Tumchi Aamchi Mumbai

Everywhere you look, crores of people always in a hurry. Mumbai, India’s financial capital is one of the most populous cities in the world where time is money. People from all 30 states and expats share a living in this ever bustling city. It’s a tough place. Difficult to travel and almost impossible to buy a place. But Mumbai will give you a fair chance if you are willing to work hard. 

Just like Mumbai, moving on….

Business District

Mumbai has 4 business districts namely Nariman Point, Lower Parel, Bandra Kurla Complex and Andheri. Most of the private companies in India are headquartered in Mumbai. We have work hard party hard attitude. Mumbai also has the most number of bars and night life hotspots. You can get a beer at 1am in most bars of South Mumbai. Although 24x7 Mumbai is still a distant dream. Mumbai is also a port city and nearly 10% of high value land belongs to Mumbai Port Trust. It is well connected by sea routes and has ship building industry.

Mumbai has one of costliest apartments in the world. A flat in Malabar Hill area may cost you around Rs. 80000 per square foot ( Yeah.. you heard it right! ) A luxurious sky bungalow on 117^th floor in Lodha World One costs whopping 17.2 crore. We also have bollywood and last checked of BookMyShow there were 32 movies running in 9 regional languages.

Old and New

Mumbai was developed by the Portuguese and the British. Mumbai was always the best destination for business in India. In 1870, there were 6 foreign banks operating from Bombay. The Bombay Stock Exchange was established in the 1870’s. Business made Mumbai as beautiful as London and Paris. The CST building, University of Mumbai, Asiatic Society, Taj Mahal Palace, Rajabhai Tower are some of the most beautiful structures in Mumbai.

Marine Drive, Lower Parel make Mumbaikars proud. We have the best skyline in India and looking at current construction rate, we might overtake New York in 2030 by the most number of skyscrapers. The upcoming Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project with transform the face of crowded market into Mini Smart City. With FDI in construction, Mumbai skyline will see a major facelift in coming decade.

Chalo Chalo Chalo. #MumbaiLocalIn3Words

Mumbai is major design flaw. The city kept growing and but its snail run infrastructure lacked expansion. Mumbai’s lifeline is it’s local trains. They are divided into three lines namely Western, Central and Harbour. Most of the commuters travel from northen suburbs to South and Central business districts to make a living. Peak hours in Mumbai are named as ‘super dense crush load’. Trains of all three lines at the distance of three minutes and each train carries around 5000 people. Mumbai local has the highest daily ridership in the world with 26 million people. Male, Female, Old and young, there is just one strategy to travel in Mumbai – Push or be pushed.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni ( twitter.com/chai2kul )

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a

Faultlines – Claim Settlement Ratio

Claim settlement is one of the most important services that an insurance company can provide to its customers. Insurance companies have an obligation to settle claims promptly. For instance, if a life insurance company receives 1000 death claims and settles 980, the claim settlement ratio of that company would be 98%.

The very purpose of insurance will be defeated if the claim is not provided for when required. This assumes all the more relevance when the beneficiaries are dependent on the insurance proceeds. In such a situation, a claim being denied will be a huge financial setback.

The fault in Statistics

The oldies in the insurance market get undue advantage while calculating claim settlement ratio. In year 2013- 14, the promising entrant in the Indian insurance market Edelweiss Tokio Insurance rejected just 10 claims according to IRDA data. In the same financial year, Life Insurance Corporation of India rejected 17000 plus claims. But still, claim ratio of LIC is high because of higher sample size.

The ratio declared is the sum total of all claims honoured by the company for all its life insurance policies and products. So what we see is the average and not the exact ratio for each type of policy -- term insurance, endowment cover, money back policy, child plan, online plan or offline, group insurance or individual cover, and so on and so forth.

Also, what we see is the figure in percentage terms, not the actual number. So it is not clear how many claims the company actually rejected.

Let's say an insurance company rejects 100 out of 1,000 claims, giving it a claim settlement ratio of 90 per cent. The next year it gets 10,000 claims but rejects 500. Its claim settlement ratio goes up to 95 per cent but it has rejected more claims.

A claim within a year or two of taking the policy calls for a detailed investigation. If there are many such claims, then it would affect the claim settlement ratio.

Also, if the sum assured is very high, then the insured undergoes varies medical check-ups before the insurance policy is issued. So these claims are processed faster giving no reason why the claim should be repudiated.

It could also be the case where policy holders have held back facts. Misstated, incorrect and insufficient data provided by individuals at the time of buying the policy could lead to claims being rejected. This is no fault of the company.

It is advised to buyers that they should consider claim settlement ratio over the number of years before making the decision to buy. 

- Chaitanya Kulkarni ( twitter.com/chai2kul )

-         Note – The Article is sponsored by Edelweiss Tokio 

Tap2Trade for revolutionary mobile trading

With smartphone usage on the rise, mobile trading in equity market could see a huge surge in the coming years.

It is estimated that the number of people trading and investing in equity market through the mobile platform is likely to garner about 15-16 per cent of the total trade done on the stock exchanges in the next three years. Though internet-based trading is quite high now, in the future mobile based trading is expected to rise sharply.

As per NSE data, there were 32.96 lakh clients registered in equities across all members for internet trading and around 19.5 lakh to 20.5 lakh people traded daily through the internet. Edelweiss financial services has launched Tap2Trade mobile trading account which promises trading within 60 minutes after registration. Tap2Trade would use investor’s existing KRA information for startup which would enable registration in three simple steps.

The Tap2Trade account opening process empowers individuals to open an online trading account and trade using smart phones/ computers. This is a huge time saver compared to the earlier 48 hours required for the same. Minimum documents required are pan card and cancelled personalised cheque for KRA verified customers which enables  Tap2Trade online account opening in just three simple steps. Tap2Trade can be accessed either via computers or by downloading theEdelweiss Mobile Trader app. The service is initially available currently in 8 cities.

Nitin Jain, CEO, Global Asset & Wealth Management, Edelweiss Financial Services said, “Revenues and number of clients trading on the Edelweiss Mobile Trader platform has quadrupled over the last 12 months. Mobile is also the dominant platform in terms of client preference. This leads us to believe that over the next three years, we should see an 8x growth in mobile trading volumes.”

Edelweiss Tap2Trade mobile trading account has been designed on 3S framework – Simple, speed and Smart. Tap2Trade would be available on mobile as well as desktop.

Mr. Rahul Jain, Head of Retail Advisory, at Edelweiss Financial Services. “The initial response and feedback from clients has been very encouraging. Our Mobile platform is predominantly catering to trader clients and now 11% of orders go through mobile platform which was merely 4% a year ago. We also believe that this will help facilitate greater retail participation in investing into the Indian Capital markets in an equitable manner and will allow Indians to participate in the India growth opportunity. 

Edelweiss Tap2Trade is a solid step from Edelweiss towards Digital India. Download the app here.

This post has been written for the Edelweiss trading app launch event through BlogAdda

Explained : Bank of Baroda's Rs. 6100 forex scam

India's second largest public sector bank by assets is in trouble. A 6100 crore forex scam is a source of embarrassment for 107 year old bank established by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. Bank of Baroda has also brought shame to India in the time when Ministry of Finance is seeking clarification on black money stacked in countries abroad.

During the period of May 2014 to August 2015, New Delhi's Ashok Vihar branch opened 59 current accounts through which large foreign exchange remittance transactions were done. During the period of August 2014 and August 2015, Rs 3500 crore has been transferred from 38 current accounts to 400 overseas parties. Majority of the transfer were reported to Hong Kong and 1 in UAE. The branch did not adhere to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines. FEMA Act governs all foreign exchange related transactions in India. 

The Financial Express reported that remittances were reported in the name of Hong Kong traders but the actual exports went to Afghanistan. Another newspaper DNA reported that an account was opened by South Korean citizen and immediately transferred money to the books of Jasco Ltd, a company based in Mexico City. Among other companies named in the Bank of Baroda audit, two have owners whose city of residence is India’s capital – New Delhi. One of them is Mega Forwarders and Traders Ltd – which has its office at Des Voux Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. But guess what? Its owners are two obscure men in two localities of Delhi. One of them is a fake identity with a false address, yet they managed to open a company in Hong Kong and received millions of dollars through Ashok Vihar branch of Bank of Baroda in Delhi. With terrorism on the rise, Bank of Baroda might be probed under terrorism funding inquiries set up by IMF. Previously, HSBC Bank, Arab Bank and Credit Suisse have been probed for terrorism funding.

Bank of Baroda suspected illegal transaction in July and inquired internal audit. After the forex scam being unearthed, BoB reported the case to Central Bureau of Investigation, Central Vigilance Commission, Enforcement Directorate and Reserve Bank of India. Asst General Manager, Chief Manager, Credit Manager and 2 other employees were arrested by Delhi Police. In a statement released by Bank of Baroda, authorities mentioned that the bank did not received any financial loss.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has conducted further searches at 50 locations on various companies /firms in an on-going investigation of a case related to alleged violation of banking norms. It was revealed that most of the addresses given by the companies / firms were either false or the companies / firms did not exist at the said addresses. Most of the accused persons allegedly involved in perpetration of the said crime have been identified and their interrogation is underway. There was allegedly overseas remittance of foreign exchange of Rs.6000 crore approx,

It was further alleged that the amount remitted in each transaction would be kept at less than USD 100,000. All the remittances were made to Hong Kong.  The amount was remitted as advance for import and in most of the cases, the beneficiary was the same.  Most of the foreign exchange related transactions were carried out in newly opened current accounts wherein heavy cash receipts were observed but the branch did not generate Exceptional Transaction Report (ETR) and did not monitor the high value transactions. A case has been registered by CBI under Prevention of Corruption Act against bank officials, 59 current account holders and private parties.

Similar forex scams have been reported in HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce. RBI governer Raghuram Rajan said that the investigations into the Bank of Baroda fraud will be carried on to the ultimate conclusion by both the central bank and the investigating agencies. India's 'top' banks have surely weakened India's G20 stance against black money in foreign banks.

By - Chaitanya Kulkarni ( twitter.com/chai2kul )

Discovering Real Togetherness in Digital World

Real togetherness for me would be friends hanging out at youth oriented places. A place where I can discuss my happiness and difficulties in life over a glass of beer. A bro with whom I can discuss my life goals and he/she would listen this crap for over an hour with interest and vice versa. Real togetherness for me would be friends having debates, making vacation plans. Friends make our life awesome. No matter what you do in life, it is not legendary unless your friends are there to see it.

To me, a real relationship is something that will last forever. It is a way to recognize someone day by day and to help each other grow. It is where you accept a person the way they are with all the good and bad they have inside them. A relationship must have trust, forgiveness and understanding. 
Like for eg. A relationship between parents and their children, between siblings, between lovers. To have a successful and happy relationship one needs to trust the one they love, be forgiving and understanding. This is what I believe.

Real togetherness today is being in a long distance relationship and making it work! Internet has become a need and has brought the world closer to us…nay, in our pockets…in our phones!. No matter where you are…in whichever corner of the world, it’s possible to reach out to your loved ones through text, call, video calls and not to forget social media. Virtual has become real. If love is a feeling, the virtual world is the medium. Spread it!

Thank you for reading.

Special Thanks to Felicia & Didi

By - Chaitanya Kulkarni

Top 10 Richest Countries in the World

The Indian Capitalist supports Digital India

5 Fastest Growing Digital Companies In India

If you’re in the field of online marketing or content marketing and want to ensure the best data, you should be looking for digital companies. Digital data is the need of an hour. Everything is moving towards data: big data, mobile data, campaign data, performance data, product data and even data about how we track our data. Brands will need strong data analysis to run successful digital campaigns. Meet the 5 fastest growing digital companies in India.

TO THE NEW Digital

TO THE NEW Digital is a premium digital services company that combines the power of technology, analytics, marketing and content for digital transformation. We are a team of over 600 people which includes technology evangelists, social media experts, content specialists, and creative mavericks who have transformed businesses of more than 300 companies spread across 30 countries worldwide. TO THE NEW Digital is also a strategic partner of many global companies including Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), YouTube, DataStax and MongoDB.

Clients of TO THE NEW Digital

Accenture Digital

Accenture Digital offers a comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics to help your business unleash the power of digital to drive growth and create new sources of value. Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital delivers insight-driven outcomes at scale to help organizations improve their performance. With deep industry, functional, business process and technical experience, Accenture Analytics develops innovative consulting and outsourcing services for clients to help ensure they receive returns on their analytics investments.

IBM Digital

IBM Digital gives your business tremendous growth opportunity through the power of cloud, analytics, mobile, social and Internet of Everything. IBM Digital offers end to end customer experience. IBM Digital transforms your business with enterprise integration, web content management, personalization and social & mobile delivery.

DigitasLBi

DigitasLBi, part of  Publicis Groupe, is a global marketing and technology agency. It is the result of a merger between Digitas and LBi in February 2013. The company operates in 26 countries through 40 offices across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Oceania, employing 6,700 people. DigitasLBi offers services like web development, analytics, mobile, brand building and content creation.

Sapient Nitro

Sapient Nitro is a new breed of agency redefining storytelling for an always-on world. Sapient Nitro offers integrated immersive stories across brand communications, digital engagement, and omni-channel commerce. Sapient Nitro’s unique combination of creative, brand and technology expertise results in one global team collaborating across disciplines, perspectives and continents to create game-changing success for our Global 1000 clients, such as Chrysler, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Lufthansa, Target, and Vodafone, in 31 cities across The Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Digital companies have transformed the traditional businesses to a data driven business. Brands are able to connect with the younger internet driven audience. The internet has become a one stop solution to networking, marketing, data analysis and branding. With the success of Digital India, digital companies and associated brands will see good days ahead.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni (twitter.com/chai2kul)

Uranium : God or Evil?

The story of this magical rock begins in 1940s when US Military tested world’s first nuclear bomb in the deserts of Mexico. It created a giant mushroom cloud and generated massive amount of heat which crystallized the land into blue crystals. Physicists all around the world were amazed by the potential of this small rock. But today, this small rock – Uranium has changed our world.

Uranium is present everywhere and is evenly spread across the biosphere.  Ionizing radiation of Uranium is measured in micro-sieverts (ms). The global average of the ms is around 2 ms . The Church of Nagasaki where the atomic bomb hit records around 4 ms today. But the basement of Chernobyl Nuclear Site measures at around 500ms making the place unlivable for next 200 years. When atoms of uranium collide, they spread around with smaller atoms chaining the radiation with wind, clouds and radioactive things (this includes radioactive people). Like every element, Uranium has its own half life. Nuclear reactors use Caesium – 137 which has a half life of 30 years. And this long half life makes places like Pripyat, Fukushima unlivable.

But the fact of clean limitless energy cannot be ignored. The heat generated with Uranium 235 collision is converted into electricity and steam is released. Only uranium can fulfill our quest to have everything. Modern world nuclear accident hasn’t killed a single human but in fact Uranium has saved many lives. Uranium plays a pivotal role in the field of radiology. The radiation inserted into the body by nuclear injections can detect early cancers.

The history of uranium is based on measured risks. The energy in the atom is the most destructive force the world has ever seen. It can also be one of the greatest blessings god has given to us. Whichever it is, on that depends the future of mankind. We have unleashed the power of an atoms. The impact of this magical rock has changed the course of scientific evolution. There is no future without Uranium.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni (twitter.com/chai2kul)

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

The Fastest Internet is here – Tweet #GetAirtel4G

The wait is over. Airtel introduced the fastest internet service 4G in 296 cities across India. Airtel 4G offers mind blowing speed at the rate of 3G. The service was already available in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and I ordered my first free SIM on the first day itself from www.airtel.in/4G  and fantastic thing is that the 4G Sim arrived on the very next day. Yes! Airtel is giving free 4G Sim with free delivery.

Airtel offers a unique 4G SIM delivery service, wherein any Airtel user with a 4G handset can tweet using #GetAirtel4G to get a 4G SIM delivered to their home for free. Once a user tweets #GetAirtel4G he/she gets a reply from @AirtelIndia handle directing the user to a link where a user need to enter his details for SIM delivery. All you have to do is add your address details and your superfast 4G Sim will be there at your doorstep in 4 hours.

I have been using Airtel 4G since a month and my experience is amazing. I am able to download an app under 10 secs. High quality music download takes less than 20 secs and a Full HD movie under 3 mins. The download speed on speetest.net ranges from 25 Mbps to 60 Mbps. That’s a phenomenal speed and it satisfies the needs of speed freak like me.

Screenshot taken of Airtel 4G Speed Test

Got a 4G phone? Get your 4G Sim by tweeting #GetAirtel4G. Airtel customers can also enjoy 4G at 3G data prices with packs starting at Rs. 25. In addition, with every 4G SIM swap, Airtel is offering six months of unlimited music streaming and downloads on Wynk Music and five free movies per month for six months on the Eros Now channel of Wynk Movies.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni (twitter.com/chai2kul)

Volini Spray: Dard Se Le Panga

Volini, India's no.1 recommended and most used pain reliever has declared an association with team Patna Pirates. Patna Pirates is the one of the top three teams in the glitzy edition of all new Pro Kabaddi League. Pro Kabaddi League is in its second season and it is already the most watched sports on television after Indian Premier League. The strategic association with the Patna Pirates aims to build a strong connect and resonance with the consumers of healthcare products and sports enthusiasts.

With Volini, pain does not stand a chance. Volini had earlier successfully partnered with Mumbai Marathon, Kolkata and Bangalore marathons. Kabaddi is a game of physicality. It also involves brute power and complex muscle movements. Volini as a relief partner to Patna Pirates gives a competitive edge in terms of fitness and injury recovery. The team which is completely fit and free from any kind of pain or strain is likely to succeed. Thus, there was a need felt of a pain relief expert to enable players to bounce back quickly.

The meet was organised at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai where we got an opportunity to meet and even play Kabaddi with the legends of the game. The captain of Patna Pirates Rakesh Kumar told his inspiring story of how the sports is emerging. The transformation of mud grounds into mat finished stadium gives us positive insight into the future of Kabaddi. Kabaddi has a mass appeal and is widely understood by people of all ages.

In a sport's which works on Darwin's theory - the survival of the fittest, the strategic association of Patna Pirates with Volini plays a pivotal role in recovery strategy. Khelo Kabaddi lagao Volini. The Indian Capitalist wishes good luck to the Patna Pirates for Pro Kabaddi League Season 2. Dard Se Le Panga!

- Chaitanya Kulkarni (twitter.com/chai2kul )

How Globalised Is Economic Life?

Is economic globalization a myth or a reality? Have national economies effectively been absorbed into a single global system? On one hand, hyperglobalist present the image of borderless global economy in which the information and products are free flowing. On the other hand, globalisation skeptics point out that economic globalisation is portrayed to mend free market or neoliberal policies. As my blog name suggests my national identity and capitalist perspective, I am an avid supporter of globalisation. 

Institutions

A lot has changed after the introduction of Bretten Woods System. Global organisations like World Bank, IMF, European Union, Shanghai Cooperation Oraganisation and ASEAN has emerged. The decision taken by these global institutions affect its members as well as observer countries. Almost all countries in this world are members of the World Trade Organisation. The emergence of this organisations is the lesson learned from World War I and II. Free flow of information has led to revolutionary change in policy making. War, Terrorism and poverty has become a global issue. The world of finance is inter-dependent to global financial markets. Decisions taken by Wall Street make or break Asian markets. Emerging economies are the most benefitted by the globalised financial system but the poorer nations are left out. Third World economies like Zimbabwe are struggling with bizarre exchange rates. As technology gets superior, we might soon see the golden age in global institutions.

Travel

People of today are global citizens. People and goods are on the constant move. Two things have made this possible; an airplane and the shipping containers. With the success of Beoing 747 in the early 1920s, mass rapid transport had become a reality. Now Singapore is just a 7 hour ride away. It used to take a whole day by ship. With the introduction of massive planes, flight tickets got cheaper and today any middle class income person could afford international travel. Even at this moment, around 3 million people are traveling in the skies. Car has brought a cheerful impact to middle class families. Nearly 10 million families travel every day by their cars. Tourism and Hospitality has become one of the best industry in this global age. Another pioneer of travel is the Shipping container. Goods are made in emerging economies like China and India and are shipped all over the world. China ships electronic items and Plastics while Middle East ships oil. The inter-dependency issue of the globe has been resolved. The world has come closer.

Transnational Human Resource

What makes a nation rich or poor? Natural Resources, Population and Political will power. The rich countries like US, EU, Japan and Middle East are less populated than the poor Asian and African countries. Lack of opportunities in home countries make transnational migration possible. 'The Haves' have in plenty so that they could share with the 'have-nots'. With the introduction of ICT, the nation with the most skilled labour would excel in the superpower race. Today, China has the most skilled labour force when it comes to manufacturing. But when it comes to services, India is an IT Superpower.

Transnational Corporations

Transnational Corporation (TNC) is the company which operate all over the world. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, WalMart, Nike are some examples of TNC. The Internet is the largest TNC ever made. A website as a service can be accessed all over the world without any restrictions. Google, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter are among the most successful TNCs. TNCs play a pivotal role in exporting culture. Skeptics of internet accuse these TNCs of imposing westernisation. Organisations like ISIS, Al Qaeda, BBC, US Defense can be called TNCs as they have international operations. The hype of global living has paid off. Burger King and Haldirams are easily accepted by global consumers. TNCs are no less than a country. TNCs do not follow any specific laws and have local as well as international political influences. FDI are the major part of the economy and the country which highest foreign investments is likely to succeed in this global economic life.

- Chaitanya Kulkarni ( twitter.com/chai2kul ) 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.