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

Every year, India’s bad loan problem scales new heights. The recently concluded financial year was no different. The country’s <keyword id="6368751" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="banks">banks</keyword> wrote off ₹1.44 trillion (US $21.2 billion) worth of unrecoverable loans in the year that ended March 2018, according to figures from The Indian Express. To put things into perspective, this is <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/country/maldives">five times the GDP</a> of Maldives. The figure represents a significant jump from 2016-17 and 2015-16, when the banking sector wrote off ₹890.5 billion and ₹712.5 billion worth of loans, respectively. Unfortunately, most of this money belongs to taxpayers. Since 2009, India’s banks have completed a staggering ₹4.8 trillion worth of <keyword id="2838701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="write-offs">write-offs</keyword>, more than 80% of which were written off by public sector banks. India’s state-owned banks wrote off ₹1.2 trillion the loans in 2017-18, led by the State Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank, and their bottom-line results reflected this. The losses recorded by state-owned banks last year totalled <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/total-net-loss-of-public-sector-banks-topped-rs-87000-crore-in-fy18/articleshow/64527973.cms">₹874 billion</a>. Concurrently, the overall amount of non-performing loans in the Indian banking sector rose by over 25% to ₹10.3 trillion as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) became stricter about the classification of <keyword id="142154" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="bad-loans">bad loans</keyword> and India’s new bankruptcy regime took flight. A matter of accounting The first step to tackling a problem is the recognition of it. Once a loan is written off, it no longer counts as a non-performing asset, so this can also be viewed as a reduction in bad loans, from an accounting standpoint. These figures indicate that more loans are being defaulted on, but also that banks are becoming more realistic about clearing their balance sheets. Rather than holding on to the hope that a loan can be recovered, it makes sense to write it off and avail the benefit of a lower taxable income. By the looks of it, however, the bad loan problem will continue to get worse in the near term before getting better. The RBI will continue to push banks to recognise stressed accounts as non-performing loans without any delays and set provisions aside for them accordingly. This will cause short-term pain but it will be a good move in the long term. In a positive sign, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (ISBC) has proved to be a minor success since it came into being last year. Out of the 12 cases slated for resolution under the code, only one - Bhushan Steel - has been resolved so far. However, a few more are expected to be resolved this year, which will ease the burden on India’s banks.

India's bad loan problem continues to break records

New Delhi, Dec 5 () Indian banks are likely to take significantly more loan write-offs to reduce bad loans against a backdrop of rising provisions and weak recovery prospects, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
 The state-owned banks account for around 90 per cent of impaired loan stock, and have cumulatively written off nearly USD 30 billion in bad loans in the past three years.
 "Indian banks' performance for the first half of the financial year ending March 2020 (1HFY20) was characterised by overall weaker loan growth (compared with FY19) and slow resolution of legacy impaired loans," Fitch said in a report.
 However, the sector's overall profitability turned positive for the first time since 2017-18 due to downward-trending credit costs, it said adding that state-owned banks reported losses, albeit smaller than previously.
 "Resolution delays coupled with rising provision cover on large legacy bad loans (nearing 90 per cent) could mean that loan write-offs will continue to be high for Indian banks, particularly state-owned banks," it said. "Write-offs exceeded recoveries and upgrades for nine out of 14 state banks reviewed in 1HFY20, while it was the reverse for private banks."
 Loan growth fell to 9 per cent from 11 per cent in 2018-19, Fitch said adding that its expects overall loan growth to remain muted, with banks maintaining their cautionary stance against a backdrop of continued liquidity stress for the real estate and NBFC sectors and a slowing economy.
 "Retail loan growth has been robust thus far, but banks could turn cautious if economic fundamentals continue to deteriorate," it said.
 Fitch said it believes that the government could allow a one-off restructuring of real-estate loans -- given the sector's severe challenges and the rising risk of defaults.
 Large property defaults could result in losses for direct NBFC creditors, which in turn may pose contagion risks for the broader sector, testing system-wide liquidity, it said.
 A recent report by property consultants JLL estimated potential stressed developer loans to be around USD 65 billion.
 Fitch said the sector impaired-loan ratio (9.9 per cent) remained broadly stable accompanied by an improving provision cover ratio, thanks to ageing provisions against unresolved bad loans.
 Credit costs for the sector came down further from 3.2 per cent of loans at 2018-19 to 2.1 per cent by the first half of 2019-20, but income buffers of state-owned banks remain weak relative to credit costs (2.6 per cent).
 State-owned banks' average impaired-loans ratio was well above the sector at 12.1 per cent, compared with 3.7 per cent for private banks.
 "The banks will take substantially more write-offs in an effort to reduce bad loans as India's new non-performing loan (NPL) recovery framework has struggled to deliver on its promise of timely resolution, leaving banks to grapple with weak recoveries and ageing provisions," the rating agency said.
 Slower generation of new impaired loans has led to downward-trending credit costs, resulting in profitability turning positive in the first half of 2019-20, albeit still very weak and with state-owned banks continuing to make a loss, it said adding further asset-quality challenges could test the resilience of this recovery, particularly for state-owned banks where both income and capital buffers remain weak. ANZ HRS

Fitch Ratings says Indian banks to write off more loans

Tax write-offs small-business owners shouldn't forget

<ul><li><keyword id="43853" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-military">Indian military</keyword> has decided to write-off the military farm’s special high-yielding milch cows that cost one lakh rupees, each. </li><li>These cows produce almost double of the national average yield of milk. </li><li>To cut down on expenses, 39 military farms are being shut down. </li></ul>In an attempt to cut down on expenses, the Indian military has decided to write off special <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/no-cash-cow-army-to-sell-bovines-for-token-amount/articleshow/64819204.cms">high-yielding milch cows</a> from their farms for a few thousand rupees. About 39 military farms are being shut down in this exercise and the cows are expected to be transferred to the Centre, state departments and dairy cooperatives. These special <keyword id="6670496" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Frieswal">Frieswal</keyword> cows are developed by cross-breeding Dutch Holstein-Friesian cattle with native Sahiwal cattle and they produce the double of what the national average yield of milk is. Each of these specially-bed cows cost about ₹100,000, however, they will be transferred at a ‘uniform nominal price’ of about ₹1,000 each and that too only if the receiving entities are ready to incur the cost of transportation of these animals. Orders for shutting down of the military farms were issued in late <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bovine-blues-army-to-give-away-25-200-head-of-cattle-to-icar-state-govts/story-zyyBAsWOJwnFdN4FxvNiVP.html">August 2017</a> with an implementation deadline of three months. However, since the military was unable to find any buyers for these 25,200 cows, the farms could not be closed. The write-off order issued this June is an attempt to do away with the cows after the impasse. The idea of selling the cattle to individual farmers came with the fear that the farmers might end up slaughtering them if they are unable to afford their expensive maintenance. To avoid the grim and wasteful situation, the military chose to transfer the cattle to government departments. The military farms were raised in 1889 to provide fresh milk and dairy products to the troops. However, they have been able to yield only 210 million litres of milk, accounting for just 14% of the total requirement. The rest 86% of the requirement is met by the local dairies. Therefore, a defence ministry panel had recommended shutting down of military farms across the nation and the military is now planning to follow their advice. About seven farms have already been closed and those in Meerut, Ambala, Srinagar, Jhansi and Lucknow are also expected to shut down soon. This decision will save a lot of money, cadre and land and would free up to 57,000 troops from non-combat duties, 20,000 acres of land and about ₹3.34 billion that was allotted to the dairies in the last budget. The resources are expected to be used for other productive military purposes.

Indian military to write-off cows worth lakhs for a few thousand rupees

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>Microsoft could take a massive write-off to the tune of $5.46 billion on its acquisition of Nokia assets as soon as July of this year, according to some industry watchers.The speculation starts with some language from Microsoft's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-earnings-q3-fy2015-2015-4">quarterly earnings statement</a> from last week, <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2914994/it-industry/microsoft-hints-at-impending-write-off-of-nokia-acquisition-that-could-total-billions.html">as Computerworld reports</a>.Basically, Microsoft's Phone Hardware division - which mostly consists of the assets it bought from Nokia in 2013 for about $7.9 billion - was spending so much money on sales of Windows Phone hardware that it actually lost around twelve cents per device sold.That's before you even factor in all the other costs of doing business, like marketing. In other words, it spent $1.8 billion to sell $1.4 billion of phones. Even with the overall number of phones sold going up, it's not a great way to run a business, and Microsoft is warning investors that change is coming."Declines in expected future cash flows, reduction in future unit volume growth rates, or an increase in the risk-adjusted discount rate used to estimate the fair value of the Phone Hardware reporting unit may result in a determination that an impairment adjustment is required, resulting in a potentially material charge to earnings," Microsoft said in its report. This is a fancy way of saying that Microsoft seems to think that the Nokia acquisition isn't worth the $5.46 billion value it's been reporting to shareholders. It's possible that Microsoft will only write off part of that $5.46 billion. But the last time Microsoft used language like this in an earnings report was back in 2012, three months before it took a $6.2 billion charge to its bottom line for its aQuantive acquisition. That was basically the entire value of aQuantive, which it bought in 2007. "A very, very big write-off -- and associated quarterly loss -- is coming soon. What a disaster," wrote industry analyst Ben Thompson <a href="http://stratechery.com/2015/daily-update-amazon-microsoft-and-google-earnings/">on his blog.</a> (Subscription required.)Computerworld reports that the company usually does these calculations around May - toward the end of its fiscal year, which is June 30 - so this write-off could happen as early as July of this year.Microsoft's Phone Hardware division can't seem to catch a break.The Nokia acquisition was ex-CEO Steve Ballmer's final big deal for Microsoft, and new CEO Satya Nadella has repeatedly deemphasized Microsoft's hardware business as he attempts to refocus the company around software and services. And last year, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nokia-doubles-down-on-the-lumia-phone-after-announcing-mass-layoffs-2012-6">Microsoft laid off about half the employees it acquired via Nokia</a>. On the other hand, Microsoft hasn't abandoned making phones entirely, as it continues to market its Lumia line as a low-cost alternative to pricey Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices to some success - something that wouldn't have been possible without this acquisition. Still, it's a struggling business for Microsoft. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-holographic-computer-action-windows-2015-1">Watch Microsoft's Insane Holographic Computer In Action</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c1bWJ3cjpLBQm9lGnxAV9j0_ofuJYnQ5" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Microsoft hints it may take a huge write-off for Nokia soon

<div style="padding: 15px; border: 1px solid #999999; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px!important; line-height: 25px; overflow: auto; vertical-align: middle;">This is part of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/checking-in">"Checking In"</a> series, which offers expert tips, tricks, and advice for savvy business travelers. "<keyword id="1742571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Checking-In">Checking In</keyword>" is sponsored by Four Points. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/checking-in">Read more posts in the series »</a></div><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michalo/2094505702/">Flickr/michalo</a></div></div>Taking an extended trip away from the office is often a necessary step in getting your business to the next level, but doing so can get expensive. 
That's where expense reports come in. 
"For traveling business people, not going overboard is really good advice," says Pauline Frommer, who travels often in her role as publisher of <a href="http://www.frommers.com/">Frommers.com</a>. "There's nothing more embarrassing than turning in an expense report with the wrong information." 
The key is to know your company's expense policies, since they differ from business to business. But for <keyword id="6380337" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="expenses">expenses</keyword> that may not be entirely covered by your company, it helps to be familiar with <a href="http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc511.html">IRS tax code</a>. Most business <keyword id="6354692" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword>ers know that they can write off their flights, hotels, and meals as necessary travel expenditures. 
Here are some things you might not have known were tax-deductible: 
<ol>
<li>
Dry cleaning: Sometimes trips last longer than expected. <a href="http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc511.html">According to the IRS</a>, expenses for dry cleaning and laundry are tax-deductible as a business cost, so there's no excuse for not looking presentable at meetings when you're traveling. 
</li>
<li>
Calls and other forms of communication: It may be obvious to charge long-distance calls to your expense account, but you may not know that faxes and Internet connection fees could also be deducted. 
</li>
<li>
Convention travel (even on cruise ships): Travel for workshops, conferences, and seminars are deductible if you can prove that it has a direct business purpose. You can even attend <a href="http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/tax-info/fed-taxes/deducting-business-related-travel-expenses.aspx">a convention on a cruise ship</a> if it takes place on a U.S.-registered vessel that doesn't make any stops outside of the country. 
</li>
<li>
Shipping work material: If you're <a href="http://smallbusiness.chron.com/shipping-charges-business-tax-deductible-14331.html">traveling for a trade show</a> and need to display your products to potential buyers, you can get a tax deduction for the cost of shipping your materials to your destination ahead of time.
</li>
<li>
Stenographer fees: If, for example, you'll need to hire a stenographer to transcribe legal documents or keep official records of shareholder votes, you can write off any associated fees as travel expenses. 
</li>
<li>
Computer rental: Things happen, and you may need to rent a computer in a hurry. Computer rental services like services like <a href="http://www.rentacomputer.com/press/2007/09/why-lease-computer-and-av-equipment">Rentacomputer.com</a> or <a href="http://www.rushcomputer.com/solutions_events.aspx">Rushcomputer.com</a> will take care of it, and you can write off the cost. 
</li>
<li>
<keyword id="52765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="business-travel">Business travel</keyword> by RV: If you can prove that traveling by RV is ordinary and necessary for your business, any expenses associated with <a href="http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc511.html">maintaining and owning a house trailer</a> are tax-deductible. 
</li>
</ol>
 
 
 
 
 
 
Keeping track of expenses incurred on your trip is essential to getting reimbursed by your company. Apps like XpenseTracker, Expensify, or Mileage Tracker can help keep you in check and make sure you're not charging anything that goes beyond tax code or your company's policies.

7 Business Travel Expenses You Never Knew You Could Write Off

Mumbai, May 6 () Yes Bank on Wednesday reported a net profit of Rs 2,629 crore for the March quarter, helped by a massive gain of over Rs 6,200-crore arising out of a controversial write-off of bond investors' investment. If the one-off gain is excluded, then the bank, which was bailed out by a consortium-led by SBI in March, has a loss of Rs 3,668 crore in the latest quarter under review. The private sector lender had a loss of Rs 18,560 crore loss in the December quarter while the loss was at Rs 1,506 crore in the March 2019 quarter. The one-time gain is from the write off of Additional Tier-I bondholders' Rs 8,419 crore investment, according to a release. For the fiscal year 2019-20, Yes Bank reported a loss of Rs 16,481 crore, It had a profit of Rs 1,720 crore in the year-ago period. As part of the the bailout process, the AT-1 bond holders' investment was written-off citing existing rules which gave the new management of the bank a huge breather to get the operations out of the restrictions imposed by RBI and the government on March 5, and start functioning normally. The bank, which is now headed by SBI's former CFO Prshant Kumar, showed a marginal improvement in the gross non-performing assets ratio at 16.80 per cent in the March quarter as against 18.87 per cent in the three months ended December 2019. Its overall provisions came at Rs 4,832 crore and the money set aside for NPAs came down to Rs 1,100 crore in the latest March quarter. In the three months ended December 2019, the lender had NPA provisioning of Rs 22,328 crore. Net advances declined 29 per cent to Rs 1.71 lakh crore in the latest quarter under review compared to March 2019 quarter and nearly 8 per cent as against December 2019 quarter. Deposits at Yes Bank more than halved in the three months ended March compared to the year-ago period. The core net interest income rose 19.6 per cent sequentially to Rs 1,274 crore in the March quarter. Non-interest income grew 12.3 per cent to Rs 597 crore in the three months ended March compared to the same period a year ago, the release said. The bank said its strategic focus area of retail has shown resilience despite the lockdown and was one of the key contributors to the business performance during the March quarter. The overall capital adequacy of the bank stood at 8.5 per cent as of March 31 with the core Tier-I at 6.3 per cent. To avoid a possible collapse of Yes Bank, RBI had sacked its management and placed the lender under an administrator on March 5 with a 30-day moratorium, which was later on curtailed to nearly two weeks. The moratorium on the bank which restricted cash withdrawals limits to only Rs 50,000 was lifted after banking hours on March 18. On March 13, the government notified the rescue plan drafted by the RBI. As part of the 'Yes Bank Limited Reconstruction Scheme 2020', SBI and other investors made equity capital infusion to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. Private lenders ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank and mortgage lender HDFC Ltd have also infused capital of over Rs 3,000 crore in cash-starved Yes Bank to keep it afloat. AA DP RAM

Yes Bank posts Rs 2,629 cr quarterly profit on bonds write-off

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Andy Murray was written off too quickly by the media, Tim Henman told Business Insider.</li><li>Murray was playing through so much pain he competed almost one-legged at the Wimbledon Championships two years ago.</li><li>He had hip surgery in 2018 and fought back tears at the 2019 Australian Open, telling press that his future in the sport was ambiguous at best.</li><li>But after another surgery in January, a positive prognosis in February, and a pain-free revelation in March, Murray has returned to tennis in the doubles bracket, winning the Queens Club Championships in his first tournament back last month.</li><li>Henman marvelled at Murray's "amazing" journey, and said his Wimbledon doubles partners - Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Serena Williams - will make for "another great story to look out for at Wimbledon."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Sports media is too quick to write off athletes like Andy Murray, according to tennis legend Tim Henman.Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, has come a long way since competing almost one-legged as he attempted to play through pain in a quarterfinal match at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.Now, injury woes behind him, he returns to the grass in a far healthier place, teaming up with renowned doubles master Pierre-Hugues Herbert. It was even <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/48837343" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed on Tuesday that Serena Williams will join him</a> in the mixed doubles bracket.HSBC ambassador Henman, himself a Wimbledon staple during a two-decade-long career, told Business Insider ahead of the tournament that "the media are too quick to write people off because in 99% of cases, the media don't even know the actual problems that players are dealing with. It's a private matter."Murray sparked plenty of columns when<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAiYCFKGMKg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">, fighting back tears, he addressed the press</a> at the Australian Open in January, saying he'd like to play until Wimbledon but was unsure he'd physically be able to do so.He said he needed hip surgery, despite having already had surgery for the recurring issue the previous year.The game, for him, looked over.Publications around the world looked at what would be next for Murray, with the BBC asking <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46863214" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what he could be worth in retirement</a>.Murray, though, had stopped short of saying he was actually retired. He <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2019/01/29/andy-murray-undergoes-hip-resurfacing-surgery-london/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">underwent hip resurfacing on January 29,</a> and the professor who invented the procedure said in February that Murray's chances of playing competitive tennis again should be <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/andy-murray-should-be-able-to-play-at-wimbledon-says-hip-expert-f9r70rbvp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"in the high 90%."</a> In March, Murray was pain-free.Henman marvels at the Scotsman's journey. "It's been amazing when you reflect over a two year period," he told Business Insider. "It was at Wimbledon in 2017 when he was in so much pain, managing to get to the quarterfinals pretty much on one leg, losing to Sam Querrey in five sets."The proceeding 18 months were difficult to watch because he was working so hard doing different types of rehabilitation on his hip, but it wasn't working. Finally, when he took the decision to have the major operation … it's been life changing."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/naomi-osaka-suffers-first-round-humiliation-at-wimbledon-championships-2019-7?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Naomi Osaka's humiliating first-round loss at Wimbledon was the latest misstep in her sudden fall from world No. 1</a>Henman played tennis with the Murray brothers last month and noticed a massive improvement in Andy Murray's abilities."I hit with Andy Murray and Jamie at Wimbledon about two or three weeks ago and you could just see he was so much better physically, but also so much better mentally," he said. "He was able to enjoy himself and there wasn't the same pain. Obviously he's still got a long way to go in terms of building up his strength, speed, and his movement, but at least there's an opportunity ahead of him."Murray has only played in two doubles tournaments since his last singles appearance at the Australian Open - but he won one of them, the Queen's Club Championships."Andy comes out first tournament back and wins at Queens … it's pretty impressive having not played a doubles tournament for two years, but the challenge is going to be even greater getting back on the singles court," Henman said. "He's incredibly motivated though, and working hard. The next few events are important stepping stones for him."The doubles bracket at Wimbledon is the most pressing event, the one he will be most focused on, and he just happens to have partnered with two of the best in the business.In the women's bracket, <a href="https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1146141883267244038" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he'll pair with superstar Williams</a>, while in the men's he's with Herbert, a 28-year-old Frenchman who has won doubles at each and every one of the four Grand Slams.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>"He's a recognized doubles player," Henman said of Herbert's ability. "He's been up to number two, number one at some stage. Good player, with a big game for grass as well. He serves very well, volleys well."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elina-svitolina-police-hotel-raid-like-being-in-a-movie-2019-7?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">'They were pointing guns … I was shocked for 2 hours' - World No. 8 tennis player Elina Svitolina says hotel police raid was like a movie</a>He added of Herbert: "There's always a challenge gelling as a team when you've never played together and you're going straight into a big tournament. That's not easy, but they have the advantage of five sets at Wimbledon so that gives you more time to find your feet."Murray and Herbert get their doubles campaign started when they challenge Marius Copil and Ugo Humbert in the first round Thursday and Henman, for one, is "looking forward to seeing how they get on.""It's another great story to look out for at Wimbledon," he said.HSBC are supporters of Wimbledon and the <a href="https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/ticket_resale_kiosk.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ticket Resale Scheme</a>.

The media were too quick to write off Andy Murray, according to tennis legend Tim Henman

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulboxley/207501231">Paul Boxley / Flickr</a>Brain training games have been heavily criticised recently.</div></div></div>When people get older, one thing that signifies the loss of independence is having to give up driving. For some, it means losing the convenience of travelling around as they please, and for others it's complete isolation.A new study from Penn State University suggests that certain specific cognitive exercises are linked with prolonging people's ability to drive. Among a lot of scathing press, this study appears to be one of the rare cases that cognitive exercises, often collectively referred to as "brain training," has been shown in a favourable light over the past few years. This could suggest that certain types of cognitive exercises are more beneficial than others, according to study author Dr Lesley Ross, who is an assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State.The new research - <a href="http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/10/03/geront.gnw143.abstract" target="_blank">published in the journal The Gerontologist</a> - studied over 2,000 adults aged 65 or older, who the team randomly assigned to one of four activities: reasoning, memory, divided attention training, or zero training. Those who completed 8 hours or more were then offered "booster training" which was an extra 4 hours.All the participants were driving and in good health when they started, but were also assessed and divided into sub-groups depending on their risk of giving up driving.Over the course of 10 years the participants were evaluated seven times, and those who were given either the reasoning or divided attention training tasks and were also considered high-risk were 49% less likely to have given up driving after a decade, and this increased to 55% if they had completed booster training.In general, participants who were randomly selected to receive additional divided-attention training were 70% more likely to still be behind the wheel after 10 years.<h2>The type of training matters</h2>Divided-attention training uses perceptual exercises, where the participants were shown different objects on a screen and then asked questions about what they had seen. For example, participants would be briefly shown several different objects, and then have to answer questions about what they'd seen, such as the colour of a car or how many apples there were.This type of activity, which study author Ross calls "speed processing training," is important because it requires the person doing the activity to process increasingly complex information faster.Ross has been involved with cognitive training programs for a long time, and has noticed the tendency for all types of brain training being looped under the same definition."In the world of cognitive intervention, there are so many different things that fall under that [title]," she told Business Insider. "I would argue that there are specific types of training that are adaptive to the task - similar to exercise."Just like different types of exercise are useful for different types of performance enhancement - such as weight training for strength, or jogging for cardiovascular health - Ross says that speed processing training has very different benefits to memory training. For example, in this study the team found that speed and processing training helped with driving safety as well, while memory training didn't have this effect.Since brain training first came onto the scene, with games that claimed to predict the 'age' of your brain, there have been several studies debunking its usefulness. Back in 2014, <a href="http://longevity3.stanford.edu/blog/2014/10/15/the-consensus-on-the-brain-training-industry-from-the-scientific-community-2/" target="_blank">70 researchers signed a letter of consensus</a> which was damning to the brain training community, and accused it of making promises about boosting mind power that they said just weren't true.One study, <a href="http://psi.sagepub.com/content/17/3/103.full?ijkey=hK6Y5zBI1Rv.M&amp;keytype=ref&amp;siteid=sppsi" target="_blank">which was published this month</a>, found no evidence that these games work as advertised, ie: they don't have any affect on the age your brain is supposedly working at.From Ross' perspective, some groups of researchers are not necessarily being as subjective as they need to be when they're looking at the evidence."Some of these studies that are making large claims, when you look at them they're giving people very little training, it's not adaptive, and it's with small samples," Ross said. "I think it's doing a detriment to the population, because there is reasonable evidence that some of these things do work."The other point is about dosage, such as following up with booster training, and this new study is the first to show benefits after such a long time period."We're finding that people stay on the road 10 years after doing 10-18 hours of training," Ross explained. "I would love it if I could go to the gym over five weeks and work out a total of 10 hours, and then 10 years later have anything to show."Like a lot of research, Ross says the best thing you can do is look at things objectively and make up your own decisions, like everyone does with nutrition and exercise guidelines."Speaking personally, I just want to know, can my parents now drive okay, can they stay on the road, are they able to go to the doctor," Ross said. "It's a complicated debate that's going on right now, but we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater because a few small studies aren't necessarily finding results." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/white-blue-purse-explained-2016-10">The internet can't decide whether this purse is white or blue</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="cxMnJhNjE6eERfkUcfxeupleG5zzBWOW" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Perhaps you shouldn't completely write-off brain training - not yet at least

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/5470163632/">tanakawho / Flickr</a></div></div>Copper prices have been tumbling on concerns about China's economic slowdown and an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-copper-prices-have-been-falling-2014-3">unwinding of copper-backed loans</a>. 
But Sijin Cheng at Barclays writes that grid spending could "help dispel" concerns about Chinese copper demand. 
China's grid companies invested 40 billion yuan (about $6.4 billion) in the first two months of the year, up 22% year-over-year. This comes "despite a high base; in January-February 2013, [when] investment rose 44% from a soft 2012."
While some cable providers reported "sharp slowdowns" in the Jan-Feb period, Cheng attributes this to "the temporary mismatch in investment and orders. ...As orders are executed, however, copper demand could begin to improve sequentially."
Cheng says "two major gridcos both expect to invest 13% more than last year. It's unclear if he's referring to China Southern Power Grid Company Limited and the State Grid Corporation of China. "Energy regulators have been urged to accelerate the approval of ultra-high voltage networks, which could boost investment."
"If gridcos meet these targets, we expect the growth from the power sector, which accounts for more than 40% of China's total copper consumption, to help offset headwinds from other sectors such as property," Cheng writes.

Why We Can't Write Off Chinese Copper Demand Just Yet

New Delhi, Mar 17 () The Centre is considering writing off trait value charged from farmers for Bollgard-II variety of Bt cotton to ensure the seeds are available to farmers at affordable prices, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in Parliament on Tuesday. Since 2015, the government has been fixing a maximum sale price for Bt cotton every year considering the seed value, recurring royalty (trait value), trade margins and others. The price of Bollgard-II (BG-II) cotton seed in 2019 was fixed at Rs 730 per packet including Rs 20 as trait value. Asked if the government is intending to write off trait value charged from farmers for BG-II, the minister said: "Yes Sir, in order to ensure the availability of the Bt cotton seed to farmers at fair, reasonable and affordable prices and curtail the charging of exorbitant price." In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the minister also said although industry body NSAI says BG-II has become ineffective against pink bollworm, government research body ICAR believes the technology is still good and is effective against American bollworm and spotted bollworm. For this reason, farmers are cultivating Bt cotton in more than 87 per cent of cotton area. Singh said "no seed firm has informed" that Bollgard-II or BG-II has proven to be ineffective in the last season as the pink bollworm has developed resistance to the technology. Bt cotton is the only Genetically Modified (GM) crop allowed for commercial cultivation in the country. There is a moratorium on Bt brinjal. LUX LUX ANUANU

Govt to write off trait value charged from farmers for Bt cotton Bollgard-II: Agri Min

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">"Fuller House"/Netflix</div></div></div>"Full House" creator Jeff Franklin made headlines recently when he revealed that he had purchased the actual Tanner family home, the front of which has been seen in both the original series and its Netflix spin-off."I went a little nuts one day and decided that would be a fun house for me to own," he told Business Insider.The four-bedroom, four-bathroom, 2,500-square-foot San Francisco house went on sale in May for the first time in about a decade for $4.15 million. The time was right for Franklin, and <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/full-house-creator-purchases-original-tanner-house-san-francisco-951273" target="_blank">he nabbed it for around $4 million</a>."Coincidentally, 'Fuller House' is now on the air," he said. "There's some benefit to the show to be able to go back there and shoot there and maybe we'll have the cast come up, shoot some scenes outside of the house. I don't know yet. We're still waiting for a season-three pickup. It would be good for the show and it's just fun for me to own that house."Franklin hadn't been allowed to film the property since "Full House" premiered in 1987. Back then, the production paid about $500 to shoot various shots for use on the show. They weren't welcomed back years later when they wanted to shoot again, because the then-owner had become annoyed by the many "Full House" fans who visited it. Franklin estimates about 250 fans visit the location every day."Everyone had been watching the same shot of the outside of the house for 30 years now," Franklin said. "So it would be nice to get some new footage shot in 4K."For now, Franklin has some work to do on the house. He needs to seismically retrofit it for safety in the earthquake-prone area."It's going to be under construction for a while," he said. "We're going to make sure it doesn't fall down on anyone."But the show creator sees several ways buying the house will pay off, including a potential tax write-off."I don't think it's going to be a big money-maker for me, for sure. So yeah, it will be some kind of a write-off I hope," Franklin responded when we asked if he could write off the purchase for his taxes. "But it's more sentimental than anything. Both of these shows have just become a big part of my life. It just felt like the right thing to own it.""Fuller House" returns for its second season December 9 on Netflix. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-mythbusters-show-white-rabbit-project-2016-11">Netflix is giving part of the 'Mythbusters' team their own show - here's the trailer</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Q1Mnd3NzE6J8776jzJf36o8csEZvU-76" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The 'Full House' creator bought the actual Tanner home, and he hopes it's a tax write-off

Beleaguered Japanese investment firm SoftBank has reportedly written off about $100 million it invested as part of its Vision Fund 2 in now <keyword id="15519454" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bankrupt-crypto-exchange" source="Orion">bankrupt crypto exchange</keyword> <keyword id="2966084" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ftx" source="Orion">FTX</keyword>. According to MarketWatch, the investment is now marked down to zero with SoftBank saying "it would not face a material markdown in the value of its stake". SoftBank had backed FTX after the startup raised $400 million in January, valuing it at $32 billion. SoftBank has now disclosed a $100 million venture capital investment in crypto broker FTX. Softbank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto was quoted as saying that $100 billion Vision Fund invested in FTX "as a minor stake in the company". "If any case of markdown but still that is very not material for us," Goto said during the company's second quarter (Q2) results. SoftBank has a history of pouring money in bad startups, like the $18.5 billion investment in WeWork. The Japanese VC firm also infused $500 million into digital mortgage lender better.com which laid off thousands of employees under its Indian-origin Co-founder and CEO Vishal Garg. Crypto exchange FTX has admitted that "unauthorised transactions" have drained hundreds of millions of dollars from its wallets, saying the company has moved many digital assets to a new "cold wallet custodian". FTX, which last week filed for bankruptcy in the US, did not reveal how much it lost in unauthorised transactions but reports claimed the amount could be as high as $600 million. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/retail-inflation-eases-to-6-7-in-october-from-7-4-in-september/articleshow/95512476.cms">Retail inflation eases to a 3-month low of 6.7% in October</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/markets-settle-lower-in-volatile-trade/articleshow/95508841.cms">Markets settle lower in volatile trade</a>

SoftBank writes off about $100 million invested in bankrupt crypto exchange FTX

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Top economists, including Nobel prize-winners Joseph Stiglitz and Chris Pissarides, are calling for debt forgiveness for Greece as the country heads into a crucial election on Sunday.
A <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/639cf9b0-a1a0-11e4-bd03-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PddY3daQ">letter published in the Financial Times</a>, co-authored by 18 eminent economists from academia, research institutes and industry, states that "the whole of Europe will benefit from Greece being given the chance of a fresh start".
Some form of forgiveness of the country's mountainous sovereign debt burden (currently around 177% of GDP) would be necessary, though not by itself sufficient, in order for the country to aid Europe's prospects for sustainable economic recovery.
Here are their suggestions in detail:
<ul>
<li>Greece should be provided a "further conditional increase in the grace period, so that Greece does not have to service any debt, for example for the next five years and then only if Greece is growing at 3% or more".</li>
<li>Some debt reduction, especially of bilateral official debt [held by institutions like the European Central Bank], to further increase the fiscal space available.</li>
<li>Significant money [provided through eurozone institutions] for efficient investment projects, especially for exports.</li>
</ul>
The letter is especially interesting as their calls <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/greek-election-syriza-leader-alexis-tsipras-policies-2015-1">mimic a number of proposals put forward by Greece's left-wing Syriza party</a>, which is currently leading in the polls. Alexis Tsipras, the head of the party and the man who could become Greece's next prime minister, took the opportunity earlier this week to outline his economic plans in the FT.
A core part of his proposals is to call a "European debt conference" if elected to discuss easing the terms of Greece's debt repayments and to stop the Greek government's austerity policies in order to prioritise growth. He wrote: "Austerity is not part of the European treaties; democracy and the principle of popular sovereignty are."
While stressing the importance of economic reforms, the 18 signatories of the recent letter essentially appear to agree with that proposal. As they write (emphasis added):
"We believe it is important to distinguish austerity from reforms; to condemn austerity does not entail being anti-­reform. Macro­economic stabilisation can be achieved through growth and increased efficiency in tax collection rather than through public expenditure cuts, which have reduced the revenue base and led to an increase in the debt ratio."

You Searched For "write offs" and got 14 results

India's bad loan problem continues to break records

Dilsher Dhillon

Fitch Ratings says Indian banks to write off more loans

PTI

Tax write-offs small-business owners shouldn't forget

Alexandra York

Indian military to write-off cows worth lakhs for a few thousand rupees

BI India Bureau

Microsoft hints it may take a huge write-off for Nokia soon

Matt Weinberger

7 Business Travel Expenses You Never Knew You Could Write Off

Madeline Stone

Yes Bank posts Rs 2,629 cr quarterly profit on bonds write-off

PTI

The media were too quick to write off Andy Murray, according to tennis legend Tim Henman

Alan Dawson

Perhaps you shouldn't completely write-off brain training - not yet at least

Lindsay Dodgson

Why We Can't Write Off Chinese Copper Demand Just Yet

Mamta Badkar

Govt to write off trait value charged from farmers for Bt cotton Bollgard-II: Agri Min

PTI

The 'Full House' creator bought the actual Tanner home, and he hopes it's a tax write-off

Jethro Nededog

SoftBank writes off about $100 million invested in bankrupt crypto exchange FTX

IANS

Top Economists Call For Greece To Get A Debt Write-Off Ahead Of Crucial Election

Tomas Hirst,Tomas Hirst

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides