Monday 5 June 2017

Bongo Buffet - Sweet Change

The only time that you don’t find a Candy Sweet is when you get it as change. It doesn’t matter whether you eat the candy or not, you’re always left with a feeling of being cheated. What if there was a candy that also gave you the sweet feeling of proper change. Yes, that’s exactly what #sweetchange does. #sweetchange is a new candy brought to the shelf by a popular e-wallet brand. All you have to do is unwrap the candy and eat it, don’t throw the wrapper yet, that’s where your change is! Yes, inside the wrapper there is a code, open the app (or download if you haven’t already) and enter the code. That’s it; you’ll get the change you deserved as a cashback. Sweet!


Sweet Change Candy

All the change that you could lose out on will now collect in your e-wallet and you can use it for pretty much everything under the sun. #sweetchange comes in four different flavours or denominations if you will. You can get a '#sweetchange' for Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 or Rs 10. Or even a combination of either as per the change that the shopkeeper owes you. It’s just as simple. ”

Wednesday 31 May 2017

#TIGORSTYLEBACK - A contest with Style & Substance just like the Car!!!

Tata Motors is back with something Bigger and Better for the world of automobiles. The latest from their house is Tata Tigor which promises to be a super hit in the sedan category.

The TIGOR is in line with the legacy of Tata Motors to create something that customers haven’t experienced in that particular section. The TIGOR got what it takes to be a class apart in its section with its design, style & attitude. 





To commemorate the arrival of this fabulous car, TATA Motors brings to you a fabulous contest.

This contest will particularly interest those who are pretty good at clicking selfies. Thats because one selfie of yours can win you awesome vouchers from Zara. What more could you ask from a simple selfie.

So this is what you got to do:


1) You have to walk into the nearest Tata Showroon that has the Tigor.

2) Style yourself in a way that gets you a stylish & award winning selfie with the Tigor.

3) Share your entires in the below pages of Tata Motors:

Facebook : https://goo.gl/07Fl2q

4) Use #TigorStyleback in all your entries.


 Please visit the web site below to trace the showroom where Tata Tigor will be on display:



And if you are a fellow Kolkatan like me, then 3-4th June is the date to be at Acropolis Mall in Shantipally.

So I wish you all the lucky in the world to win the Zara Vouchers, Get Clicking & You would surely start winning!!! 

Tuesday 28 March 2017

Chinese Tech Giant Tencent Takes 5 Percent Stake In Tesla

Tesla Inc, the California-based electric carmaker, said Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd acquired a 5 percent stake for $1.78 billion.
The purchase, revealed in a U.S. regulatory filing, pushed Tesla's stock higher in early trading, making it the second most valuable U.S. auto company ahead of Ford Motor Co but behind General Motors Co.
The deal gives Shenzhen-based Tencent a growing presence in the rapidly expanding future mobility sector, with investments in U.S. and Chinese startup companies that provide ride sharing services and are developing self-driving electric vehicles.
Tencent's investment also provides Tesla with an additional cash cushion as it prepares to boost production volume and launch its new Model 3. Tesla's shares were up 2.6 percent at $277.19 in early trading.
Founded in 1998 by entrepreneur Ma Huateng, Tencent is one of Asia's largest tech companies, best known for its WeChat mobile messaging app. With a market capitalization of about $275 billion, it is roughly six times the size of Tesla, whose $46-billion market cap on Tuesday topped that of 114-year-old Ford.
Tencent and fellow Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Baidu Inc have invested billions in mobility startups. The services being developed by those newcomers promise to transform the global transportation landscape while providing significant new revenue streams to providers of mobile services.
Tencent was an early investor in NextEV, a Shanghai-based electric vehicle startup which since has rebranded itself as Nio and whose U.S. headquarters in San Jose is not far from Tesla's Palo Alto base. Tencent also has funded at least two other Chinese EV startups, including Future Mobility in Shenzhen.
In addition, Tencent has invested in Didi Chuxing, the world's second-largest ride services company behind Uber, and in Lyft, Uber's chief U.S. rival.
Baidu has invested in Nio, as well as in Uber and Velodyne, a California maker of lidar sensors for self-driving cars. Alibaba's mobility investments include Didi and Lyft.
As Tesla is doing, many of the mobility startup companies backed by Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba are developing self-driving systems that eventually could be introduced in commercial ride sharing fleets in the U.S. and China after 2020.
Tencent maintains a U.S. office in Palo Alto, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Beijing-based Baidu and Hangzhou-based Alibaba also maintain offices in Silicon Valley.
Tencent owns about 8.2 million shares in Tesla, the carmaker said. Tencent is now the fifth-largest shareholder in Tesla, behind Elon Musk and investment companies Fidelity, Baillie Gifford and T. Rowe Price.(bit.ly/2nvNeMI)
Elon Musk-led Tesla raised about $1.2 billion by selling common shares and convertible debt earlier this month.
Musk is Tesla's top shareholder, with a stake of about 21 percent as of Dec. 31.

Sunday 19 March 2017

Whats Happening inside Shopclues!!

While Sandeep Aggarwal, one of the cofounders of ShopClues, cries foul over his lost voting rights, his estranged partners swear by fair play
S itting in his five-storey office in Gurgaon, Sanjay Sethi is seemingly calm. It has been a blustery week at online marketplace ShopClues after Sethi's one-time friend and cofounder Sandeep Aggarwal unleashed a Facebook storm last Sunday by alleging that his wife Radhika and Sethi took away his voting rights by "fraud".

Five days after the Facebook post by Aggarwal, which hurled a volley of personal and professional allegations against his estranged partners, Sethi seems to have weathered the storm."I don't want to add fuel to the fire," says the ShopClues CEO, as he gets ready to meet investors. "We are not looking at a trial by media," he quips, when asked to respond to the allegations levelled by Aggarwal.

"What more do you want to know?" Sethi asks. Will the allegations of fraud and misgovernance hit fundraising prospects?
Sethi takes a deep breath, pauses for a few moments, and exhales. "All of us are deeply hurt. We didn't fudge any document. We didn't cheat anybody," he declares, adding that the company has always been fair to Sandeep.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, a "wronged" Aggarwal, is hoping to get justice. On an official trip to Hong Kong as the founder of Droom, an online automobile mar ketplace, Aggarwal is sticking to his guns. "ShopClues was a single-founder company," he asserts, adding that he started working on the startup in October 2010, incorporated it as a single officer company in Delaware in the US in June 2011, and hired Radhika and Sethi as employees in August 2011. "I decided their title, salary and stocks," he says, rubbishing the claims made by ShopClues that the company had four cofounders: Sandeep Aggarwal, Sanjay Sethi, Radhika Ghai and Sudhir Ghai.

"I founded the company with my heart, blood and sweat," wrote Aggarwal in an email addressed to all board members of ShopClues seeking immediate removal of Radhika from his "board seat nomination". The company's conversion (of visits to paying customers), he claimed in the email sent on October 6 last year, had come down 50-80 basis points, which means prod uct, placement, pricing and promotions have not been handled properly."I feel half of the GMV at ShopClues is very low quality and full of fake products," he alleged. In an earlier email in September, Aggarwal informed the board of his decision to nominate a new board member in place of Radhika.

Sethi, for his part, refused to get dragged into this part of the controversy. "I don't comment on what somebody feels, not when it is far removed from the facts," he said, brandishing a copy of a board of directors' letter of reaffirmation of confidence in the present team. "We are proud of fantastic progress made by the ShopClues team under Radhika and Sanjay's leadership," the board said in an official press release early this week. The company has grown 30 times under this management, the release added.

Notwithstanding Aggarwal's impulsive outburst on Facebook, the disagreement between him and ShopClues board started simmering in July 2015 when in an email written to all board members, including Radhika and Sethi, Aggarwal made a request to restore his legal rights. "I do not want to h ave c o m p ro mised voting rights that I signed under stress and trauma and did not quite understand their repercussions," he wrote.

At Loggerheads

Almost two years later, Aggarwal is singing the same tune. "My voting rights were removed by fraud and forgery," he told ET Magazine, adding that he holds 12.5% stake in the company, making him the single largest individual holder. The voting rights, he lets on, were removed not after pleading guilty to an insider trading charge in the US in 2013. They added a line in the voting rights -currently working in the company -without my knowledge, and took away my rights, he asserts. "The amended voting rights document turned my majority share to zero," he says, adding that he didn't come to know about his changed voting rights for over two and a half years, and the company neither responded to his series of emails nor clarified that he had lost voting rights.

Sethi, in his defence, maintains that Aggarwal lost all rights once he was con victed of insider trading charges. "He doesn't have any voting rights. Neither did we coverup any document," he says, adding that Aggarwal signed the consultancy agreement with the company in October 2013 and was well aware of its provisions. In fact, the company has been more than generous by allowing him to retain his financial interests, he adds, hinting that in spite of lawyers advising the company to explore legal options against Aggarwal, the investors decided to focus on securing the company.

When Aggarwal resigned from ShopClues in October 2013, recalls Sethi, it became increasingly difficult for the company to get new investors on board. "The company needed to ring-fence itself as nobody was willing to put in money," he says, adding that it took 15 months to convince Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, which finally in vested in January last year. Tiger Global too invested after Aggarwal's exit, in January 2015. "We have absolute backing of our investors," he asserts, adding that a complaint filed by Aggarwal at the Economic Offence Wing has been dismissed. "ShopClues was never a one-man show," he says. 

Even as Aggarwal-ShopClues saga continues to unfold, investors contend that the tussle exposes the fault lines in the fledgling startup ecosystem in India. Shubhankar Bhattacharya, venture partner at Kae Capital, maintains that during the early stages of a firm's journey, the founders need to firmly be in control through their equity holding as it is the most direct means to align incentives for everyone. "While we can understand an entrepreneur's inclination to achieve some liquidity through a partial secondary sale of stake, both entrepreneurs and investors are to be blamed for not maintaining the equilibrium in terms of the startup's identity as a founder-led organisation," he adds.


Another investor, requesting anonymity, points out a different aspect of the tussle: original founders versus investors. With most of the founders diluting their stake to single digits or low double digits, the show is being run by investors. "The power equation has changed, and founders have to live with this reality," he says, adding that investors in both ShopClues and Droom would be edgy with whatever has been go ing on over the last week. "They must be keeping their fingers crossed," he says. The ShopClues drama also highlights the absence of transparent governance among startups. "Nobody wants to open a Pandora's box," said the investor.

ET Magazine tried contacting Nexus Venture Partners, Helion and Ronnie Screwvala -all investors in ShopClues -but none responded. Sid Talwar, one of the investors in the Aggarwal-founded Droom, declined to comment.


Even as Aggarwal cries foul over his robbed voting rights, and ShopClues board swear by fair play, Radhika maintains her studied silence. Late Friday afternoon, she comes out of an investor meet, refusing to take any questions. "It has been a hectic week, very hectic," she smiles, letting her CEO cofounder do all the talking.

Thursday 9 March 2017

Things you must know about Taj Mahal

Symbol of true love and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal is amongst country's most visited tourist attractions. Displaying a beautiful mix of Islamic, Persian and Indian architecture, this historic marvel was built in over 22 years, with the help of about 20000 workers. Despite its popularity, there are several facts people still do not know about the Taj Mahal. Listed below are some of the points that'd surely enhance your knowledge about this marble mausoleum:

1. You won't believe but the replicas of the Taj Mahal do exist. Though not as breathtaking as the original Taj, Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad and Taj Mahal Bangladesh are quite a work of art!

2. Mumtaz Mahal was Shah Jahan's third wife, and was earlier known by the name Arjumand Bano Begum.

3. Mumtaz Mahal lost her life giving birth to Shah Jahan's 14th child.

4. To build the Taj Mahal, about 1000 elephants were employed that transferred the construction material from one place to another.

5. Taj Mahal is adorned with an assortment of 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones.

6. Depending upon what time of the day it is and whether or not it is a moonlit night, Taj Mahal appears to be of different colours.

7. While roaming in Taj Mahal complex, you can see different verses of Quran written everywhere.

8. Mumtaz Mahal's actual tomb contains about 99 different names of Allah featured as calligraphic inscriptions.

9. The materials for the construction of Taj Mahal were brought from different regions and countries, namely Punjab, Rajasthan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, China, Tibet and Arabia.

10. Legend has it that Shah Jahan wanted to construct another Taj Mahal using black marble but he could not do so, owing to increasing wars with his sons. 



Monday 27 February 2017

Can Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan improve the quality of Air we breathe?

Although the warning signs have been billowing in the polluted air of urban India policymakers remain strangely apathetic. The contrast with China, which has been fighting air pollution in mission mode, is stark. As a result ozone-related early deaths in India are now 33% higher than those recorded for China. And while early deaths related to PM2.5 in China have increased 17.22% since 1990, they have burgeoned 48% in India. Overall death toll due to air pollution still remains higher in China but while they are putting a lid on it, it’s spinning out of control in India. We must make a priority out of fighting this explosive public health challenge.
The above data is presented in the State of Global Air 2017 report released in Boston on Tuesday. But data only underscore what’s obvious to the naked eye. When winter days grow grey in Delhi or the fires at the Deonar dumping ground spew methane in Mumbai or the heavily polluted Bellandur lake catches fire in Bengaluru, the airpocalypse is unmistakably upon us. And it isn’t limited to the metros. The air has grown toxic from Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar to Gwalior, Patna and Raipur.
Managing blazing mountains of garbage requires modern waste management practices. Controlling vehicular pollution means increasing the supply of reliable public transport. Agricultural crop burning will stop when transporting crop stubble to biomass power plants becomes feasible for farmers. Such solutions are not easy but achievable. Centre and states must cooperate and strategise to deliver change on a comprehensive, nationwide scale.
Scale really is the keyword here. For example while a metro network is under construction in diverse cities like Lucknow, Kochi and Nagpur, its expansion has to be rapid as demand for it has been there for decades – and this has to be done without compromising on quality. For example, it’s inexcusable how commuters on Delhi metro are being told that snags are to be a new normal. What’s equally critical is that clean commitments are followed up with proper resource allocation and action on the ground. For example Delhi has yet to see the new buses and vacuum cleaning of roads whose speedy delivery the Kejriwal government had promised way back in 2015. With air pollution causing 1.1 million premature deaths that year, India also needs to get into mission mode like China.

Sunday 19 February 2017

Mutual Funds Industry backs SIP Investments to grow!!

Fund houses are betting big on investments through systemic investment plan (SIP) to achieve the magical figure of Rs 20 trillion assets under management (AUM) for the industry by end of the current calendar year.

While some of the fund houses see the growth in SIP coming from B-15 cities, few others said their SIPs are doing very well and hence they are confident of the industry achieving the Rs 20 trillion mark by the year-end.

The AUM reached Rs 17.4 trillion in January, expanding 36.4 per cent from Rs 12.7 trillion a year ago, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund, with Rs 27,000 crore AUM currently, said its SIP was growing by 35-40 per cent over past nine months.

"We have seen our SIP book growing by 35-40 per cent over the past nine months and we have seen lots of participation from B-15 cities," DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund Chief Executive Suresh Soni said on the sidelines of an event over the last weekend here.

Commenting on the industry nearing the Rs 20-trillion mark, he said opportunities available before the sector are very encouraging.

According to Soni, after demonetisation, the overall addressable pool of money has gone up remarkably. "We can access the money stashed in banks. Some of it could come to the MF industry. Secondly, the money flow to the industry post -noteban was mature one and hence good for the industry."

Edelweiss Mutual Fund is betting high on its SIP, pre- paid SIP in particular, to drive the growth. The fund house, having AUM of Rs 7,000 crore, is ranked 25th at present.


Pre-paid SIP allows an investor to take advantage of the market falls, a facility not available under regular SIP.

DSP BlackRock Investment Managers has decided to temporarily suspend, from February 20, all fresh transactions in its open-ended diversified equity scheme Micro Cap Fund.


The reason cited by the company for suspension of fresh inflows is that there is a possibility large inflows into the scheme may prove detrimental to the interest of existing unit holders.

Wednesday 8 February 2017

5 Benefits of Beetroot Juice

The beautiful and bright colour of beetroots can make anyone fall in love with it yet it is often ignored, perhaps because of its distinctive taste. If you’re not a fan, you should know that beetroot has been gaining amazing popularity as the new superfood around the world. It’s low in fat, full of powerful antioxidants, rich in Vitamin C, and helps in the absorption of iron. Need we say more? Both the leaves and the roots can be eaten. While the pink root is sweet, the dark green leaves are bitter but very rich in calcium, iron and Vitamin A.

Beetroots are best enjoyed raw and uncooked as cooking may destroy most of its nutrients. You can add them in salads or easier to just juice them up. Beetroots are one of the healthiest vegetables you can juice, undoubtedly. A glass of beetroot juice helps in giving you all the vitamins and minerals in a concentrated form. If your mixture is too thick you can add some water to balance the consistency. Don’t remove the pulp that’s where all your fiber is. Also, remember that plain beetroot juice may contain oxalic acid and therefore it is good to blend it with other fruits or vegetables. This will also help in adding additional flavour and nutrition. For instance, beetroots and carrots make a lovely pair.




1. Manages your blood pressure
Beetroot juice can help in temporarily lowering high blood pressure. Researchers have attributed this to the presence of nitrates in beets. The naturally occurring nitrates increase nitric oxide found in the blood vessels which allow more oxygen to flow to your brain, heart and muscles  and thus, lowering high blood pressure.


2. Gives you glowing skin
If you’re healthy from within, it reflects on the outside. Beetroot juice acts a great blood purifier. Beetroots are also rich in Vitamin C which helps in clearing blemishes and evens out your skin tone while giving it a natural glow.
3. A great way to detox naturally
Beetroots are a unique source of betalains – a type of phytonutrient. These compounds are known to provide powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties.  For long, beetroot has been known as the liver-protective food. It is a great liver cleanser and helps in flushing out all the toxins. With the help of compounds like methionine and glycine, it prevents fatty acids from building up and stimulates the liver cells.


4. Boosts energy and stamina
Beetroot juice helps in opening the blood vessels and thus increases the flow of oxygen throughout your body making you feel more energetic and active. This is probably why it’s best to have it early morning to wake up your sleepy organs.  It has been often promoted as a great workout drink and good for athletes as it increase the flow of oxygen to the muscles preparing them for the stress ahead.
 
5. Good for digestion
Beetroot juice with its pulp is full of fiber which helps in regulative your digestive processes and also relieves constipation. A glass of beetroot juice is also a great home remedy for an upset stomach.
 

Sunday 5 February 2017

ZTE Blade A2 Plus- A sensational Phone of 2017 at just Rs11,999/-

As expected, ZTE Blade A2 Plus smartphone was launched on Friday in India. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 11,999 and will exclusively be available on Flipkart from Monday, February 6 onwards. Just like China, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus will be available in Gold and Silver colour options.






ZTE had launched two RAM variants of the smartphone in China - 3GB and 4GB. However, India gets only the ZTE Blade A2 Plus 4GB RAM variant option for now. Just to recap, the 3GB variant of the ZTE smartphone was priced at CNY 1,499 (roughly Rs. 15,000) and the 4GB variant was priced at CNY 1,699 (roughly Rs. 17000) respectively in China.


The ZTE Blade A2 Plus sports a metal unibody, with a square shaped camera, flash and fingerprint scanner, sitting one below the other vertically at the back. The volume and navigation buttons are housed on the right edge, while the capacitive navigation buttons are situated at the bottom chin in the front. The big highlight of the ZTE device is its massive 5000mAh battery that supports fast charging. ZTE claims that the smartphone can last up to 22 hours of talk time.

 As for specifications, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus features a 5.5-inch (1080x1920) pixels full-HD display. It is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6750T octa-core SoC (four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.5GHz and four at 1GHz) paired with 4GB of RAM and Mali T860 GPU. The inbuilt storage is at 32GB with the option to expand further via the microSD card (up to 128GB).

The hybrid dual-SIM ZTE smartphone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based Mifavor 3.5 OS. As for optics, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with PDAF, dual-LED flash and 1080p video support. At the front, there is an 8-megapixel sensor with screenflash. Connectivity options include Bluetooth v4.0, GPS, 4G LTE, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Lastly, the ZTE Blade A2 Plus measures at 155x76.2x9.8mm, and weighs 189 grams.

"With a young, tech-savvy audience, about 69 million consumers purchased their products online and it is expected to cross 100 million by 2017. Our Blade-series smartphone, ZTE Blade A2 Plus comes with 4G LTE, VoLTE support and host of other features at an effective price. Through this phone, we take the first step to reach millions of Indians who are going digital. By eliminating multiple external factors, we want to bring the best phones that industry has to offer and at an effective price," said Sachin Batra, CMO, ZTE India Terminal in a statement.

Wednesday 1 February 2017

Actual Cost of Solar Power

This blog is prompted by a report (in the Times of India of 1st December) that for some roof-top solar projects, a tariff of Rs 3 per unit has been quoted, which is same as the average cost of power from the coal-fired plants of NTPC. The report also gives the impression that solar power is going to be cheaper than power generated by thermal power plants. While it is true that the cost of solar power has been coming down, it is necessary to understand certain aspects of solar power, particularly regarding its impact on the overall cost of power supply, so as to be able to take informed decisions without being carried away by some simplistic facts.


A distinctive characteristic of solar power is that it can be generated only during the mid-day hours when the sun is up in the sky. It therefore can’t help in catering to the requirement of electric power during evening hours, when the power demand peaks. As we move towards ‘electricity for all’, the power demand during evening hours would keep on rising, and conventional generating capacity would require continued enhancement, irrespective of the installation of the solar capacity. In fact, solar capacity should not be counted when working out the generating capacity requirement for meeting the projected peak demand.
What the solar generating capacity (whether roof-top or large-scale) actually provides is electrical energy during mid-day hours (say 8am to 4pm), to replace an equivalent amount of electrical energy from thermal power plants during those same hours. This directly reduces (i) the amount of coal burnt in the power plants (whose day-time generation is curtailed), (ii) amount of ash produced by these plants, (iii) CO2 emission, and (iv) the requirements of coal mining, import and transport, and of ash disposal. These are all most beneficial from environmental angle, and are the reasons for the global push for solar (and wind) power generation.
Sometimes, concerns are voiced that the increasing solar capacity would cause the Plant Load Factor (PLF) of the thermal plants to fall (because the latter would have to necessarily back down during mid-day hours when solar plants would be feeding power into the grid), destabilise their operation and upset their economics. These concerns are not valid. PLF is not the right criterion for judging a plant’s performance. Backing down, and ramping up the thermal generation when solar generation falls in the early evening hours, would normally be within the plants’ operating capability. It would only require the plant operators to be alert, and to take the necessary preventive/corrective actions to ensure that their machines are not over-stressed. The commercial problem can also be easily overcome by adopting two-part tariff (comprising of capacity charge and energy charge) for the thermal plants, wherein any revenue reduction on backing down is neutralised by a matching reduction in cost of fuel consumed. All Central thermal stations already have this tariff format, and would not suffer on account of backing down. Typically, the present energy charge rates of thermal plants, based on their respective fuel cost, are in the range of Rs 1.50 to 2 per kWh sent out, while the total average cost (including the fixed cost, which is recovered through the capacity charge) is in the range of Rs 3 to 4 per unit. Thermal stations still on single-part tariff have simply to change over to two-part tariff to avoid any adverse effect on their economics.


Now let us come to the impact of solar power on the overall cost of power supply. Suppose the tariff for solar power, to be paid by a State utility is Rs 4 per unit. When this power comes into the State utility’s system (during 8am – 4pm period), the off-take of the State utility from the thermal stations would get reduced by the same extent, hour-by-hour. Consequently, the amount to be paid by the State utility to the thermal plants would come down as per the latter’s energy charge rate. So, while the State utility would pay Rs 4 for every kWh of solar power it received, its payment to the thermal plants would come down by only Rs 1.50 to 2. Thus the utility would have a net additional liability of over Rs 2 for each kWh of solar power it receives, even when the total average prices of solar and thermal power are comparable. This is the real (additional) cost of solar power, which is ultimately borne by the national economy.



A question then arises as to how the above cost is to be shared between the various stake-holders. If the amount of solar power in the total electrical energy mix is 5%, the additional cost per unit of total energy would be more than 10 paise, and around 15 paise per unit of energy sold (after allowing for T&D losses). If the regulators determine that this additional liability is to be borne only by the better-off consumers and they consume about 50% of the total electricity supplied, their average tariff shall have to be jacked up by about 30 paise per unit. This is the order of the price to be paid for this environment-friendly power, which needs to be duly considered while deciding about the pace of enhancement of solar power.

Friday 27 January 2017

What Budget has in store for the Stock Market??

Investors in India are bracing for higher taxes and less incentives from the government's annual budget to be unveiled on Feb. 1 as the focus shifts to wringing out revenues to finance giveaways and higher public investments to support the economy.
 Detailed below are the main expectations of measures that could impact markets:

GUIDELINES FOR GENERAL ANTI AVOIDANCE RULES (GAAR)

- Government set to announce detailed guidelines behind GAAR, which will be implemented starting on April 2017

- GAAR is meant to crack down on tax havens, making it harder to claim some tax exemptions

- Key clarification awaited is whether GAAR will take precedence over individual tax treaties, including Singapore and Mauritius

TAXES UNDER INDIRECT TRANSFER RULES

- Government expected to say whether foreign portfolio investors, private equity funds and venture capitals are liable to pay indirect transfer taxes

- Confusion created after tax department said in December such investors could be liable to pay taxes if more than 50 pct of a fund's or investment vehicle's assets are based in India under some conditions

- Tax department also said indirect transfer tax could be charged under certain ownership and investment levels

MASALA BONDS WITHHOLDING TAX

- Government may keep in place a 5 per cent withholding tax paid by issuers on "masala" bonds, or rupee-denominated debt sold overseas, despite some lobbying for its removal

SECURITIES TRANSACTION TAX ON EQUITY MARKETS

- STT on futures and options may rise for second year in a row from current levels of 0.05 per cent for every 10 million trades, which rises for bigger transactions.

REDUCE TIME PERIOD FOR CAPITAL GAINS EXEMPTIONS

- Reduce threshold for tax exemptions for capital gains

- Currently investments sold after at least a 12-month holding period are exempt from taxes, while anything below that is taxed at up to 20 per cent of the gains.

Tuesday 24 January 2017

Republic Day Special G Shock watch by Casio

On the occasion of India's 68th Republic Day, Casio has launched a limited edition model of its G-Shock digital watch. Called GA-110GB, the watch comes with 'Vande Mataram' slogan imprinted in Hindi on Resin band. GA-110GB also has a Fighter Jet and 'IND' imprinted on end side of band.

Priced at Rs 9,795, the watch has a Mineral Glass dial featuring a bright LED light. It is water resistant up to 200m and supports world clock, countdown timer, and up to five daily alarms with Full auto-calendar (up to year 2099).

Talking about the launch, Kulbhushan Seth, vice president, Casio India said, "Casio believes in contributing to community with its latest innovations and creating a positive impact on consumers. 'Vande Mataram' as a slogan has so much energy that it infuses a new level of respect and pride in Indian youth. The new Republic Day edition celebrates the power of young India and ignites the true sense of being an Indian."

Last year, the company launched its udmaster GWG-1000 watch in India. Priced at Rs 35,995, the watch features an armoured tool design targeted at users who require a rugged timepiece capable of surviving in harsh environments. Apart from ruggedness, GWG-1000 offers triple sensor capabilities which provide instant access to details like direction, barometric pressure and temperature.

The watch has a solar battery and the function buttons have been purposely made bigger, ensuring easy access even with gloves. It is 200 meters water resistant and shockproof as well.

The G-Shock Mudmaster GWG-1000 has Casio's Wave Ceptor technology built-in, and it automatically adjusts the time based on time signal reception in the region. A double-LED light makes using the watch easy even in the dark.

Thursday 12 January 2017

Lenovo P2- A smartphone for All

Lenovo ended 2016 on a high, as the second-place smartphone vendor in India in terms of market share. A new IDC study released recently shows that that Lenovo (now including Motorola) saw significant increase in sales during the holiday season around October 2016, thanks to high demand for the Moto E3 Power, Moto G4 series, and the Lenovo K5 series. Lenovo seems to be intent on maintaining its momentum in the new year.
After launching the Lenovo K6 Power (Review) and Lenovo K6 Note (Review) in December, the company has kicked off 2017 with the launch of the Lenovo P2 in India. The smartphone was first unveiled at IFA last year and is coming to India within four months of its global debut.



The main highlight of the P2 smartphone, much like its predecessor, the Lenovo Vibe P1, is a large battery. This time around, however, Lenovo is also promoting other aspects of the phone, including its design, camera, and security features. The Lenovo P2's pricing puts it up against some of the most popular mid-range smartphones. Will the company's first 2017 launch be as well received as last year's successful models? We try to find out in our review.
Lenovo P2 look and feel
The Lenovo P2 features an all-metal body, and the aluminium material certainly feels sturdy. There is nothing new in terms of design, but the P2's overall polish gives it premium feel. There's a lot of empty space above and below the display. The physical home button has an integrated fingerprint scanner, but there's nothing else on the phone's relatively thick chin.
The Lenovo P2 will be launching in Champagne Gold and Graphite Grey (which we got for our review) in India. At 177 grams, this phone is a bit heavier than most others in its class, but that's explained by the massive battery. Lenovo is stressing the fact that the Lenovo P2 at 8.3mm is thinner than the Lenovo P1 (Review), which measured 9.9mm thick. In everyday usage, the Lenovo P2 felt a bit too heavy, and we were more comfortable when using it with two hands, especially when typing.
The right side of the P2 is where you'll find the volume rocker and power button, while the hybrid SIM tray which accepts dual Nano-SIMs is on the left. The left side also has a slider switch that Lenovo calls a "power-saving key", which toggles the Ultimate Power Saver mode. In this mode, you see a countdown timer which actually tells you how much battery life you have remaining. The physical button placement is fairly ergonomic and there is decent tactile feedback for all buttons.

There is a Micro-USB port along with speaker grilles on the bottom, and a 3.5mm audio jack on top. The primary camera with dual-LED flash is on the back, and Lenovo branding can be seen lower down. The smartphone also sports a "Made in India" tag. The design of the P2's rear panel is a lot like that of Lenovo's other recent smartphones, and it fits in well with the range.
The 5.5-inch full-HD Super Amoled display on the Lenovo P2 is vibrant, with good visibility even under direct sunlight. Text and images appear really sharp, and the screen size makes the device well suited for media consumption. Viewing angles are decent, and colour reproduction is adequate. There is 2.5D curved glass covering the display. However, we were disappointed that there is no scratch protection, and we noticed minor nicks on the glass during our review.
In the retail box, you get a screen guard, a cover, a data cable, a 24W power adaptor, a SIM ejector, and an instruction booklet.



Lenovo P2 specifications and features
The Lenovo P2 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953) clocked at 2GHz, coupled with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. Both versions of the phone have 32GB of built-in storage.
There have been a lot of smartphones launched in India with the same SoC, including the Asus ZenFone 3 (Review) and Moto Z Play (Review) - both of which are priced higher than the P2 smartphone.
To expand the 32GB of storage microSD cards of up to 128GB are supported. However, the hybrid SIM means that users will have to choose between a second SIM and a microSD card. There is a 13-megapixel camera with a Sony sensor and dual LED flash at the back, plus a 5-megapixel camera on the front.
Other specifications include Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, FM radio, and GPS/A-GPS. The phone supports 4G as well as VoLTE on both SIMs, and we were able to make calls through the Jio network. Lenovo claims that the P2 supports LTE Cat. 6 with download speeds of up to 300Mbps and uploads at up to 50Mbps.
The Lenovo P2 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the company's Vibe Pure UI on top. The software is largely the same as what we have seen recently on the Lenovo K6 Power (Review) and K6 Note (Review). For the P2, Lenovo has gone with on-screen navigation keys rather than capacitive buttons. Lenovo told Gadgets 360 that the P2 is the first Lenovo phone to have on-screen navigation buttons, and this solves one of the big issues we faced on the Lenovo K6 Power and K6 Note, which was the lack of backlighting for their capacitive buttons.

Lenovo has added a System button option in the settings, which lets you choose the positioning of the on-screen buttons, or even hide the navigation bar altogether - users will have to swipe up from the bottom to show the hidden buttons if this is enabled. The P2 retains a lot of software features from the Lenovo K6 Power and K6 Note including the Dual Apps mode that allows apps to be used with two different accounts on the same phone. Knock to Light wakes the phone with double-tap on the screen while it is off; VR mode allows the smartphone to work with Ant VR headset; and Wide Touch offers one-touch shortcut access through a floating button. You can also quickly toggle the flashlight by long-pressing the Home button when the phone is in standby.
The Secure Zone feature is also present on the Lenovo P2 though users should note that it will only work when the Dual app profile feature is turned off. The Secure Zone lets users configure secondary accounts for apps such as Whatsapp. Much like with previous Lenovo handsets, you get the option to lock these apps with a PIN, pattern, or even fingerprint.
The Lenovo P2 also allows users to perform gestures using the fingerprint sensor. A single tap can act like the back button, touching and holding triggers the recent apps screen, and a single press takes you back to home screen. The fingerprint scanner can also be long-pressed to launch Google Now.
With its new UI, Lenovo has cut down the bloatware, though there are still plenty of third-party apps preloaded on the Lenovo P2 that can be uninstalled, if the user wants. These include Evernote, McAfee Security, Skype, Truecaller, and UC Browser. There are few Lenovo apps also on-board including Lenovo Companion, Shareit, and Syncit. Lenovo has once again not included any default gallery app though users can access all kinds of files through a File Manager app.
The dropdown notifications shade offers the usual quick settings toggles along with notifications. The Themes Center app, which comes preloaded on the P2, offers several customisation options for wallpapers, icons, lock screen settings, and more. We found the UI on the P2 really smooth and fast for everyday usage.
Lenovo P2 performance
The Lenovo P2 performs really well when it comes to multitasking and general app performance. With 4GB of RAM, there is ample memory for tasks at any given time. The 5.5-inch full-HD display is adequate for watching videos and looking at photos. We had a good time playing Asphalt 8 on the P2 and we didn't notice any frame drops during gameplay.
The smartphone was able to latch onto mobile networks at all times, and download speeds over 4G were decent as well. In terms of audio, the speaker located at the bottom was adequate for a small, empty room, though we noticed distortion at higher volumes. Lenovo once again disappointed us with its bundled earphones, and we recommend using a third-party headset rather than the awful one that comes in the box.

We ran our usual benchmarks and got decent scores of 63,445 on AnTuTu; 40,634 overall in Quadrant; 8,098 in 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme; and 23fps in GFXBench's T-Rex test.
The 13-megapixel rear camera is really quick when it comes to focusing, thanks to its phase-detection autofocus capability. The P2 can click detailed macros in well-lit situations but landscapes appeared average. Details were passable, but noise is apparent at the corners of the image. The P2 can take decent low-light shots if there are light sources around. Without any light source, the shots get very grainy. We also found that the P2 was often unable to focus on subjects in low light, which was disappointing. The camera was able to reproduce accurate colours only with photos taken in conditions where there was a good amount of light.
Tap to see full-sized Lenovo P2 camera samples
The camera app on the P2 is the same as what we've seen on the K6 Power and K6 Note, and it's easy to use. One can access camera modes with just one tap. The P2 can record full-HD videos with decent quality. Selfies are passable when taken in good light, but turn out really dark otherwise. Overall, the Lenovo P2 fares reasonably well in the camera department even though this is not its main feature.
That brings us to the 5100mAh non-removable battery, which managed to last for a phenomenal 21 hours, 40 minutes in our video loop battery test. With ordinary usage, the Lenovo P2 easily managed to last over two days.
Even with heavy usage including music streaming, continuous Google Maps use for navigation, and few hours of YouTube video streaming among other things, the battery on the Lenovo P2 lasted roughly two days. Fast charging support is a huge advantage, and we easily got to 30-40 percent charge in just 20 minutes. The phone can be charged fully in less than 90 minutes, which is again impressive.
One of the highlight features of the P2 is its Ultimate Power Saver mode which drastically extends battery life. The mode, as expected, kills a lot of features including cellular data connectivity and syncing. It only allows basic usage such as calls, text messages and the radio, but it could really come in handy in emergency situations. We switched on the Ultimate Power Saver mode at one point when we were down to 20 percent on the battery indicator, and the device stayed alive for almost 20 hours after that.
Verdict
The Lenovo P2 is a beast when it comes to battery performance. Power users who like to be online all the time without worrying about their battery level will be quite happy with the P2. This also makes it a good choice for frequent travellers. The P2 does well when it comes to overall performance, with its octa-core processor turning out to be adequate for everyday usage. For a phone that is focused on battery life, the Lenovo P2's cameras also perform well, and its software is easy to use.
The Lenovo P2 will come at a starting price of Rs. 16,999 for the version with 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM, while the variant with 4GB of RAM will cost Rs. 17,999. The smartphone will be available exclusively online via Flipkart starting at midnight on Wednesday.
Smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime, Asus ZenFone 3 Max, and the now-dated Xiaomi Mi 5 can be considered alternatives at roughly the same price level.


Tuesday 10 January 2017

Samsung launches Gear S3 smartwatch

Samsung has launched its much-awaited Gear S3 smartwatch in India. Originally unveiled in September 2016 at the IFA tradeshow in Berlin, Germany, the Gear S3 is available in two variants - Frontier and Classic.

The company has launched both variants in the country, at a price tag of Rs 28,500. The device is set to go on sale from January 18 and will be available across authorized retail outlets.

In terms of specifications, Samsung Gear S3 features a 1.3-inch circular Super AMOLED display of 360x360 pixel resolution and 278ppi pixel density. It comes with a rotating bezel and new enhanced features. The smartwatch also has a full-colour 'Always On' display with Corning Gorilla Glass SR+ protection.

Powering the Gear S3 is a dual-core 1GHz processor coupled with 768MB of RAM. Internal storage of the Gear S3, however, stays the same as that of Gear S2 - 4GB.

he wearable comes with IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It also has a heart rate sensor along with other connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS and Glonass. Having wireless charging support, the wearable packs a 380mAh battery.

Both variants of the Gear S3 will be available with 22mm straps. The two variants differ in terms of weight, design and connectivity options available. While the Frontier variant weighs 62g, sports a rugged outdoor 'enduring' style and is 3G/LTE-enabled, the Classic version weighs 57g, has a 'minimalistic elegant' desig.

Saturday 7 January 2017

Nokia 6 smartphone with Android 7.0 Nougat Launched

HMD Global, the company that has the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Nokia-branded smartphones, has finally unveiled the Nokia 6 handset in China. The first smartphone by HMD Global will be available in China via JD.com website starting 'early 2017' at CNY 1699 (roughly Rs 16,700). The company says that there will be more Nokia handsets in H1 2017. It has not yet mentioned the device's availability details outside China.

The Nokia 6 by HMD Global runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and supports dual-SIM cards. It has a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution display with 2.5D curved glass coating and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.


The handset is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor along with Adreno 505 GPU and 4GB LPDDR3 RAM. On the storage front, the Nokia 6 comes with an inbuilt 64GB storage, which can expanded via a microSD card up to 128GB.

The optics front of the Nokia 6 is powered by a 16MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, Phase Detection Autofocus and f/2.0 aperture. There is also an 8MP front-facing camera with 84-degree wide angle lens and f/2.0 aperture.

The 4G LTE -supporting Nokia 6 comes with Bluetooth v4.1, GPS, USB OTG and Wi-Fi connectivity and has a 3000mAh battery as well. The smartphone measures 154 x 75.8 x 7.8mm, has dual speakers powered by Dolby Atmos tech, 3.5mm headphone jack and a fingerprint sensor at the front on the home button. It will be available in Black colour variant.


HMD Global is being said to launch at least five smartphone in 2017. The company's second Nokia smartphone is expected to show up at MWC 2017 this year. It is also being said that the company might launch smartphones with 5.7-inch QHD display as well. However, nothing can be confirmed at this point.

Friday 6 January 2017

2017- A year for Real Estate Shopping!!

The real estate industry received 2 big-bang stimulus this New Year. Flush with low cost deposits, banks like SBI, Union Bank of India, PNB and IDBI have reduced home-loan lending rates by as much as 90 basis points. Two, PM Modi, on 31st December, announced the decision to provide interest subvention of 3% and 4% for loans of up to Rs 12 lakh and Rs 9 lakh respectively under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Here’s a simulated impact that each of these stimuli would deliver to a home-buyer:
  • The reduction in home loan lending rates translates into a ~6% reduction in the EMI of a home-seeker. Bear in mind that interest rates have steadily fallen over the last several quarters, and are expected to fall further as we go along.
  • The PMAY scheme offers home loans at an effective interest rate of ~5%. Assuming a 80% loan component, buyers purchasing a Rs 9 lakh worth home would face an EMI of just Rs 4,752 per month and those buying a 12 lakh home would face an EMI of Rs 6,336. Effectively, for a lot of such home-seekers, the EMI would probably be lower to their current rental outflow and therefore make for a compelling reason to buy vs renting a home.

Lets take a deeper-dive and evaluate areas where these measures would have a more profound impact.
1. Localities with high-rental yields
Our Buy vs Rent Calculator suggests that when spread between Rental Yield and EMI reduces to ~2.0%, the choice between Buying vs Renting increasingly favours Buying instead of Renting. Of course, there are multiple variables that influence a ‘buy vs rent’ decision, but a high rental yield and a low-interest rate environment are two important variables here. There are several localities where Rental Yields are in excess of 4%. With home loan interest rates softening, localities with high rental yields are likely to see more buying interest as buyers would seek to purchase rather than rent out a property. To add more context, the years 2006-08, when interest rates were as low as 7.75% also saw buying activity peak. A sample list of localities with high-rental yields are given below.

2. Upcoming localities with a high spread of affordable homes
The PMAY scheme, with an effective interest rate of ~5%, makes for a very compelling case to buy a home vs renting one. For Urban areas, the challenge in this segment is that localities which offer homes in this budget are often located outside city limits with limited transport connectivity. However, some state governments have taken initiative to make such homes available within municipal areas as well. Expect more activity in such pockets which have homes where the PMAY benefit could be availed. 

3. Localities which are at the intersection of falling prices and higher rental yields
My earlier post had pointed to a fall in properties prices at a pan-India level, post demonetisation, by 4%. Now this fall in prices, taken together with an EMI saving of ~6%, has led to a ready-made bouquet of anything between 8-12% effective discounts for home buyers over prevailing prices. Now combine this with localities which enjoy a rental yield >4% as shown in the table above. Even an unsophisticated buyer would begin to see an improved investment logic for buying in such localities; expect far more activity levels in these localities.

Mental Health Conditioning can prevent suicides!!

Grassroots community mental health programmes to address risk factors such as depression and alcohol use disorders can significantly address treatment gaps and reduce incidence of suicide, a new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry shows.


The prevalence of depression, one of the most common mental disorders, fell from 14.6% to 11.3% following community mental health interventions implemented by two NGOs -Prakriti and Sangath.


The population-based programme -Vishram (Vidarbha Stress and Health Program) was implemented over 18 months in Vidarbha, which reported a high prevalence of suicides in agricultural com munities. The impact of the programme was evaluated by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in a study , findings of which have been published in Lancet.



Apart from the significant drop in people with depression, community interventions resulted in six-fold jump from just 4.3% to 27.2% in 12 months, in the proportion of people with the disorder who sought treatment. The prevalence of suicidal thoughts also fell from 5.2% to 2.5% during the same period, indicating effectiveness of such programmes.

Experts say the study produces evidence that such programmes can significantly address the existing treatment gaps to bring down morbidity and mortality from mental health disorders.

Smog- Made in China

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive,” Donald Trump has controversially said. It is expected that his administration will relinquish American leadership on climate change so that the mantle would now have to be taken up by China.
The communist-capitalist country is thought to have already hit peak emissions and it is aiming to shift the economy from manufacturing to the services sector. Already huge investments in solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and green technologies in general are thought to have set it firmly on the path to becoming a clean-energy superpower.
Yet the scale of the challenge of cleaning up China itself has been writ large and dark across its skies this month. As in Indian cities there too winter weather conditions are unfortunately perfect for mixing up choking pea soupers anyway. But this year the activists and protesters are also blaming the government stimulus for boosting the industrial sectors without likewise boosting pressure on the local environmental bureaus to fulfill their responsibilities.
Lauri Myllyvirta of Greenpeace in Beijing claims, “Since the second quarter of this year, when steel prices and output started growing, we saw air quality decline in the north-east.” While this claim bears investigation the fact that seems unarguable is that around 460 million people and 24 Chinese cities have been battling a most severe bout of air pollution for days at a stretch.
As the bad air quality becomes a rallying cry for protests it also grows as a liability for the Communist party. In a first a group of lawyers has filed lawsuits against the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei governments for failing to implement their own environmental laws and prevent the severe smog of the past week.
Cries of discontent have grown significantly in online forums – even as these are being censored. One incredulous commentator online has been quoted as saying, “Are you going to wait for us all to become sick before you step up to fix this?” “Are middle school students’ bodies air purifiers?”
It’s true that the central government now recognizes environmental governance as key to building a sustainable future and maintaining social stability. But it’s also true that local governments’ performance continues to be measured largely by GDP. This mismatch needs fixing before China can become a clean-energy superpower or its citizens breathe clean winter air.