CONTENTS
LETTER
ISSUE CONTENTS
17 May 2012
FROM THE
EDITOR
20
HEALTH
52 Diseases for Sale
Vijay Mallya’s Tax Claim Saga: Kingfisher, UB’s Slow Crumble; SEBI & RBI: Aren’t Regulators Accountable for the USE Mess
Smart Protection
– Diseases are only accidents – Pulse beat: Medical developments from around the world
DIFFERENT STROKES
22
E
ach year, lakhs of people die or are permanently disabled due to accidents. Life and physical abilities are irreplaceable but personal accident insurance, available at a low price in India, can at least relieve the monetary burden—as long as you have the right cover. Our Cover Story outlines what you really need as personal accident (PA) cover and what you need to keep an eye on when taking insurance. If you have been following our website exposé on the president of India’s retirement housing, you would know how a simple tool—searching questions asked under the Right to Information (RTI) Act—has been able to uncover how Pratibha Patil is building a bungalow in Pune on A1 army land. Why not file an RTI query on an issue that really affects you and send us the answer? We will consider making an article based on it. While the Kingfisher and UB groups crumble, Vijay Mallya is seen enjoying watching his IPL team’s performance. Sucheta Dalal, in her Crosshairs section, details Vijay Mallya’s travails with taxes and his constant habit of litigation to stretch the limits of the law. She also highlights the role of regulators in allowing the launch of foreign currency bourses that have no revenue model with highly damaging consequences. In our Fund Pointer section, we tell you which mutual funds to avoid at all costs by highlighting 15 of the worst performers. We always ask you to avoid IPOs. R Balakrishnan in his column explains why. In our Earning Curve section, we highlight why we need to be wary of bankers too, as they become less trustworthy. Moneylife Foundation successfully conducted a two-day Financial Literacy course, free of cost. Additionally, the Foundation hosted Dinesh Trivedi, the former railways minister to a packed Cama Hall, in Mumbai. We have put up the video of this programme on our site. Next, the Foundation will be hosting a speech by J Hari Narayan, chairman of Insurance Regulatory Development Authority. If you are in Mumbai, make sure you attend.
Vanishing Investors
Manipulating research studies or media opinion or more investor meets will not increase investor participation SMART MONEY
26 Cover Story Personal Accident: A must-have cover Life and physical abilities are irreplaceable but personal accident insurance can relieve the monetary burden—as long as you have the right cover. Raj Pradhan explains what you really need
13
Your Interest
3 lakh bogus driving licences in Mumbai; Builder to pay Rs75,000 as compensation; Vodafone fined for deficient services; RBI, IRDA for KYC norms
14 Your Money Don’t insist on minimum balance; Cheque bounce: conflicting rulings; NSEL launches e-Platinum; Printing of MICR, IFSC code mandatory; Banks not to levy pre-payment charges
16 Public Interest All the President’s Land
18
Current Account
Financial Inclusion: How People Save, Borrow and Pay
19 LOOSE CHANGE Moneylife Quiz; Soundbites Disclaimer: Moneylife has a policy of not allowing its editorial staff to buy and sell stocks that are written about in the magazine. All personal transactions in individual stocks are subjected to internal disclosure rules.
24 Avoid IPOs IPOs are usually priced to deliver losses after listing
OPINION
STOCKGRADER 40 Medium Term
Atul Auto skyrocketed 13%, Supreme Infrastructure zoomed 8%, while Idea Cellular tanked 14%
Long Term
Tata Consultancy Services zoomed 12% while PTC India tanked 9%
54 Toxic Plans Where is corporate governance in all this? SAVING AND INVESTING
58 Earning Curve Bankers’ Dozen: Mis-selling by banks is sparing no one EVENTS
FUNDS
25
Worst Equity Funds
Schemes from JM Financial, LIC Nomura and HSBC have done disastrously
AIR TRAVEL
Great 47 6Online Options
60 Moneylife Foundation Events – An evening with Dinesh Trivedi
Book tickets online for your trips and get great deals. Here is how
STOCKS
36
Street Beat
Balaji Amines is a good buy for the long term; Mirza International is making strides in profitability
LEGALLY SPEAKING
Should 48 President Set an Example The president is expected to not just adhere to the basic rules, but also follow the highest standards of ethics
– Genuine Financial Literacy: a unique two-day event of eight sessions
WHICH WAY
39
That ‘90s Show
Rising costs and stifling policies… remember the second half of the ‘90s? INSURANCE
44 Insurance Trends – ‘Recruit more women agents’ – Fine Print: HC raps IRDA; IRDA bats for government-backed health insurance; Birla Sun Life penalised – Tata AIG Mediprime
CAREER
BEYOND MONEY
49 Loaded Questions
66 AllIs NotWasteWaste
What if a job interview is merely a cover to collect information? G Venkatesh writes about such a case
An autonomous enterprise, SWaCH provides front-end waste management services, Savita Narayan reports
AUTO
50 Poor Standards Energy efficiency norms for cars are full of holes, finds Veeresh Malik
DEPARTMENTS Letters............................. 4 Book Review.....................56 Living .............................62 Money Facts.....................63