Wikileaks -- The grandest source of leaks for all!!

Well, it'e yet another innovation from the Wiki family of sites! Stumbled upon http://www.wikileaks.org/ This site is the mother of all information leaks and invites everyone to psot confidential documents, all in the name of Feedom of information Act.. Okay, maybe I got the last line a bit wrong but goodness gracious me, there sure are some interesting articles out there!!

And here is a wonderful quote which the site displays before it takes you over to the main page!!

As they have dared, so shall I dare. Dare to tell the truth, as I have
pledged to tell it, in full, since the normal channels of justice have failed to
do so. My duty is to speak out; I do not wish to be an accomplice in this
travesty. My nights would otherwise be haunted by the spectre of the innocent
man, far away, suffering the most horrible of tortures for a crime he did not
commit." — Émile Zola, J'accuse! (1898)

Enjoy surfing this peach of a site!!!!!!!!

How liquid are you??

For how many months will your money last if all your sources of income stopped today? This is a question financial planners ask to figure out if you have an emergency cushion that can keep you going if your regular income sources dry up, without having to sell your family gold, art collection, property or equity.

Basic liquidity ratio = liquid assets / monthly expenses

The basic liquidity ratio (BLR) works out the number of months you can live off your cash and near cash assets if your source of income suddenly stopped up due to a job loss or an accident that causes disability. To calculate this ratio divide your ‘liquid assets’ by your monthly expenses. In ‘liquid assets’ include all that is cash or as near to cash as possible like the money you usually keep at home, the cash in all the savings bank deposits, the cash in money market mutual funds and the money in fixed deposits. Direct equity holdings and equity mutual funds are not counted as ‘cash’ even though they are very liquid today because their value is market determined and subject to sharp changes, unlike a bank deposit or a money market mutual fund, where capital preservation is the main aim. Some planners use half the present value of the stock market holding of a person to add to the ‘liquid assets’.

Now estimate your average monthly expense. Take into account the usual suspects of expense in a month – rent, EMIs, travel, school fees, groceries, entertainment – and average out the periodic spends – insurance premium, vacations, annual charge of clubs – to get a fix on what you spend out each month. Now divided the first number by the second number.

3-6 BLR is good -- Suppose you had liquid assets of Rs 2 lakh and your monthly expense was Rs 50,000, then your BLR is 4. A BLR of 3 to 6, or three to six months of living money with no income flowing in, is considered to be good by financial planners. Of course, this ratio will vary across income categories, age groups and individual circumstances. For example, people with more stable incomes or those with a large gap between income and expenses will need a lower ratio as compared to those with erratic incomes. A film maker who earns in lumps through the year will need a higher ratio as compared to a government servant who is in a pensionable job. A BLR of between 1 and 2 brings a person close to the danger zone of being financially unsteady in the face of an emergency. A sudden pink slip can cause trauma for such a person. A ratio of 1 or less is an alarm bell and a sign of quick corrective action – either to reduce expenditure or to bring more assets near liquidity.

So, how liquid are you are you guyzzz?

How the Indians fared down under!!

Why do Women get more Tax Exemption than Men??

Well I am back in office after 2 weeks and am I glad to see the net speed here coz the net conenction at home really sucked guys!! Anyways while I was busy catching up with my work and a few friends who missed me (really.. some did), one of them asked me a very common, sometimes unnoticed question: Why do women have greater tax exemption than men??

Now here is my reply: Women earn less than men on average.. Plus their working life-term is shorter than men, hence they are given more tax-breaks to enable them to save a higher amount over a comparably lower working life period.. Doe this sound reasonable??

The question gave me a pretty weird idea and so I decided to conduct an in-office post of the same.. Here are some replies which deserved special mention!!

--- coz they deserve the best in all areas of life (a feminist..)

--- I think women are better than men and should have some priviledges more.... (a thoughtful feminist .. .. .. )

--- they already have soooooo many extra expenses (Oh.. lovely!! Definitely a shopaholic!!)

--- bcoz they hv 2 letters more than we do!! (Wise!!)

--- 4 men are better managers than women!! (This seemed like such a chauvanistic reply.. Does this even answer the question??)

--- because men keep asking for money from us!! (Ha ha ha certainly a lady-in-command.. Or but the asking for money thing -- doesn't it go vice-versa??)

--- becoz they are the best in every way......n best ppl get the best reward..... (Hmmm.. I wish this person had elaborated further -- "best in every way.. which way?? how many ways?? Okay, okay, Censor Board calling!!)

--- bcoz P Chidambaram (and FM's before him) seem 2 like women more than men ;) (What a sad truth... Sigh.. No comments on this one!!)

So, dear readers --- I would love for you people to come forward and express your opinion on this question -- Let's search together for the right answer or the wise one who knows the right answer!! Search on FELLAS!!

Hey check out this article which appeared in the Times of India 2005.. The article is authored by a women and makes for a good read!!

For women seeking emancipation from the clutches of a male-dominated
society, this year's Budget by finance minister P Chidambaram takes the first
definite step not only towards gender equality, but gender empowerment. Like a
Times of India editorial recently argued, finally it is the woman on top.

For generations, man-woman relationship in India has been defined by the
contours of a woman's role in the family and, thereafter, by extension in
society. And I dare say that these contours have been drawn since the time of
Ramayana by male guardians of civil society, first with Lakshman's rekha and
finally with Sita's banishment from Ayodhya on grounds of staying in Ravana's
Lanka, far and away from her husband.

You will agree that our role as women is first defined by the duties we
perform as somebody's daughter, then as somebody's wife, and then again as
mother, grandmother... We are never really expected to be ourselves.

So in a small way, this year's Budget gives Indian women the chance to
stake greater ownership over her 'real' streedhan. In terms of the income-tax
benefits offered to women income earners, the Finance Minister has taken a small
step towards gender equality and a giant leap for womankind. It makes a fine
distinction between incomes earned by men and women and the need for women to
retain a greater control over their earnings by way of providing an income-tax
exemption limit of up to Rs 1.25 lakh against a limit of up to Rs 1 lakh for
men.

We have already seen the power of financially empowering women in civil
society. More properties are now registered in the name of women than men
because of stamp duty differentials weighing in favour of women property owners.
Now the Delhi government, run thankfully by a woman chief minister, proposes to
make the distinction even greater by slashing stamp duty for properties
purchased by women to barely 3 per cent from the present 5 per cent, while
slashing the same for male property owners from 8 per cent to 5 per cent. You
have already seen a significant transfer of assets in the form of residential
properties in favour of women.

We at the Times Group have always championed the cause of the woman
stakeholder in order to re-engineer Indian society. I have suggested a more
radical step to Mr Chidambaram (through a lead edit article in The Economic
Times) on how to, in one deft stroke, move towards a society where women are
more equal than men. Here's my proposal: All that the FM needs to do is tinker
with the existing personal income tax rate of 30 per cent. All that we ask of Mr
Chidambaram is to alter the tax rate by just one per cent - men to pay a little
higher at 31 per cent, and the women to be taxed lower at 29 per cent.

At the level of big business, where personal wealth and therefore incomes
run into hundreds of crores, a saving of 2 per cent may come across as a great
arbitrage opportunity! Net result: Along with love and affection, money will
also start flowing from the male portfolios to the ladies of the house.

Now think about the consequences at all levels of society, including the
middle class. A 2 per cent saving is not very small - Rs 2,000 on every lakh
earned as interest or any other income - especially when all that the earning
male members of family have to do is transfer money in the names of their
daughter, mother or wife instead of son or father. And once this starts
happening, the domino effect would be far greater - if one brother in the family
transfers the wealth in his wife's name to save tax, other siblings will be
under tremendous pressure to make their wives feel loved - and trusted.
Similarly, peer pressure amongst friends and family will force more and more
earning males to distribute wealth evenly between their sons and daughters.

Allow me to go a bit overboard and suggest that this may, over time, steer
India towards a matriarchal society. Who knows, with a little help from Mr
Chidambaram, we might achieve this almost impossible task in a few decades. More
seriously, it will certainly go a long way in empowering women with greater
disposable incomes and help them in setting the social agenda for the future.

Let us hope that we all move towards less taxing, more relaxing times - and
make this world a better place to live in.

The author's wish sure seems to have been answered, with Mr. P.Chidambaram hiking the tax exemption limit for women from Rs. 1.45 lacs earlier to Rs. 1.80 lacs!! Rock on gals!!