Mumbai: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked countrymen to contain their "uncontrolled passion" for gold and instead save in financial instruments. "Have faith in our financial sector. Unfortunately, we have difficulty shedding our old habits and put our money in gold," he said while speaking at an event to mark the platinum anniversary celebrations of state-run Dena Bank. "The uncontrolled passion for gold must be contained," Chidambaram said and reeled out data to show how increasing gold imports are hurting the Current Account Deficit (CAD).
People should rather switch to financial products to funnel their savings, the Minister said and added the soon-to-be-luanched inflation indexed bonds is a very lucrative option. He also sought to demolish gold as a hedge against inflation, saying many such investors are finding the going difficult ever since the price of gold plummeted to Rs 26,000 from over Rs 33,000 per ten grams last year. He said that in 2012 the country bought USD 50 billion worth gold and fortunately, it was able to finance the CAD of USD 90 billion on the back of higher foreign flows and could maintain the foreign exchange reserves level at around USD 290 billion.
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02:03 AM, May 25, 2013
New Delhi: After Samsung, now it's time for LG to unveil a flexible display. The company has announced that it will unveil an unbreakable and flexible 5-inch plastic OLED panel for mobile devices. The development comes at a time when smart devices are being used more than ever and at increased risk for damage from drops, hits, and other accidents. LG Display will also introduce 5-inch and 7-inch HD LCD...
10:21 AM, May 20, 2013
New Delhi: Airlines in India have agreed not to charge extra for seats after top officials of all airlines met at the Civil Aviation Ministry in New Delhi on Friday. Earlier, airlines had said they will charge extra if passengers wanted to book seats in advance. However, now they say they will only treat certain seats as privileged ones and charge extra for them. The Civil Aviation Ministry asked all...
08:58 PM, May 17, 2013
Critically acclaimed actor Rajesh Sharma, who has acted in films such as "Maachis", "Ishqiya", "No One Killed Jessica", "The Dirty Picture" and "Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana", joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on his future projects and his experience of acting in the Bengali film "Kagojer Nouka (Paper Boat)" which is based on the chit fund bust in eastern India. Q. Will this movie have English subtitle..for those who...
03:25 PM, May 14, 2013
London: Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan's parents Dina and Michael have reportedly been advised to attend regular therapy sessions at the Betty Ford Center to help their daughter's recovery. The 26-year-old had checked into the clinic to honour the court-ordered 90-day stay at the rehab, reported Contactmusic. "Families are encouraged to participate in group therapy. Lindsay's counselors want to get Dina and Michael to Betty Ford for a series of sessions...
11:03 AM, May 12, 2013
Quetta: The voting for historic general elections in Pakistan was marred with violence as at least sixteen people died in poll related violence in the troubled Balochistan province in south-west Pakistan. As many as 10 persons died and 15 others sustained injuries on Saturday when a bus carrying supporters of independent candidate Khadim Hussain Shah came under attack in Naseerabad district, Quetta city police chief Mir Zubair said. "The supporters...
07:56 AM, May 12, 2013
New York: The United States will return to Mongolia more than a dozen illegally smuggled dinosaur skeletons, including two Tyrannosaurus bataars that are 70 million years old and at least six fossilized Oviraptors, US officials said on Friday. The announcement followed the handover to Mongolian officials on Monday of another T bataar skeleton, which had been sold at auction in New York for more than $1 million before it was...
07:50 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: After complaints about safety of bottled water sold in the national capital, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has written to the food regulator to check the bottling plants supplying such drinking water in Delhi and their water sources. The minister has also written to the Food Safety and Standards Association (FSSA) to check the chemical contents in the water bottles sold in and around Delhi and whether they...
03:56 AM, May 11, 2013
Miami: Nine more wealthy families and individuals have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity as part of a philanthropic campaign by two of the world's richest men, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and investor Buffett in 2010, said on Tuesday that billionaires joining the campaign included New York-based real estate magnate Stephen Ross....
05:46 AM, May 08, 2013
Salem: Upset over her husband declining to have food prepared by her, a newly married wife took her life by setting herself ablaze at her home near Salem, police said on Tuesday. Salem District Valapadi DSP P Mathavan said the 20-year-old woman had prepared dinner for her husband and brother on Monday night, but after tasting it, he refused it. Immediately, she poured kerosene and set herself ablaze, the DSP...
11:19 AM, May 07, 2013
Chicago: In a shocking incident, a 5-year-old toddler in the US accidentally shot and killed his 2-year-old sister with a rifle that was given to him as a gift. The shooting happened on Tuesday afternoon inside a home on Lawson's Bottom Road, near Burkesville, Kentucky. The State Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville is expected to perform an autopsy on the two-year-old girl. Police say the toddler was shot by her...
04:49 AM, May 02, 2013
Hyderabad: An aircraft carrying senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani made an unscheduled landing at the old airport at Begumpet in Hyderabad on Monday, after developing a technical snag. Advani was on his way from New Delhi to Bangalore to campaign for BJP for the May 2013 elections in Karnataka, party sources said. The former deputy prime minister had to wait for nearly two hours at the airport...
03:57 AM, Apr 30, 2013
New Delhi: LG Electronics has announced that it will begin accepting pre-orders for its 55-inch curved OLED TV (Model 55EA9800) in South Korea, with deliveries to begin next month. According to the company, over 1,400 LG retail stores in South Korea will begin taking orders starting today. Priced at approx. $13,500, it is only 4.3 millimeters (0.17 inches) thin and weighs just 17 kilograms (37.48 pounds). Timing and pricing of...
12:57 PM, Apr 29, 2013
New Delhi: Heath Ledger's performance as Joker did wonders for 'The Dark Knight' but it did no good to Christain Bale as the film became Joker's story forever. Hollywood saw such a nuanced and fantastic villain after a long time and this charismatic baddie started a trend of profoundly written roles for antagonists. Hollywood has always given interesting dimensions to a bad guy's character despite being very predictable about the...
11:59 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Dhaka: Veteran politician and parliamentarian Abdul Hamid was on Wednesday sworn in as Bangladesh's 20th president. Hamid was administered the oath of office by acting speaker Shawkat Ali during a ceremony at the Bangabhaban presidential palace, two days after he was elected unopposed to the post. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was among the guests who witnessed the ceremony alongside her cabinet colleagues but the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party did...
08:18 PM, Apr 24, 2013
London: An army of groundsmen carried out the time-honoured ritual of preparing the All England Club lawns in readiness for the Wimbledon championships on a sunny spring day on Tuesday as plans to take the home of tennis into the future were revealed. Almost unrecognisable from the rambling grounds so familiar with visiting fans in the 1980s and 90s after more than a decade of modernisation, club chiefs unveiled a...
08:43 PM, Apr 23, 2013
London: Wimbledon is increasing prize money by 40 percent this year and plans to build a retractable roof over Court No. 1. Total prize money for the Grand Slam event will be 22.6 million pounds ($34.4 million), an increase of 6.5 million pounds ($9.9 million) from last year, the All England Club said on Tuesday. The club called it the largest single increase and biggest total prize fund in the...
06:07 PM, Apr 23, 2013
Baga: Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said on Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians. The fighting in Baga began on Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad. By Sunday,...
06:40 AM, Apr 22, 2013
I had never read anything by Kate Atkinson before this one. I had heard a lot about her, but of course and was quite intrigued by the titles of her earlier books. At the same time, every time I would try reading an excerpt from any of her books online, I could not connect with them. I guess maybe the timing wasn't right. Maybe there are times when some books...
02:19 PM, Apr 20, 2013
Washington: As the US moves forward to reform its immigration system, India has said that a generous American visa policy for the country's high-skilled workers would help everyone and both nations will emerge as winners. "We respectfully urge that they consider the impact of their decisions on the ability of both US and foreign-based companies to expand now and in the future," Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao wrote...
05:53 PM, Apr 15, 2013
