chakravarthy

What is a mutual fund ? - As the name suggests, a mutual fund is a fund set up with the money from a large number of people. For example, there are say 10,000 people contributing anything between Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1 crore each to set up a Mutual Fund with a total corpus of Rs. 100 crore. Then a person with experience in identifying good investment opportunities is made the fund manager. The returns he/she generates on the corpus, is either distributed to all the 10,000 investors on a pro rata basis as dividend, or those who do not want to take money out, their shares of dividend remain invested in the fund and grow over time. These investors can redeem their funds, fully or partially, when they require. What is Net Asset Value ? - Here, the Rs. 100 crore collected is divided into units of Rs. 10 each and every investor gets units on a pro rata basis. One investing Rs. 500/- gets fifty units while the one investing Rs. 1 crore will get ten lakh units. At the start NAV of the fund w...

India will remain the fastest growing economy in the world at 7.2 percent in 2017-18 on the back of reforms, domestic consumption and improvement in trade, the World Bank said on 29-05-2017 (Monday). In its May, 2017 India Development Update, it suggested that a higher level of women participation in the economy can help propel the country closer to a double digit growth. There were signs of a slow-down in early part of last fiscal but a favourable monsoon lifted the economy before being temporarily hit due to demonetisation in November 2016. Demonetisation caused an immediate cash crunch. As a result, a modest slowdown is expected in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2016-17 to 6.8 percent, World Bank Country director Junaid Ahmad said. In 2016-17 too, the World Bank had noted that India remained that India remained the fastest growing economy in the world with strong economic fundamentals and ongoing reform momentum. "Growth is expected to recover in 2017-18 to 7.2 perc...

Babies have been trying for some time now to get made outside wombs. Ask any foetus, so down-market really to be handmade when designer is the way to go. If what scientists are psssting about comes true, then skin cells get you your bundle of joy. You can place an order and go about your business while your body is getting made, without getting your hands - or any other parts - dirty. Just hum Justin Bieber's baby-baby for a bit and you get to hold a baby if not Justin at the end of it. Women can be bypassed totally if this method catches on, even those women who were playing 'wives' to other women as surrogates. Whew, say women. Who can finally throw away the mummy mask and admit they had gone with the whole thing only because it wouldn't have looked good if the human race had to end because they said no. They didn't want that on their heads on top of the stretch-marks. Now that navel-less people are going to reproduce in hygienic labs, women will get to, like ...

The year 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the defining general election of 1967. and it marks, too, the fiftieth anniversary of the ascent of the Dravida movement to power in Madras State. Two men, above all others, are the twin heroes of the second anniversary. For his spectacular triumph, C.N. Annadurai (CNA) of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (DMK). For his stunning defeat, K. Kamaraj of the Indian National Congress. If 58-year-old CNA left his impress on1967 by the grace with which he took his victory, 64-year-old Kamaraj did the same by the dignity with which he accepted his vanquishing. CNA and Kamaraj were very different individuals but they shared this in common: both had a presence, they did not seek pre-dominance. Both had strength, niether derived it from office. In 1967, one came into power without beating any drums, the other left it without beating his chest. On a common plinth : The year 2017 is therefore the golden anniversary of a momentous victory and of a memo...

In the quest for sustainable energy sources, scientists have developed 'grassoline' - a biofuel derived from grass that may one day power aircraft. For the experiment, researchers investigated methods to disintegrate and treat grass until it could be used as a fuel. "Until now, grass has mainly served as feed for animals. But apart from that, grass can also be used as biofuel. Due to its vast abundance, grass is the perfect source of energy", said Way Cern Khor from Belgium's Ghent University. To improve its biodegradability, the grass was pre-treated at first. Then bacteria were added to convert sugars in the grass into lactic acid and its derivatives, researchers said. This lactic acid can serve as an intermediate chemical to produce other compounds such as biodegradable plastics (PLA) or fuels.The lactic acid was then converted into caproic acid, which was further converted into decane. Decane could be used in aviation fuel, researchers said. "Right ...

Scientists, including those of Indian origin, from Rice University have developed 'fuzzy fibres' that act like velcro and could stand up to the heat and pressure of rocket engines. The fibres made of silicon carbide strengthen composites used in advanced rocket engines that have to withstand temperatures up to 1,600 degrees celsius. Ceramic composites used in present rockets can crack or become brittle when exposed to oxygen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rise in the number and sizes of melt ponds due to increase in global warming may boost life in the Arctic, a new study has found. Melt ponds provide more light and heat for the ice and the underlying water. Researchers from University of Southern Denmark selected six melt ponds in Greenland. Phosphorus and Nitrogen were added to four ponds, while two served as control. the chlorophyll content of the phosphorus and nitrogen-enriched ponds was two to ten times higher than in the control ponds and testified to an increased content of algae. Mats of algae can evolve in the melt ponds, which can provide food for marine creatures. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Scientists have developed the quickest, smallest, highest-capacity memory device that could pave the way for the next generation of flexible and transparent electronics. The device might also have the potential to offer a cheaper and more adaptable alternative to 'flash memory', said researchers from University of Exeter. "Our hybrid graphene oxide-titanium oxide memory is just 50 nanometres long and 8 nanometres thick and can be written to and read from in less than five nanoseconds - with one nanometre being one billionth of a metre and one nanosecond a billionth of a second", said Professor David Wright. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you have lazy friends or co-workers/ Their attitudes towards laziness and impatience can rub off on you, a study has found. Researchers found that people not only pick up on other's attitudes towards three personality characteristics - laziness, impatience and prudence - but they even start to imitate these behaviours, suggesting a strong social influence. The findings are notable, says lead author Jean Daunizeau, a researcher at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), because these three traits are typically thought to be unique among individuals. "They drive most of our daily decisions, which are made of trade-offs between the prospect of reward, and costs such as risk, effort and delay", Daunizeau said. What's surprising here is that these seemingly unique behaviours "are so volatile and prone to others' influence".  Prudence, impatience and laziness are the personality traits that guide how people make decisions ...

Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year. You can either spend it skimming through gloomy statistics floating around on social media highlighting how we are slowly, but surely, killing the planet we call home, and sigh sadly. Or actually pledge to do something about it. (No, we are not here to tell you to 'plant trees', even though the earth could use more trees). Truth is, we can all make a difference to the ecology by making little changes in our everyday lifestyle choices. From the clothes we wear to the food we eat to the stuff we throw out - everything has an impact on earth. Here are ten little steps that will ensure you are on your way to being more earth conscious, pronto! Buy Only Handloom : India has an extremely rich heritage of handloom fabrics that are eco-friendly, since they are handwoven and use natural dyes. They are hand-crafted by weavers who are practitioners of art forms that are centuries-old. By buying local weaves you invest in fashion that...

It is that time of the year, when some of you are due for your annual increment and performance bonus. While you may like to splurge your first incremental salary out of sheer happiness, what do you do with the subsequent ones and the hard-earned annual bonus is the question. If you are someone who understands your financial responsibilities, you will surely decide to invest the full bonus amount or at least a portion of it for a better future, as against spending it on short-term purchases. In such a case, the decision that needs to be taken is which financial instrument or which combination of instruments you should opt for. These obviously depend on your risk appetite and your desire for returns. While some of us would just like to keep the bonus money secured in the bank account, some might use it to buy stocks in the market. For a consistent saving of a portion of the increment, there are two instruments that one could choose from - ULIPS and Mutual Funds. Both of them give hi...