Ladies' Day is traditionally on the first Tuesday of the Championships, when the defending women's champion opens proceedings on Centre Court. As a prelude, the showcase court was today treated to an impressive display from the sport's current leading lady, Ana Ivanovic, who ran out a 6-1, 6-2 victor over Rosanna de los Rios.
The number one seed’s victory was achieved in a fashion that underlines why Ivanovic has taken over as world number one since the unexpected retirement of Justine Henin.
The progress of the statuesque 20-year-old Serb has been steady over the past 13 months. An easy loser to Henin in the 2007 French Open final, she went out to eventual champion Venus Williams at the Wimbledon semi-final stage last year. After a fourth-round exit at the US Open, Ivanovic began 2008 in rousing fashion, reaching the Australian Open final, before making her Grand Slam breakthrough at Roland Garros three weeks ago.
Seeking back-to-back Grand Slams at Wimbledon, she got off to an impressive start against the 32-year-old Paraguayan.
De los Rios, whose 11-year-old daughter was watching her mother from the players' box, sported a large patch on her right knee and did not possess enough power of shot to threaten Ivanovic.
The opening set was over in 24 minutes and the South American's determination to make a better fight of it in the second foundered against the clean, vigorous hitting of the number one seed.
Ivanovic broke for a 2-1 second-set lead when de los Rios looped a forehand long and her attempts to extend the match were extinguished when Ivanovic, watched by her parents, Dragana and Miroslav, broke for a 5-2 lead.
De los Rios offered up a break point to Ivanovic when she double-faulted for the only time in the match and then made the mistake of throwing up a lob that fell short, allowing the Serb to smash it away for a winner.
Serving for the match, Ivanovic appeared to have won it with her second ace, only for the Paraguayan to challenge the validity of the shot and be proved right. But the reprieve was short-lived. On the next rally, de los Rios hooked a forehand tamely wide, which was the cue for a victorious Ivanovic to throw kisses to all corners of Centre Court.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Home loans: Why age and tenure are important
Choosing right home loan tenure is as important an option as choosing an interest rate for the loan or focus on repayment and prepayment options.
In recent times, as the rate of inflation has touched double-digit figure choosing the right home loan tenure becomes even more important as interest rates show signs of going up further.
There are several factors to be considered when one decides to take a home loan for a specific period.
Is age on your side?
The first important factor is the age. The younger the age, higher is the tenure available to a home loan borrower. This means, if one decides to take a loan in her/his 30s, s/he can get a loan for 20 years -- the maximum loan tenure offered by most Indian banks currently.
Some banks offer home loans for 25 years but that is an exception rather than the rule. According to the eligibility criteria of the banks, age of retirement is 60 years in case of salaried and 65 years in case of self-employed individuals.
Interest rates: Beware of ups and downs
When taking a loan, one must take into account the fact that interest rates fluctuate during the loan tenure. You just have to consider the interest rate movement on home loans in the last eight years to understand how fluctuating these rates have been.
The fluctuation will impact the home loan EMI (the amount of money you pay every month to your lender), whether one takes a loan at a fixed interest rate or floating interest rate.
Why age is important
If the loan borrower is younger, s/he can get an extension in her/his loan tenure. Remember that some banks offer maximum loan tenure of 25 years. If the loan borrower is in her/his 40s, the only option available in such a case would be to increase the EMI. And this can cause a lot of pain especially in times of soaring inflation.
But this is easier said than done. The reason is, by the time you are in your 40s, the rate of increase in potential income is much lesser as compared to what one can expect at a younger age, say in mid 20s or early 30s.
Another benefit of a younger age is the increased loan eligibility. Even though the current income is taken into account while giving a loan, the potential of increase in salary is also taken as a factor. So, one can easily opt for a top-up loan (a loan on top of an already existing loan) to meet personal needs or take care of an increased EMI if at all a borrower faces such a situation.
There are repayment options such as step-up repayment facility where the EMI is low in the initial period and increases at a later stage. This actually coincides with an increase in salary of a salaried borrower. This could be ideal for young borrowers who are climbing rungs professionally. But this is an option available for the younger lot.
How it makes a difference!
Let's take an example. A 30-year old individual, say Amit, takes a home loan of Rs 30 lakh at an interest rate of 9 per cent for 20 years say in 2006. Amit earns about Rs 50, 000 per month then. Now let's assume that the interest rate on Amit's home loan increases to 11 per cent in 2008. Since Amit is 30 years old, he has an option of increasing the loan tenure to 25 years (even after increasing the loan tenure to 25 years Amit is still below his retirement age of 60 years as mentioned above).
Also, let's assume that by the time in 2008 interest rates increase Amit's salary has also increased to Rs 77, 140 assuming he got an annual salary increment of 7 per cent year-on-year in his net salary.
In recent times, as the rate of inflation has touched double-digit figure choosing the right home loan tenure becomes even more important as interest rates show signs of going up further.
There are several factors to be considered when one decides to take a home loan for a specific period.
Is age on your side?
The first important factor is the age. The younger the age, higher is the tenure available to a home loan borrower. This means, if one decides to take a loan in her/his 30s, s/he can get a loan for 20 years -- the maximum loan tenure offered by most Indian banks currently.
Some banks offer home loans for 25 years but that is an exception rather than the rule. According to the eligibility criteria of the banks, age of retirement is 60 years in case of salaried and 65 years in case of self-employed individuals.
Interest rates: Beware of ups and downs
When taking a loan, one must take into account the fact that interest rates fluctuate during the loan tenure. You just have to consider the interest rate movement on home loans in the last eight years to understand how fluctuating these rates have been.
The fluctuation will impact the home loan EMI (the amount of money you pay every month to your lender), whether one takes a loan at a fixed interest rate or floating interest rate.
Why age is important
If the loan borrower is younger, s/he can get an extension in her/his loan tenure. Remember that some banks offer maximum loan tenure of 25 years. If the loan borrower is in her/his 40s, the only option available in such a case would be to increase the EMI. And this can cause a lot of pain especially in times of soaring inflation.
But this is easier said than done. The reason is, by the time you are in your 40s, the rate of increase in potential income is much lesser as compared to what one can expect at a younger age, say in mid 20s or early 30s.
Another benefit of a younger age is the increased loan eligibility. Even though the current income is taken into account while giving a loan, the potential of increase in salary is also taken as a factor. So, one can easily opt for a top-up loan (a loan on top of an already existing loan) to meet personal needs or take care of an increased EMI if at all a borrower faces such a situation.
There are repayment options such as step-up repayment facility where the EMI is low in the initial period and increases at a later stage. This actually coincides with an increase in salary of a salaried borrower. This could be ideal for young borrowers who are climbing rungs professionally. But this is an option available for the younger lot.
How it makes a difference!
Let's take an example. A 30-year old individual, say Amit, takes a home loan of Rs 30 lakh at an interest rate of 9 per cent for 20 years say in 2006. Amit earns about Rs 50, 000 per month then. Now let's assume that the interest rate on Amit's home loan increases to 11 per cent in 2008. Since Amit is 30 years old, he has an option of increasing the loan tenure to 25 years (even after increasing the loan tenure to 25 years Amit is still below his retirement age of 60 years as mentioned above).
Also, let's assume that by the time in 2008 interest rates increase Amit's salary has also increased to Rs 77, 140 assuming he got an annual salary increment of 7 per cent year-on-year in his net salary.
How to use credit card reward points
Jayant Bhadauria, 34, head of education solutions at Adobe India, is expecting his second child this month. He has his heart set on a Shoppers' Stop pram that costs Rs 7,800. Says Bhadauria: "I liked the pram. To dish out Rs 7,800 would hurt, but since I have credit card points to redeem I don't mind the indulgence."
Credit cards don't just substitute for cash, they can also earn you reward points. "I use cards for their convenience and other benefits which I can milk," says Bhadauria. And you, too, can tap the monetary value of the points collected on your card.
How to accumulate points?
Every time you swipe your credit card to make a purchase, you collect reward points. Typically, you get one point per Rs 100-250 spent. This, however, depends on the card and the bank. For instance, banks offer more points on co-branded cards. State Bank of India gives one point per Rs 40 spent on its Gold Card and eight points per Rs 100 on its co-branded Tata Card.
The value of each reward point also varies across credit cards and banks. Says Sachin Khandelwal, head (cards), ICICI Bank : "The value of a point can be anywhere between 30 paise to a rupee and is also a function of the merchant partner in case of co-branded cards." For example, the value of one point on the SBI Gold Card is 70 paise, while it is Re 1 on the SBI-Tata Card.
The limitation with most accelerated reward points on co-branded cards, however, is that they can be redeemed only against products and services of the partnered establishment.
One also needs to remember that points get accumulated against spends (that too, not all of them), not for cash withdrawals.
How to redeem points?
What to redeem on. Earlier, banks offered a limited catalogue of products. Plus the prices were very high and one couldn't negotiate on them. But now there is a laundry list of what you can do with the points.
For starters, there is the conventional catalogue that includes apparel, gadgets, jewellery, luggage items, and the like. You can also encash your points against gift vouchers. For instance, with HDFC Bank's Gold Card you can get gift vouchers from Domino's, Cafe Coffee Day, Pantaloons, Westside, Lee, Music World and Landmark.
Going a step further, some banks have tie-ups with certain merchants where you can redeem points instantly. You don't have to contact the bank and get vouchers; you can pay using the points.
When the card is swiped, the reward points get reflected on the machine. So, if you have accumulated points worth, say, Rs 500 and you buy goods worth Rs 1,000, the merchant will offer you the choice of using your points for payment.
Some banks now offer air tickets on reward points, a feature that was earlier limited to co-branded cards. For instance, HDFC Bank has tied up with Jet Airways , Indian and Kingfisher Airlines to allow its card users to convert their reward points into air miles. The value of one air mile is usually equal to one reward point.
"The air miles required to get complimentary tickets would depend on the airline and the travel sector," says Parag Rao, executive vice-president, head (product and portfolio management), credit cards, HDFC Bank.
Some banks, like Bank of Baroda , also let you redeem your reward points against cash. That is, cash corresponding to your reward points are credited to your account. Deutsche Bank does the same on its Gold Card, but also offers a gift catalogue.
Procedure. You can redeem your points by filling up a redemption coupon which is there on banks' website. You could also use the phone banking option. For web-enabled credit card holders redemption can happen online. The banks can take anywhere between a week to a month to redeem the points.
How to bag the best?
With so many cards, each with multiple features, how do you know which one to pick. Bhadauria wants features, flexibility and convenience from his credit cards. "Of my five cards, I use HDFC Master Titanium card the most since I can pay the bills online and it gives me higher reward points for it. The card also offers many options to redeem my points," he says.
Figure out what you want. If you are a frequent air traveler, then an airline-bank co-branded card may work for you.
Another thing to note is the value of points. Says Nirupam Sahay, chief marketing officer, SBI Cards: "Points accumulated and their value is important, in addition to the wide choice of redemption options." For example, the co-branded ABN AMRO MakeMyTrip Go Card offers three reward points per Rs 100 spent. But, on purchases made on MakeMyTrip, the points range from 10 to 30. The reward points can be redeemed as cash back into your account.
Now, more cards are offering the cash-back option on reward points. Choose the card that offers you maximum cash-back on your frequent spends and offers an array of redemption choices.
All banks display their products online and have compare tools to help you pick the best.
Use these to compare the features and find the card that suits you best.
Don't forget the expiry date. All your hard work would go waste if your points expire.
However, most banks have started doing away with the expiry period.
For the smart shopper, the credit card is worth more than just what it buys.
Credit cards don't just substitute for cash, they can also earn you reward points. "I use cards for their convenience and other benefits which I can milk," says Bhadauria. And you, too, can tap the monetary value of the points collected on your card.
How to accumulate points?
Every time you swipe your credit card to make a purchase, you collect reward points. Typically, you get one point per Rs 100-250 spent. This, however, depends on the card and the bank. For instance, banks offer more points on co-branded cards. State Bank of India gives one point per Rs 40 spent on its Gold Card and eight points per Rs 100 on its co-branded Tata Card.
The value of each reward point also varies across credit cards and banks. Says Sachin Khandelwal, head (cards), ICICI Bank : "The value of a point can be anywhere between 30 paise to a rupee and is also a function of the merchant partner in case of co-branded cards." For example, the value of one point on the SBI Gold Card is 70 paise, while it is Re 1 on the SBI-Tata Card.
The limitation with most accelerated reward points on co-branded cards, however, is that they can be redeemed only against products and services of the partnered establishment.
One also needs to remember that points get accumulated against spends (that too, not all of them), not for cash withdrawals.
How to redeem points?
What to redeem on. Earlier, banks offered a limited catalogue of products. Plus the prices were very high and one couldn't negotiate on them. But now there is a laundry list of what you can do with the points.
For starters, there is the conventional catalogue that includes apparel, gadgets, jewellery, luggage items, and the like. You can also encash your points against gift vouchers. For instance, with HDFC Bank's Gold Card you can get gift vouchers from Domino's, Cafe Coffee Day, Pantaloons, Westside, Lee, Music World and Landmark.
Going a step further, some banks have tie-ups with certain merchants where you can redeem points instantly. You don't have to contact the bank and get vouchers; you can pay using the points.
When the card is swiped, the reward points get reflected on the machine. So, if you have accumulated points worth, say, Rs 500 and you buy goods worth Rs 1,000, the merchant will offer you the choice of using your points for payment.
Some banks now offer air tickets on reward points, a feature that was earlier limited to co-branded cards. For instance, HDFC Bank has tied up with Jet Airways , Indian and Kingfisher Airlines to allow its card users to convert their reward points into air miles. The value of one air mile is usually equal to one reward point.
"The air miles required to get complimentary tickets would depend on the airline and the travel sector," says Parag Rao, executive vice-president, head (product and portfolio management), credit cards, HDFC Bank.
Some banks, like Bank of Baroda , also let you redeem your reward points against cash. That is, cash corresponding to your reward points are credited to your account. Deutsche Bank does the same on its Gold Card, but also offers a gift catalogue.
Procedure. You can redeem your points by filling up a redemption coupon which is there on banks' website. You could also use the phone banking option. For web-enabled credit card holders redemption can happen online. The banks can take anywhere between a week to a month to redeem the points.
How to bag the best?
With so many cards, each with multiple features, how do you know which one to pick. Bhadauria wants features, flexibility and convenience from his credit cards. "Of my five cards, I use HDFC Master Titanium card the most since I can pay the bills online and it gives me higher reward points for it. The card also offers many options to redeem my points," he says.
Figure out what you want. If you are a frequent air traveler, then an airline-bank co-branded card may work for you.
Another thing to note is the value of points. Says Nirupam Sahay, chief marketing officer, SBI Cards: "Points accumulated and their value is important, in addition to the wide choice of redemption options." For example, the co-branded ABN AMRO MakeMyTrip Go Card offers three reward points per Rs 100 spent. But, on purchases made on MakeMyTrip, the points range from 10 to 30. The reward points can be redeemed as cash back into your account.
Now, more cards are offering the cash-back option on reward points. Choose the card that offers you maximum cash-back on your frequent spends and offers an array of redemption choices.
All banks display their products online and have compare tools to help you pick the best.
Use these to compare the features and find the card that suits you best.
Don't forget the expiry date. All your hard work would go waste if your points expire.
However, most banks have started doing away with the expiry period.
For the smart shopper, the credit card is worth more than just what it buys.
Cell phones 'a health risk' for kids
An international team of researchers has warned parents to limit their children's use of mobile phones, after studying the effects of the devices on health.
The team said 'the electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones should be considered a health risk'.
'What we found was astounding and much more concerning that what we had been led to believe,' the Scotsman quoted Dr David Servan-Schreiber, who led the team, as saying.
During the study, researchers found that significant levels of electromagnetic radiation from the phones did penetrate the human body, and argued that until more research was done the gadgets should be considered dangerous.
In particular, researchers found that children's brains were more susceptible to the radiation than those of adults, and suggested parents to ban younger children from using the phones regularly.
The team said 'the electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones should be considered a health risk'.
'What we found was astounding and much more concerning that what we had been led to believe,' the Scotsman quoted Dr David Servan-Schreiber, who led the team, as saying.
During the study, researchers found that significant levels of electromagnetic radiation from the phones did penetrate the human body, and argued that until more research was done the gadgets should be considered dangerous.
In particular, researchers found that children's brains were more susceptible to the radiation than those of adults, and suggested parents to ban younger children from using the phones regularly.
Travel industry on downward spiral, woos tourists
With inflation at a 13-year high and ATF prices continuing their upward trend, the already-struggling travel industry is facing the heat.
“The peak season is coming to an end. In the peak season we have seen a drop of 10 to 15 per cent already in number - a drop of 30 per cent in actual terms if we add the growth that we were expecting,” says Director, TRAC, Kavi Ghei.
Comparing the number of outbound tourists from India for April 2007 with April 2008, both Singapore and Hong Kong saw a fall of close to 50 per cent.
Malaysia, on the other hand, witnessed a sharp fall of close to 80 per cent after a great year in 2007.
Malaysia, on the other hand, witnessed a sharp fall of close to 80 per cent after a great year in 2007.
The worst hit is again the aam-aadmi.
“Yes, there is a slowdown - the niche traveller will still travel - the effect has impacted the middle level,” says Destination Manager, Sri Lanka Tourism, Maadhuri Verma.
With the situation nowhere close to improving, tourism boards are going all out to woo the Indian traveller.
With the situation nowhere close to improving, tourism boards are going all out to woo the Indian traveller.
“For the lean season, we are taking measures like: joint promotions with airlines, hotels partnership and facilities like visa on arrival,” says Director, Tourism Malaysia, Manoharan.
After taking toll on long haul destinations like the US or the UK, rising fuel prices and inflationary pressure are now targetting short haul destination like Malaysia and Singapore with an evident slowdown in the travel industry.
After taking toll on long haul destinations like the US or the UK, rising fuel prices and inflationary pressure are now targetting short haul destination like Malaysia and Singapore with an evident slowdown in the travel industry.
And this is just another facet of the impending economic slowdown.
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