You are here

Author: Loknath Das

Buying Investment Grade Stamps Buying Investment Grade Stamps

Loknath Das, ,

While we focus on the investment characteristics of stamps and how they retain and build value, there are two critical factors in that equation, the quality of the actual item and its purchase price. Quality or grading can be assured to a great extent by getting a certification of the item. This will cost from $20 upwards, and is as close to a guarantee of value as you can get. It also adds to the value of the item because it gives any buyer not knowledgeable in stamps the assurance…

Read More

ONGC charts course for new ‘avatar’; targets $15-16 bn investment

Loknath Das

India’s top oil and gas producer ONGC on August 30 unveiled a $15-16 billion investment plan to double output from its domestic and overseas fields, expand its refining capacity three folds and diversify into renewables to earn four times higher net profit by 2040. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which has seen crude oil production stagnate as a majority of its prime fields are ageing and are past their prime, has adopted a new ‘Energy Strategy 2040’, company Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker told reporters here. The company, which started…

Read More

LetsVenture to expand scope of investment platform

Loknath Das, , , , ,

To focus on a new vertical that helps family offices find investment opportunities in startups. LetsVenture, a Bengaluru-based technology platform that connects angel investors with startups, is expanding its scope to address the needs of growth-stage startups. Besides, it would also focus on a new vertical that helps family offices find investment opportunities in startups. “As an extension of the support to early growth stage entities, we have recently started `Let’s Go’ to support the funding needs of startups that matured to the growth stage,” said Shanti Mohan, founder and…

Read More

No white elephants please! Where not to invest RBI surplus of Rs 1.76 lakh crore

Loknath Das, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bimal Jalan panel’s decision to recommend transfer of Rs 1.76 lakh crore of RBI’s reserves and excess provisions to the government of India has rightly raised a host of questions about where the money would be deployed. Just as brazenly the Centre managed to transfer the reserves, the expectation was that their deployment would be equally transparent. If there were hopes from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference in Pune to throw light on the question, those were dashed. But more than where they are deployed, it’s important to understand…

Read More

Five ways to safely research your health symptoms online

Loknath Das, , , , , , ,

Help your doctor to help you. (Posed by models.) Photograph: RyanJLane/Getty Images Be confident , but considerate There is no need for you to feel self-conscious about letting your GP know that you have researched your symptoms online. Your health means more to you than it does to anyone else, so embrace the information at your fingertips: it may help your doctor to help you. But it is important to remember that they are the expert, and to respect their time limitations. Before your appointment, form some plan for how to…

Read More

Two News Stories From Abroad Suggest American Education Is On The Wrong Track

Loknath Das, , , , , , , , , , ,

News about schools in England and Finland challenge a prevailing assumption in American education–that it’s better for students to learn on their own than to be explicitly taught. GETTY It can be risky to look to other countries’ education systems for models. Nevertheless, two recent news stories from abroad raise doubts about prevailing American views on how students learn. Too often, American education reformers and policymakers have called for emulating other seemingly successful systems without taking into account the myriad differences between any two countries. An approach that has worked…

Read More