicted by a US Court for their roles in Cryptocurrency money laundering and faces 20 years in federal prison as reported by Business Standard. According to the indictment they were alleged to have conspired with others to receive victim money derived from a variety of fraud schemes and launder the proceeds through CC.

In conclusion, Investors are requested to safeguard their hard earned money and to stay away from Digital Currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Binance and US Dollar coins etc. at least in India, as also Yooshiis the latest CC to explode in 2022, even though they offer lucrative illegal funds which may end up as black money.

Keep watching, Catchandcater will see you soon.

Opportunity lost, nothing is lost

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Pexels.com

Time is slipping under the carpet and it’s time we realized, the time lost is lost forever and gets into history. With that it’s time to address youngsters amongst us and those who are consciously making amends in their career and is moving ahead happily and peacefully. But there is a section of men and women, boys and girls who are wayward in their approach to this beautiful life and career and are being taken care here.

I was triggered here by a senior citizen to spare my time for the sake of our next generation. Mr. Sivaprakasam from Dharmapuri, India has recently proved that age is not a barrier to education and to become a Doctor. He is a Retired Teacher aged 61 who has recently cracked the NEET Exam at 249^th Rank and is eligible for an MBBS Seat. He told that his childhood desire was to become a Doctor, but due to various reasons could not take up the required qualification in his earlier years. The Irony here is, normally parents guide their children in their career selection, but here he has decided to gift his opportunity to another desiring youngster, based on his son’s request. The proven point here is that, we need to Regard an Opportunity Lost as a passing cloud and move ahead instead of pondering as, something is lost forever.

We are equally disturbed by an uncontrollable social happening in the name of suicidal deaths in most parts of the Indian Sub-Continent mainly due to shock result or a panic developed by the education system in the name of NEET (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Tests) Exams for about 66,000 Medical Seats available throughout the country, including MBBS and BDS Courses.

Success follows those who try vigorously. Opportunity should be grabbed as it comes and addressed appropriately.

In short we do come across incredible opportunity at various stages of our life:

By a toddler – The early years of a toddler will provide us with lots of interesting moments. One such moment that each one of us would have come across with the child’s tryst with standing on his own legs and try to move around. Initially he gets lot of opportunity to stand up but falls down and never stop trying again until he succeeds on his own. Most of us as Parents or as a spectator might not help the child in his tryst. That is nature’s first lesson as “Opportunity Lost, Nothing is Lost”.
In Education – It is pathetic to witness so many young students, without a proper guidance both at home as well as outside, end up with suicide, just because their dream profession or passion doesn’t take wings or they were not successful in that. The number of suicides in India due to failure at NEET Exams recently are really alarming. Sixteen students have died so far in 2021 on this count as against 14 in 2020, up from 7 in 2019, which is being termed as public health issue as per psychiatry professors. Let me share my own experience where I took up failure as an opportunity. Being from a family of Mathematics and Engineering Graduates, it was natural for me to keep an eye on becoming an engineer. Took up Mathematics for my initial graduation since my first attempt at entering an Engineering College was not successful, with a set plan to try another opportunity to enter the profession after completing my Degree. Again I could not succeed after three years, but still never gave up and took up a completely different profession as a Chartered Accountant and shine and excel to date, with a self-declaration as Opportunity Lost, Nothing is Lost
In place of work: Quite often we find ourselves to be short of something at our work place and spends most of our time in cracking the same. The real opportunity for success lies within the person, not in the job. Try to discover points of contact, not conflicts. Losing an opportunity at our work place might sometime seem to be lost forever, but again we have to realize that success starts from failure and how do we raise ourselves to reach the target through an alternate route.
In Commercial arena – Opportunity is the most frequently used term to attract the consumer. We do come across marketing campaigns like “Opportunity comes in various sizes, Opportunity knocks your door with best unimaginable price, Don’t Miss this Opportunity etc. etc. But the Consumer never realizes that these marketing campaigns hints that the best deal is to follow IF and Only IF he ignores this opportunity. For Example let us assume a dealer dealing in electronic products like a Mobile or a Smart Phone of a particular Brand comes out with a ‘ Never to miss opportunity campaign’ for buying a particular model of the Smart Phone with an attractive Discount Price. It is for us to understand that the particular model is likely to be overtaken by the next version or a slightly upgraded model very soon and hence the campaign to capitalize on the consumer’s apathy. Accordingly in this case, from the consumer’s point of view “Missing on the Opportunity” is a blessing in disguise since he can soon have a new model with attractive features for a slightly higher price.

In sports – Sports enthusiasts and cricket crazy youngsters can easily understand the concept of missing an opportunity due to form or health reasons. Cricketers the world over are playing uninterrupted restless games throughout the year that will have a direct effect on their health and mindset. The reason being they cannot afford to miss an opportunity since a lot of budding players are waiting in line. Such is the case in Sports for Players to grab the opportunity coming their way. But same time with the advent of T20 Cricket way back in 2004 followed by the lucrative IPL in 2008, it has never been a lost opportunity for those young players who could not find a place in the playing eleven for India in the Test or One day Cricket as they can play in IPL and justify their selection for the national team with improved performance in the short format. The same goes with all sports and games.
In film, media and entertainment industry – As we are in the third decade of the 21^st century, the media industry has grown to a great extent that we shall find a digital device in every nook and corner and opportunity for the actors and entertainers including those who are in the background are abound. It is very apt here that an opportunity lost will pave way for numerous opportunity to follow. In today’s digital world, the entertainment industry in particular has spread its wings in 360 degree and any player gets multiple opportunities to choose from, in the form 24X7 Television serials from umpteen number of media houses, which paves way for entry into the Big Screen in no time and once he/she reaches there then there is no looking back.
In married life – Married Life take work, commitment and love, but they also need respect to be truly happy and successful. A marriage based on love and respect doesn’t just happen. Both spouses have to do their part. We are given so many opportunities to be happy and peaceful at home. Greet your partner every morning, be gratitude for all hard work put in by her to keep things in order, develop and maintain mutual trust, have fun and laughter at all times, face conflict instead of avoiding it, learn to forgive, and finally end the day with a loving gesture. Missed Rhythms are missed opportunities.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒐𝒇 “𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔”, a law in which nature is governed, which means keep trying until you succeed.

𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆… 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕: 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 “𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈”.

𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆: 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.

A Pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. An Optimist sees Opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill.

In other words once an opportunity is lost a pessimist looks at it as “ Everything is lost” and gets struck up, whereas an optimist looks at it as “ Nothing is Lost” and goes on unearthing the next opportunity and move on.

A Lost Opportunity doesn’t mean it is the Last Opportunity. With that Let me conclude and wish to meet soon at an opportune moment. SEE YOU.

Media, the invisible Big Boss

Hi Friends and well-wishers. Greetings for interesting days ahead. For most of us the day begins with a visit to our smart phones and a quick check with WhatsApp for early morning messages. Some of us are in the habit of watching the early morning News Bulletin as provided by our favorite television channel/s. While WhatsApp messages carries variety of information from our contacts with varied importance , news bulletins comes with important news ranging from government announcements, finance, banking and tax regulations, weather bulletins, sports and other trends of the day.

As with my earlier posts, I was triggered to come up with this piece after having been affected by media impact on oneself, which has forced me to stick to my base and cancel an otherwise entertaining travel back to my homeland. Yes, I am referring to the latest awareness or temporary panic created by the media updates on the current COVID19 Variant OMICRON. While it is very early to predict this variant and WHO is at it to find a solution, the Travel Industry is taking precautions to avoid spread of the new variant by limiting its services, Digital Media is too busy with its daily new versions on OMICRON. Without due verification a false propaganda is doing rounds that the new variant is very powerful and might take more time to control.

On 8^th Dec’2021, the World was in for a Shock as India’s Armed Forces’ First Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat along with his Wife and 11 of his team met with a Tragic Accident in a Helicopter crash in Nilgiris near Wellington. While the whole World mourns his untimely departure and the Indian Government is taking every effort to maintain order, some of the Media houses are having a field day with their own version of the accident. One of the South Indian Media house which is popular for unbiased Reporting, has suddenly came with a wrong portrayal of the incident and has been at the receiving end with number of criticism as the Report Captioned “ RAWAT, 12 others KILLED in TN Chopper”. This has not gone well with majority of readers as most felt that the Martyred Army Personnel is being portrayed singularly in the caption without due regard to his position and his sacrifices for the country. Another Media Report was full of assumptions and conclusions like whether the Crash was accidental Or the handy work of enemies both external and internal in order to create imbalance in the Indian Armed Forces since the Martyred General is likely to come out with more Surgical Strikes in the near future and such other way of influencing the ongoing investigations. This is a tip of the iceberg for the many distortions by the Digital and the Print Media.

With regard to the Pandemic gripping the World, the most polarizing question and central mystery remains. We still don’t have clear evidence to prove its origin, except an authenticated investigation report confirming that the virus was “not developed as a biological weapon”. The WHO has handled the crisis very efficiently and has guided each Nations’ preparedness for public Health, Screening, Testing, Sanitizing and Social Distancing Protocols requirements, which is still going on. The Digital Media too played its part quite efficiently, even though initially there were Panic among the public, as the only spokesperson between WHO and the Various Governments to reach the General Public, by way of Screening at Airports, promoting hand hygiene and other preventive measures and through Trending posts like #coronaviruslockdown/ #stayhome / #workfromhome etc.

While this was the case with COVID19 which is being controlled convincingly, OMICRON is being exposed in the media as a Variant of Concern (VOC) for something that the origin and effects were not even known resulting in panic and chaos, while we hope to resolve the same soon.

Digital Media helps in quick, easy and effective way of communication and distribution of content among the masses. The content can be created, distributed and modified via digital devices, which is something that differentiates it from traditional media.

The World has picked up the pace, everyone is just too busy. One cannot simply afford to lose a day’s track to keep himself updated with information.Most of us are highly active in the WhatsApp and is the recipient of thousands of messages daily as also forwarding most to our individual as well as group contacts on a regular basis. One such message that struck my smart phone recently happen to be a Request from the Originator for the recipient to avoid messaging about the COVID Variant with specific mention that the Digital Media is the main cause for spreading panic amongst the public with regard to the COVID19 that is still prevalent in the World.

An Interesting WhatsApp message confirms this and remains a clear eye opener as to the Nexus between Media and Corporates

Pharma Funds the Media, the MediaFunds your Fears, Your Fears Funds your Diseases, Your Disease Funds Pharma

Another Strong Message doing rounds in WA

“New Variant is so dangerous that it spread through News Channels instead of the Respiratory Tract “

In fact the Airline Industry is the most affected and to a good extent they are dependent on the Media Houses to come out ONLY with Authenticated News about the New Variant supported by WHO approvals. One of the Airline Chief came out with a public statement saying “We still haven’t figured out whether this is a spanner in the works or a fly in the ointment” meaning that something Not Go as planned Or a minor irritation that spoils the success or enjoyment of plans to revert back to Pre-Covid19 period, referring to Omicron Variant.The impact of digital media is quite noticeable in our society and it has both positive and negative effects, whether it is entertainment or learning. It helps to navigate this world more efficiently, through:

News Bulletins for A) Change in Government or Leadership or even during Political Unrest in any part of the World. B) Briefing on Market conditions to plan our Shopping and visits to Religious Place of Worship during Festival Seasons and Religious events C) Frequent updates on Mega sports Events like Olympics, Common Wealth Games and other international events. D) During Monsoon or adverse weather conditions and in particular Cyclones and Storms, especially for those fishermen venturing rough seas for their daily catch.

Most of you can recollect the recent continuous down pour and heavy rains in Chennai, India which brought life to complete standstill. But the same worse weather condition saw the media full of varied updates and too many individual weathermen sprung up in action to make a field day and ride on public’s apathy.

Entertainment from the cozy comforts of our living rooms through OTT Platforms. Role of Media in Civil and Criminal Cases: With extensive growth of Social Media, Court trials are open to wider audience. As the Case being handled by Jurors the same is viewed by thousands all over the world and has become like a sporting event, in which the public tends to choose a side and then becomes highly invested in the outcome.

Of late Journalists and Media Representatives are too busy the moment an incident of a criminal nature takes place and starts giving “Breaking News” on hourly basis and once the viewership increases for such coverage they start coming with their own version of the case which will in turn influence the outcome of the case. In other words the Jury Members will have a tough time separating Media Coverage or Opinions from Evidence due to such Pre Trial Publicity, and in worst case they might tend to be biased against the defendant.

Media influence on the Share Market: This looks inseparable as younger generation starts saving and investing. Information sharing and discussion on media platforms can improve market transparency and efficiency, but at the same time they are known vehicles of disinformation and manipulation of human behavior and decision making. They could be weaponized by malicious actors, ranging from state-sponsored groups to crime syndicates, looking to compromise market integrity and financial stability.“Facts only account for 10% of the reactions on the stock market, everything else is psychology” observed by Andre Kostolony, a Stock market investor.

On Jan 28, 2021 the share price of a US based game retailer GameStop Corp reached an all-time high of $ 483. Two weeks earlier, they had been trading at $ 20 and two weeks later they are down again. Wild swings are hardly uncommon in financial markets, but this case had novel characteristics combined with bullish sentiments of individual investors that has emerged from social media.

It goes without saying that in present day life Digital Media is the best source to spread awareness among the public, especially mental health,Children’s Education and Career, Marital Relationships and so on.

Media plays a major Role in protecting Human Rights including accountability, public awareness and provoked action.

Finally, it is imperative to realize that Media TRP Rating and the sustenance of any media house is based on our readership / viewership and accordingly we have to be selective with the right media, so that they will provide constructive and useful contents in future. See You.

Child, in you, in me, let us Relive.

Friends and well-wishers, hearty welcome and a big salute to each one of you for all your achievements and accomplishments.

A couple of days before, I was going through my regular morning walks in our neighborhood and was caught by a wonderful invigorating vision of my life that has changed and energized my days to date and is sure to catch up rest of my life. Came across a five or six year old Kid walking along, tightly grasping her grandfather’s hands who should be in his 70s. For a minute I could not make out as to whether the kid is holding tightly her grandfather’s hands or is it the other way, since both of them are at far ends of their life and when it comes to dependency both of them are in need of a hand to hold. What a sight, it took my days and forced me to share my views with all of you. One way it has forced me to rewind as well as fast forward in life since most of us fall in between these two generations.

Happy to release this piece of write up, around 14^thNovember being Children’s day and most of us might travel back and would like to live a day or a moment in their childhood days. That’s a natural way of rejoicing in one’s life which comes at no cost. In fact when we come across 14^th November each year, it is natural to revisit the Child in us.

An MIT Study recently revealed that Human Brain has in-built storage areas to store our memories, esp. long term or explicit memory or events happened to us in our childhood stored in Hippocampus, located in the brain’s temporal lobe, where episodic memories are formed and indexed for later access, even after four or five decades.

Before we go further, I did make a short survey among my close associates as to

1) How far you consider your child hood days as precious and

2) Is it worth to travel back and live our child hood for a short while.

The response was encouraging and very much in the affirmative as almost 90% of my respondents consider their childhood as precious and worth reliving.

With that, I would like to traverse decades backwards and let us see what we had and we might be missing:

“Childhood is like being drunk. Everyone remembers what you did, except you.”

Seed of friendship: Irrespective of our gender, each one of us would have had a neighboring child of our age who will stand by us in all our musings, quarrels and atrocities next to our parents and siblings. At that tender age we sow the seed of friendship that lasts for decades, to have a hold even after the absence of our parents.

In house Class Room Learnings: Our Children are far away from the in house learning environment what we have witnessed, which in spite of being well advanced in terms of grasping and learning potential and academic oriented, but definitely lack the technique and applications that we had put in with limited resources that lasts a life time and in most cases cannot be overtaken by the technological advancements.

Walk and make friends: Walk to the school and pick up friends from their homes on the way, chat fearlessly, egoless and considerate to one another. Parents did not had any fear of their wards getting kidnapped etc. Children had unconditional freedom to move around and were taken care by older siblings. Kids could easily open caps and bottles as they weren’t child safe and need not wear seat belts.

“We didn’t realize we are making memories, we just knew we were having Fun.”

In fact the Childhood days of the 1960s were considered “Age of Innocence”

Joy of Reading and Writing: With the advent of email in the late sixties and early seventies, posts and telegraph services took a back seat and went into oblivion in the next decade and today in history. Am sure most of you would like to relive the joy of writing letters to our friends and relatives, walk down to the P & T Counters to have it stamped and with that to learn the process and route that our letter will take to reach our loved ones. Subsequently email was overtaken by WhatsApp where we have ended up with expressing in a single smiley or an emoji and nothing beyond. Definitely we are the treasured lot.

Show of Strength and Physical Fitness: We were enthused with PT Class at school and to be with friends at weekends to be engaged in varied Physical activities and Sports. Anything on our way from the school bag, to writing pads, to roadside trash can or even a chair comes to our rescue to serve as stumps and a bunch of unused papers as our ball in our own game of cricket. With all these uninterrupted physical activities we used to have peaceful sleep at night and enjoyed our food. How can we forget the joy of our daily bathing in our own backyard by manually drawing water from the well, as also washing clothes manually? What a matchless life it was and enjoyable it used to be, which has been taken over by indoor digital games that we see the current generation children are rejoicing differently at the cost of their mental health.

“Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace which is right for each individual child.”

Television as source of entertainment: Television introduced to us in the early 60s had a significant impact on our life. After Dinner, families gathered around the TV, and living rooms became family Theaters. Families of the 1960s were the first to watch the world’s cultural events and political dramas unfold in real-time every evening on the family television. We enjoyed so much of fun and frolic with a long list of children’s movies or cartoons like Charlie Chaplin, Tom & Jerry, 101 Dalmatians, Alice in wonderland, Sound of Music, to name a few.

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, and textures of carpets” alain de botton

Memories of our Train Journies in the 60s and 70s will definitely takes us to another world..

Nostalgic Moments of our Childhood TRAIN JOURNEY

Visits to place of worship: We grew up in a household with lot of religious value and cultural attachments. We had a carefree attitude while in a place of worship and under total innocence stood there with folded hands as instructed by our elders, to seek and pray for well-being without actually knowing what it means.

Value of Family Life: Freedom and Change were the anthems of the 60s. It is not that family lost its importance, but this decade families became less structured, family ties loosened, parents became more permissive, children became more independent and self-reliant, and family life became more colorful and complex.

“A lot of my childhood memories involve walking home in floods of tears. At that age feeling unpopular is difficult to handle” Rachel Stevens

In contrast, todays’ children and adolescents have much less free, unstructured, unsupervised time than their predecessors did. Parents are putting their kids much more into adult-structured, adult-supervised activities than they did in the past. The geographical range of childhood and youth has contracted over time.

“Every Child is like a flower and no two flowers can be compared”

We have mixed reactions from today’s parents or adults as summed up here, when confronted with a question of how they compare life of their children with their own childhood:

The modern child spends huge amounts of time in front of a TV, or a Computer or an iPad or iPhone being passive and frankly producing very little. With that they have very little face to face communication.
We can hardly come across brothers and sisters play much together these days and learn the nuances of taking care of their younger brothers and sisters.
Same time Children nowadays have a great many more opportunities to literally see the world than it was in the 20^th century. Digital media comes handy for todays’ children to learn about different countries and cultures from the comfort of their homes.
Also today’s children, lack a connection with Nature which needs to be addressed.

It gives me immense pleasure, as I bid adieu, to have kindled the child in each one of you, while we join together to make the world of today’s children heavenly, by giving them the best in us. SEE YOU.

Minimalism, for a stress free peaceful life.

Hi Friends and Well Wisher s. Excited to be back after a short break. As with my previous articles, I gained the spark to write on an interesting topic with a recent visit to one of my friends’ house few days back. His daughter got married couple of years back and is now mother of a cute little angel. The moment she started crawling and moving around the house, the New Born Child started exploring too many items in the house and in the cupboards. It made the mother tiresome to rearrange the things back in its place and started realizing possession of too many unwanted and unused items. This made her to declutter all those unused stuffs over a period of time and finally end up enjoying her motherhood. Getting rid of the clutter, the excess and distractions from her home gave her chance to focus more on what matters to her most.

As such this post is being addressed to those who are a responsible home maker, an affectionate family head, a positive person who is open to accepting tips and advice on how to lead a peaceful life without much compromises, especially youngsters of both gender in the age group of 30 to 50 and who is good at doing some math with an eye on the future post 60, while planning for their children’s best education and providing them a strong foundation going into married life.

Youngsters being in their formative years and impressionable lot are the leaders of the future and are responsible for our bright society.

Let us focus on minimalistic approach in our daily life especially with our spending and feel contented with what is in store while being conscious to identify essentials from non-essentials irrespective of one’s earning potential and any budget in place.

We slowly and subtly begin to waste the one life we’ve been given, spend our money on things we don’t need, spend our time cleaning and organizing things we don’t use. And we direct our focus on acquiring more and more of the “latest and greatest”.

A minimalist lifestyle involves living with fewer resources whether in terms of a house or possession. It is a part of the thought process how a person chooses to live with all the minimal things in life and yet be satisfied. A minimalist lifestyle is by no means a radical one but instead an optimal one.

Minimalism is not to be mistaken to keep your resources locked, be it in cash or kind and live a miserly life. Minimalism doesn’t mean “Earn like a Ruler and Live Like a Pauper”

Minimalism is about avoiding the unnecessary, it is about simplicity, utility and elegance. It’s all about “LESS IS MORE” in terms of embracing the most of fewer things. The most common misconception is that minimalists “suffer” and “sacrifice” while having less things and less interesting experiences.

” Anything which is more than our necessity is poison.It may be Power, Wealth, Hunger, Ego, Greed, Laziness, Love, Ambition, Hate or anything ” Turkish Poet Rumi.

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It can be applied in countless ways: possessions, commitments, habits, relationships, even the work that we do.

A Minimalist lifestyle is one where you eliminate the non-essentials and the clutter from your budget to leave more money for what you value most – A Minimalist Budget is not about spending less money – it’s about spending money on fewer things so you’re only spending on what you truly value. It is about having more vacant spaces in your dwelling houses for your movement rather than occupying every space with furniture and fixtures and other non-essentials.
Spend only IF essential be it on material things or on our daily needs
Be cautious and conscious with our food intake as it has a binding control on our health as well as on our hospital and medical bills.
We shall be a proud owner of an automobile, but with rising fuel costs it is imperative to restrict usage of the same and only when essential. We have private taxis at our disposal for our mobility that comes with no tension.
Buy any property like house, car etc. from own savings or possessions and avoid EMI payments to the extent possible. Instead we can opt for loans from our Parents or Siblings with zero or a negligible percentage of interest.
With regard to our visits to the Super Market and Shopping Malls, it is always suggested to leave home with the list of requirements, rather than picking up from the shelf as we come across. We should realize that from a consumer point of view ‘what is available on the shelf is for display for the customer and not for dispose to the customer’.
We need to be selective when using the Door Delivery Service introduced by various Online Door Delivery Platforms since it goes with the following disadvantages:
If it is Groceries, Fruits and Vegetables we could not check on its quality, expiry etc. prior to billing.
If it is Cooked Food we may have to compromise on its quality, taste and freshness that comes with Dine in at our favorite restaurants.
For both Food and Non Food items, very frequently we come across, wrong or dump deliveries, and has to accept the same while awaiting replacement or a refund or a supporting credit note, in which case we are in a trap as we will end up with more spending than required.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India fondly called as The Missile man for his achievements in ballistic missile and aerospace technology, was well known for his Simplicity and Minimalist Lifestyle.Throughout his life he had very few personal possessions, spent from his own funds and never bothered the government treasury, in spite of holding the Top Post.
Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of Relativity. However, according to his biography, he also led a simple life and embraced minimalism and just owned very few pieces of clothing and spent less on his survival.
Apple founder, Steve Jobs was a firm believer in minimalism. The success of his products is attributed to beautifully simple design and user-friendliness of the software. Jobs not only applied this philosophy to his business, but it was also part of his personal self. He doesn’t have any furniture in his house except a simple Tiffany Lamp with a Chair and a Bed.

On the other hand mostly we come across people who spend money which they don’t have, in other words on borrowed money as also to impress people who may not be in their life.

Very frequently I do recollect the Golden Words of the Sage of Kanchi Sri MahaPeriyava who insists on simple living with essential spends and regular charity to have a peaceful life.

“Through the complexities of Life we come to truly value simplicity”

The relationship between richness and poverty can be explained as “If your income is more than your wants, you are rich. If your wants are more than your income, you are poor. I consider myself rich because my wants are far less than my income. I have become rich not so much by acquiring lots of money, but by progressively reducing my wants.”

Our Ancient Scriptures insists thus “Reduce Wants, live simply, that is the way to happiness”.

To achieve minimalism we should practice detachment to some extent. “Analyze every object and discover the cheapness and hollowness of each. Then genuine detachment will be planted in your mind.”

Maarakam or Detachment for a peaceful life and Taarakam or Attachment for a stressful life.”

While embracing minimalism is left to the individual reader, there are certain expenses like health related medical expenses, children education and the likes that does not come into its purview. We are conscious enough to keep ourselves fit and healthy, but when faced with any ailment we need to take proper treatment with the right facility without any compromise on costs. The same holds good when it comes to giving our children the best education in town as it relates to their future. In order to face this type of costs it becomes imperative to follow minimalist approach from a young age.

On another note, minimalism and budgeting goes hand in hand. Budgeting involves planning our expenses or outflow depending on our resources or inflow that requires simple calculations. A shrewd and pragmatic home maker approaches the best budgeting technique that gives room for regular savings and is minimalist by nature. Let me conclude with deep satisfaction for having put forward the concept of Minimalism and am sure that most of you found it useful and easy to follow. See You.

Be a filer, Be the ruler

Hello everyone. Greetings for bright days ahead. I am desirous to address a select audience who are special for me in every way especially as fellow Indians. By that I am referring to the salaried class or resident and non-resident Indians with a good income generating potential and who is a law abiding citizen and has dedicated interest to the growth of India. In effect I would like to extend my service through this medium to support and provide the modus operandi for Filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) and the Benefits accruing there from.

In brief let us check as to “Why should we file Income tax Returns (ITR), what will be the effect if we don’t, what are the benefits or otherwise of filing ITR and who should file under different contexts and other mandatory requirements”.

An Income-Tax Assesse on filing IT Returns duly and voluntarily remains a King or Queen until he or she steps out and then on will become a Ruler of his / her world with so much of financial and non-financial automatic benefits and status improvement.

Following are some of the major benefits that knocks on the doors of regular ITR Filers:

Claiming a Refund against Tax deducted at source, like interest on term deposits or dividends received.
Smooth processing of Applications towards Housing Loans, Auto Loans, Credit Cards, and Insurance Policies.
VISA applications for Travel abroad for Job or Business visits, will be processed on priority as Immigration Authorities considers the applicant as Tax Compliant and Law abiding.
Filing of ITRs in time is mandatory for Claiming Losses, from Capital Gains, Business or Profession. ITRs filed in time serves as a document to Carry Forward Losses and claim in future years. For example an individual tax payer can carry forward and adjust Profits from Sale of mutual Funds or Equity Shares against Losses Incurred in the past.
Self-Employed Tax Payers do not have any proof of income unlike salaried individuals who gets a salary certificate in Form 16. ITRs filed in time helps them in this way to avail hidden benefits.
ITRs serves as address proof for various reasons like opening a bank account, renewal of passport etc..
ITRs for last Five Years serves as the Ticket to become an MLA or MP in India and with that one can even decorate the Office of the Prime Minister. That is the Value of Filing Income Tax Returns in India and proving affinity towards the Country.

So, what are you waiting for, it is time to get into Authority, time to show your affinity, civic responsibility towards your Mother Land, the Land of Thousand Opportunities.

In regards to the number of Overall ITRs filed for the latest Assessment Year, we have on record

“ 5.95 Crore ITRs filed for Fiscal Year ended 31 March 2020 ( Assessment Year 2020-21) against 5.67 Crore for the previous Assessment Year considering all categories of Assesses from Individuals to HUFs to Business Entities ”.

An analysis of the data showed that filing of tax returns by Individuals for 2019-20 has slowed in the current year, while filing by business and trust has increased. Over 2.99 Crore ITR-1 (for Resident Individuals with Income Less than Rs. 50 Lakhs) were filed against 3.11 Crore for the previous year. In a Country of over 1.366 billion population only 1 % or 12.5 million tax paying individuals are recorded, after considering 28.7 million filed ITRs leaving around 16.2 million individuals did not pay any tax.

Low levels of Tax collection could be a challenge for the current government as it scrambles for money to spend on its ambitious plans in areas such as infrastructure and Science & Technology, which comes at a time when Economists around the World have warned India of the growing income inequality. Under such a scenario it is our responsibility as Indian Citizens to unite and realize our civic and social responsibility by duly filing the ITR, irrespective of Residents or Non Residents.

While Resident Indians stay as the backbone of Indian Economy, NRIs are the driving force with frequent Investments and Remittances and duly claiming their dues through filing ITRs in time. RBI in turn attracts NRI’s with numerous investment plans.

**Residents and Non-Residents in Nation Building**

Having said the necessity of Filing Income Tax Returns, and in order to support those who are in the process of filing ITRs, let me touch upon the related points in brief:

Who should file ITR for FY 2020-21

Since tax is deducted from most of the payments, recipient of such income like salaries and interest on bank deposits are under the impression that they are not required to file ITR. Payment of tax and filing of ITR are two separate and distinct legal obligations independent of each other. Discharge of one does not imply discharge of another.

With the Government having extended the cut-off date as 31 December 2021 for filing ITR for Financial Year 2020-21, let us grace through the following basic requirements, mainly for Individual Assesses under ITR 1, 2 & 3.

ITR filing is mandatory – Based on age and taxable income:

All those who are below 60 years have to pay tax only if their taxable income exceeds Rs. 2.50 lakhs.
Those over 60 but below 80 enjoy exemption up to Rs. 3 lakhs.
Very senior citizens who have already crossed 80 years enjoy free income up to Rs. 5 lakhs every year.

Based on residency and non-income criteria:

resident under the tax laws with (a) beneficial interests in any asset outside India including immovable or movable assets like shares, bonds ESOPs of foreign company and/or (b) a signing authority in respect of any account outside India, irrespective of value or balance in such account.
whether tax resident or not, have to file an ITR, if (a) deposited more than one crore rupees in one or more current bank account maintained with any banks or cooperative bank in India during the year, including cash deposits and deposits in any form in aggregate in all the current accounts, (b) have paid more than two lakhs for foreign travel of any person, but excludes travels to neighboring countries or for religious purposes, and lastly (C) have incurred electricity cost for an amount exceeding rupees one lakhs in aggregate during the year, on any property whether owned or rented.

Few important points to be considered while filing the ITR that helps in fine tuning the taxable income:

ITR filing made simple by using the new e-filing portal www.incometax.gov.in
Choose correct ITR Form – Individuals with Salaried Income or Income from Property to use ITR Form 1 or 2 as mentioned above.
It is pertinent for taxpayers to verify their prepaid taxes including tax deducted at source, advance tax and self-assessment tax with Form 26AS.
Disclosures of various assets and financial investments like details of all Indian bank accounts, unlisted equity shares, directorship in Indian or foreign companies, forms an integral part of an ITR.
In case of change of employment during the year, a consolidated Form 16 and 12BA can be attached as issued by the current employer to that effect.
In order to avoid any error, evaluate your tax liability in advance and make the necessary tax payments within the due dates, to overcome levy of interest applicable on delayed tax payments.
Tax payers can Claim Exemptions and Deductions while filing the ITR.Exemptions relates to certain Income like Agricultural Income and HRA with conditions and Deductions relates to certain payments or expenses by the Tax payer that can be claimed against total income.

Finally let us check few smart ways to save income tax liability: Please Refer detailed Tax Deduction limits available under Sec 80(C) to 80(U)

Tax exemption on self occupied home loan interest up to 2 Lakhs can be claimed under Sec 24(b).
Tax exemption up to 1.5 lakhs on home loan principal including a one-time claim of stamp duty and registration charges within the above limit.
Expenses pertaining to treatment of disabled dependents up to 1.25 lakhs under Sec 80DD(1b)
Expenses relating to treatment of specific illness of self or dependent up to Rs.40,000 under Sec 80DDB and in case of Senior Citizen up to Rs.1 lakh.
Interest on Higher Education Loan for self or Spouse or Children for a total of 8 years can be claimed under Sec 80E.
Loan taken to buy an Electric Vehicle up to Rs.1.5 Lakhs can be claimed under Sec 80EEB provided the loan is taken during April 2019 to March 2023.

Tax Payers and the Government are unofficial Partners in various government projects like better road networks, public utilities as also for running civil and criminal cases in various courts across the country. Quite frequently we come across High Court Judges slamming the government for wasting tax payers’ money with prolonged legal cases. We, as responsible citizens has a right to raise our voice against such wastage of our money and for that reason first, we need to be regularly filing our Income Tax Returns. Thank you all for taking the initiative for filing income tax returns duly and in time. See you again with another post.

Control – the one quintessential requirement, for sure Success

Dear Friends, my respected readers, an intriguing question from one of you over the last few days has been reverberating on the back of my mind, that I am planning to share with you here. What is the best tool in your life‘s Success so far? On an introspection, I started travelling different phases of my life and I could apply brakes on a particular characteristic.

‘When you Control your thoughts and emotions, you Control everything ‘

Also if you ask me – does it give you the most deserving happiness and satisfaction? I would say ‘ yes ‘ .

‘Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event control your emotions‘

From a different context, we can taste Success simply by Controlling and limiting ourselves at appropriate stages in life and that mostly begins from our own house hold. This way, women in our own backyard play a vital role by way of handling our finances, spend within the means by minimalist approach, exhibit savings and grow our investments.

Every now and then we have been prompted to control our speech in order to achieve positive results whether at home or in public.

“Have more than you show and speak less than you know”

In line with this let us check what is in store in regards to how to and what to Control under different perspectives.

It is important and mandatory to have control measures in the work place by way of protective precautions to safeguard individuals from the risks and hazards that exist in the workplace. These includes:

Design and layout of the workplace keeping in mind the volume of activity
Good lighting to improve visibility
CCTV Cameras at strategic locations for control purposes
Well maintained Security System in place.

Any manufacturing or production oriented business entity relies on its well-controlled operational and maintenance activities. Engineering Controls protects workers by removing hazardous conditions or by placing a barrier between the worker and the hazard. Examples include local exhaust ventilation to capture and remove airborne emissions or machine guards to shield the worker. Process control involves changing the way that a job activity is performed in order to reduce risks. Some of the other worksite controls include self-capping syringe needles, ventilation systems such as fume hood, sound dampening materials to reduce noise levels, safety interlocks and radiation.

Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava on Pexels.com

It is a known fact that, successful business houses continue to be profitable and improve Owner’s Equity only through well maintained Internal Control. The primary purpose of internal controls is to help safeguard an organization and further its objectives. Internal control, being the major tool of an Auditor or any finance professional, function to minimize risks and protect assets, ensure accuracy of records, promote operational efficiency and encourage adherence to policies and procedures, rules, regulations and laws. Some of these can be separation of duties, access controls, physical audits, standardized documentation, trial balances, periodic reconciliations, and approval authority.

Many of the most important moments in our lives rely on judgement of others. We expect Doctors to diagnose our illness correctly and have complete control over his treatment and judges to hand out rulings fairly. Quite frequently Lawyers and Legal Advisors in the normal course of dealing with their professional cases are concerned with the level of control over handling their cases. The presiding Judge will be looking for the substantial evidence and supporting documents so as to exert complete control over the case in question.

Control measures in Health Care Sector: It is quite evident that the entire universe revolves around the medical profession, for they play a pivotal role for the evolution and existence of living creatures, it be humans or animals or birds or even plants. As such the control measures are to be of a high degree in this sector. As we are travelling well past one and half years since the outbreak of COVID19, WHO has been recommending several Prevention and Control measures in controlling the spread of the Virus and to be followed by all through 1) Wearing a Face mask 2) Maintain Social Distancing 3) Regular sanitizing and washing hands 4) Remote Working for office goers 5) Restricted Public gatherings 6) Complete Lock Down for Shopping Malls, Cinema Theatres, Health Clubs.

Yoga suggests the best practice for long life by Controlling Breath. Every system in the human body relies on Oxygen. From cognition to digestion, effective breathing can not only provide you with a greater sense of mental clarity, it can also help you sleep better, digest food more efficiently, improve your body’s immune response, and reduce stress levels. Pranayama is the ancient practice of controlling your breath. The goal of Pranayama is to connect your body and mind, regulates the supply of oxygen to our body while removing toxins.

In Automotive parlance, Control refers to the capability and command of the driver on the vehicle that he is driving.

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough”

The driver needs to act instantly to halt a running vehicle and that’s possible only when he has complete control of it.

In Religious context, we have witnessed Sages exhibiting Control over the elements like Fire, Water etc. when the need arises. For example when humanity is in danger due to heavy rains or overflowing Dams, they were immediately controlled by rituals and beliefs.

Scriptures and religious texts highlights how to Control our mind and the senses. The body is the chariot and the self is its master, intellect is its charioteer and the mind is the reins, the senses are the horses and the sense objects are their paths. He who has no understanding and whose mind is unrestrained, has his senses unmanageable, like the stray horse of a charioteer, does not reach his destination, but he who has understanding and whose mind is restrained, has his senses under control, like the good obedient horse of a charioteer, reaches the destination i.e. self-realization.

Control in Sports and allied activities. Quite often we have come across ‘bullying’ in sports, be it soccer or cricket or any team sports, and at most of the times such attitude of players against each other has sent mixed reaction. The more the players can control their emotions, the more they can succeed. On the contrary we have witnessed players’ uncontrolled emotions when it comes to tasting success at the medals’ podium such as a recent incident in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Men’s High Jump on 1st Aug’2021. After a tie for the Gold between Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, as both completed at 2.37m and the Qatari volunteered to share the Gold, exhibiting high sportsmanship. On hearing this the Italian could not control his emotions and went berserk at the medals podium. Even the fans and coach can be seen electrifying with emotions.

When it comes to Media and Entertainment Industry, we do have Controlled and UnControlled Media. The former is the State-media, state-controlled media or state-owned media for mass communication that is under financial and editorial control of the government, directly or indirectly. On the contrary uncontrolled media represented by Television, Radio and Newspapers which clearly pronounces that they hold a responsible position in the society to come out with good contents. Also media industry is nothing but expression of emotions, either of an individual or a team. The more they are controlled, the more healthy they can be. Also lately social media plays an important role on the life of an individual by advent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp which are being followed by majority of youngsters in their career path.

As an afterthought, do not control nature’s call for that will have a negative impact on your health by way of urinary tract infections as also our physical needs viz. food, sleep etc. Also grown up and adolescent children, should not be controlled in the name of correction of their attitude or behavior since in most of the cases it has backfired on the parents and does not provide the expected results.

In real life, Control and Change goes hand in hand. Change is an inevitable part of our life. As also for longtime happiness and peace we should spend our time only on those things we can change or control and should have the serenity to accept of those which are not in our control such as the weather in general, what other people think or do or feel, getting old, the time or this moment. As I am through, I was prompted by a nice WhatsApp message from one of my friend that texts about The Life that’s gone by and how to make the Life ahead better. It Reads like this “LIFE is a gift to you. LIVE it well.ENJOY TODAY.BE HAPPY. See you.

Resilience and Coffee Bean Philosophy

Hi everybody, hope your day blossomed with freshness and full of gratitude as we step into another day pushing behind the past. In fact most of us are happy to Live in the present,while taking a leaf from the past as a lesson. This is the gift that each one of us is longing for.

“Just as the Sun rises, a Fresh Start begins,we all have a Choice, will you make the Best of it.” Jacqueline Cooper

Time for me to take you, my respected readers to two of the important traits, Resilience and Coffee Bean Philosophy that makes up the life of Winners and successful individuals.

Resilience in general refers to the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, to return back to its original shape after it has been pulled or stretched or bent beyond a certain level. The same goes for a human being who has the capacity to become strong, healthy or successful again after facing certain difficulties. We have a simple example of an elastic rubber band springing back to shape from stretching.

Resilient people are optimistic, pragmatic, adaptable, autonomous and socially connected. They have a realistic awareness of self and demonstrate self-compassion.

Being Resilient in our daily life means we will

(a) take criticism well rather than getting defensive and losing our temper,

(b) Process, grief and loss positively, rather than trying to avoid it or allowing ourselves to be consumed by it,

“Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the Power and Responsibility to pick yourself up.” Mary Holloway

On an introspection, highly resilient people, young or old possess common traits like :

Acceptance of Reality : They are clear-eyed about the nature of the challenges in hand. This acceptance of the way things really are allows them to be more effective at designing strategies to navigate their particular struggles or challenges productively.
Sense of purpose: This can simply mean that we have positive things in our life that is exciting,curious and look forward to that we consider more valuable.The more of this intrinsic values we have,the stronger our sense of purpose and hence we will be more motivated to push through difficulties.
Adaptability: They gain more strength by being flexible in their approach especially with their spouse,friends and acquaintances.

In recent times we have witnessed the power of resilience displayed by a group of sportsmen as a Team. This was witnessed in an exciting Cricket Test Series between India and Australia held in Dec’20 and Jan’21.Having lost the First Test at Adelaide, which included the unforgettable lowest total of 36 All Out by India, India bounced back with character and clinched the series 2-1 especially without many of their front-line players. This was possible only as they played as a unit with inbuilt power of flexibility and adaptability,and more by clearly focusing on the future pushing the past behind them. BharatArun, the bowling coach of this historic series, spoke on the planning that went into the series especially after the first test debacle and how the players coped up with injuries to key personnel. He just summed it up as “Fearlessness is the key trait of this young Indian Team”.

“Failure is an important part of your growth and developing resilience” Michelle Obama

We are yet to come across a most resilient individual when compared to Indian Mega-Star Amitabh Bachan or Big B as he is fondly called. It was in July 1982, in the sets of Coolie he was accidentally punched in the gut resulting in an internal abdominal injury. He was rushed to the nearby hospital where he was declared clinically dead a few minutes before putting him on ventilator. He underwent several surgeries and came out more powerful on 2^nd Aug’1982 which is considered to be his rebirth, and still remains a role model. Such is the Power of Resilience or the ability of an individual to return back with a strong statement.

Let us travel together through the following lines to understand how to be more Resilient:

At work: We often find ourselves to be Not Recognized or Rejected when we submit a Report or a Point of productivity in the course of our work. The bouncing back from an adverse situation to achieve the goal or complete the task in hand is the foremost example of Resilience. Other instances like (a)Handling advice or criticism in a mature manner that avoids knee-jerk defensiveness or negativity. (b)Accepting that our idea/effort has just failed to be recognized or acknowledged. (c)Recovering appropriately when a co-worker gets a bonus or raise greater than yours.(d)Withholding your ire when poor decisions by others negatively impact your project.(e)Letting others take center stage while knowing you have better things or ideas to put forward and curbing feelings of resentment.
At home: Whether as a Home maker or the Bread winner we are frequently confronted with situations that tests our resilience, like not being appreciated by your partner when you took so much care to prepare a dish for the dinner or inadvertently forgot the anniversary or birth day of your loved one or not been recognized or appreciated by your parents when we happen to finish our education with flying colors or not able to procure an expensive lifesaving drug, locally or from international market, both due to government restrictions or due to non-availability of funds, when a loved one is being treated for a chronic disease.
In Society: A person who is more resilient in the society can easily overcome adversity in real life. Many of the Americans who resumed back to normalcy immediately after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 stands as the most resilient in Society till date. In the midst of COVID19 Pandemic many of the sports lovers unable to physically witness their favorite sport be it the Wimbledon or the Football World Cup shows high resilience.

As we are checking with our self as to how far we are resilient, let us also check another important aspect or trait that is wanted in most of us. While we spend our valuable time in judging our every actions and its impact in our surrounding, directly or indirectly, it is very much important to learn the trick of converting our adversaries in our favor.

Let us take an example: Amit an energetic youth in his teens, quick to grasp in his academic career, comes home one evening after his regular workouts. Being hungry he is lucky to find his mother in the kitchen. As a professional by career after giving him some quick bites, she thought of giving him some valuable lesson. She places three pots filled with water on the induction stove. When the Water has reached boiling point, she puts a Potato in one of them, an egg in the second and aromatic coffee beans in the third. Each of these objects had faced the same adversity, the boiling water but they react differently as the hard Potato gets boiled and loses its hardness and becomes weak, the fragile egg with its thin outer shell that was protecting the liquid inside becomes hard due to its nature but the ground Coffee Beans were unique and due to its nature changes the entire water with its flavor and aroma. Are you a Potato or an Egg or the Coffee Bean? Or how can you be like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor and instantly becomes the most sought after. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

In effect all of us at some point or other get into a situation like this and it is important for us to transform our environment, overcome challenges, and create a positive change. Life is often difficult. It can be harsh, stressful, and feel like a pot of boiling hot water.

Finally as we bid adieu, I would like to part with, My Eternal Success Mantra FABCA

Fix and Focus on your Target,

Apply Perseverance and hard Work,

Be Resilient on the go

Convert your Environs with Coffee Bean Philosophy

Achieve Success Forever.

Thank you for being with me, see you.

Financial Stability, today and tomorrow.

Greetings to all my readers and a big thank you for making my previous post a big success as it had gained a very convincing readership. It makes me more vigilant and responsible to bring out useful and interesting contents.

Being a Finance Professional dealing with numbers for the past 30 years, had been in the habit of gracing through the media for associated news very frequently. As such, I was struck by an interesting article in Naanayam Vikatan recently which was highlighting on the necessity of regularly tracing your finances, especially investments held under various heads, namely movable or immovable properties, jewelry, stocks and shares and mutual funds and other valuable assets, and the need for the same to be duly nominated in favor of your nominee or legal heirs.

As most of my readers are experts in regards to Strategic Investment decisions, I may not take up the various nuances of investment ideologies or which one to select or how to grow them, where to and when to of investments or even the timing of exit. I would like to take up the case of those investors who made a one time or periodical investments and does not track them and at some point of time allow them to reach the coffins of charities at the hands of the fund managers or the scrip holding companies who in turn will track them to be unknown or non-traceable investors. It is these investors who are expected to be conscious and active by tracking their investments at least once in a month with a simple self-analysis of their portfolio. Almost 99.9% of all investors does realize the necessity of holding them and the purpose. But in reality there is a section of investors along with the remaining 0.1%, at some point allow their investments to end up as non-traceable at the hands of the company or mutual funds holding their investments inviting escheatment procedures. Escheatment is the process of turning over unclaimed or abandoned property to the state authority, if the owner cannot be traced within a reasonable time.

Let us look into the effects of these non-traceable hard earned savings of majority of investors that ends up at no mans’ land. A real life incident opens up like this: He is a successful businessman for the past several years, frequently touring all over the country on business visits, same time affectionately taking care of his small family of four. As a prudent businessman he is very active in investing on various assets including properties in Chennai and Kanchipuram and held an interesting portfolio of jewelries held in bank lockers, insurance policies for self and dependents and in shares and mutual funds. In regular business operations he was actively taking and giving loans to various individuals and has been keeping track of them. The sad part of it is that he has never disclosed his investments and business operations to anyone including his wife. Suddenly during one of his business trip, he met with an accident and died on the spot. In spite of being a nominee for almost all of his investments, his wife was caught up totally in dark. She doesn’t know the whereabouts of his investments, the lockers where the movable assets are held, the status of insurance policies and what she can claim on that and on top of all this suddenly she has to confront unknown persons who has given loans for her ex-husbands’ business and are claiming balances to the tune of Rupees 10 to 15 lacs. It is beyond our imagination to realize, how she managed with her personal possessions and the fate of her children in spite of holding huge investments as a legal nominee, while her ex-husband became an inactive or non-traceable by the holding companies, at least for time being.

We cannot blame the corporate houses who are holding her wealth including the banks and the insurance companies, since they may voluntarily approach her only after a lapse of around three years of non updation of KYC requirements and other formalities and by that time she would have gone through all types of turmoil.

Photo by u0410u043du043du0430 u0425u0430u0437u043eu0432u0430 on Pexels.com

It is here that we take responsibility, to create awareness to overcome such fate of one’s investments and to maintain financial stability. In corporate terms this refers to the ability to facilitate and enhance economic processes, manage risks and absorb shocks and fluctuations. In the case of an independent investor it is nothing but the ability to maintain status quo and any smooth transformation from the original investor to his nominees or legal heirs whenever the necessity arises.

Investors generally focus on holding their investments a) As a buffer to face Children’s Education or Marriage b) To have an additional income by way of periodical interest or dividend receipts c) For Wealth generation d) For Tax Avoidance e) For a Startup or Business Venture f) For a peaceful Retirement and g) For the benefit of Grand Children.

Whatever be the reason to stay as an active investor, we should always be conscious of the fate of our investments today and tomorrow, in the sense during our life time as well as beyond. In true sense, we have to gauge our Financial Stability every now and then so that we shall have a debt free life both in our life time and after. As put up earlier, we are dependent on third party entity to retain our investments and give us returns gradually, we should also focus on its return back to us when we need it, after all it is our hard earned money that should end up in the right hands, either back to us when we are alive or equally to our nominees and legal heirs.

Accordingly as pointed in the real life incident cited above, it is the responsibility of the Investors to keep it open at least to their nominees from day one so that the fruits of their investments are not in favor of these third parties.

Some of the not so exhaustive steps involved in accomplishing this can be summed up as:

All our Investments including our valuable assets kept in third party safe lockers should be well documented with clear title and a duly recognized nominee and in line with the Tax Authorities of the Land.
All our Investments including immovable assets should be to the extent possible through an authenticated Bank account in the name of the investor and preferably as a joint account with the nominee.
Investments should be serialized and followed up regularly for its growth, especially where it is under a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme. This includes bank lockers, fixed deposits, PPF, ERF, Insurance Policies, NSC, SIPs, RD, State owned Schemes etc.
Same goes with recording our debts and identifying the lender/s in clear terms.
As we grow so also our investments and suddenly we will be facing multiple investments under different heads and categories and that we will be confronted by multiple online accessibility and end up with innumerable user name and passwords. Unless we develop the habit of recording these password in a language known only to the investor and his/her nominees, it will be difficult to access these platforms, as also it is not advisable to have a common simple passwords for all.
The Conditions of Transfer of Title should be clearly defined so that the legal heirs are capable of claiming them in time.
It is important to execute a Will well in time so that it will be easy for the surviving nominee or the legal heirs to approach the executors who can apply for probate.
In the case of mutual funds, the surviving nominee or the legal heirs has to apply for Transmission of units held under each MF with the Asset Management Company (AMC).These AMCs will be looking for duly attested Succession Certificate from the original Unit Holder when he/she was alive as well as the KYC requirements of the nominee or legal heirs.

Having said the importance of being open with your partner so as to have a stabilized financial life both today as well as tomorrow, let us make an attempt before we conclude, on the necessity of Financial Planning in consultation with your partner.

It’s important to carry out any financial planning exercise together, holistically, as a couple. Both men and women have different perspectives when it comes to Financial Planning for their future, but it’s the combination of the two makes it truly complete. Also it is imperative for the Parents to instill in their children the healthy financial habits and investment education to leave an enduring legacy. With that it is time to sign off with high gratitude for my readers. See you.