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By:

Kaustubh Kale

10 September 2024 at 6:07:15 pm

Silent Money Killer: Loss of Buying Power

In personal finance, we often worry about losing money in the stock market, dislike the volatility associated with equities or mutual funds, or feel anxious about missing out on a hot investment tip. Yet the biggest threat to our wealth is far quieter and far more dangerous: loss of buying power. It is the invisible erosion of your money caused by inflation - a force that operates every single day, without pause, without headlines, and often without being noticed until it is too late....

Silent Money Killer: Loss of Buying Power

In personal finance, we often worry about losing money in the stock market, dislike the volatility associated with equities or mutual funds, or feel anxious about missing out on a hot investment tip. Yet the biggest threat to our wealth is far quieter and far more dangerous: loss of buying power. It is the invisible erosion of your money caused by inflation - a force that operates every single day, without pause, without headlines, and often without being noticed until it is too late.
Inflation does not take away your capital visibly. It does not reduce the number in your bank account. Instead, it reduces what that number can buy. A Rs 100 note today buys far less than what it did ten years ago. This gradual and relentless decline is what truly destroys long-term financial security. The real damage happens when people invest in financial products that earn less than 10 per cent returns, especially over long periods. India’s long-term inflation averages around 6 to 7 per cent. When you add lifestyle inflation - the rising cost of healthcare, education, housing, travel, and personal aspirations - your effective inflation rate is often much higher. So, if you are earning 5 to 8 per cent on your money, you are not growing your wealth. You are moving backward. This is why low-yield products, despite feeling safe, often end up becoming wealth destroyers. Your money appears protected, but its strength - its ability to buy goods, services, experiences, and opportunities - is weakening year after year. Fixed-income products like bank fixed deposits and recurring deposits are essential, but only for short-term goals within the next three years. Beyond that period, the returns simply do not keep pace with inflation. A few products are a financial mess - they are locked in for the long term with poor liquidity and still give less than 8 per cent returns, which creates major problems in your financial goals journey. To genuinely grow wealth, your investments must consistently outperform inflation and achieve more than 10 per cent returns. For long-term financial goals - whether 5, 10, or 20 years away - only a few asset classes have historically achieved this: Direct stocks Equities represent ownership in businesses. As companies grow their revenues and profits, shareholders participate in that growth. Over long horizons, equities remain one of the most reliable inflation-beating asset classes. Equity and hybrid mutual funds These funds offer equity-debt-gold diversification, professional management, and disciplined investment structures that are essential for long-term compounding. Gold Gold has been a time-tested hedge against inflation and periods of economic uncertainty. Ultimately, financial planning is not about protecting your principal. It is about protecting and enhancing your purchasing power. That is what funds your child’s education, your child’s marriage, your retirement lifestyle, and your long-term dreams. Inflation does not announce its arrival. It works silently. The only defense is intelligent asset allocation and a long-term investment mindset. Your money is supposed to work for you. Make sure it continues to do so - not just in numbers, but in real value. (The author is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor.Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605.)

Incineration to Plasma Pyrolysis: Machines That Safeguard Public Health

Effective treatment is the shield that prevents biomedical waste from turning into a public health disaster.

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In the earlier stages of biomedical waste management, we saw how waste is first segregated into colour-coded bags at the point of generation and then carefully collected and transported under strict safety measures. These steps are vital to prevent accidental exposure and to ensure that different categories of waste reach their respective processing streams without mixing. But segregation and transport alone do not neutralise the dangers hidden in biomedical waste.


It is now the operator’s job to further ‘treat’ this waste as per the protocols and specifications described in the BMW Management Rules of 1998 and 2016.


Treatment is essential to get rid of all the deadly infectious pathogens that are lingering in the tissues and fleshy parts, amputated parts, materials soaked in the blood and other body fluids, etc. Such pathogens that have been lying dormant in these organs and tissues for a long time might be waiting eagerly for an opportunity to spring back and invade and infect the healthy human body. So before they get such an opportunity, destroy them! That is the whole purpose of treatment at CBWTF. There are different types of equipment and machines used for treatment. The following is a brief introduction to these machines.


Incinerator: Incineration is a thermal process that transforms medical waste into inorganic, incombustible matter, thus leading to a significant reduction in waste volume and weight. The main purpose of any medical waste incinerator is to eliminate pathogens from waste and reduce the waste to ashes. However, certain types of medical waste, such as pharmaceutical or chemical waste, require higher temperatures for total destruction.


Medical waste incinerators typically operate at high temperatures between 900 and 1200°C. Developing countries like India usually use low-cost, high-temperature incinerators of simple design for the stabilisation of healthcare waste. The most reliable and predominant medical waste incineration technology is pyrolytic incineration, also known as controlled air incineration or double-chamber incineration. The pyrolytic incinerator comprises a pyrolytic chamber (primary chamber) and a post-combustion chamber (secondary chamber).


Most of these incinerators are diesel-fired. These incinerators are specifically used for treating the contents of yellow bags. These bags containing incinerable waste are loaded in the pyrolytic chamber through a front-opening door either manually or using a conveyor belt. In this chamber, the waste is thermally decomposed through an oxygen-deficient, medium-temperature combustion process with temperatures ranging between 800 and 900°C, producing solid ashes and gases. The gases produced in the pyrolytic chamber are burnt at high temperatures ranging between 900 and 1200°C by a fuel burner in the post-combustion chamber or secondary chamber using an excess of air to minimise smoke and odours. The flue gases from the secondary chamber then pass through air pollution control devices such as a venturi scrubber for complete elimination of particulate matter, if any. Finally, the smoke is released into the air through a 100-foot-tall stack or chimney. The ash is transported to a landfill for deep burial. Advantages of this technology include a relatively lower and affordable cost and almost a 99 per cent reduction in the volume of the waste being treated. In the past few years, technologically advanced incinerators have been manufactured in India that aim for zero pollution through emission.


Plasma Pyrolysis: This system uses a plasma-arc torch to generate the plasma energy, which can generate heat reaching temperatures as high as 1650°C to 11000°C. However, this is a relatively new technology and has very little track record. While some specific pyrolysis technologies show promise, others have not achieved performance and emission levels claimed by manufacturers, and others have not worked at all.


Whether through proven methods like incineration or newer approaches such as plasma pyrolysis, the ultimate goal remains unchanged: to eliminate pathogens, safeguard public health, and ease the environmental burden of biomedical waste. I will be exploring more technologies in my next article. Until then, wishing you a safe and healthy weekend.


(The author is an environmentalist.)

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