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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.)

Women Safety on Cards

Updated: Nov 18, 2024

vWomen Safety

For the speedy disposal of cases of crimes against women, the state government took the decision to set up Special Courts. 25 Fast Track Courts are being proposed for disposal of criminal cases relating to the atrocities on women and mentally handicapped girls. The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a bill that aims to establish special courts to ensure speedy trial of offences against women and children under the Shakti Act. The much needed proposal got the nod of the legislature however, it gathered a lot of dust in the Law and Judiciary department in Mantralaya before it could take off.


The government took this decision with an aim to conduct trials without delay in cases of certain offences against women and children. As per the decision, exclusive special courts were to be set up. Provisions for appointing a special public prosecutor for conducting trials and forming special police teams to probe the offences were also made. Presently, courts at Ahmednagar, Akola, Amaravati, Aurangabad, Buldhana, Beed, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Yawatmal, Thane, Pune & Kolhapur are in operation along with special court for Cases of Immoral trafficking at Mumbai. Prior to this the Shakti Criminal Laws (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill, which provides for stricter punishment, including death penalty, for crimes against women, was passed unanimously by both the Houses of the legislature.


Everything went well at the initial state. The government announced that it will provide all required assistance for the speedy trial of cases of crime against women and children under the Shakti Act.


The government had also announced that as per the bill, exclusive special courts can be set up for hearing the cases or existing courts can be given that rank depending upon the situation. The government made all the arrangements to make provisions and infrastructure available. At the beginning 25 Fast Track Courts were being proposed for disposal of criminal cases relating to the atrocities on women and mentally handicapped girls. The proposal went through various administrative hurdles and after this the journey started but very slow.


Interestingly, with the formation of these new exclusive special courts, the speed of the trial remained the same. As per the survey, fast-track courts in Delhi dispose of a case in 122 days on an average, while a regular court takes 133 days. No different story in Mumbai.


So the question remains that why are fast-track courts failing to fulfil their purpose? Experts say fast-track courts operate no differently than regular courts. For one, they have similarly heavy caseloads.


A fast track court is set up for a category of disputes. These categories themselves have a large chunk of cases. So it is just like any other court hall in the district judiciary -- you have the court hall under individual judges who have anywhere between 50 to 100 cases listed per day.

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