CONTENTS
LETTER
ISSUE CONTENTS
15 November 2012
FROM THE
EDITOR
Investor Issues: A peculiar Committee; a bizarre report, Investor’s Woes: Wanted: Genuine solutions, not meaningless ideas Insider Trading: Rajat Gupta’s Life Ahead
Testing Times
W
e have witnessed rapid changes in the healthcare and medical industry over the years. This has resulted in increasing lifespan using life-saving techniques and medication. Tests and diagnostics have been developed to detect diseases early, thereby saving lives. However, healthcare industry is increasingly using such tests for revenue generation; these are marketed aggressively to even healthy people by scaring them. Should a perfectly healthy person undergo such tests? Screening is often unnecessary for a healthy person and can be fatal. In our Cover Story, we have interviewed top doctors, to expose the dangers of such unnecessary tests and report what you really need to know. A companion piece comes from Dr Prof BM Hegde, a Padma Bhushan awardee, whom late Nani Palkhiwala had called ‘Cardiologist with a Heart’. He has also written our regular health column about the deadly ‘pill-popping’ culture. The Nitin Gadkari exposé has shattered our trust in democracy—a system of government in which the opposition is supposed to keep a watch on the ruling party. Sucheta Dalal, in her Different Strokes section highlights how the lines between the opposition and ruling politicians have got blurred. Mr Gadkari was co-opted by Sharad Pawar’s cronies to share the spoils. This story is repeated across the country. In her Crosshairs section, she exposes the functioning of a Central government committee to follow up on investor issues. The committee, of which she was as a member, barely met and issued the report without even discussing the draft or obtaining members’ signatures. We are pleased to announce that the number of members in Moneylife Foundation has crossed 14,000! We are now starting an RTI exclusive forum which will meet twice a month in November and December. The sessions will be conducted by Shailesh Gandhi, former chief information commissioner. We’ve received a tremendous response; its first session on 5th November was fully booked. Do make sure you attend and register early to avoid disappointment. Debashis Basu MONEYLIFE | 15 November 2012 | 10
18
MUTUAL FUNDS POINTERS
TRAVEL
22 Lacklustre Performance
54 Paris
We had described global funds as a marketing ploy you should stay away from. Their performance justifies our view
Discover the road less travelled in the City of Lights AIR TRAVEL
DIFFERENT STROKES
New 20 The Political Nexus
24 Cover Story
Screening & Diagnostic Tests: Don’t Fall for the Sales Push Preventive healthcare packages are targeted at everyone right from age two. While diagnostic tests are necessary to find what made you unhealthy, screening is often unnecessary and harmful. Raj Pradhan collates advice from sensible doctors
13
Your Interest
HDFC Standard Life Insurance asked to pay Rs5 lakh for misselling; RBI cautions public against mischievous mails; Kingfisher fined Rs30,000 for denying boarding to passenger; NCR, Gurgaon flat-owners band together
14 Your Money Banks: Banks offer discount on gold coins; avoid them; Gold: Rising gold prices sucking more people into gold ETFs; Mutual funds: Exit-loads on equity schemes, Mutual funds should now take reforms forward: SEBI; SEBI: SEBI seeks special courts for speedy trials in market frauds, SEBI sets one-year target for probes
16
Current Account
Publicity: Bad Reviews? Don’t Worry
17
Loose Change
Moneylife Quiz; Sound Bites: Naveen Jindal; Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor of Zee News; Markandey Katju, Press Council of India chairman; Sushma Swaraj, BJP leader
If you were wondering why most of the recent major cases of corruption have not been exposed by opposition parties, especially the BJP, now you have the answer: they are all in it together STOCKS
36 Medium Term Kajaria Ceramics moved up 6%, HCL Technologies moved up 5% while Supreme Infrastructure tanked 7%
37 Long Term
33 Lazy Investing Thoughts for the discerning armchair investor
INSURANCE
48 Insurance Trends – Health Insurance: Max Bupa’s Health Assurance – Health Insurance: Religare Health Care – Right to Information: United India Ignores CIC – Fine Print
AUTO
Bajaj Finance rocketed up 10%, M & M Financial Services went up 1% while eClerx Services Ltd plummeted 9%
800 50 Alto Reviewed
38 Street Beat
Is the latest car from the Maruti-Suzuki stable worth it?
– JVL Agro Industries – Poly Medicure STOCK PERFORMANCE: Our Report Card
Of Business Models
46 Value Picks
Airline lounges may just be the place for a quick coffee or email LEGALLY SPEAKING
Bank Too 58 Don’t Much on Banks Banks aren’t exactly ‘customer friendly’. They take you for granted EARNING CURVE
Mistakes 60 7YouFinancial Can Avoid Savers and investors commit blunders which catch them by surprise – Global Learning ML FOUNDATION EVENTS
mediclaim 61 “Acoverhigher can be denied” Moneylife Foundation held an in-depth session on health insurance which discussed inexpensive mediclaim options, the fine print and ways to avoid claims rejection
66 Protecting Your Parisar
The global tide starts to go against us
43 Popular Picks
a Break, 57 Take Go Lounging
BEYOND MONEY
42 Which Way
Reality Check 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.
SMART MONEY
HEALTH
Thrill 52 Pills But Could Kill! Consuming pills could lead to deadly results over the long term, based on evidence – Pulse Beat: Medical developments from around the world
Traffic woes are a constant source of discussion and debate. Sujit Patwardhan, founder and trustee of Parisar, tells us how and why urban transport is their focus
DEPARTMENTS Letters............................. 4 Book Review.....................59 Money Facts.....................63