Know your #PSU banks- how responsible are they with your deposit money ( #FD)

"According to a August 26 (2013) finance ministry note, the NPAs of public sector banks (PSBs) have gone up by 4.39 per cent with the total amount clocking over `1,76,000 crore. The amount is equal to the total budget of health, education and rural development of the country put together. The government owns majority stakes in PSBs and it is responsible for the money deposited in their accounts. If we add the NPAs of the nationalised banks, including the SBI group, the total figure is a whopping `3,50,000 crore, which could easily finance India’s military and internal security expenditure." ( Did you know this???)

The finance ministry has pointed out four major reasons - current macro economic situation, increased interest rates, lower economic growth and aggressive lending by banks - responsible for increase in NPAs. Among the measures to recover money from defaulters, the ministry has advised PSBs to appoint nodal officers for recovery at each zonal office and Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT). The banks were directed to conduct special drives for recovery of toxic assets and to constitute a board-level committee for monitoring of recovery process. “The government has instructed public sector banks that write-offs should not be more than recovery,” the ministry said.

Source: Indian express

"Banking" on an engineering degree.

When I was driving out of Chennai towards a temple town suburb ( early monday morning), there were huge traffic blockades. Most of the vehicles occupying the road were the buses transporting students to private engineering colleges.

The boom of the last decade and the massive recruitment by India's biggest body shoppers ( oops! people call them IT companies) had ensured a steady inflow of "customers" to these private engineering campuses.

 A retired senior banker was travelling with me in the car.He had just returned after a week of interviewing for a PSU bank recruiting clerks.He told me that at least 60-70% of the candidates interviewed by him over the last week were engineering graduates. 

While this was initially shocking for him, he got accustomed to the idea over the period of  selection week.He narrated tales of candidates who couldn't clearly explain about their choice of engineering education. Many had gone through the degree for their parents sake and most of them had even borrowed heavily to enroll for the "coveted" engineering degree.The person also narrated tales of people working for IT companies who were willing to join the bank as clerks.

The salary paid for bank clerk's  ( which is not huge by today's living standards) was a big draw for the candidates who had applied for the job.

The banker said that while he had nothing against engineers becoming clerks, he said that they could have been wiser with their educational choices instead of falling in line with the crowd.

This career jam seemed much more severe than the hurdles that the sub-standard engineering colleges create on the road!

# PPF account, the must have for every investor

Public provident fund is one of the best investment tools that provides safety, compounding and tax benefits in one package. This should be the first investment that one gets into immediately after turning 18. The account is meant for a period of 15 years but can be extended by 5 years @ tenure expiry.

The safety of government assurance and the compounding effect will definitely take care of your retirement needs. You can invest up to 12 installments a year and up to 1 lakh in this account every year. You should try to invest the maximum amount possible in PPF account every year.

The following articles provide a great insight into " why investing in PPF is a must?"

20 must knows about PPF

6 great reasons to open a PPF account

PPF account can be opened at SBI bank branches or at your nearest post office. Selected ICICI bank brnaches also provide PPF account facility.

Quick guide to open PPF account

If you are looking for comparing PPF with EPF and NPS, here's another  write-up.

The Hunt for Kohinoor by Manreet sodhi- Book review

This book was sent for review from West Land. This book is second in the series and the first one that I am reading.

The story genre is that of a thriller. It starts with Mehrunisa's nightmares about her father being beheaded. The plot is centred around the tension that prevails between India and it's neighbour. How Mehrunisa helps the country avert a big terror attack forms part of the rest of the story.

Mehrunisa , one day gets a call from the investigating agencies . She eventually finds that her father ( whom everyone believed was dead long ago) is still alive and she has to take on the mission of  saving the nation.

She gets on to a chase that pits her against hardened terrorist groups, that tests her mettle against the secrets of the past. The story travels across the borders of nation.The novel provides a good insight into the functioning of the intelligence agencies and  the terrorist outfits as well. Climax is dealt with from narratives  from Afpak border, Bhakranangal dam (India) and Adezai ( Pakistan).

Overall storyline of the book is good. However, I didn't find the story to be a page turner (a bit of drag at times). General  narrative, theme chosen  is good and takes you across different locales across the borders.

Can be a good read for ardent fans of "terror" plots.