Investment for child: Birla MF Bal Bhavishya NFO – Is it amongst the best plans for children related investment?

There aren’t many MF schemes targeting needs such as arranging down payment for a home loan, children education and marriage needs or one’s own retirement. When it comes to investments for child, most parents are in a fix and unable to find a dedicated investment for meeting financial goals of the children. However, for specific goals, such as child education, it helps to earmark the funds towards it and not run the risk of making a premature exit before the goal is met. Mutual funds that are child-focused schemes may…

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India Is Addicted To WhatsApp More Than Any Other Social Media, And Knows It Can Be Dangerous

We spend a lot of time everyday on your smartphones, a lot of which might be across various social networks. Particularly WhatsApp. These come with their own problems of addiction, fake news, and online harassment, and India is no exception when it comes to dealing with these issues. That’s why public opinion data analytics firm YouGov conducted a survey of Indian smartphone users, to see how we deal with everything we’re exposed to on social media platforms daily. And the results are pretty interesting to say the least. For one thing…

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Mums, take it easy. Maternal depression may affect child’s immune system

Turns out, depression in mothers may have long-term effects on their children’s stress and physical well-being. In a new study, researchers followed 125 children from birth to 10 years. At 10 years, mother’s and children’s cortisol (CT) and secretory immunoglobulin (s-IgA)–markers of stress and the immune system–were measured, mother-child interaction was observed, mothers and children underwent psychiatric diagnoses, and children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms were reported. Depressed mothers had higher CT and s-IgA levels and displayed more negative parenting, characterised by negative effect, intrusion, and criticism. Children of depressed mothers…

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E-cigarettes are as dangerous as smoking. It can double the risk of heart attack

A new study has found that smoking an e-cigarette on a regular basis could double the risk of a heart attack. According to a new analysis of a survey of nearly 70,000 people, led by researchers at UC San Francisco, the dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes appears to be more dangerous than using either product alone. The study also found that the risks compound, so that daily use of both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes raises the heart attack risk five-fold in comparison to the people who don’t use…

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Cancer rarely affects elephants, here’s the real reason behind it

Researchers have identified a “zombie” gene that protects elephants from cancer, a finding that may pave the way for a new treatment for humans. Globally, nearly 1 in 6 human deaths occur due to cancer, whereas less than 5% of captive elephants — who also live for about 70 years, and have about 100 times as many potentially cancerous cells as humans — die of the disease. Humans and elephants have one copy of the master tumour suppressor gene p53, which recognises unrepaired DNA damage — a precursor of cancer and…

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Depression in children, treating it can help improve parent’s mental health

The bond between parent and child extends far beyond sharing similar looks or behaviours as a new study suggests that treating depression in teenagers may benefit their parents’ mental health too. The findings suggest that when a teenager’s depression improved through treatment, so did the depression experienced by his or her parents. “Depression is a massive public health concern that will take a variety of approaches to better manage. We believe our study is among the first to evaluate how the emotional health of a child can impact that of…

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