hellosyam

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

HOUSE FULL: The typical peak hour scene aboard Delhi Metro's Dwarka-Barakhamba Line 3 today. With the new Barakhamba-Indraprastha section coming up by September, things aren't going to get better. - PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN

NEW DELHI: Faced with an increasing number of complaints of overcrowding aboard Delhi Metro trains, especially during peak hours and at the two major interchange junctions of Connaught Place (Rajiv Chowk) and Kashmere Gate, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has pressed the alarm button and requested ROTEM of Korea to speed up manufacture and despatch of new coaches for the network.

But as things stand now, there is no hope of any more new coaches landing before January 2007. And to add to the problem, the metro ridership by then is expected to go up even further with the opening of the new 2.81-km Barakhamba-Indraprastha section of Line 3 in September this year. While the overall daily ridership of Delhi Metro today is about 5 lakhs, the three upcoming new stations of Mandi House, Pragati Maidan and Indraprastha on this new section have been designed for a total daily passenger volume of about 2.5 lakhs.

Delhi Metro Director (Rolling Stock and Electricals) Satish Kumar admits that there is a problem on hand. Claiming that ``things would be worked out'', he says plans are afoot to marginally increase the peak-hour frequency of trains on Line 3 by about a minute. ``We cannot increase the frequency further than that due to the shortage of trains.''

Since in the absence of new trains the authorities cannot increase the number of coaches on the existing trains or the frequency of trains very substantially, DMRC is now relying heavily on ROTEM to come to its rescue. While originally the despatch of the new coaches was to take place from April 2007 to August 2007, DMRC is pressing the Korean manufacturer to try and make the deliveries before January 2007. Even after the delivery, this rolling stock will have to go to Bharat Earth Movers Limited in Bangalore first for fitment and completion in all respects before it is ready for operations in Delhi.

But the crisis has thrown up a vital question. Why were orders for more coaches not placed earlier when it was known that more of them would be required for the fast expanding system? It is pertinent to note that when the Delhi Metro project was envisaged it was expected that the ridership on launch of Phase I would be around 23 lakhs. As against that, it is only about 5 lakhs at present, yet the Metro is unable to meet the rush.

Also, even today Bharat Earth Movers Limited is not fully competent to manufacture coaches for the Delhi Metro on its own. When the contract for designing, manufacture, supply, testing and commissioning of rolling stock consisting of 240 coaches was placed on a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, ROTEM of Korea and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan in May 2001, it was decided that 60 of the 240 coaches would be manufactured offshore and 180 in India with gradual indigenisation. However, five years on the process of indigenisation is not yet complete.

Meanwhile, to manage the rush aboard the trains, DMRC is planning an awareness campaign for passengers to learn how to enter and exit the coaches properly. ``The coach door is wide enough for four persons to enter and exit simultaneously and ideally passengers should exit the coach from the sides and enter from the centre,'' says Mr. Kumar.

It has been found that the problem of overcrowding in some coaches is more acute because passengers generally rush to board the coaches that are closer to the elevators, escalators and stairwells.

Also, the passengers on the platform do not wait for the on-board passengers to exit for fear that the stoppage is too short.

"However," points out Mr. Kumar, "the fact is that each train stops for around 20 seconds and since each coach has four wide doors there is ample time for everyone to enter and exit."

posted by Syam @ 5:04 PM 0 comments

India no longer second to China

India has moved up the perception ladder. From playing the catching-up game with China to acquiring importance equal to it, India has come a long way.

The World Economic Forum East Asia Summit 2006 started with Asia's growth model, and the accent was clearly on India and China.

What stood out at the session was that both the countries were being discussed in the same breath and not as though one was in a higher league than the other.

All the speakers were unanimous in their belief that India and China had become a force to reckon with in the Asian region.

What reinforced India's growing importance was the huge number of delegates from the country. Around 10 per cent of the 300 delegates at the summit were from India, part of the 'India Everywhere' campaign.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said for India, the new growth model was based on knowledge capital, and the country was moving from business process outsourcing (BPO) to engineering process outsourcing (EPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO).

One of the key questions posed at the Asian growth model session was whether the rise of China and India had changed regional assumptions about the viability of an export-driven growth model.

Nath pointed out that India's economy was domestic market-driven, while China's was export-driven, even in the case of foreign direct investment (FDI).

Demographic trends were in India's favour, with around 60 per cent of the population below 25 years of age, compared to an ageing population in Japan.

Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the board, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, quickly refuted Nath's statement on China being export-driven by saying that domestic demand had become a major driving force in China and imports to the tune of $660 billion were a manifestation of this. Chinese funds were investing outside the country now, he said.

However, one of the major challenges faced by Asian countries, as Hassan Marican, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Petronas, pointed out, was the issue of subsidies, especially in the energy sector.

He mentioned India in this context. Nath, who admitted that India still offered a huge subsidy on energy and getting away was a crucial point, corroborated Marican's view.

The writer is in Tokyo at the hospitality of India Brand Equity Foundation

posted by Syam @ 11:12 AM 0 comments

Home loans: Fixed or floating rate?

I keep getting queries from individuals asking me whether they should opt for a fixed rate or a flexible rate for their home loan.

There are two ways of answering this query. One is the long and complicated reply giving all details. The other is the short and sweet response.

I shall give both, but let me start with the long and complicated explanation.

• Taking a home loan? Read this

Fixed rate loans

Firstly, it is important to understand what is meant by a fixed rate loan and a floating rate loan.

As the name implies, a fixed rate loan should typically mean the interest rate will remain fixed during the entire tenure of the loan.

So, if you take a fixed rate loan for 15 years at 9% per annum, this will stay put through your 15 year loan period irrespective of whether interest rates rise or fall.

However, in the Indian context, this is not always the case. Loans in which the interest rates are re-fixed at an interval of a few years are also called fixed rate loans. This interval period could be every two years, or three years, or five years, depending on the home loan company or bank.

Fixed rate loan

In this article, when I talk of a fixed rate loan, I will be referring to a true fixed rate loan which remains fixed for the entire tenure of the loan.

Semi-fixed rate loan

In a loan option, where the rate is re-fixed every 'x' number of years, I will refer to it as a semi-fixed rate loan.

Even in the above loans, the banks have clauses in the home loan agreement that allow them to amend their rate of interest on some very vaguely worded eventualities which are to be decided at the bank's discretion.

Signing a fixed rate agreement (or semi-fixed rate agreement) with such a clause makes no sense whatsoever (as the interest rate can be changed at the whim and fancy of the lender).

If your chosen lender insists on retaining such a clause in a fixed rate (or semi-fixed rate) loan agreement, you should switch to a floating rate loan.

• Repaying home loans: MUST loans

Floating rate loans

On the other hand, as far as a floating rate loan is concerned, the manner of its determination is very non-transparent.

The bank will declare a benchmark rate. This home loan rate will be typically charged at a discount (lesser than the benchmark rate) or, in the case of some banks, at a premium (higher than the benchmark rate).

An example will make this clear.

Let's say Bank A is offering you a floating rate loan at 9%.

It will state that its benchmark rate is say, the Mortgage Retail Lending Rate (or some such name that each bank or home loan players gives). This loan at 9% will be calculated at, say, a 1% discount to its MRLR.

Currently, the MRLR is 10%, so your loan will be 9%.

Now let's say that this MRLR changes to 11%. The effective rate of your loan becomes 10% (11% - 1%). That is fine, in principle.

The problem normally occurs when interest rates fall and the bank may choose not to drop the MRLR. Why should they? Except as acting as a benchmark for home loan borrowers, nothing else is dependent on this rate.

It may still pass on the benefit of a lower rate to new consumers. So a new customer may get a higher discount of 2%.

Let's say the MRLR is 10% and, though interest rates have fallen, the bank does not lower it. So, while your rate stays at 9% (MRLR of 10% - 1% discount), a new borrower will get 8% (MRLR of 10% - 2% discount).

Thus, having a transparently determined floating rate is most important.

Some banks like Kotak Bank and UTI Bank link their home loan rates to their fixed deposit rates. This is quite transparent since the bank is likely to keep the fixed deposit rates in line with the current market rate.

Other banks like ING Vysya Bank link the floating rate to the MIBOR, which is a market-determined transparent rate. MIBOR is the Mumbai Inter Bank Offer Rate; this rate is charged by banks when lending to each other for very short-term purposes.

Even in such cases, read your documents carefully to ensure the mechanism for determining interest rates is clearly mentioned in the agreement.

• Paying interest on home loan? 5 MUST knows

Keep reviewing your decision

The other important thing is for the consumer to realise this is never a one-time decision. Determining what type of interest rate to opt for is an ongoing decision which should be reviewed every six months and modified, if so warranted.

This means that if you opted for a fixed rate loan at the inception of the loan, it does not mean you cannot switch to a floating rate loan in the future and vice versa as well. Of course, the decision to switch should take into account the cost of doing so. You will also need to take into account the interest rate benefits of switching.

Let's take a 10-year home loan. Typically, the cost of fixed rate loans is about 1.25% more expensive than the cost a floating rate loan and about 0.75% more than a semi-fixed rate (assuming the rate is fixed every three to five years).

So if a 20-year floating rate loan is around 9%, a semi-fixed rate loan (where the rate is fixed every three years) will be around 9.75% and a fixed rate loan will not be less than 10.25%.

It makes sense to pay the premium of a fixed rate when you expect the rate to rise sharply in the future even beyond the premium amount.

Thus, the fixed rate loan in the above example will make sense only if the consumer expects the floating rate to climb above 10.25%. As long as the floating rate remains below 10.25%, the consumer will be paying a premium for the safety of a fixed rate of interest.

Whilst it is very difficult to predict the movement of interest rates, often the premium for fixed rate loans is a little too high.

• Trouble getting a home loan?

What must one do?

This brings me to my 'easy-to-understand' recommendation. This is what I would do if I was taking a 20-year home loan today.

I would opt for a transparent floating rate loan (linked to the bank's fixed deposit rate or MIBOR).

Alternatively, if I did not mind some amount of risk, I would opt for a transparent semi-fixed rate loan that gets evaluated every three years.

For somebody who is completely risk averse and does not mind the cost of paying a high premium, I will recommend a true fixed rate loan. This option, however, is only for the risk averse. As I have said earlier, it does not make any sense whatsoever to sign a fixed rate (or a semi fixed-rate) loan where the bank retains the right to change the rate at its discretion.

Harsh Vardhan Roongta is the co-founder and director of Apnaloan.com, an online neutral marketplace for home loans and personal loans. A chartered accountant by profession, he has over 21 years of experience in financial services, consultancy and personal finance matters. He is also the author of The Complete Home Loan Guide.

posted by Syam @ 10:44 PM 0 comments

Hot options for science students after XII

Completed your Class XII in the science stream?

You don't have to despair if you don't want to be a doctor or an engineer. Anyway, the entrance tests for these avenues are over and done with.

There are a wide array of options for science students today, right from microbiology to journalism, from design to the defence services.

Over the years, with emerging avenues in the industry, universities have also seen an introduction of industry specific courses. These professional or industry oriented courses aim at equipping students with a thorough understanding of a particular industry's specific requirements .

Many universities offer three-year B Sc programmes in industrial chemistry, biotechnology, bioinformatics, microbiology, environmental science, agro-chemical and pest control, geology and anthropology.

Admissions to these courses are merit-based. Some colleges even conduct their own entrance examination, as the seats are limited. You can secure a job immediately after these courses, as their content is industry specific.

IT industry

With a three-year Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a Bachelor of Computer Applications, followed by a post-graduate degree in MCA, you could be immediately absorbed into the IT industry in a variety of profiles.

These include hardware jobs in computer design, chip design and maintenance/ technician profiles. You also have software jobs like system programming, software engineering, application programming, enterprise resource planning and EDP management.

Internet-based job profiles like webmaster, web designer, database administrator, e-commerce/ e-finance professional are in demand, as are other IT-centric job profiles at call centres, in education, marketing advisors and animation and multimedia.

Aviation sector

With the opening up of the aviation sector, there is a growing need for commercial pilots, aircraft maintenance staff, radio operators, ground and technical staff.

You can pursue a degree/ diploma course in aircraft maintenance from institutes affiliated to DGCA, government of India.

Aviation institutes

~ The School of Aviation Science and Technology, New Delhi, conducts a three-year programme in aircraft maintenance and radio technology. Admission is through a written exam.

~ The Indian Institute of Aeronautical Science in Jamshedpur and Kolkata and the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial College of Aeronautics, Jaipur, offers a three-year programme in aircraft maintenance. Admission is through a written exam.

• Train to be a commercial pilot
• Want to join the air force?

Merchant navy

One field that draws a number of youngsters because it is well paid and you get to travel is the merchant navy. This option, however, is limited to men only.

You can join as marine engineers, radio engineers and technicians after pursuing a course from:

~ University of Mumbai: A three-year B Sc in nautical science.

~ Academy of Maritime Education and training, Chennai: A three-year B Sc in nautical science.

~ National Institute of Port Management, Chennai

~ BITS, Pilani: A four-year B Sc in marine engineering.

Construction and real estate

The growth in the construction and real estate market has created ample opportunities for architects, town planners, interior designers and draftsmen.

A five-year programme in architecture (B Arch) can be pursued in architecture and town planning from institutes like:

• Sir J J College of Architecture, Mumbai
• School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi
• National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

A number of such institutes are there in most states. Degree and diploma courses in interior designing equip you with the necessary skills in the field.

You also have branches of the Indian Training Institute in every state, which conduct diploma courses in draftsmanship with both theoretical and practical training.

• The ABC of interior design

Medical field

India is being acclaimed as the next destination for health care. Along with medical professionals, there is a growing need for support staff of paramedics like physiotherapists, nursing staff, occupational therapists, speech therapists, lab technologists and optometricians.

Here are some options.

• A 4 ½ year BSc programme in nursing: Jamia Hamdard, Delhi, Nizam's Institute of Medical Studies, Hyderabad, Christian Medical College, Chennai and College of Nursing, AFMC, Pune.
  
• A 4 ½ year BSc programme in either physical therapy or occupational therapy from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped, Delhi.
  
• A 4 ½ year programme in Bachelor of Physiotherapy, Bachelor in Occupational Therapy, Bachelor in Prosthetics and Orthotics from Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai, and the National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Cuttack.

The emphasis on healthy living has also given a boost to dieticians and nutritionists.

You could do a BSc in Nutrition offered by universities in Kolkota, Delhi, Kashmir, Mumbai and Chennai. After the course, you could be absorbed by hospitals, hotels, gyms and spas.

You could be absorbed as a medical transcripsionist. Private institutes conduct a one to two year programme on training for medical transcriptionists.

Fashion industry

You may be surprised to know that the fashion industry is not just about designers. Technical staff are required for accessory design, footwear and as leather technologists.

You could take a four-year course in B Tech in leather technology from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur, University of Calcutta and University of Chennai.

You must write an entrance test to register for this course. You could get jobs in the leather industry and be involved in production, research and marketing. You could also be involved in designing footwear and accessories.

Media

Enjoy writing? Then get a journalism degree. A science student armed with this can join the research wings of scientific journals and leading magazines.

Articles on environment, agriculture, IT, computers, technological innovations, biotechnology and so on and so forth are written and edited by science students with a degree in journalism, advertising and mass communication.

Due to the television boom, news channels require technical staff, for which a science background comes in handy.

Defence

Have a patriotic streak? You can join the defence services in their technical fields.

You have various training institutes like the National Defence Academy, Indian Military Academy and Officers Training Academy. You could also visit the Army Web Site for all details on eligibility and entrance tests.

Admission is based on a written test, a medical fitness test and an interview.

Want to pursue your BSC?

The most favoured choices are traditional B Sc courses like physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, electronics and mathematics.

These are offered as three-year graduate degree programmes in all universities and their affiliated colleges. Admissions are made on merit, based on your Class XII mark sheet.

Usually a graduate degree in any of these subjects needs to be followed up with a M Sc or, further still, a PhD in the subject to brighten your career prospects.

You can join as lecturers, teachers, technical staff in various industries, mathematicians, statisticians, analysts and consultants in the industry.

Quick tips

~ Your choice of a field MUST suit your area of interest; to succeed you must have a liking for your subject.

~ Be practical when assessing your potential. Do not blindly follow what others have done. They may have had the requisite skills in those areas. Compare your strengths and weaknesses with them before making any decision.

~ Check thoroughly with the institute, past students and faculty about the amount of work required in a course and the possible job prospects on completion.

Dr Shelly Verma is part of the faculty, department of economics, University of Delhi. She is also a career counsellor.

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posted by Syam @ 11:52 PM 0 comments

A man's guide to a great body

If you're a guy and want to build your body, you are in luck.

Men naturally have more muscle mass than women. If you are a guy, you can tone your body and lose body fat much more easily and much faster than if you were a woman as men have a higher metabolic rate. Your muscles also acquire definition faster and can bulk up sooner, all thanks to the hormone testosterone.

You could hit the gym or practise our 5 recommended exercises regularly to keep in shape.

Besides working out, though, you are what you eat. So, you should know your carbs from your protein or your fat. You must also know how much of each to consume. Here are some diet nuggets for all men; this will help you understand the various components of food.

Carbohydrate foods

You may think increasing your protein intake by way of protein foods and supplements is the answer to big muscles. You couldn't be further from the truth.

Carbs are one of the most misunderstood nutrients (after fat!). They are the only nutrients that can be broken down aerobically and anaerobically (with or without the presence of oxygen) for energy release -- without releasing a by-product that is harmful to the body.

Carbs contribute to the all important muscle glycogen; this supplies energy to the muscles that work as you exercise.

Two types of carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates, like the fibre present in all fruits, vegetables and whole grains, give you a feeling of fullness and add bulk to the food without increasing its calorie value.

On the other hand, simple carbs present in maida and fruit juices are not as filling; they also yield less energy.

Carbohydrates have a protein sparing action -- ie if you eat enough carbohydrates, it allows proteins to do their work of building your muscles. However, if you don't, then proteins end up doing the work of carbohydrates -- ie supplying energy -- so they cannot build the body anymore. Besides, they also release harmful by-products.

Percentage of carbohydrate needed: Fifty to 80 percent of your calories (depending on your activity level) should come from carbohydrates.

Food list: Complex carbohydrate foods include whole grain cereals like wheat, jowar, bajra, etc, and pulses like rajma, chole, whole moong, masur, etc, whole fruits and vegetables.

Simple carb foods include refined sugars, maida and fruit juices.

Fat

While excess fat will make you gain weight, some amount of fat in the diet is essential.

The reason? Fats provide 'satiety' value in the diet and are a concentrated source of energy.

They are a stored form of energy and store fat-vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E and K until the body requires them.

Fats also provide insulation and cushion the body's vital organs.

Percentage of fat needed: Ten percent of your calories should come from fat.

Food list: Always choose unsaturated fat (olive, peanut, almonds, cashew, corn, sesame oil) over saturated fat (butter, ghee, coconut oil).

Protein

While protein is a structural component of muscles, just adding more protein to the diet does not make your muscles grow. Excess protein in the body is stored as fat.

Besides, the breakdown products of this unutilised protein are toxic to the body and are an added burden to the kidneys.

For protein to perform its functions of bodybuilding and repair efficiently, it has to be taken in balance with other nutrients like fat and carbohydrates.

Proteins are made up of amino acids. Of the 20 amino acids, nine are 'essential' and cannot be produced by our body; the source for these amino acids is the food we eat. If a food contains all nine essential amino acids, it is said to be a complete protein (example: eggs).

Most men working out in gyms believe they should consume at least 1-1.2 gm of protein per kg of body weight. While this may be true for professional body builders who train for a minimum of three to four hours a day at the gym, this figure is totally over-the-top for the average gym-goer. The average Indian male requires about 60 gm of protein per day. This can be met through a normal diet rich in milk, eggs and lean meat.

Vegetarians, too, can easily meet their protein requirements by having a good combination of cereals and pulses in order to get a complete protein intake.

This is because cereals lack in amino acid lysine (ensures adequate absorption of calcium, aids in the production of antibodies, hormones, enzymes, etc).

Pulses lack in methionine (provides sulphur content, lowers cholesterol, etc).

However, when combined, they give you high quality protein as each has what the other lacks.

Percentage of protein needed: If 20 percent of your day's calorie intake come from protein, you are in the correct range.

Food list: Milk, eggs, chicken, fish, whole grain cereals, pulses.

When you may need a supplement

• You cannot manage to have five to six meals in a day at three hour intervals.
• You are strictly vegetarian and have a very low milk intake.
• You train heavily in the gym six days a week.
• You are constantly on the run.

When to avoid supplements

• You experience excess fatigue. This could be due to the build up of toxins, the by-products of protein breakdown when protein is taken in excess.
• You have unexplained excessive hair loss.
• You have taken a break from training with weights, the protein will be treated as extra and stored as fat.
• You do not find any difference in your body after supplementation.
• You do not know the correct dosage.
• Anyone other than a nutritionist/ dietician has recommended it to you.
• The supplement label does not show approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
• The label does not have a list of ingredients with the source of protein.

Note: If you train alternate days, take supplements also on alternate days only.

Water

Water helps you recover from your workouts, aids fat based fuelling of muscles and is stored inside the cells.

Waiting till you are really thirsty to drink water means you are already close to dehydration. Dehydration will lead to reduced performance and will not allow the toxins to be thrown out of the blood.

What's more, water is stored along with glycogen in the muscles. If you do not drink enough water the extra glucose remains in the bloodstream . On reaching the liver it is stored as fat instead of being converted to glycogen.

How much to drink: Make it a point to drink at least 1.5-2 litres of water a day.

Samreedhi Sharma Goel is a certified personal trainer and nutritionist. She runs Size Wise, her training studio. She also conducts fitness workshops. Besides training with the International Sports Science Association, USA, she has a PG Diploma in nutrition and food technology and writes for a variety of publications. You can reach her at sizewise@rediffmail.com

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posted by Syam @ 12:31 AM 0 comments