GOAL IS TO BE RICH, AND NOT TO LOOK RICH

Blast in Pakistan train kills 62 after passengers bring along cylinder to cook breakfast At least 62 people were killed and several others injured as a massive fire broke out on a train in Pakistan's in eastern Punjab province on Thursday after a gas canister carried by a passenger exploded.

October 31 2019

At least 62 people were killed and many others injured as a fire broke out on a train in Pakistan on Thursday after a gas canister carried by a passenger exploded.

The train, Tezgam Express, was on its way to Rawalpindi from Karachi when the fire broke out, destroying three of the train’s carriages at Liaquatpur near Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab province.

A Pakistan Railways official said the fire was caused by the explosion in a gas cylinder. Some passengers were cooking breakfast when the gas cylinder exploded, the report said.

The cylinder burst into flames in two economy class bogies and one business class. After the blast, the raging fire engulfed two other coaches as well.

The injured have been being shifted to nearby hospitals while rescue teams were still at the spot.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed the fire has been extinguished and cooling efforts were underway.

Earlier, Baqir Husain, the head of the district rescue service, told Geo News some of the passengers were killed when they jumped from the moving train to escape the flames.

Prime Minister Imran Khan while expressing his condolences directed the authorities to ensure the provision of best medical treatment for the injured.

Three people jumped out of the train, in order to save themselves from the flames, according to details.

(With inputs from Hamza Ameer)

IRON MAN AND ARCHITECT OF MODERN INDIA

IRON LADY OF INDIA

2 new UTs of J-K, Ladakh come into existence from today

Last updated on: October 31, 2019 11:09 IST

The President's rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir was revoked on Thursday following the state's bifurcation into Union Territories, but the central rule will continue for an indefinite period through the Lieutenant Governor (LG) in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

President Ram Nath Kovind issued two separate notifications on Thursday morning -- the first revoking the President's rule in undivided Jammu and Kashmir and subsequently, taking over the control of the administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, which will be controlled through the LG now.

The two UTs come into existence on Thursday after the central government, on August 5, decided to abrogate the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and create the UTs on October 31.

'In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 356 of the Constitution, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, hereby revoke the proclamation issued by me under the said Article on 19th December, 2018 in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir,' the first notification said.

In the second notification, Kovind said Article 356 of the Constitution, under which President's rule was imposed in a state, was not applicable to the UTs and the provision in case of failure of the constitutional machinery with regard to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, which has a legislature, was governed by section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

Section 73 of the Act says in case of failure of the constitutional machinery -- if the President, on receipt of a report from the LG of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, is satisfied (a) that a situation has arisen in which the administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or (b) that for the proper administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, it is necessary or expedient to do so, the President may, by order, suspend the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act for such period as he thinks fit and make such incidental and consequential provisions as may appear to be necessary or expedient for administering the UT of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

The President, in the notification, said he had received a report from the governor of Jammu and Kashmir that the administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir could not be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

'In order to prevent any constitutional and administrative vacuum, it is necessary to invoke Section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 for the proper administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir,' he said.

The President said after considering the governor's report and other information, he was satisfied that a situation had arisen in which the administration of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir could not be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

'Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 73 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, read with Articles 239 and 239A of the Constitution, and of all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I hereby proclaim that I -- (a) assume to myself as President of India all functions of the Government of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and all powers vested in or exercisable by the LG of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir; (b) declare that the powers of the legislature or legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament,' the notification issued by the president said.

Kovind also used the incidental and consequential provisions, which were necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of this proclamation.

'In exercise of the functions and powers assumed to myself by virtue of clause (a) of this Proclamation, it shall be lawful for me as President of India to act to such extent as I think fit through the LG for administering the UT of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the J-K Reorganisation Act, 2019,' the notification said.

The central rule was first imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018, after the resignation of the then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti when the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew support to the state government led by the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The first central rule as 'Governor's rule' continued for six months.

After the six-month period, President's rule was imposed for the next six months, which was subsequently extended with the approval of Parliament.

Article 356 of the Constitution, under which President's rule is imposed in a state, is not applicable to Union Territories.

Mathur sworn-in as first L-G of Ladakh

Former defence secretary R K Mathur was on Thursday sworn-in as the first Lt Governor of strategically located Union Territory of Ladakh.

Mathur, who will be turning 66 later this month, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal at a function held at Sindhu Sanskriti auditorium at Tisuru.

The warrant of appointment was read by a senior official at the function after which the oath ceremony took place.

Mathur, an IAS officer of 1977 batch from Tripura, later inspected a guard of honour of local police.

A post graduate in Industrial Engineering from IIT, Mathur retired as Defence Secretary in 2015 and was appointed as Chief Information Commissioner in December the same year. He completed his tenure in November last year after attaining the age of 65 years.

The Centre on Wednesday night appointed Umang Narula, an IAS officer of 1989 batch, as advisor to Mathur besides posting S S Khandare, an IPS officer of 1995 batch, as 'Head of Police' in Ladakh.

G C Murmu will be sworn-in as the first L-G of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

MHA replaces state of J-K with 'UT of Jammu and Kashmir' in notification

Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry in a notification on Wednesday replaced the state of J-K with the 'Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir' and announced omission of 'permanent residents or hereditary state subjects'.

In the late night notification, the ministry's Jammu and Kashmir division announced a slew of measures, including application of central laws to the state.

'... there are references in the state laws that have been applied to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Union Territory of Ladakh to the expressions 'permanent residents' or 'hereditary state subjects'..., wherever they occur, shall be omitted,' it said.

The references, by whatever form of words, to the 'state of Jammu and Kashmir' or 'Jammu and Kashmir' or 'state' shall from October 31 be construed as 'Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir' or 'Union Territory of Ladakh', as the case may be, it said.

It said any reference in any existing law to the 'legislature of the state or any House or Houses' shall be construed as references to the legislative assembly or legislature of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

No lawsuit will be maintained for any action taken, including any notification issued or order, rule or appointment made during the period between August 5 and October 31 as these shall be deemed to be valid and operative as if such things had been done or actions taken in accordance with law, according to the notification.

It said any person who has taken an oath or made an affirmation before holding office or position as such under the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution or other laws in force in the existing state of J-K immediately before the appointed day shall be deemed to have taken oath or affirmation under the Indian Constitution or law applicable to the two union territories, and shall continue to hold office or position as such till October 31.

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Too many bank accounts can harm your money

6 min read . Updated: 30 Oct 2019, 09:43 PM IST

Disha Sanghvi

• Maintaining minimum balance and tracking all bank accounts can be cumbersome
• The more bank accounts you hold, the more money you keep locked in due to minimum balance requirements

Gurugram-based Shrinidhi Shetty, 35, has six bank accounts registered in his name. He opened these accounts over a course of time for various reasons. “One account was for my demat account, two for home loans, three were salary accounts which I had to open each time I changed jobs and the sixth one was to facilitate the processing of my Aadhaar," said Shrinidhi, a petroleum engineer. All six bank accounts have been serving some purpose but Shrinidhi has been planning to close at least three of them for a while now. “One of the accounts I want to close offers a higher interest rates on fixed deposits while the other offers a better banking experience in terms of technology and ease. The third account (salary account) which also has very low activity was for one of my previous jobs," said Shrinidhi. He has about ₹25,000-30,000 parked in these accounts in order to maintain the minimum balance requirement. Could he have made better use of this money?

Shrinidhi is not alone. Many people end up opening multiple bank accounts either when they change jobs or for saving for specific goals like buying a house, child’s education and so on. According to the World Bank’s 2017 Global Findex report, almost half of the account holders in India had an account that remained inactive in 2016. This is the highest in the world and about twice the average of 25% for developing economies. Read on to know how much is too much when it comes to bank accounts.

What happens

It’s important to understand that the more bank accounts you hold, the more money you keep locked in those accounts. Most banks demand a minimum balance requirement from an account holder and non-maintenance could attract penalty. The minimum balance requirement could range anywhere between ₹5,000- ₹10,000. This means if you have, say, five savings accounts, then you would have to put aside about ₹25,000-50,000.

Once you’ve realised that you’ve not been using a particular bank account for three to four months and there are no transactions or standing instructions linked with that account, it’s best to

“The minimum balance would give you returns at a rate of 3-4% per annum. Instead, if you put this money in a fixed deposit, you would be drawing nearly twice as much interest. Savings accounts also come with other expenses in the form of debit card charges that have to be paid regardless of the usage," said Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar, an online financial services marketplace. Note that if your zero balance savings account or salary account is not credited with salary for three consecutive months, then your bank could turn such a zero balance savings account into a normal savings account, forcing you to maintain the minimum average balance.

If an account has been inactive for two or more years, the bank considers it dormant. In such a case, you would not be able to perform any transactions from that account via debit card, cheques, online or mobile banking. You will be required to reactivate the account by submitting a written application. If it’s a joint account, all the holders will have to give their consent.

“Apart from losing returns on idle funds (minimum balance requirements for each account to be maintained), ensuring analysis of each account for tax returns could get cumbersome. Remembering and changing passwords frequently for online access and recalling them could be other issues," said Lovaii Navlakhi, managing director and CEO, International Money Matters, a financial planning firm.

What to do

Navlakhi said, the lesser the better when it comes to bank accounts. Shetty said one should restrict the number of savings accounts to two. “The first would be your salary account, the other should be a joint account with your parents or spouse where you can park your emergency funds. A joint account would ensure that your family can access the money in case of an emergency where you are not available immediately," said Shetty.You could also go up to three accounts with one permanent account, one joint account with your spouse or partner and one salary account. “The salary account could change each time you change your job and hence maintaining one permanent account where your investments such as mutual funds or employees’ provident fund are linked helps. Remember the more accounts you maintain, the more minimum balances and cards you will need to keep. It’s advisable to close the older accounts," said Shweta Jain, chief executive officer and founder, Investography, a financial planning firm.

Furthermore, you may not even realise how much or what you are paying in charges because almost all services offered by banks come with a fee. “You might swipe one card thinking it is another. In fact, this has happened with me too. You may not be able to track expenses as they are all over the place," said Jain.

With the universal account number (UAN) now taken as your EPF ID, no new EPF accounts need to be opened each time you change your job but you may have to update your bank account with the EPFO. Having a permanent account helps in this case. “People find it difficult to change the bank details in the long run when they try to withdraw the money from their EPF account. Similarly, if you link your other long-term investments such as mutual funds or public provident fund with multiple bank accounts, it could lead to a lot of confusion," said Basavaraj Tonagatti, a certified financial planner and Sebi-registered investment adviser. A simple solution would be to use your permanent bank account as your main operating account. Set up an electronic transfer to the main account each time you change jobs, and then close the older bank accounts.

Furthermore, you may not even realise how much or what you are paying in charges because almost all services offered by banks come with a fee. “You might swipe one card thinking it is another. In fact, this has happened with me too. You may not be able to track expenses as they are all over the place," said Jain.

With the universal account number (UAN) now taken as your EPF ID, no new EPF accounts need to be opened each time you change your job but you may have to update your bank account with the EPFO. Having a permanent account helps in this case. “People find it difficult to change the bank details in the long run when they try to withdraw the money from their EPF account. Similarly, if you link your other long-term investments such as mutual funds or public provident fund with multiple bank accounts, it could lead to a lot of confusion," said Basavaraj Tonagatti, a certified financial planner and Sebi-registered investment adviser. A simple solution would be to use your permanent bank account as your main operating account. Set up an electronic transfer to the main account each time you change jobs, and then close the older bank accounts.

Your bank account, PAN and Aadhaar are the three vital identities for your financial life. From tax payments and investments to paying your utility bills, all of these require your bank account, PAN and Aadhaar to be linked for know your customer (KYC) purpose. It is best to use one permanent bank account and make sure it is linked with all your financial dealings such as income tax payments, EPF, PPF, mutual funds, demat account and for your monthly bill payments," said Tonagatti.

Understand that closing all unwanted bank accounts means less chance of misuse as having fewer accounts makes it easier to track transactions regularly. Shetty said, fewer accounts also means easy tax filing with fewer receipts and interest earnings to put in record.

Mint take

Once you’ve realised that you’ve not been using a particular bank account for three to four months and there are no transactions or standing instructions linked with that account, it’s best to close it (read: How to close unwanted bank accounts).

If you have changed jobs and have to open a new salary account with the new company, you could close the old salary account over the next two months. “Typically, three months after one has quit the job, salary accounts tend to have a minimum balance requirement. This is a good reminder to close it and move on," said Jain.

However, before closing the account, make sure that there are no dues left and all the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) mandates are de-linked or moved to another account. Having up to two bank accounts is ideal, or at best three. But beyond this, it does no good to your money life.

livemint  Updated: 30 Oct 2019, 09:43 PM IST

Disha Sanghvi

LET US IMPLEMENT THIS RUSSIAN LAW IN INDIA TOO

HFCL-DEBT SERVICE EVALUATION

These 4 Measures Indicate That HFCL (NSE:HFCL) Is Using Debt Reasonably Well

 Simply Wall St  October 28, 2019

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says ‘The biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. It’s only natural to consider a company’s balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. Importantly, HFCL Limited (NSE:HFCL) does carry debt. But should shareholders be worried about its use of debt?

When Is Debt A Problem?

Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. If things get really bad, the lenders can take control of the business. However, a more frequent (but still costly) occurrence is where a company must issue shares at bargain-basement prices, permanently diluting shareholders, just to shore up its balance sheet. Of course, plenty of companies use debt to fund growth, without any negative consequences. When we think about a company’s use of debt, we first look at cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for HFCL

What Is HFCL’s Net Debt?

The image below, which you can click on for greater detail, shows that at September 2019 HFCL had debt of ₹6.16b, up from ₹5.90b in one year. However, it also had ₹1.91b in cash, and so its net debt is ₹4.25b.

NSEI:HFCL Historical Debt, October 28th 2019

How Strong Is HFCL’s Balance Sheet?

We can see from the most recent balance sheet that HFCL had liabilities of ₹20.2b falling due within a year, and liabilities of ₹2.27b due beyond that. Offsetting this, it had ₹1.91b in cash and ₹19.0b in receivables that were due within 12 months. So its liabilities total ₹1.50b more than the combination of its cash and short-term receivables.

Since publicly traded HFCL shares are worth a total of ₹21.8b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it’s clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse.

We use two main ratios to inform us about debt levels relative to earnings. The first is net debt divided by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while the second is how many times its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) covers its interest expense (or its interest cover, for short). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

HFCL has net debt of just 0.77 times EBITDA, indicating that it is certainly not a reckless borrower. And this view is supported by the solid interest coverage, with EBIT coming in at 8.8 times the interest expense over the last year. In addition to that, we’re happy to report that HFCL has boosted its EBIT by 62%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. There’s no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But you can’t view debt in total isolation; since HFCL will need earnings to service that debt. So if you’re keen to discover more about its earnings, it might be worth checking out this graph of its long term earnings trend.

Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. So it’s worth checking how much of that EBIT is backed by free cash flow. In the last three years, HFCL basically broke even on a free cash flow basis. While many companies do operate at break-even, we prefer see substantial free cash flow, especially if a it already has dead.

Our View

The good news is that HFCL’s demonstrated ability to grow its EBIT delights us like a fluffy puppy does a toddler. But the stark truth is that we are concerned by its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow. Looking at all the aforementioned factors together, it strikes us that HFCL can handle its debt fairly comfortably. On the plus side, this leverage can boost shareholder returns, but the potential downside is more risk of loss, so it’s worth monitoring the balance sheet.

REMEMBERING HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA ON OCTOBER 30

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was an Indian born nuclear physicist who made important contributions to quantum theory and cosmic radiation. He is known as the “father of Indian nuclear program.”

He was the first Chairman of The Atomic Energy Commission of India.

Early Life:

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on 30 October, 1909 to a wealthy Parisi family in Mumbai that was very influential in the west of India. His father was Jehangir Hormusji Bhabha, a lawyer.

Initially Bhabha attended Cathedral School and he then enrolled for studies at Elphinstone College at the age of fifteen. This was followed by further studies at the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay.

Bhabha’s father and uncle, Sir Dorab Tata, wanted him to study engineering at university so that Bhabha could take up a senior position at the Tata Iron and Steel Company on completion of his degree.

In 1927, Bhabha began his studies at Cambridge University, studying mechanical engineering according to his family’s wishes. Soon, however, Bhabha became more interested in theoretical physics, being influenced by physicist Paul Dirac.

After passing the Mechanical Engineering Tripos with first class Bhabha remained at Cambridge and with his family’s approval began studying theoretical physics.

In 1932 he passed the Mathematics Tripos, again with first class and he received his doctorate degree in nuclear physics from the University of Cambridge in 1934.

Contributions and Achievements:

Bhabha’s first paper “The Absorption of Cosmic radiation” in 1933 earned him a three year Isaac Newton Studentship in 1934.

He worked alongside Neil Bohr in Copenhagen in addition to his research work at Cambridge. Bhabha published a paper in 1935, performing the first calculation to determine the cross section of electron-positron scattering.

Bhabha conducted research with Walter Heitler and in 1936 they made a breakthrough in the cosmic radiation’s understanding by working on the cascade theory of electron showers. Their theory described how primary cosmic rays from outer space interact with the upper atmosphere producing observable particles at the ground level, making estimations of the number of electrons in the cascade process at different altitudes for different electron initiation energies.

In 1937, Bhabha was awarded the Senior Studentship of the 1851 exhibition.

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Bhabha returned to India accepting a position of reader of physics and establishing the Cosmic Ray Research Institute at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

In 1941, Bhabha was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. He also established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, becoming their director in 1945. He was a skillful manager and it was due to his prominence, devotion, wealth and comradeship with Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India that he gained a leading position for allocating the scientific resources of India.

Bhabha become the first chairperson of India’s Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. It was under his direction that the scientists of India made their way into making an atomic bomb ant the first atomic reactant was operated in Mumbai in 1956. Bhabha also led the first UN Conference held for the purpose of Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, 1955.

It was then predicted by him that a limitless power of industries would be found through nuclear fusion’s control. He promoted nuclear energy control and also prohibition of atomic bombs worldwide. He was absolutely against India manufacturing atomic bombs even if the country had enough resources to do so. Instead he suggested that the production of an atomic reactor should be used to lessen India’s misery and poverty. A post in Indian Cabinet was rejected by him but he served as a scientific advisor to Prime Ministers Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

He realized the potential of India’s large thorium reserves in addition to the country’s small uranium deposits.

The total reserves of thorium in India amount to over 500,000 tons in the readily extractable form, while the known reserves of uranium are less than a tenth of this. The aim of long range atomic power program in India must therefore be to base the nuclear power generation as soon as possible on thorium rather than uranium..

Bhabha received many rewards and award from Indian as well as foreign universities and he was an associate of various societies of science including the American National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1954, the third-highest civilian award in India.

Bhabha remained a bachelor during his life. His hobbies included painting, classical music and opera, and botany. He was killed in mysterious circumstances, aged 56, when Air India Flight 101 crashed on January 24, 1966 near Mont Blanc in Switzerland. In quantum physics, the cross section of electron-positron scattering was renamed “Bhabha scattering” in his honor.

WITH MY MOST PRECIOUS BIRTHDAY GIFT (NOW MY WIFE) WHOM I MET ON OCTOBER 29 1982.

REMEMBERING MY PLACE OF BIRTH :-ON MY BIRTHDAY TODAY ON OCT 29

Frances Newton Mission Hospital

ਫ੍ਰੈਨ੍ਸਿਸ ਨਿਊਟਨ ਮਿਸ਼ਨ ਹਸਪਤਾਲ

FIROZPUR CANTT PUNJAB -INDIA