Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

As retail banks steadily digitalize their bustles, they've concentrated, to a great extent, on the most frequent customer transaction, for example, checking a balance or remote deposit. A significant part of the loaning field, except for Mastercards, has taken a secondary lounge. New digital entrants, going from financial technology start-ups to officeholder retailers and telecommunication suppliers, have recognized the open door, and are assaulting dainty cuts of the loaning benefit pool. A significant number of these financial technology guerillas, or fintechs, give a superior affair by concentrating on the necessities of specific customers—often an underserved segment. Trying to disrupt this space <a href="https://financebuddha.com/">Finance Buddha</a> came into being. 
 
About 
 Founded by <keyword id="1465038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vivek-Bhatia">Vivek Bhatia</keyword>, <keyword id="3633094" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parth-Pande">Parth Pande</keyword>, and <keyword id="3253353" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parag-Agarwal">Parag Agarwal</keyword> in 2012, <keyword id="3252828" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-Buddha">Finance Buddha</keyword> is a neutral marketplace for retail lending products like personal loan, business loan, home loans and loan against property. After spending 7 years at Citibank Parth co-founded Finance Buddha. At the time of leaving Citibank he was a Vice President. He was part of the founding team with Citibank for the new Sales and Distribution model adopted by the bank. 
 
Talking to Business Insider, he said, “We are an omni channel company present both online and offline, and have a unique proposition of carrying out transactions end to end including customer acquisition, product fitment, documentation, operation management, bank negotiation and final disbursement instead of just being a lead generation platform which uses other’s supply chain for transaction fulfilment. This end to end model helps us in controlling the customer experience, and delivering superior value for both the consumer and the financial institution involved. In addition this end to end model, gives us superior economics as a company and an ability to negotiate better offers for our customers.” 
 
Monetization Model 
 
Parth stated that the company is monetising through three different models: 
 
1. For every loan that they originate, their lenders pay them a fee for the same. The services are completely free for the consumers. 
 
2. They create specific product programs for lenders, and share revenues on the same as well with them. 
 
3. Also, they use database of over 100,000+ customers to create new products and cross sell opportunities on them to create life time value for the consumer and Finance Buddha 
 
Traction 
 Parth stated that the company is targeting loans worth over 2000 cr which would make them one of the biggest <keyword id="3633092" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lending-platforms">lending platforms</keyword> in the nation. He also claimed to have over 5000 applicants a month. “The company did over $3 million in revenues last year,” he added 
 
Funding details &amp; Expansion Plans 
 The company had last raised seed round of financing in January from <keyword id="1830416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Chennai-Angels">The Chennai Angels</keyword>, also they’re in the process of closing another round by the end of this year. 
The company is in the expansion mode. Parth said that they’re in a process of creating an alternative lending solution that can help people (who are unable to get credit from mainstream lenders) get credit. He quoted, “we are working to creating more efficient technology processes along with our lenders for the consumers to get a seamless experience.”

This Startup is disrupting the lending space by
providing free consumer services

Even in this age of jet travel and space tourism, highways hold an irresistible charm for travellers out to have an up, close and personal experience of the wide roads stretching ahead for miles, uninterrupted views of a breathtaking landscape, the occasional flyways and the not-so-familiar villages and towns rushing by. It’s even better than chugging along the countryside in a train. You can stop any time you want – to sample some chatpati chaat and a steaming cuppa of chai at a roadside dhaba; to talk to people; to take a dekko at local interests or simply laze an hour or two in shine or rain with the greens around you and the fresh smell of soil floating in the air. 
 
Now that our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Chugging-Up-7-Mesmerising-Mountain-Train-RidesIn-India/articleshow/24288850.cms">train series</a> is over (but we promise to bring you more as soon as new and exotic routes come up), we are back with a more exciting roadmap of <keyword id="168020" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="expressways">expressways</keyword> that criss-cross the entire country, connecting the four metros and many of the Tier I cities, and going much beyond the urban landscape. Infrastructure development in India has undergone a sea change over the past few years and the country currently boasts the <keyword id="2034191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Second-largest-road-network">second largest road network</keyword> in the world, with a road length of over 4,689,842 km, as per 2013 data from the <keyword id="6404450" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Road-Transport-and-Highways">Ministry of Road Transport and Highways</keyword>. 
 Starting from FY2012-13, the <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian government</keyword> will be also putting $17 billion over the next five years, being sourced through public-private partnership (<keyword id="6361580" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="PPP">PPP</keyword>) road projects. This will be used by the <keyword id="87432" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Highways-Authority-of-India">National Highways Authority of India</keyword> (<keyword id="49448" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="nhai">NHAI</keyword>) for the planned series of <keyword id="174913" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BOT">BOT</keyword> (build, operate and transfer) highways. In spite of several bottlenecks, the NHAI has set up impressive targets and aims to develop 20 km/day, in a bid to fast-track the country’s <keyword id="2034194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Road-network-expansion">road network expansion</keyword>. 
 As of July 2013, <keyword id="6373156" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Highways">national highways</keyword> account for 79,116 km, connecting all major cities and state capitals. Expressways, however, differ a bit in the sense they are controlled-access highways like the <keyword id="610047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="freeways">freeways</keyword> or <keyword id="1333990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="motorways">motorways</keyword> or autobahnen in the US and Europe, essentially designed for high-speed traffic. As of now, most of the expressways in India are 6-8 lane <keyword id="120837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="toll-roads">toll roads</keyword> and cover a total distance of nearly 1,208.19 km. India expects to add another 3,530 km of expressways by 2014 as projects under construction get completed. Another massive programme is also under way to expand the network and the Indian government plans to add an additional 18,637 km of expressways by 2022. 
 So are you ready to emerge on another breath-taking <keyword id="6374782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="journey">journey</keyword> with us, literally a journey of thousand miles and more? We will bring you the super expressways zone-wise – so that you know which route to choose when travelling North or South, East or West. And it will be a beautiful journey as art and cultural critic <keyword id="2034192" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dave-Hickey">Dave Hickey</keyword> so rightly said – Beauty is and always will be blue skies and open highway. 
 
Image: Wikimedia Commons

8 Super Expressways
In North India That Fulfil Your Need For Speed

Silicon Valley is coming. There are hundreds of start-ups with a lot of brains and money working on various alternatives to traditional banking. – Jamie Dimon 
 For a chief executive of one of the largest banks in the world to make the above statement, there must be something going on. In this piece, I would humbly attempt to give a perspective around the lending scenario in the <keyword id="2461546" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="FinTech">fintech</keyword> space, try to differentiate the noise from the substance, make a point as to how it will impact the common consumer and most importantly having worked for over a decade in the Indian Financial Services space try to evaluate what impact it will have on the overall industry. 
 
Banking is one of the oldest industries in the world, the first mortgage was actually issued in Britain in the 11th Century and from then it has seen its ups and downs, seen centuries of change, seen monarchs and world wars but banks have survived as institutions that customers trust and value closely. This has also been the reason why as a sector I believe it’s probably been the most resistant to disruption by technology. Banks have built robust large businesses with multiple barriers to entry: Omnipresent distribution through branches which have been part of all of us growing up, unique expertise such as credit underwriting underpinned both by data and judgment, the regulated environment in which they operate and the importance of the same to the overall economy, and of course the government backing in case something goes wrong. Moreover, consumer inertia in financial services is high. Consumers have generally been slow to change financial services providers. Particularly in developed markets, consumers have generally stayed loyal towards the established and ever present brands in banking and insurance. Even in the context of Independent India, the above holds true, initially with the presence of state run banks and then as the economy and the sector opened up, presence of private and MNC banks set up and run by top notch brains of the country which are household names and strong brands with high recall as we see and transact with them pretty much every day. 
 So with so much going in favour of banks and the importance of the sector per se, why this hullabaloo around Fintech and <keyword id="3384719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Alternative-Lending">Alternative Lending</keyword>. In the past couple of years, the start-up world, the venture capital industry and of late the media has been obsessed with the potential disruption that Fintech companies will cause, and how leveraging technology and new ideas the financial services sector will change right before our very eyes. Globally over 40 billion USD has been deployed in this sector over the last 5 years, and over 3000 companies across the world are part of this mash up, will this head somewhere significant or do we ask the same question people asked during the dot com boom( and subsequent bust)- Has the time for this come?. Well the answer maybe both Yes and No, let me try to elucidate the answers in greater detail below in the context of lending. 
 
The historical entry barriers which the banks have enjoyed over centuries are diminishing so while they continue to remain critical for the global economy, largely hold a monopoly on credit issuance and risk-taking; continue to hold deposits and wealth of most people in the world, be the gateways to the world’s largest payment systems; and continue to process the credit requirements of most corporate and consumers, some things have changed. Firstly, the global financial crisis had an extremely negative impact on the trust element that the banks carried, even in the current context in India we are seeing credibility of state run banks being questioned for the kind of loans given out and the losses it’s causing. It’s ultimately the tax payers money that gets put back in the system to recapitalize these behemoths and consumers have started asking why my money? Secondly, the ubiquity of mobile devices and consumer internet has begun to undercut the advantages of physical distribution that banks previously enjoyed, suddenly having thousands of branches spread across the country is no longer being seen as a huge differentiator, and going to physical branches for products is being seen as a chore. Thirdly, there has been a massive increase in the availability of widely accessible globally transparent data supplemented by the enormous digital footprints that we as consumers are leaving on the internet, this is especially significant if you couple it with a substantial decrease in the cost of computing power. Fourthly, and specially in context of India, the change in the demographics of the country, the consumers are younger, living in a “Uberised” world of instant gratification, and wanting to discover products and services sitting in the comfort of their homes rather than discovering them elsewhere and no longer wanting to wait for weeks for lending solutions which they see less as a favour from banks and more as a right. 
 
With the above parameters in play, alternative lending can be potentially a game changer for consumers and a scary thought for traditional lenders. They promise to give instant solutions to the problem of credit, cut down on mundane paperwork, be transparent in their offerings and are willing to give consumers a superlative customer experience, a significant upgrade from what is available from banks. There are multitudes of companies in this space creating proprietary algorithms which can potentially look at consumers differently, beyond just a three digit credit score trying to bring innovative ideas and products to the forefront. These alternative lending organisations are also attracting significant venture capital to potentially give them the muscle to take on some of the behemoths in this space. Alternative Lending is trying solve two major challenges with financial services, democratization and inclusion. Democratization is a critical point as even today there exists great information asymmetry leading to uninformed financial decisions and getting products pushed down to the consumers, the recommendation process by banks/financial intermediaries is skewed towards products and services which make more money for them rather than them being the best options for the customers, technology can potentially alter this completely by giving all customers completely transparent information and recommendation and put the power in the hands of the consumer. Inclusion is the other challenge in the financial services space where a large chunk of the population does not get access to financial products, technology advancements and using services like biometrics, Aadhar integrations, Jan Dhan Yojana etc of the government it can lead to a scenario where technology can help in delivery of these products to people who currently do not have access to them and create a scenario where more and more people are getting included in the credit mainstream of the country. These are really the big reasons why alternative lending could disrupt the lending landscape. 
 
The above context is mainly arguing why alternative lending is important and here to stay, however let me now try to highlight the challenges around this space and what needs to be overcome to really make this sector significant. The first major challenge that i see, is that too many of these start-ups( companies) are looking at solving only the credit underwriting problem using algorithms, machine learning and big data solutions, given that its critical to the lending piece, it’s not the be all and end all to the industry. What is unfortunately lacking is focus and understanding of all the pillars of the lending play, lending is as much about distribution, great products, strong brands, excellent sales and service staff, benchmarks around customer service and in collections( in the unforeseen event of the loan going delinquent) as its about credit underwriting. Too many people are making noise about credit underwriting, too little being said and most importantly done about the other pillars. One needs to keep in mind, that all of these pillars have to stand together if this industry has to thrive. The second challenge is the profile of the entrepreneur, there are too many technology enthusiasts looking at this as a technology play and too few business guys with strong banking and lending expertise who understand all facets of this space. Lending is one industry, where i feel experience is as important as a blue sky vision, credit typically goes in cycles, every 5-7 years, there is a phase of incremental credit growth, then comes the phase of high customer leverages, and then potentially losses on the books. Its people who have seen cycles in the past who can probably relate to this better, and ensure that the nuts and bolts are in place and tightened. Thirdly is the point of sky rocketing and often insane valuations of these companies, most of these start-ups want to be seen a technology companies and get valuation multiples of the same, cause they are higher and being a technology company is fancier. However the problem at hand here is not a technology problem, it’s a lending problem and while technology can enable faster and better decision making and a superior experience it cannot change the basics of what we are discussing here, and valuations of lending institutions and banks are seen differently to technology companies and substantially lower, in this context different incentives are at play which can be potentially dangerous to this space. Lastly, i want to discuss the point of regulations, banks being traditional institutions are heavily regulated, operationally and strategically, this is extremely critical as it leads to these institutions being very stable but at times also takes away from them the ability to innovate and the nimbleness to adapt. Fintech companies projecting their technological angle are mostly outside the regulations, however this scenario will change and change very quickly as these companies become bigger and more active. This brings us to a more fundamental point, are these companies ready to work in a box of regulations, and how well do the regulators understand these companies and what’s the real risk here being talked about. As the latest paper on P2P guidelines by the RBI has proven, there is more grey here than black and white and the way the regulatory play pans out may actually be the defining moment for these companies and specially in the aftermath of latest reports around leading alternate lenders globally coming under scrutiny from all sides, things can change really quickly. 
 
At the end, one can only hope as an optimist that the alternate lending industry is quickly able to imbibe what’s good about traditional banking players, couple that with the advantages that they naturally possess, see value in working with the existing ecosystem to further improve and enhance the same and most importantly understand that great institutions are not built overnight and with great underwriting models but by taking into account everything that’s important including the people who will roll up their sleeves to work on and run these organisations in the future, and not get caught up only by the cosmetic, so called fancy aspects of disruption which they enjoy talking about, as sometimes you run the biggest danger of actually starting to believe everything you say whether you mean it or not and the fintech’s with media backing them sure seem to be saying a lot. 
 
The author is the co-founder of Finance Buddha, a Fintech start-up, which is into retail lending products. 
 
About the Author: Parth Pande is the co-founder of Finance Buddha 
 
<a href="http://iknowwe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/alternative-lending.jpg">Image source</a>

How powerful is Alternative Lending, and will it slay the lending paradigms of traditional banks

The <keyword id="19949639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rupee" source="keywords">rupee</keyword> appreciated by 12 paise to 83.17 against the <keyword id="19949640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-dollar" source="keywords">US dollar</keyword> on Friday, tracking a bullish trend in domestic equities, wherein benchmark indices scaled new peaks. Forex traders attributed the rally to Rs 2.11 lakh crore record dividend by the RBI to the government for the fiscal ended March 31. It was more than double the budgeted expectation, helping shore up revenue ahead of a new government taking office. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.26 and gained further ground to trade at 83.17 against the greenback, registering a gain of 12 paise from its previous closing level. The <keyword id="21021209" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="forex-market" source="keywords">forex market</keyword> was closed on Thursday on account of 'Buddha Purnima'. On Wednesday, the rupee appreciated by 2 paise to settle at 83.29 against the US dollar. After a trading holiday on Thursday, the <keyword id="20045514" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-rupee" source="keywords">Indian rupee</keyword> was on a strong footing following a big transfer of Rs 2.11 lakh crore in the form of dividend from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Union government, which would improve not only government finances but also allow leverage to spend more on infrastructure, said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 105.11, higher by 0.01 per cent. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.05 per cent to USD 81.40 per barrel. "The overall outlook for the rupee appears strongly positive, with the Nifty 50 reaching an all-time high. These factors indicate that India remains a focal point for investors, with potential for the rupee to appreciate. "In the short term, the rupee is expected to approach levels of 83.00 to 83.10, while the medium-term target is projected to range between 82.80 and 82.50," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said. On the domestic equity market, both the benchmark indices scaled new peaks. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 51.21 points, or 0.07 per cent higher at 75,469.25 points. The broader NSE Nifty breached the 23,000 level in initial trade. Moreover, the market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE surpassed USD 5 trillion (Rs 416.57 trillion) on Thursday on a day when the Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 22,993.60. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,670.95 crore, according to exchange data. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/poco-f6-with-snapdraon-8s-gen-3-chipset-launched-starting-at-29999/articleshow/110367623.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/poco-f6-with-snapdraon-8s-gen-3-chipset-launched-starting-at-29999/articleshow/110367623.cms" target="_blank">Poco F6 with Snapdraon 8s Gen 3 chipset launched starting at ₹29,999</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/realme-gt-6t-vs-motorola-edge-50-pro-price-specs-and-features-compared/slidelist/110366047.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/realme-gt-6t-vs-motorola-edge-50-pro-price-specs-and-features-compared/slidelist/110366047.cms" target="_blank">Realme GT 6T vs Motorola Edge 50 Pro – price, specs and features compared</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/sunrisers-hyderabad-and-rajasthan-royals-compete-for-the-ipl-finals-spot-on-may-24/slidelist/110362880.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/sunrisers-hyderabad-and-rajasthan-royals-compete-for-the-ipl-finals-spot-on-may-24/slidelist/110362880.cms" target="_blank">Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals compete for the IPL finals spot on May 24</a>

Rupee rises 12 paise to 83.17 against US dollar in early trade

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Afghanistan is selling tickets to the ruins of recently-destroyed monuments, the Washington Post reported. </li><li>The Taliban demolished 1,500-year-old Buddha in 2001 in a purge of non-Islamic art.</li></ul>The Taliban are selling tickets to vist the site of ancient monuments they themselves blasted to pieces in an attempt to boost Afghanistan's flagging economy, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/15/afghan-buddhas-taliban-bamian/?utm_source=reddit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post reported</a>. Tickets to see the cavernous remains of the Bamiyan Buddhas, in the Hazarajat region, are sold to locals for 57 cents and $3.45 to foreigners, the paper reported. It appears out of character from the militant political movement that, to the horror of the international community, blasted away the 1,500-year-old Buddhist reliefs, leaving little more than their niches hewn out of the mountain. Over a period of days in March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the two statues, using anti-tank mines, anti-aircraft guns, artillery and systematically placed explosives to reduce them to vacant holes in the rock, <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/07/dispatch-from-afghanistan-rebuilding-the-bamiyan-buddhas.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Slate reported</a>.Later that year the US invasion ousted the Taliban from power and occupied the country until 2021, when American troops withdrew and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-victory-in-afghanistan-interim-government-planned-reports-2021-8">the Taliban regained control</a>.<div type="image" title="Side-by-side images show one of the Bamiyan Buddhas — a massive stature carved into a niche in the rock — in 1997, and a view of one of them, a featureless mound of rock, midway-through demolition in 2001." height="1500" width="2000" msid="101045348" hostid="261"></div>The international outcry in 2001 was almost universal, with even friendly countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia expressing their alarm, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071224155700/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/03/03/afghan.buddhas.03/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as CNN reported at the time</a>.The Buddhas had stood there, 175 and 120 feet high, since 600 AD, and had been a major tourist attraction. But political instability that decade and the rise of the Taliban put the monuments, along with much of the country's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/afghanistan-is-beautiful-photos-2017-12?r=US&amp;IR=T">wealth of cultural heritage</a>, in danger.Some tourism to Bamiyan continued even after the Buddha's destruction. In 2022, some 200,000 tourists visited, local official Saifurrahman Mohammadi told The Post. Most were Afghan, he said.Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, the country's finances have plummeted, causing what a UN official called "an economic contraction that we've never seen before, ever," <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/465d3d35-af55-49c7-a9b8-0395550d9cdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as the Financial Times reported</a>.But some Afghan officials believe that sites like Bamiyan still have potential to bring in significant tourist money, despite the loss of the Buddhas. Mohammedi is planning a souvenir market nearby, The Washington Post reported. He told the paper he believes that with investment, it "could become a significant source of income."

Afghanistan's Taliban needs money so badly they are selling tickets to monuments their own fighters smashed to pieces: report

Mumbai, May 7 () Equity indices ended lower after range-bound trade on Thursday as risk-off mood took hold amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the country. Strong selling in banking, financials and consumption stocks weighed on the benchmarks, despite positive global cues, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 242.37 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 31,443.38. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 71.85 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 9,199.05. ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slumping 4.54 per cent, followed by NTPC, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan and Bajaj Auto. Index heavyweights HDFC Bank and HDFC slipped up to 2.26 per cent, accounting for most of the benchmark's losses. Only five Sensex constituents finished in the green -- IndusInd Bank, M&amp;M, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and Tech Mahindra, spurting up to 6.58 per cent. "Markets traded dull and settled with a cut of over half a per cent amid mixed cues. In line with the benchmark, it was a muted session on the sectoral front too and the majority ended in the red. However, movement on the stock-specific kept the participants busy. "The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and the unending wait of the stimulus package has started taking a toll on the investors' sentiment. Besides, subdued earnings announcements are adding to the worries," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd. Meanwhile, GSK sold its 5.7 per cent stake in FMCG major HUL for around Rs 25,480 crore -- reportedly the largest secondary trade on Indian stock exchanges. Sectorally, BSE power, utilities, consumer durables, telecom, capital goods, FMCG and finance indices shed up to 2.47 per cent, while the energy index closed with gains. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 0.53 per cent. World equities were buoyed by stronger-than-expected Chinese exports data, though the coronavirus pandemic and US-China tensions remained an overhang. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended in the red, while Seoul closed with gains. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading higher in early deals. International oil benchmark Brent crude futures rallied 4.98 per cent to USD 31.20 per barrel. The forex market in India was shut on account of 'Buddha Purnima'. The number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 52,952, while the death toll rose to 1,783, according to the health ministry. Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 37.55 lakh and the death toll has topped 2.63 lakh. ANS ABMABM

Benchmarks resume slide as virus cases spurt; banks top drag

A study conducted by <keyword id="1125471" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Mortgage-Guarantee-Corporation">India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation</keyword> (IMGC)-Kantar IMRB revealed <keyword id="25903" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indians">Indians</keyword> have to pay too much housing loan interests, which makes them reluctant to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Home-Buyers-May-Soon-Get-90-Loan-In-India/articleshow/33163130.cms">take loans</a> and dig into their savings in order to own a house. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Home-buyers-fighting-fraud-builders-in-courts/articleshow/50575376.cms">Home buyers are now fighting fraud builders head-on</a> 
 
The study also showed that people in the age bracket of 25 to 44 years in smaller towns are much more interested in affordable housing as compared to their counterparts in metros and mini-metros. 
 
"Housing sector is poised for a higher growth, especially in affordable housing segment by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Stagnant-property-prices-cheer-home-buyers-become-headache-for-investors/articleshow/52201283.cms">Housing-for-all</a> by 2022 Mission and infrastructure status accorded by government, apart from various other measures," said Sriram Kalyanraman, MD&amp;CEO, <keyword id="152130" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Housing-Bank">National Housing Bank</keyword>. 
 
Out of the people surveyed, around 38% said that interest rates on housing loans are too high, while an equal number of respondents said that they don’t own a house owing to low savings and hesitation in taking loans. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/economy/tax-collections-will-exceed-rs-17-lakh-crore-despite-demonetisation-arun-jaitley/articleshow/57773980.cms">Tax collections will exceed Rs 17 lakh crore, despite demonetisation: Arun Jaitley</a> 
 
Other than these, factors like higher property rates (32%) and insufficient loan availability (32%) too contribute in discouraging home buying plans. 
 
Talking of the effects of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/post-demonetisation-debit-cards-have-replaced-credit-cards-in-the-market/articleshow/57850201.cms">demonetisation</a>, Kalyan said that because of alternative currency going out, property rates have fallen. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/the-fate-of-note-ban-helpline-depends-on-one-call-from-the-government/articleshow/57935324.cms">The fate of note ban helpline depends on one call from the government</a> 
 
The survey, which was conducted in two phases, had a sample size of about 4,100 respondents from metros, mini metros and towns combined. The respondents, divided into 25-34, 35-44 and 45-55 years age groups, either had home loans or had applied for the same. 
 
(Image source: Finance Buddha)

Indians pay too much interest on home loans, reveals study

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea Group</div></div></div>There are two eras in modern New York City dining and nightlife - BC (before crisis), and AC (after crisis).The "crisis", naturally, refers to the financial crisis. The one that sucked money and life from the city just as it did the entire world.Before the crisis, Wall Street enjoyed itself brashly and boldly, unapologetically spending more on a bottle of liquor than a layman might spend on a month's rent. This was normal. So were lavish dinners at loud restaurants with 20-foot Buddha statues in the center. It was all normal.But now it's not.In the after crisis era, Wall Street has become more conscious of how it is viewed by the outside world. After-crisis era dinners are quieter. There is less flash, less performance, less bottle service, less everything.That isn't to say that Wall Street no longer entertains luxuriously. It's just that the type of luxury has changed.In the era of relative understatement, one group of restaurants co-owned by a celebrity chef and former master of the universe has become to go-to for Wall Street's elite: Altamarea Group.On any given day for lunch or dinner at Altamarea's flagship Italian restaurant on Central Park South, Marea, hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb will entertain guests in the private room.Pershing Square's Bill Ackman will avoid billionaire frenemy Carl Icahn of Icahn Associates. Film and music industry mogul David Geffen will have his corner table.There will be deal closings, and client meetings, and birthday celebrations. There will be Goldman Sachs' COO Gary Cohn and CEO Lloyd Blankfein. None of it will appear in the New York Post's gossip column.This arrangement was put together, in part, by a man who walked away from Wall Street just before it was brought to its knees.Ahmass Fakahany was the president of Merrill Lynch until February of 2007, just before the world was about to implode. He, along with chef Michael White, own all of Altamarea Group - a rare situation in an industry where dozens of investors can own slivers of this place and that.They started it right when everything was burning down too. Marea opened in 2009."I thought, you do something clean and honest and not too pretentious and it will work," Fakahany told Business Insider over lunch at another Altamarea property, Ai Fiore in the Langham Hotel.It was, he said, "a gut-wrenching" gamble, he said. "It was a bet on New Yorkers."<h3>Ante Up</h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea GroupAhmass Fakhany</div></div></div>This fall, Fakahany and White will take on their biggest bet yet. They're opening their biggest restaurant yet, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/dining/vaucluse-moves-in-on-the-upper-east-side.html">Vaucluse</a>, on Friday August 28 in the Upper East Side space once occupied by Park Avenue Summer (or Winter, or Fall, or Spring).It is the first opening of New York City's busy fall restaurant opening season, and it has set the city's restaurant scene abuzz. Here's why: If you've never heard of Park Avenue, you should know that it was largely dependent on excellent theater.Every season the menu, interior and exterior of what came to be something of an iconic restaurant would change. It was an expensive, high drama concept from a bygone (BC) era.What Fakahany and White are creating in the space promises to be something very different. It that reflects New York's after-crisis period of elegant, simple dining with special attention on each and every client.<h3>Before crisis</h3>Ahmass Fakahany was born in Egypt, raised in London and Switzerland, and worked at Merrill Lynch offices all over the world. Throughout that time, though, he always wanted to be in the hospitality business. He never shook that.Fakahany was the man who started the Merrill Lynch wine collection. He was the one who set the standard for entertaining and dining and drinking at the bank's board meetings and client dinners. This is an important role. On Wall Street, cues about everything - dressing, dining, even speaking - are given from on-high. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea GroupChef Michael White</div></div></div>Fakahany met his soon-to-be business partner Chef Michael White over a decade ago at Fiamma, a Soho restaurant inside a three story townhouse that is now occupied by <a href="http://www.costatanyc.com/">Altamarea's steakhouse, Costata.</a>During the BC era, Wall Street banks and hedge funds would entertain clients in the private room on the third floor. It is there that Fakahany realized Michael White was the kind of man he wanted to go into business with."He is a business junky, he just wanted to know about the markets," Fakahany said of White. So when White said he wanted to start a restaurant in New Jersey, and that he had collected a group of investors to make his dream a reality, Fakahany said he would contribute on the condition that White return the money he had raised. Fakahany didn't want partners. And after a while, he didn't want to be a master of the universe either."You're never bored on Wall Street, but when you make it to the very top you become everyone's therapist," Fakahany said.During the tumultuous time before the crisis, Fakahany was known for being a sounding board - the kind of person who got along with everyone. He had always been a mentor to junior bankers, and what was about to happen to Wall Street was enough to make everyone feel small.So he left.<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea GroupCostata's 44 oz Tomahawk Ribeye</div></div></div>Ahmass' Army</h3>Altamarea Group now includes 16 restaurants across the world. Some are high-end like Costata, the sumptuous steakhouse in the heart of one of New York City's most glamourous neighborhoods. Others are casual, like Niccoletta, a spot for jeans and pizza and a mid-priced glass of red wine.For the most part, the people who make up Altamarea Group are young. Arthur Li, the group's CFO, is a recovering Wall Streeter in his early 30s. He was at JP Morgan when it bought Bear Sterns . "It was just blood shed everywhere," he said.Then he took a job at private equity firm Wasserstein &amp; Co. None of it ever made him totally happy. So in 2011 he took a 70% pay cut to join Altamarea a year after reading a story about the group. It was Fakahany's journey in to the hospitality business that caught his eye."My struggle before I read the article was that no one would understand why I would leave my cushy private equity job for a small restaurant group."I thought: 'This guy is just like me.'"It's likely that Fakahany thought the same thing. After Li submitted his resume and cover letter, Fakahany called him personally. After several interview rounds Li got the job in the fall of 2010, but Fakahany wouldn't let him take it until he got his bonus from Wasserstein.Fakahany was, after all, about to start Li as a bookkeeper at Ristoranti Morini in downtown Manhattan."I was making less than I made when I graduated from college," Li said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea GroupMarea's Octopus and Bone Marrow Fusilli</div></div></div>But it was worth it. What Fakahany promised Li - and what he promises his young staff in general - is that Altamarea will be run like an organized, professional business.Staff are given performance bonuses, reports are turned in to Wells Fargo - the group's sole bank - clean and on time. This is rare in the restaurant industry, where egos are big and budgeting is sometimes an after-thought. "The James Gorman's, Jamie Dimon's... he's like all these titans in finance," Li said of Fakahany, "but he's so entrepreneurial and laid back."Fakahany emphasizes what he calls the "back of house" - the number-crunchers and model-makers who precisely calculate the cost of every luxury his restaurants may have.If that sounds Wall Street, it's because it is. Recession be damned. Altamarea has grown <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/business/ahmass-fakahany-from-merrill-lynch-to-restaurants.html">its annual revenue from $3 million to over $50 million</a> since 2008.Li is proud that his boss may ask him: "How do we maximize our valuation?" He's proud of how well Altamarea took advantage of the bottoming out of New York's real estate during the crisis.And if you talk to him, he still sounds a bit like a Wall Streeter."We like animals," Li said of himself and Fakahany. "We like people who are relentless, but into the vision."<h3>The vision</h3>It was Fakahany and White's vision that drew Wall Street to Marea quickly after its opening. Early diners included investors and bankers like Lyor Cohen, Noam Gottesman, and David Solomon. They went for three things - killer Italian food, excellent service, and discretion."Keeping ahead of scandals is very important," said Rocky Cirino, a "senior leader" at Altamarea Group. That title means he is a manager of managers, and he's been with Altamarea since 2008. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea GroupThe dining room at Marea</div></div></div>Cirino is perfectly suited for the Altamarea vision. He is well-read and hard to read. He describes himself as a politician in a different kind of blood sport. The perfect man to keep a secret or deftly and quietly de-escalate a scene. Clients having sex in the bathroom - he has seen it. Smoking marijuana - he has seen it. A Marea client somehow producing a dildo and throwing it across a room. He has seen that too."They can disrespect me, but it's really about how they treat my staff," said Cirino.And of course, the kind of ruckus they make in the dining room matters too.We we had to ask if the dildo-thrower was asked to leave Marea."No," Cirino said. "They were in a private room."<h3>Their biggest joint yet</h3>Vaucluse is a bit of a deviation from the norm. It is the remodel of an iconic NYC restaurant house in the biggest space Altamarea has taken on yet.Li admits that he's feeling the pressure. Instead of White's famous Italian fare, the menu is French. Wall Street regulars are waiting expectantly."Well, he's certainly mastered Italian, so I'm anxious to see what Michael can do with French cuisine," said Jim Chanos, founder of short-biased hedge fund Kynikos Associates. "Besides, it's on the Upper East Side, where I live, so I'm guessing there will be an 'Early-Bird Special.' "Chanos has known White since the Fiamma days. He was another one of the guys having dinner on the third floor.Those less familiar with White and Altamarea Group have high expectations as well. The Vaucluse space is very different from its previous iteration. The colors are simpler, and the space seems more open. Neighborhood residents have already started poking their heads in to see what changes have been made<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Altamarea Group"If a hamburger up the street is priced at $28, we'll have it at $24," Fakahamy told us. This is the White Label burger at Vaucluse.</div></div></div>"I think people are going to be shocked when they walk in," said Jonna Gerlich, head of client events at Altamarea."They're going to be looking for things that aren't there."On Wednesday an elderly couple, casually but elegantly dressed, opened the Vaucluse door and stepped in to check out the menu. There they found Cirino, overseeing the finishing touches on the interior and preparing for a private dinner that evening."I'm in the neighborhood," said the woman.He name was Helen and said Park Avenue had been tired and that it was time for a change. She liked the color scheme and assured Cirino that Vaucluse would be excellent as her fedora-wearing husband exchanged his sunglasses for reading glasses to check out the menu."We hope to be excellent," Cirino responded.He had to be understated about it. Very on-vision. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aerial-video-explosion-blast-site-tianjin-china-2015-8">New aerial footage shows aftermath of explosion in China</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tkdzUxdzqidr5j3bDhTKNZS1v2q3Z4nZ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "Finance Buddha" and got 8 results

This Startup is disrupting the lending space by providing free consumer services

Gaurav Sangwani

8 Super Expressways In North India That Fulfil Your Need For Speed

Sanghamitra Mandal

How powerful is Alternative Lending, and will it slay the lending paradigms of traditional banks

Guest Author

Rupee rises 12 paise to 83.17 against US dollar in early trade

PTI

Afghanistan's Taliban needs money so badly they are selling tickets to monuments their own fighters smashed to pieces: report

Mia Jankowicz

Benchmarks resume slide as virus cases spurt; banks top drag

PTI

Indians pay too much interest on home loans, reveals study

BI India Bureau

An ex-Merrill Lynch exec has transformed New York's power dining scene

Linette Lopez

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides