Formula One – Indian GP

             India successfully hosted first ever Indian GP. There are lots of debate ongoing about this F1.  The great Manishankar Iyer was talking in one of the news channel…this F1 was an insult to Gandhji…and so on.  His claim was like…we are still a developing nation, and many are starving and not getting 3 meal a day…so why this hifi sports for us.

             This reminds me the same old story…when Indian Space Research Organization was formed for the first time, Our Vikram Sarabhai (Father of ISRO) tried hard to convince parliament to approve the formation of ISRO, the similar kind of argument was put forth while the ISRO bill discussion in parliament.  For poor countries like India (in 1963 India was a poor country) space research is luxury and we are not self sufficient and so on.  Somehow Vikram sarabhai managed to win the confidence of parliament and formed ISRO.  Imagine, if that bill was rejected by parliament and we are not having ISRO today, then we could'nt  watch this many satellite channels, not possible to have this many mobile service providers at cheapest tariff in the world, no 2G, no 3G, and bla bla…  Today Pakistan is not able to do anything in space research in competion to India…..but we are competing with NASA.  Definitely the day will come when NASA will seek collaboration agreement with ISRO.

              Coming back to the topic, aren’t we too much bored with cricket?  Why don’t we pay attention to other sports like F1?  Of course this is costly sports, but we are also a developing nation and we are equally competent in technology to the West, then why not?  This is the only sports where technology plays predominant role.  No wonder, in future we may have Indian only podium finish in F1 (Great dream!!)  Jai Ho!!

Inflation....Continued

     The present crisis of inflation is not due to the lack supply, the food grain production in India has reached a record 241 Million Tones compared to 218 MT in 09-10. 

In fact, the fuel price hike has contributed to food price hike to reasonable extent.

Inflation affects the purchasing power of people adversely. Especially food price inflation affects the poor and the low income groups harder than the higher income groups.

To control the rising food price, Our Central bank (RBI) is trying to control money supply in the economy by raising repo rates, at which it lends to other banks, and reverse repo rates, at which it borrows from other banks.

This has increased the interest rate in commercial banks. High bank rate discourages investment and encourages savings, thereby reducing aggregate demand.

However, the increase in the interest rate has not done much to control food price. On the contrary, costlier loan has hampered the growth rates of GDP and industrial output in the current fiscal’s first and Second quarter. According to the RBI, while industrial growth rate decelerated, agricultural growth rate accelerated in this period.

Yet the food price index soared upward.

The increasing interest rates will reduce demand only in the housing and car markets. 

This will make home/car buyers to simply postpone their buying decision, and hence the GDP will be impacted… not on the soaring food prices? 

Inflation ... an overview(Caution)

The rate of rise of inflation is very scary...

  The prices of milk, sugar and ghee have gone up considerably. That too especially during festival days You would have felt the pinch. Life has not been very easy this year due to the rising inflation. On mahalaya ammavasya day, 1 banana leaf was 5 Rupees, I can recollect, that 10 years back I had bought 1 banana leaf for 10 paise. The rate of raise of inflation is sky rocketing than real estate prices.

   The Reserve Bank of India has been raising key rates to tame inflation. The wholesale price index (WPI), consumer price index (CPI) or food inflation are different facets of this simple economic indicator known as inflation.

Inflation reflects the value of money. 

For example, if tomatoes were priced at 30 per kilo last year, and this year it is at 32, the inflation comes to about 6.66%. It may sound reasonable. But it is on a high base of 30 per kg.

Impact on common man..(Salaried)

  In overall the demand for basic necessities like food is inelastic to any price rise. Hence, if food prices go up, it would eat into cash reserve or monthly savings for the budgeted families, as you cannot cut down on such needs beyond a point.

Inflation and Investments

Always consider inflation into account while making investment decisions and calculating returns.

On investments, you have to compute the real rate of return to assess the impact of inflation. Fixed deposits, PPF or NSC bonds assure safe returns but are not capable of beating inflation.
Inflation simply erodes the value of our investment.

Let us assume you invested 1,000 in a one-year fixed deposit at a rate of 7%.
The value of the deposit would be 1,070 after a year. But if inflation is 8% during the year, then the value of 1,000 will reduce by 80.
The net value of your money will be 990 only. So the net gain, after considering the loss of value due to inflation, is actually negative. Whenever you invest in an instrument, compute the future value after accounting for inflation of 8-10% to get accurate results.

Note:  Consider inflation for any retirement plans especially non-pensioners (Like me!!).

OMEGA - 3

What is Omega -3?

             Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body can' t make them -- you have to get them through food. Omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function, as well as normal growth and development. They have also become popular because they may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. In fact, infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision and nerve problems. 

Symptoms of Omega-3 deficiency: 

1.      Fatigue

2.      Poor memory

3.      Dry skin,

4.      Heart problems,

5.      Mood swings

6.      Depression 

How to get it?

        It's difficult for vegans (vegetarians who eat no foods derived from animals, including eggs and milk) to get adequate omega-3 fatty acids from their diets, since the two essential omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are most available in fish oil. Vegetarian sources of omega-3s provide only ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a precursor form that the body cannot convert efficiently to the DHA and EPA it needs. Other essential nutrients in short supply in a vegan or vegetarian diet are vitamin B12 and zinc. Eliminating meat from your diet also means that you're lacking the food source of the most readily absorbed heme iron (vegans and vegetarians need twice the intake of iron as non-vegetarians).

Vegans and others whose diets don't include fish can substitute Neuromins DHA, a product which is extracted from carefully grown microalgae (vegans can break the gelatin capsule to get the oil). Taking 400 to 600 mg a day of Neuromins DHA and relying on dietary sources of ALA is probably the best vegan strategy for getting omega-3s. A daily handful of walnuts or one to two tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseed per day provide ALA. I hope we will soon see products made from algae that provide both EPA and DHA. Also vegans and vegetarians can supplement with at least 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B-12 daily or take 1,000 mcg once a week.

To get enough iron without eating meat, cook in iron pots and eat such iron- rich foods as blackstrap molasses, cocoa, and leafy greens. You can boost your absorption of iron-rich foods by eating foods high in vitamin C at the same meal. And since many animal-based foods that provide zinc are shunned, vegans and vegetarians should take 8 to 15 mg of supplemental zinc per day.

 

Flax Seeds

 

Walnuts

Other vegetarian food sources provide ALA, the indirect form of Omega 3 fatty acids are... 

1.      One tablespoon of flax oil per day seems to provide enough ALA for conversion to daily therapeutic amounts of EPA and DHA.

2.      Hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are also good sources of ALA.

3.      Brazil nuts, wheat germ, wheat germ oil, soybean oil and canola oil also contain significant amounts.

Play Fool

        

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He

was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the

economy.

His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in

the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You

may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but

your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold

or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the

village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of

gold or silver? 

He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village

elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in

the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is

more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the

village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the

village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village

elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He

asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He

laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school.

This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold

or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and

yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked

the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked.

In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the

box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the

mathematician' s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will

stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is:

Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and

our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it.

That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means

allowing others to win in one arena of the game,

while we win in the other arena of the game. 

We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.