Author: The Metrognome

Categories
Kharcha paani

Gold, mutual funds major draws for Indian women

A new ASSOCHAM survey reveals that the Indian middle class, especially women, relies on gold and mutual funds for investments.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Gold has always been a staple investment for Indians. Now, it is safe to add mutual funds to the list.

As per a new survey commissioned by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India), the country’s middle class families are investing in gold as a ‘reliable and stable’ bet, while some of them are also returning to the riskier option of the stock market, enthused by a runaway rise in the equity market in the last one year, especially after formation of the new Government at the centre.But gold appears to be a clear winner for the middle class and white collar salary-earning employees. Interestingly while jewellery remains an all-time favourite with women, a sizeable percentage of working women covered in the survey are fast moving to stock markets as well through mutual funds schemes like Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) etc, highlights the survey.Gold bars are displayed at a gold jewellery shop in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh

As per the survey, about 72 per cent of 1,200 respondents said they preferred gold as an investing option followed by shares and mutual fund schemes this Diwali, helped by extra earnings from bonuses. The survey included responses of all corporates and Government employees located in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Pune.Over 62 per cent of corporate employees in the survey preferred gold followed by shares and equities. The main reason for Government and corporate employees to foray into equities is the easy availability of advisory services by experts, reveal the respondents. “They are now focussing on investing in gold and stock markets rather than in traditional channels of investment like post offices, fixed deposit and PPF promoted by the Government,” said DS Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM, while releasing the paper.

However, nearly 21 per cent of employees surveyed said they still preferred the traditional routes of investments as they assured them of safe returns. The demand for gold is on the rise in the run up to the festive and the ensuing marriage seasons. “This explains a huge rise of 450 per cent in gold imports in September causing concerns among the policy makers while the Government is mulling import curbs again”, said Rawat.

Though some of the PSU banks and other State-owned gold importing firms have stopped promoting gold sale because of the Government’s advice to cut gold import and consumption, the sale of gold ornaments, coins and bars has picked up .While gold provides ready liquidity, it continues to be treated as a safe haven against inflation. Jewellers have also launched several discounts and freebies while those marketing cars, real estate are also offering gold coins, points out the survey.

 (Pictures courtesy archives.deccanchronicle.com, in.reuters.com. Images are used for representational purpose only)

Categories
Wellness

Mumbai youth organise four-day free medical camp

From cardiac to dental checkups, every testing is offered free for poor, BPL families, in partnership with Seven Hills Hospital.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Mumbai is teeming with Good Samaritans. One of these is Dr Shezanali Hemani, a south Mumbai-based young doctor, who, with a group of other youth, is organising and hosting a free four-day medical camp for Mumbaikars starting today, October 27, 2014. The camp is open to holders of orange or yellow ration cards only.

Shezanali HemaniSpeaking to The Metrognome, Dr Hemani (in pic on left) said, “I and a group of youth recently came up with the idea of revolutionising the health of the common people. Good health usually starts from early diagnosis, which most people don’t undergo. This means we miss the opportunity to nip a lot of diseases in the bud, and this neglect can sometimes even result in long illness or death. By diagnosing a disease early, we can go a long way in preventing and treating it.” He adds that people coming for consultation only need to get their current health reports along. “Plus, patients who are suffering a blockage or require a surgery or therapies like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, kidney transplant, hernia, prostrate or kidney stone will be treated for free,” Dr Hemani says.

Organised by the Khidmat-e-Azadar and Educare Foundation in association with Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri, the camp will  be a four-day affair at four different locations in Mumbai. The camp will provide a host of testing for blood pressure, blood sugar, ECG, 2D ECO, angiography, bypass, angioplasty, blood grouping, dental check-up and consultation for dental and cardiac problems. See chart below for schedule of camps:

Day/Date                    Venue                                                                                        Timing

27 October                      Malwani. Az Zehra Charitable Clinic, Chawl
No:14, Near Shankar Mandir, M.H.B. Colony,
(Monday)                    Gate no: 7, Gaikwad Nagar, Malad (W), Mumbai         10 am – 4 pm.

28 October                      Kurla. Shia Jama Masjid,
(Tuesday)                    Hallo pull, Kurla (W), Mumbai                                          10 am – 4 pm

29 October                      Mumbra. Roshni Apartment, Thakur Para,
(Wednesday)               Near Mumbra Police Station, Mumbai                            10 am – 4 pm

30 October                      Govandi Bada Imambada, Lotus Colony,
(Thursday)                   Shivaji Nagar Junction, Govandi, Mumbai                   10 am – 4 pm

Know someone who can avail of these camps? Call Dr Shezanali Hemani on +91-8956708222 or Sohel Ajani on +91-9029751888 for details.

(Pictures courtesy Dr Shezanali Hemani)

Categories
Overdose

What lurks behind child labour

It seems like an easy fix to rescue children from their workplaces. But who will put food on their plates?
Jatin Sharmaby Jatin Sharma | @jatiin_sharma on Twitter

The sheer size of this country never ceases to amaze me. No, I am more amazed at how ignorant we all are.

Call it a problem of numbers. After all, there are too many people to take note of, right? explains how we realise about one Indian among so many others only when that Indian’s face is splashed all over the news. Ask Kailash Satyarthi or anyone. I mean, the guy was doing his good work against child labour way before the Nobel Prize came knocking at his door, but had any of us heard of him? Nope. Now, of course, we’re so proud of him, we’re going on Liking and Sharing any and every news story that details his achievements.

Naturally, we’re now talking about child labour like never before. Suddenly, the little boy who brings us our post-lunch cup of tea grabs our attention. The little girl selling hair clips and other odds and ends on a Mumbai local becomes the cynosure of all eyes. The five-year-old leading his three-year-old sibling across the road in his torn rag of a shirt arouses sympathy from us. We stop to stare in sympathy at the little shoeshine boy on the footpath. ‘What will their future be?’ we ask ourselves before we get on with our lives. Some of us go a step further and rain abuses on the restaurant owner that hires children to wipe the tables or get glasses of water for customers.

But will merely rescuing children from their workplace solve a problem as big and as grave as child labour? Child labour doesn’t begin because people Child labour in Indiawant young children to work – though there are cads who hire children especially for their young age, in firecracker factories and sweatshops. Mostly, child labour is born when families have too many mouths to feed and too few hands to bring money home.

So while we’re busy taking selfies and tagging each other for ridiculous challenges, there are children watching us from afar, wondering if there will be food in their bellies that night.

We are only scraping the surface of the child labour menace in our country. Sure, it’s easy to get up and yell at the chaiwala who hires a chhotu to clean the glasses. We fail to understand the puzzled look in chhotu‘s eyes, who is probably thinking, “What’s his problem? Why is he making sahab fire me?”

So no matter how far our GDP grows or how many more people in the country learn to speak the English language, the fact remains that we are a country focussing on the lives of a privileged few while ignoring the cries of the distressed majority. When we bring economic reform, it cannot only be about bringing more money for businesses, but about putting some money in the pockets of the poor. It pains us when railway ticket prices are raised dramatically after 20 years, but when was the last time we stopped to think the effects of rising inflation on the homes of the poor?

I’m sure there’s no easy solution to the problem, but I believe the solution isn’t so difficult to come to terms with. Instead of stopping children from earning, we need a framework that invests in skill building and skills management, so that the chhotu cleaning glasses at a chaiwala‘s today can tomorrow get the chance to make something of himself.

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else. ‘Overdose’ is Jatin’s take on Mumbai’s quirks and quibbles.

(Pictures courtesy business.rediff.com, mief.in. Images are used for representational purpose only)

Categories
Deal with it

Juhu to Girgaon in 10 minutes soon?

Intra-city seaplane flight between Juhu and Girgaon chowpatty was successfully tested very recently, while crucial clearances were obtained for operations.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If this flight becomes operational soon, Mumbaikars are in for a really pleasant ride.

The city’s wait for intra-city seaplane flights between Juhu and Girgaum Chowpatty is soon coming to an end. The city witnessed a successful trial of the Juhu to Girgaum-Chowpatty flight on October 22, 2014. MEHAIR, along with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), has been working on the project for nearly two years and has already obtained crucial clearances from several authorities, including a nod from the Ministry of Defence, Coast Guard, Indian Navy, Mumbai Police, Urban Development Department, BMC, Mumbai Port Trust, Environment Department and the Airports Authority of India.

MEHAIR is already operating daily seaplane flights between Mumbai and Pawna Dam and has successfully conducted trial landings of its seaplane in Mula Dam (Meherabad/Shirdi) for which the commercial operations are being launched from early next month. The seaplane to be operational within Mumbai is the company’s Cessna 208A amphibian aircraft, which will take off from Juhu Aerodrome in Mumbai and touch down in Girgaum chowpatty about 10 minutes later. By road, the estimated travel time between the two points is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Speaking on the occasion, Siddharth Verma, co-founder and director, MEHAIR, said, “With the commercial launch of the service, Mumbai will become one of the few cities in the world that have a seaplane service originating in the heart of the business district. We are confident that the public at large will see the value of the service and take full advantage of it.”

He added that a seaplane offers the public the “last mile connectivity”. He said, “Essentially a seaplane service begins where normal airliners end, and therefore, offers connectivity from the last airport to areas even beyond which are remote but have suitable water bodies that can accomodate seaplane operations.”

Categories
Tech

This just in: A smartphone for senior citizens

Mitashi launches Play Senior Friend, a smartphone for senior citizens priced Rs 4,999 and addressing the age group’s basic needs.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

Mitashi has launched a new phone named the ‘Play Senior Friend’, which is aimed at senior citizens. The phone is equipped with an SOS button in case of an emergency to contact the user’s trusted contact quickly and coloured icons for those who can’t read small text.

The Play Senior Friend sports a 4-inch LCD IPS and has dual cameras for taking pictures and making video calls. It runs on Android 4.4 with Mitashi’s own custom skin for convenient usage by senior users.

“A detailed market research done by us suggested that the senior generation, while being largely technophobic, is also looking at their grandkids engaging actively on Android platform and definitely want to get into the bandwagon – all they need is a little push!” said Adnan Chara, Vice President (Gaming, Toys and Telecom) Mitashi Edutainment Pvt. Ltd. “Research also indicated that current generation smartphone users were guilt-conscious while using a high priced smartphone for themselves because their parents and grandparents at home were still active on a low priced feature or bar phone. Thus we thought of addressing the need of a smartphone exclusively made keeping their needs in mind,” he added.

This phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor along with 512 MB of RAM. It has 4 GB of on-board storage, which can be expanded using a microSD card. There’s FM Radio, Bluetooth and microUSB for connectivity. The phone comes in a different kind of see-through packaging that allows you to look at the box’s contents before opening it. The phone has been priced at Rs 4,999.

What do you think of this device? Will it serve the purpose for senior citizens? Tell us in the comments section below.

Categories
Achieve

How a few youngsters are looking to heal Kashmir

A group of youths initiated ‘Project Pheran’, to help those devastated by Kashmir floods deal with the impending harsh winter.
by Mamta D | @silverlightgal on Twitter

The natural beauty of Jammu and Kashmir is known all over the world. Movies, books, songs, poetry – all of these have celebrated its charms and scenic landscapes.

But the Kashmir of today is vastly different. Following the floods that wrecked havoc in the region September 4, 2014 onwards, the valley has been a site of devastation. Villages have been washed away, homes submerged, lakhs of people rendered homeless and property worth hundreds of millions has been destroyed.

In the last month, rescue and relief efforts by various local and non-local groups have managed to save many a life in the flood-ravaged state. It will be a long time before the former glory of Kashmir is fully restored. What is of immediate concern now is the impending winter.

Hence, to combat the challenge of providing warmth to the flood-affected people, a group of enterprising youngsters have come forward and set up an initiative ‘Project Pheran/Project Warmth’. Through this project, they are collating funds from all over the country and abroad and providing needy persons with warm clothes, pherans (long cloak-like Kashmiri garments), blankets, coal and so on.

The group is quite small, comprising six persons who are not even based in the same city but who scattered across India. All of them are students of higher education in India and abroad, but their hearts and willpower are enormous and their conviction that they will make this project succeed is commendable. The group, which calls itself ‘Heal Kashmir’ connected through social media after the floods, is now a close-knit group and collaborates excellently.

The motley crew comprises Anup Achuthan, a senior finance professional based in Mumbai, Zayd Qureshi who takes care of on-ground distribution in Srinagar, Ruhan Naqash (from Chennai, Burhan Mir (Punjab & Haryana), Armish Riyaz (Punjab), Yasir Khan (Delhi, NCR) and Saqib Nazir (Bangalore) – they are the coordinators in various States across India, garnering funds and necessary materials.

The estimated initial expenses of the massive project is around Rs. 8 lakh using which they will  purchase the fabrics and get it stitched by local tailors who know the requirements of the region well. A textile factory in Sonipat has been identified which offers fabrics at concessional rates.

Says Anup, “We must do all we can to make sure people who survived the devastating floods do not succumb to the harsh winter due to lack of warm clothing and bedding.” He hopes that people of Mumbai will come forward with generous contributions to this project in monetary donations and kind. With lack of godowns and storage spaces, these student volunteers are storing the collections in their own apartments at the moment.

For Yasir, who is also the founder of J&K Disaster Helpline and Relief Organisation, it was a call for rescue that changed his fate. He and two other Kashmiri youths were working in their air-conditioned offices in Delhi when one of the team members, Iqbal Buchh, received a call from his friend who was stranded in his house due to rising flood waters. Yasir overheard the conversation and decided to call one Mr Singh to rescue the youth. After arranging for the youth’s rescue, Yasir had a brainwave – if he and his friends could manage to save one life, they could also try to save many more.

By then, phone lines on ground zero in Srinagar were almost dead, and network connections had fizzled out. Rescue operations had faced stumbling blocks at many areas. That’s when Yasir Khan, Iqbal and a third boy, Rouf Bhat, took two months unpaid leave from their jobs to start a helpline. The idea was to pave the way for smoother rescue operations.

“We started with a makeshift helpline in our apartments by posting our numbers on Facebook so that people could get in touch with us to rescue their families and friends. Within 10 days, we attended to over 45,000 calls, Whatsapp messages, and text messages. We were so engrossed in receiving and attending to rescue calls that we even forgot that our own families needed to be rescued. Fortunately, we soon learnt that our families were safe and sound,” recalls Yasir.

From rescue ops, the group has now progressed on their next mission – to provide warm clothes to the needy for the looming cold months.  As of today, J&K Disaster Helpline and Relief Organization is working in collaboration with Heal Kashmir for Project Pheran.

Armish says, “Mainly, we are collecting woollens, but if people donate other stuff, we accept that too. We have hired transport through a company in Delhi. They will deliver the materials to Srinagar by road. We are planning to put up collection centres in major colleges and universities across Punjab.” The team is hopeful of starting distribution by early November.

The team coordinator from Bangalore, Saqib, has been in touch with the Kashmiri diaspora in the city. Long before ‘Project Pheran’ started, he coordinated with various others to arrange for relief collection and dispatch to Srinagar.  With time, he became part of the Heal Kashmir team.

If you wish to support Project Pheran/Project Warmth, write to healkashmir14@gmail.com, or on Twitter @healkashmir, or Facebook: healkashmir.

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