Kailash Parvat ~AdiKailash ~OmParvat ~21840 ft ~FrozenTemperature ~Motoring ~Biking ~Trekking ~Hiking ~China ~Tibbett ~Nepal

“You dream of something very Tough and God award you that so Easy” and it becomes a milestone adventures trip memory of your lifetime……  exactly this happened with me in October 2024, when my DREAM of Motoring, Biking, Trekking and Hiking trip came true and we friends did adventure trip of Indian boarder with China, Tibbett and Nepal. 

We did dangerous Spiti Valley, toughest Lahoul Valley, SnowTrekking Anjaneshwar, driving Rohtang and thousand of Kilometers in Himalaya (in last 15 years).......but Kailash peaks nahi kiya, to fir life me kya kiya ???

~Altitude : upto 21840 feet height

~Temperature : +14 degree to -12 degree frozen, very chill winds

~Major attractions covered : Kailash Parvat, Adi Kailash, Om Parvat, Parvati Sarovar, Gauri Sarovar, NabhiDang, Lipulekh peak, Kalapani, VedVyas Caves, KalaDhola Sangam, JolingKong, RongKong, Tavaghat etc. real natural beauties with diversity of terrains.

~Food : Indian vegetarian pahadi food easily available

~Clothing : Strict warmest clothing

~Fitness : Medical fitness must

~Permits : need to obtain ILP and boarder permits in advance

~Solo or Group : Group of friends makes this toughest journey easy

~Luggage : try your best with minimum luggage as a backpacker

~Shoes : Trekking and Sport Shoes 

~Roads : Mountains not having bitumen roads, be ready for rough & toughest off roading and water crossing..... and belive me, its super funn for us, crossed 14 water passes

~Time : Minimum 08 days

Jab bhi mann kare, SUV uthao aur dosto ke sath Pahado me chale jao...... nothing better than this. Apne Bharat me itna kuch hai, life is short to do adventure in India. Sea to sand to sky to mountain to snow treks.

Biking starts.........

DharChula Water falls

Boarder Military Permit checking starts

Its 32 loops mountain road, super funn in driving Pin-bends with snow mountains, greenery, crystal clear green water river, zero pollution and serene Mount Kailash on the top....

Golden Sunrise from our tents in Himalaya.....

I am very lucky to celebrate Sharad-Poornima night.... (having moon-blessings by offering Kheer-Prasad) on Himalayan Peaks Nabhidang army area.... approx. 14800 ft, never seen such a clear moon and colours of sky, serene feeling on auspicious Sharad-Poornima.... its my lifetime memory

Sharad Poornima night stay in Himalaya

enjoying time with my travel buddie.... nature clicks

Colours of Sky and 3 different colours of terrains, ye sab dikh jaye....aur me photography naa karu, ye kese ho sakta hai...

Entry gate to trek Adi Kailash peaks

Lifetime memory of India Flat Hoisting at Kailash peaks..... happiness and serene feelings cannot be expressed in words...... its just Om Namoh Shivay at 20718 ft. frozen temperature

Fill up Parvati Sarovar holy water to home

Om Parvat..... see sharp on the top of my hand, word OM written in Hindi on the top of Mountain at 21810 ft, in minus temperature. Super Salute to Indian Army taking care of Boarder in super harsh conditions in frozen temperature and heavy chilling wind

Panchshul Gunners Army welcome you at Kali Mata Temple. Kali river origin from this temple. Very tasty food at Mumbai Choupati cafe by India Army.

Kailash Mansarovar peak........ ab kuch bhi kehna baki nahi hai. 

You are welcome at the home of LORD SHIVA

Jab bhi time milta, ham sabhi friends apni Scorpio SUV se nikal kar Biking hobby bhi puri kar lete.....

Life is incomplete without hobbies. Please take out few moments to enjoy hobbies of Biking, Driving, Trekking, Hiking, SnowTrekking, Solo travelling..... it just not travel, but its must to refresh our life, friendship and brainstorming for business assignments with serene feelings, with Bonefire & Karaoke Nights.......

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing blog, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or commercials and not responsible for any travel based on the contents.

Always ready to guide you for this trip (contact on email)

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Linkedin Profile Link : https://www.linkedin.com/in/yogesh-birla-323821229?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Corporate Office Success Mantra

As a Team Leader, my success mantra to the team, always:

1. Resolve the problem

2. Report the problem

3. Skip the problem (at time on priorities)

Let me explain:

1. RESOLVE :

First, attempt to resolve the problem yourself. This makes employees think on their own, problems get solved quickly, they develop courage to take decisions, and drain on the company working is reduced. It is important to make employees feel empowered and responsible. It is also important to allow mistakes made in good faith with the intention to learn from them and not repeat the same mistakes.

2. REPORT :

Next, if you cannot resolve a problem, then it is your duty to report it to your senior. If non-cooperation or non-completion by someone else, then email and cc the seniors. A problem may become problematic if you fail to report it. An escalation ensures things move towards the solution

3. SKIP THE PROBLEM :

Resolve and Report are for meaningful problems. Then, there is always going to be a long tail of problems in any organization. Learn to skip those, as the ROTI (Return on Time Invested) is not worth its while. Solving these problems will not move mountains. Hence priority is very critical.

Initially in my career I was very enthusiastic to solve every problem, but this realization dawned upon me; knowing which problem to skip for later is equally important to remain focused on the game. Hope this helps my colleagues and team mates in the industry, across the globe.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Women Entrepreneurship Schemes in India

 

We keep on talking on Women Empowerment initiatives to create a hype in our thought process, but logically not making them avail existing easy funding mechanism to fulfil their dream of getting really empowered. In USA 41.8% of all businesses are owned by women, alongwith 46.8% female labour force participation. Irrespective of all these schemes by Indian government, women comprise only 14% of the total entrepreneurs in India, with only 9.32% female labour force participation. We are hereunder summarising few of Government and Banking schemes to provide venture funding for women. Bring this awareness to make Nari Shakti on entrepreneurial platforms:

(1). Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP):

Mentorship, network, funding, skill training, Incubation, and acceleration program offered by NITI Ayog for women to support in their entrepreneurship journey.

Upasana Taku(MobiKwik) received support from WEP, their current valuation is ~₹5700 Cr.

Kavita Shukla(FRESHGLOW Co) received support from WEP, now has customers in over 35 countries.

Shradha Sharma(YourStory) received support from WEP, is one of the leading media platforms for entrepreneurs.

Radhika Aggarwal(ShopClues) received support from WEP, their current valuation is ~₹1,000 Cr.

(2). Mahila Udyam Nidhi Yojana

MUNY Offers loans upto 10 lakh to be repaid in 10 years for supporting women entrepreneurs to set up a new MSME / SME scale venture. It is offered by Punjab National Bank and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the rate of interest better than prevailing in the market.

(3). Bharathiya Mahila Bank Business Loan

This scheme offer loans up to ₹20 crores to female entrepreneurs looking to start a manufacturing business. Ease of collateral free loan upto certain amount is big attraction of this scheme. The Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged with the State Bank of India, the loan programme is still active.

(4). Dena Shakti Scheme

Offers loans upto ₹20 lakhs at an interest rate 0.25% below the base rate for building a business in sectors like Partnership firm, business, Retail stores, Manufacturing sector, Microcredit organisations, Housing, Education, etc.

(5). Stree Shakti Yojana

Offers loans upto 20 lakh for industrial sectors such as housing, retail, and education. Also allows women to avail of an interest concession of 0.05% on loans more than Rs. 2 lakh.

(6). Stand-Up India Scheme

This initiative offers composite loans between 10 lakh and upto 1 Crore to women in SC/ST categories.

Kanika Tekriwal started JetSetGo with this initiative, their current valuation is ~₹100 Cr.

Rashmi Daga started FreshMenu with this initiative, their current valuation is ~₹210 Cr.

(7). Mudra Yojana Scheme

MYS offers loans of ₹50,000 to ₹10 lakh and ideal for setting up beauty salons, starting a small shop, home-based business, or starting your dream company.

Shanti Mohan started LetsVenture with this initiative, their current valuation is ~₹270 Cr.

Ananya Jain started Chai Break with this initiative, their current valuation is ~₹50 Cr.

Dream of Indian government of USD 10 Trillion$ economy in the next 10 years can happen true only if women contribute desired portion of per capital income with men. Wish all these initiatives bring women on a new horizon, with ease of funding and strengthen your entrepreneurial dreams to come true, and wish good luck to all the incredible women, who are making this world a better place to live.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Financial Independence and Retire Early - F.I.R.E.

This isn’t another one about Buffett’s wisdom on investing or life. It is about the relationship between time, health and money using Buffett’s wealth and age as clickbait. The author begins with “Would you rather have $0 and be 20 years old, or have $100 billion and be 90? Most people respond to this hypothetical with a resounding “Of course not, there’s no amount of money I would take to fast-forward to being 90 years old.””

“There’s a popular movement called F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early), where followers are devoted to living as frugally as possible so that they can retire as early as possible. While I agree with a lot of the merits of F.I.R.E. (namely the F.I. part), I disagree with the R.E. part. Retiring 10 years early at the expense of a considerable portion of one of the most valuable periods of life (your 20s/30s) seems absurd. 

For one, what is 10 years in the grand scheme of your life? On the back end, the last 10 years are almost negligible (besides, you don’t know if you’re going to live to 90 or 100 anyways). But on the front end, they’re considerably more valuable.

Secondly, work can (and should) be a large part of what drives fulfillment. Progress with whatever we're pursuing (whether we call it work or not) is one of the key drivers of happiness, so we shouldn't discount the value of work and its impact on our overall well-being.

Would you give up 10 years on the tail end of your life if it meant that you would have a more fulfilling 20s/30s? I think most of us would take that rather than the opposite — optimizing solely for wealth early-on to get an extra 10 years of retirement at the end.”

Buffett and Munger are perhaps the best example of deriving fulfilment from their work well into their 90s.

He then ties health, time and money together:

“Certain experiences that require peak physical health might only be possible in the 20s and 30s phase. For example, say you want to run your fastest marathon, or you’re like these two friends, Phil and Carter, and you want to journey from Beijing to Barcelona by bike. Sure, no one needs to do these things, but they’re experiences that would be incredibly enriching and novel.

And sometimes, physical health isn’t the constraint. If you have children, they will only live with you for 18 years of their lives, and before you know it, they’re gone. Any experiences you want to have with your kids, you have a limited time window to do those things. So, it makes sense that at this phase (the roughly 20 year period where you have children at home), most people would find the greatest fulfillment by optimizing for time spent with their kids — earning those experience points while that window exists.

A bonus of having richer experiences earlier in life is that you not only get experience points, but these early experiences pay “memory dividends” in the value of the stories they create — stories that can be retold time and time again.

Experiences yield dividends because we humans have memory. We don’t start every day with a blank brain… We wake up every morning preloaded with a bunch of memories that we can access at any time.

When you add in this concept of a memory dividend to the net fulfillment equation, something becomes clear: it pays to invest in experiences early.

Compounding works not only with money, but also with experiences.”

The author concludes with some brilliant graphic illustrations on why ‘Net Fulfilment’ over ‘Net Worth’ is a better pursuit in life.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Long Term Investors & Stock Market - 8 Lessons

"If you are a long-term investor, you should own high- quality stocks and close your ears to the siren song of those who say a rate rise will cause you problems.*

If you are not a long-term investor, I wonder what you are doing in the stock market at all, and so will you one day."*

- Terry Smith.......The "Buffett of Great Britain"

Terry Smith, often known as the English Warren Buffett, has once again shared his annual letter encompassing ideas on investment strategies positioned to do well, views on specific stocks and thoughts on the current financial world. 

Well-known in the UK among retail investors, Smith’s Fundsmith Equity fund returned about 18.6% in 2021 and holds 28.9 billion pounds ($39.4 billion).

Here are 8 lessons that we must take from his vision :

*1) No investment strategy will outperform in every reporting period and every type of market condition. So, as much as we may not like it, we can expect some periods of underperformance.*

*2) In investment, as in life, you cannot have your cake and eat it, so it is difficult if not impossible to find companies which are resilient in a downturn but which also benefit fully from the subsequent recovery.*

*3) In our view, it would be a mistake to sell some of these good businesses in order to invest temporarily in companies which are much worse but which have greater recovery potential.*

*4) Someone once said that no one ever got poor by taking profits. This may be true but I doubt they got very rich by this approach.*

*5) We invest in companies, not indices or countries and in our view, the country where a company is listed is largely irrelevant.*

*6) We continue to apply a simple three step investment strategy: Buy good companies, don't overpay, do nothing (i.e., minimising portfolio turnover to minimise costs)*

*7) You may have heard a lot talked about the so-called 'rotation' from quality stocks of the sort we seek to own to so-called value stocks, which in many cases is simply taken as equating to lowly rated companies.*

 

*8) Inflation: It is a bit like trying to light a bonfire or a traditional BBQ on a damp day. If you put an accelerant like gasoline on it you can go from no fire to a loud ‘Whoosh!’ and find that you have also set fire to the garden fence.*

The good news is that we do not invest on the basis of our ability to forecast inflation or any other macroeconomic factor. We invest in companies not countries, indices or macroeconomic forecasts.*

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Why Willful Defaulters are laughing away from Banks ??

New RBI data shows wilful defaulters are laughing all the way away from banks

The saying goes if you owe the bank $100 that is your problem; if you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

Banks put all their might to get the money back from retail borrowers if they default on a car or an auto loan. Delay one instalment and banks come knocking on the door. They even resort to naming and shaming tactics, using third parties. The tactics seem to work in most cases and the borrower pays back.

But it is an entirely different game when it comes to corporate loan default, which is at a much bigger scale. Banks seem to forget their drill when faced with powerful defaulters, who have a battery of lawyers which drag the lenders from court to court for years on end. And in the end, banks have little to show by way of recovery.

The numbers game...Ugly numbers are already popping up. The Reserve Bank of India data, shared with Parliament, on December 19 shows that the country’s top 50 "wilful defaulters" owed Rs 92,570 crore to Indian banks as of March 31, 2022.

Wilful defaulters are those borrowers who have the means to pay back the banks but wouldn't do so. Banks ostracise such defaulters from the financial system. Gitanjali Gems, promoted by fugitive economic offender Mehul Choksi, tops the list with Rs 7,848 crore, followed by Era Infra, an exposure of Rs 5,879 crore and Rei Agro which has defaulted on loans worth Rs 4,803 crore.

Choksi, said to be an Antiguan citizen now, is beyond the reach of Indian law. The government and its several law enforcement agencies have, so far, failed to lay hands on any of the high-profile bank defaulters, which include former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Winsome Diamonds & Jewellery promoter Jatin Mehta and Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition from the UK.

But it’s not just about wilful defaults. Much of the Rs 10 lakh crore loan that banks wrote off in the last five financial years belongs to corporates.

Of the total loan write-off, banks could recover only a fraction—around Rs one lakh crore. The remaining Rs 9 lakh crore is as good as gone, though technically the process of recovery is always on.

It’s our money

Every rupee that a bank writes off has to be provided for—called provisioning in the bankspeak.

Banks' profitability thus takes a hit. Who are the real losers? Common shareholders and depositors. Banks are supposed to be the guardians of public money. They raise deposits from small and big depositors and use these to lend to businesses.

So whenever a loan is not repaid, it’s the shareholder of the banks (value erosion) and the depositors (as the bank turns weaker in terms of capital and profitability) who suffer.

The government has, time and again, reiterated its intent to clamp down on wilful defaulters.

Coordinated action by the government, RBI and other sector regulators is critical to tackling wilful defaulters as seen in the Kingfisher case.

Banks are sitting ducks for cronies and crooks. In most cases, banks haven’t made meaningful progress in the recovery from deep-pocketed and well-connected promoters. At the end of a long legal process, the value of underlying assets deteriorates and banks are left empty-handed.

The government’s intervention to speed up the recovery process is equally critical since each penny it feeds to state-run banks from the exchequer is public money.

A lot of ground needs to be covered and quickly, as the loan write-off and wilful defaulter numbers show. Do the government and the RBI have the will to clamp down on wilful defaulters?

(extracts of newspapers)

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Is Paying Dividend, a Healthy Reinvestment favouring Shareholders

 

Paying dividend may not always be the best option. Many investors are very serious about dividends and they consider receiving Dividends is very important part of their Investing. They invest only in companies that have a good dividend history and avoid other that are not generous enough with their dividends payouts. But a high dividend-pay-out ratio may not always be the best take for investors. A healthy dividend pay-out is often lapped up by markets. The stock gets a thumps up and all parties, the company and its shareholders are happy about the outcome. But dividend largesse may not always be in the favour of investors value creation mechanism. Companies could deploy that cash into existing growth opportunities to remain competitive and best in the game. According to our investing matrix, a company can utilise its cash in four ways.

First, Reinvest the proceeds back into the business

Second, Go in for related acquisition

Third, Repurchase shares and…

Fourth, finally pay out dividends

See how paying no dividend could impact the fortunes of companies; If Infosys had paid no dividends and simply repurchased shares, or developed new software and IT centres, it would have created more value for its Stakeholders, since ROI of their funds / business management is much higher that money in the hands of shareholders. Since investors will use their dividend money to buy other shares, or to buy bonds or to make bank FDR or spending. Other than spending, all other modes of reinvestment by shareholders will be lower than using that money by companies for betterment of their businesses. This concept that Utilising cash for other than dividends, is not the standard thing that is taught in the corporate finance department of our major universities. Why do we debate negatively, rather than applying this simple idea to make business stronger with internal accruals. Fund manager’s preference for no dividends do’not mean that they disapprove dividends that they gets from their investments…. but they vote in favour of more deeper value creation for shareholders.

The one thing I will tell you is the worst investment you can have is Cash. Everybody is talking about cash being king and all that sort of things. Cash is going to be come worthless over time, but good businesses are going to become worth more and costlier over time.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Investment with Moats Risk Management

 

While investing in equity, How to safeguard a Good story suddenly going bad, leaving no profitable exit…. lets choose companies with #unbreachable_moats. Capital flows to the point of maximum returns. When a company delivered outsized profits, its success attracts #competition. Other entrepreneurs enter the field with their own setup, often with #lower_priced_offerings, and take away the #first_movers market share. Competition forces the leader to cut prices and this whittles down his margins, impacting their bottom line directly.

Thus, over the time, the profits of most companies tend to regress to the mean. Legendry investors liked to invest in, the companies with big moat surrounding their business model and brand equity. Wealth creators in equity market guide big moats consists of following #matrix of

#early mover advantage

#high switching costs

#intangible assets

#network effect

# economies of scale.

If investors choose a company based on these moats, and do keep a close watch to ensure that the stocks script unfolds along the expected lines. One reason is that over the time lot of moats got breached, so timely moat tracking is must to keep value alive in equity. Next is to keep a watch on competitive advantage, other things could go wrong, say the management could slip up on execution, thus when you invest in a company with a visible economic advantage, you still cannot afford to let your guards down and let bottom line screwed up unknowingly. Its like building your investment castle, surrounded with big moats, having crocodiles within to create real value for your portfolio. One build, keep #tracking developments on the matrix of five, as mentioned above.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Importance of Digital Literacy in Education & Economy

Digital literacy is the ability to learn, understand, and adapt to technology-inclined changes in a constantly evolving digital world. The pandemic has re-emphasized the importance of being equipped with the right skill set to efficiently use technology to sustain and even preserve the “normalcy” of our day-to-day lives. The idea is to have in place a system so resilient that, despite severe disruptions, life can carry on without having to come to a screeching halt. Today, digital literacy is just as important as any other subject that children and young adults are taught at educational establishments and could even be leveraged as a teaching platform in itself.

The future has enormous potential to be transformed into a digital world; in fact, we are already witnessing a technological revolution. From ordering medicines to delivering shipments using drones, the future is set to be one where digital solutions are going to be able to cater to a myriad of requirements. The youth of today should be educated and well-versed in tech-enabled solutions as it is going to be their future. Industries across verticals have already begun adopting automated solutions that reflect a strong impact on numerous facets of their business, both internal and external. Tech will continue to govern numerous facets of our lives, from becoming a medium of teaching in itself to adopting digital solutions that provide better career and life prospects. Going forward, digital literacy is going to be an imperative aspect of our education system.

Companies which are consistently been investing in and adapting to new technology, which includes redesigning ERP to a microservices-based design and launching future-ready solutions. The intent is to make sure that decisions are based on data and not just instinct. Deploying ML also enables us to drive operational efficiencies through optimised routing, address correction, and also aids in operations by predicting volumes and manpower requirements. We keep exploring new avenues and areas where we could make use of AI and ML to impact operations and drive efficiency and optimization.

How the youth can be digitally empowered, what kind of exposure and engagement opportunities in the educational curriculum can educational institutes implement to raise the interest of youths to up-scale their digital skills, and should it become a must for schools, colleges, and other educational institutes to conduct workshops or crash-courses programmes to drive the importance of technology for businesses ???

Teaching and learning is a two-way street. The future necessitates individuals who can remain resilient by adapting to the needs of the hour efficiently. Therefore, schools and colleges must start building a technologically inclined foundation for students to help them adapt better to the world of tomorrow. The in-school curriculum must be tailored to include programmes that induct individuals into adopting tech solutions; this in turn will help them leverage their strengths to do more rewarding tasks. Currently, some institutes have an IT component as a pre-requisite course. However, the level of depth with which the subject is being taught needs to penetrate much further to truly make an impact. Courses to familiarise children with such subjects can also be introduced at an earlier stage with a much simpler explanation provided. We all begin school by learning the alphabet in order to speak fluently in any language; technology and automation should also be considered a language, allowing children to learn the basics, setting up a strong foundation for them and then banking on it to further increase their knowledge and agility in the long-run.

Having said that, schools and educational institutes can only do so much. Growth can only be witnessed if the individual is also willing to learn and invest well in themselves by looking online, finding the right courses, and actively working towards the pursuit of When asked what advice as an IT leader would he give to the youth considering their career in the technology industry, what should they know about the industry before starting their career, and what challenges they could face and how do they overcome the challenges, he said, to anyone looking to begin their careers in information technology or any of its sister streams, my only insight on this front is: opportunities and more opportunities! The industry is growing at an exponential pace, and the opportunity for career growth is optimal. Especially in a post-pandemic world, the significance of the industry has been propelled to much greater heights and shows immense promise. My only advice would be to grasp every opportunity coming your way and consistently invest in updating your industry knowledge.

Children of the present and in the future too, have and will grow up alongside technological leaps. Having said that, networking across industries and age groups will also be incredibly important. While technology and digitalization are the future of tomorrow, it is crucial to not entirely eliminate the element of human touch while interacting with a customer. Challenges on this front could arise. However, leveraging the insight of your seniors and curating solutions that are a combination of artificial and augmented intelligence is the best way forward to negate those challenges.

Getting introduced to learning more about industries and businesses early on is also a very important aspect of bridging the learning curve. This will assist students in connecting theory to real life and comprehending the impact of technology on actual business. Mentors also play an important role in guiding youth to take the right steps to achieve their goals; their experience and wisdom enrich one’s learning.

Understanding design concepts is another important step in this journey, and the earlier one begins, the better. Mathematics and physics are also important subjects to master, particularly for engineering, AI/ML, and analytics.Understanding the concepts in detail can help develop better solutions for businesses and customers in the future.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Saving Economy v/s Spending Economy; which is better……

Indians wastefully save…. Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics!  This will put India on a growth curve. This is one of the reason for MNC's coming down to India, seeing the consumer spending. Does it not look true, with our traditional thought, let’s examine the same with global facts…

The Japanese save a lot.  They do not spend much.  Also, Japan exports far more than it imports. It has an annual trade surplus of over US$100 billion. Yet the Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.

Americans spend a lot and save very little. Also United States of America (USA) imports more than it exports.  USA has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the USA economy is considered strong and expected to get stronger.

But where do Americans get money to spend? 

They borrow from other countries like Japan, China and even India. Virtually others of the world have to save for the Americans to spend.  Global savings are mostly invested in USA, in dollars.

India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billion in US securities.  China has sunk over $1.1 trillion in US securities.  Japan's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

RESULT :

The USA has taken over $5 trillion from the world.   

So, as the world saves for the USA - It is the Americans who are spending freely.   

Today, to keep the USA consumption going, that is for the USA economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter to the USA, which is $2 billion a day, to the USA!

A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, USA in China, or China in USA?   

The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in the USA.

The same is the case with India.  India has invested over $50 billion in the US.   

But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India.

Why is the world after USA?

The secret lies in American spending, that they hardly save for.  In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income.  That the USA spends is what makes it attractive to export to the USA.  So USA imports more than what it exports year after year.

The result is…..The world is dependent on USA consumption for its growth.  By its deepening culture of consumption, the USA has habituated the world to feed on USA consumption. But as the USA needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money.

It is like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop.  If the customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him. The US is like the lucky customer….and the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier.

Who is America's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan and China of course.  Yet Japan is regarded as weak economically.  Modern economists complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow.  To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted itself, reduced the savings interest rates to almost zero, even charged savers for keeping their money in the bank.  Still the Japanese did not spend (habits don't change, even with taxes, do they?).  Their traditional postal savings alone has over $1.2 trillion.  Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan, has become its pain.

CONCLUSION: That a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend.

This is a very Interesting article written by an Economist about the world economy. Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

USD v/s Rouble.... bigger trouble matrix for EU and favourable for India

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/yogesh-birla-323821229_if-the-eu-refuses-to-pay-gas-in-roubles-activity-6915636815701921792-5L-5?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Indian Women in Saving and Investment Economy

One fine day, I was asked a perplexing question,

Why do Indian women play no role in savings and investments ?????

I replied it's not true and following will be sufficient enough to prove my views :-

Women in their inimitable manner, have played an important role on the savings front in Indian households. This is a popular misconception, because women's investment choices are possibly more traditional. Being wired differently than men, women place great importance on factors like safety and tangibility, which amply reflect in their saving & investing preferences.

##GOLD, most of the yellow metals in Indian homes is purchased and owned by women. Even the gold inherited, reflects women's choices, rooted in our society since time inmemorial. No wonder, how Indian household own enough gold to meet America's requirement for next 100 years. You will notice the emotive appeal of every gold loan advertisement, is always directed towards a female gender. This asset has helped finance and mushroom many small and medium businesses across the country. These precious assets are powerful hedging instrument that women safeguard for helping economy in business.

##PROPERTY, DIAMONDS, same is the case with property, diamonds, art and collectibles, which are investable assets of measurable value. The likes of Cryptos / Bitcoins have a long way to go before they can earn a ladies trust as lifetime asset creation.

##FIXED INCOME INSTRUMENTS, when it comes to fixed income, I bet most of the post office deposits and Kisan Vikas Patra instruments are driven by women savings.

##CASH is actually queen !! Women are adept at best cash management. All will agree that during demonetisation in India, most cash was deposited by the woman members of the family.

##SHARES, coming to Equities, there is a big difference between low participation and no participation by women. But this too is changing.....It is heartening to note that indian study found that proportion of women equity investors too have grown from 16 % to 24% in just last two years in India stock markets.

##INTANGIBLE ASSETS, last but not the least are the intangible assets. Our little kids are the most precious assets to us. Need not to be mentioned, who plays the pivotal role in nurturing our future generations for individual, or for the nation.

Is there a need for more equal opportunity ?? 

Yes, But no one can deny the immeasurable role women play in our finances, saving economy and our overall life.

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY !!

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com