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By:

Kaustubh Kale

10 September 2024 at 6:07:15 pm

Akshay Tritiya and Gold

As Akshay Tritiya arrives, gold once again takes centre stage in Indian households. For generations, buying gold on this auspicious day has been considered a symbol of prosperity, purity, and good fortune. It is not just a purchase. It is an emotion, a blessing, and a tradition passed from one generation to another. But beyond tradition, gold also carries an important financial lesson. Gold is not just jewellery. It is an asset. Gold During Uncertain Times Over the years, gold has proved its...

Akshay Tritiya and Gold

As Akshay Tritiya arrives, gold once again takes centre stage in Indian households. For generations, buying gold on this auspicious day has been considered a symbol of prosperity, purity, and good fortune. It is not just a purchase. It is an emotion, a blessing, and a tradition passed from one generation to another. But beyond tradition, gold also carries an important financial lesson. Gold is not just jewellery. It is an asset. Gold During Uncertain Times Over the years, gold has proved its worth not only during festivals, but also during uncertain times. Whenever the world faces wars, inflation, currency weakness, economic slowdown, or financial panic, investors across the globe look at gold as a safe haven. This is because gold has a unique quality. It is trusted across countries, cultures, and generations. It does not depend on the promise of one government, one company, or one currency. Why Gold Holds Value Unlike paper currency, gold cannot be printed endlessly. Unlike businesses, it does not depend on profits or management quality. Unlike real estate, it is globally accepted and easily valued. This is why gold continues to remain one of the oldest and most respected stores of value. It has survived centuries of change, economic cycles, wars, and financial crises. The Right Role in Your Portfolio That said, gold should not be treated as a shortcut to wealth creation. Equities and equity mutual funds still remain essential for long-term growth. Gold plays a different role. It brings balance, stability, and protection to your portfolio. When equity markets are volatile or global uncertainty rises, gold often provides comfort. A sensible allocation of around 10-20% to gold can help reduce overall portfolio risk.  So basically, while stocks and equity mutual funds play the lead role in your long-term financial goals, gold plays the supporting but essential role. Physical Gold Has Limitations However, the way you invest in gold matters. Buying physical gold during festivals may feel emotionally satisfying, but it comes with practical challenges. There are making charges, purity concerns, storage issues, risk of theft, and liquidity problems. A necklace may be beautiful, but you cannot easily sell only a small portion of it when you need money. Also, when gold is bought as jewellery, the investor often forgets to calculate the actual return after making charges and deductions. Smarter Ways to Invest This is where Gold Mutual Funds and Gold ETFs become useful. They allow you to invest in gold without worrying about lockers, purity, theft, or storage. You can invest flexible amounts, start SIPs, track value easily, and redeem conveniently when required. For investors who want gold as part of their financial plan, these options are far more practical than buying jewellery purely as an investment. Tradition with Financial Clarity Akshay Tritiya is a beautiful reminder that wealth should be built with faith, patience, and clarity. Buying gold is auspicious, but buying it in the right form is financially wise. This Akshay Tritiya, celebrate tradition - but also upgrade your financial thinking. Because true prosperity is not just about owning gold. It is about owning it smartly. (The writer is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor. Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605.)

Food Waste vs. Hunger: Our National Contradiction

Updated: Mar 17, 2025


Food Waste vs. Hunger

In last week’s article, I mentioned the ‘Food Waste Index Report 2024’ released by the UNEP, which aims to halve food waste by 2030 to achieve Sustainable Development Goal #12. (SDG 12) Before moving ahead, I thought I should give a brief introduction to SDGs.


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty and hunger, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. There are a total of 17 sustainable development goals that are integrated and interconnected. It is recognised that the action in one area will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.


Out of these 17 goals, SDG #2 speaks about ‘Zero Hunger’, which means not a single person should remain hungry or malnourished by 2030. A large share of the world population is still consuming far too little to meet even their basic needs. Halving the per capita of global food waste at the retailer and consumer levels is also important for creating more efficient production and supply chains. This can help with food security and shift us towards a more resource-efficient economy. This is the objective of SDG #12.


Against this backdrop, let us see where India stands. We are well aware of the fact that India has a rich heritage and a lot of diversity concerning food habits and cuisine. However, more than 23 crore people are far away from getting proper food. The Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India has reported that nearly Rs. 50,000 crores worth of food gets wasted each year. This amount of food that is getting wasted every single day in a country where millions of people still go to bed hungry each night is an appalling reality that demands our immediate attention and action.


In addition to reports like the Food Waste Index, other global assessments also track hunger and nutrition levels. One such tool is the Global Hunger Index (GHI), prepared annually by Welthungerhilfe, a 60-year-old non-profit organisation based in Germany, in collaboration with Concern Worldwide and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict. The GHI is a peer-reviewed report based on data from credible sources such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and authorised government surveys.


The GHI is used to measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels, and it acts as a critical pointer to the current state of food insecurity across nations. Countries are ranked based on four indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. The higher the score and rank, the more serious the hunger situation.


GHI is a tool to measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels, and is a pointer to the sorry state of affairs. It ranks and allocates scores to countries based on four indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. The higher the rank, the worse off the country is. In the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024, India ranks 105th out of 127 countries, highlighting a "serious" hunger crisis driven by ongoing challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition. This is a little better than GHI 2023, where India’s rank was 111th out of 127 countries. More about this and food security and food waste in the next article. Till then, have a nice weekend!


(The author is an environmentalist.)

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