Most of the folks who work at MNC’s get annual health check up free of cost. Employers do provide such perks to ensure the wellness of their employees. It is not just limited to MNC’s, there are a number of Indian public sector organizations too providing such free annual health check up facilities. All is good as far as the employed individual is concerned. What about the family members of the same employee? Do you take your family members too for the health check every year?

I wouldn’t blame any of you who don’t take their family members for annual health check. It is our mentality that prohibits us from spending on check ups unless there is an emergency. Let me share my own story here. I have been going for health check ups year after year, thanks to all my employers so far! Since it costs nothing, I make the best use of it and track various numbers from the reports to ensure a healthy lifestyle. A couple of years back I was marginally towards the higher side on cholesterol. Then a year after, cholesterol was in control but triglycerides count was alarming. Since I got to know these numbers, I chose an appropriate diet and exercise routine to score ‘GREEN’ on all the parameters this year. It was possible because I knew where I was going wrong and there by to correct it. So, knowing the numbers is highly important.

If you are looking for such a check up, ensure you have this list of investigations included:
• Complete Haemogram
• Lipid Profile
• Serum Electrolytes
• Thyroid Profile
• Blood Sugar (Fasting and post Prandial)
• Chest X-Ray
• ECG or TMT
• Blood Urea Nitrogen
• Serum Creatinine
• PAP Smear and Ultrasound Scan
• HIV, VDRL, HBs (Ag)
• Liver Function Test

Now, let me talk about my family. Both mom and dad go for a brisk walk everyday and both look healthy. However, that doesn’t really help much. Since both my parents crossed 50 years, I opted to go for a complete health check for them few years back. The results gave a shocking revelation about ovarian cyst for my mom and dad was on the higher side  on cholesterol numbers. That gave a timely indication to make my mom to go through a surgery to remove the cyst. If not operated, it might have troubled my mom more!  Dad was suggested to adopt to healthy diet by cutting down on non-veg to a large extent. That helped us to take control of health again. I strongly urge everyone to know the various numbers related to cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides etc., The abnormalities in these numbers won’t show up any symptoms immediately. However, they start to silently deteriorate the health.

From my learnings, I feel there is a strong need to get the annual health check up for every family members and there by to pledge for a healthy life! 2 weeks back I took my parents for complete health check up again and this time all green. Doesn’t that give a big relief and a confidence to stay like that? Though I have been opting to take my parents for health check up every two years till date, look forward to make it every year going forward. There is an awareness and pledge program called “Billion Hearts Beating” and you can read more about it on their site. I pledge to spread the message of better heart-health amongst my friends and family and encourage my blog readers to post a comment about the pledge you have taken and  join the campaign on Facebook!

Past couple of months have been hectic and too many things happening at one go. I know for sure that my blog had taken a back seat in the due time. However, thanks to all those guest authors who volunteered to contribute on this blog to fill the lacuna!  Now, I am back and hope to be frequent going forward.

The first and the foremost thing that comes to my mind is the joy of getting back those much missed 2 days of weekend :) Yes, since I took up my higher studies 2 years back, I was occupied during weekends too. For those who aren’t aware, I had enrolled for MS in Software Engineering from BITS, Pilani. Completed the final thesis report submission and keeping the fingers crossed for the results. By first week of August the results will be out! Watch this space for an update on that front.

For those of you who are keen on knowing what is new in my roof top, re-potted about 13 pots with Chrysanthemum saplings. With the arrival of monsoon, it is the right time to start with those plants if you are interested. Removed all those previously grown brinjal plants. It will take a while to showcase some of the newly planted green thumb. Oh yeah, I still have few more Aloe Vera saplings. Any takers?

There was an informative posts on ‘How to e-file income tax returns‘. If you haven’t filed your returns yet and looking for help, do go through that article. It will help you for sure. I already got the acknowledgement through an email for the returns filed for this year upon posting ITR-V form to CPC at Bangalore. The process if fairly simple and easy to file the returns online. Since we are talking about finance related stuff, let me know if you have any product review requests. I will surely review some of the new products.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention about the new Technology Blog that I recently started. www.techiez.net is the new address if you wish to stay updated about the technology related stuff. I am planning to make a collaborative technology blog and there will be a number of benefits if you wish to co-author posts on that blog. Here is my open invitation to write tech articles. Feel free to drop me a mail if it interests you and I shall create an author account for you on techiez!

Now Indian Rupee has a new symbol and this is how it looks. This new symbol which has been shortlisted through a contest run by Finance Ministry of India. You can read about that Rupee design contest here. The basic aim of the new symbol is to provide the Indian rupee international recognition as the country’s economy exerts more influence in the global space, the unique sign will also help isolate the currency from the current abbreviation ‘Rs’ which is used by neighbouring Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The winning designers concept was based on the Tricolour and “arithmetic equivalence”. While the white space between the two horizontal lines gives the impression of the national flag with the Ashok Chakra, the two bold parallel lines stand for ‘equals to’, representing balance in the economy, both within and with other economies of the world. The winning designer is an IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar.

Along with the announcement of the result, there have been a number of controversies as well. One of the RTI activist had revealed that the panel took less than 20 seconds to go through each of the design and analyze. This is what the activist revealed according to RTI Documents :

• Non-eligible candidate was shortlisted in top five finalists. As candidate had submitted four designs.
• One finalist was in contact with Finance Ministry and RBI prior to competition.
• Design concept or brief was not put in front of jury along with Indian Rupee symbol design.
• No marks or grades were allotted to selected (2644) candidates design entries, in the process of shortlisting top five finalist design entries.
• Jury had spends less than 20 seconds on each design entries to analyze it .
• Three jury member were absent in two days long meeting dated 29th Sept. and 30th Sept. 2009.
• One jury member from Ministry of Culture was absent on the day of final presentation.
• All seven jury member had never meet in this whole selection process in any given time.
• No records are available with Finance Ministry which could indicate how many total design entries Finance Ministry had received!
• Advertisement was only published in English language.

Keeping aside all the controversies, I am happy that there is a new symbol for Indian Rupee!

For the third consecutive year I have filed my income tax returns online. Though the process of efiling is so simple and easy, not many are using this feature. In this post I am sharing the slides to help you file your IT returns online. Remember, July 31st is the deadline for filing your returns provided you need to pay more tax. However, if you don’t need to pay any additional tax apart from Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) you can file it beyond that date too. Why to simply delay filing Income Tax returns? get started now and make sure you have your Form-16 issued by your employer(s) handy with you.

For better view, opt for full screen mode. Special thanks to Darshan Shroff, a reader of my blog for creating exhaustive document with step by step screenshots. You can see that document in word format here. If you haven’t gone through Investment related articles on this blog, feel free to check out those articles too!

New Pension Scheme is government of India initiative to extend pension benefits to citizens of India, at large. Any individual whether employed with private sector, self employed or professional can now avail of pension benefits and plan his/her retirement period well by enrolling in the New Pension Scheme (NPS).

One can regularly invest in this scheme and get a part in lump-sum on retirement and a fixed monthly income for the lifetime. NPS is based on a unique Individual Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) created for individual subscribers. This number will remain the same for the subscriber’s lifetime irrespective of where he/she operates the NPS account from across the nation.

Currently, there are two plans under the NPS:

Tier 1 : Non withdrawal and tax deferred pension account (for all individuals)
Tier 2 : Withdrawal supported savings account without any tax advantages (for all individuals subjected to minimum deposits per year in Tier-1 account)

The subscriber also has to control on how his/her contributions(savings) are being managed by selecting a professional fund manager(PFM) from a pool of PFMs. Investor can either opt for Active Choice or Auto Choice. Under the Active mode, the subscriber can decide on proportion of investment to be made across different debt, equity and government securities. On the other hand, in the auto choice mode, the division across investments will be made by the authority based on subscriber age with equity allocation reducing as age increases.

There are 3 classes of investment to opt for in NPS, this is what they mean:

Class G : Investment would be in Government securities like Govt of India bonds and stage govt bonds.
Class C : Investment would be in fixed income securities other than govt securities
Class E : Investment would be primarily in equity market instruments. It would invest in Index funds that replicate the portfolio of either BSE Sensex or NSE Nifty 50 index.

However, the maximum exposure that can be taken in equity is up to 50%. With that the NPS subscriber can also select from the following seven pension fund managers (PFMs).

• SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd
• UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd
• LIC Pension Fund Ltd
• IDFC Pension Fund Management Co Ltd
• Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd
• Reliance Capital Pension Fund Ltd
• ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Ltd

Contribution details under the NPS are as below:
Tier 1:
Minimum # of contributions : 4
Minimum contribution : Rs 2000/- pa
Minium contribution : Rs 500 per contribution
(The amounts mentioned here have been further revised downwards by PFRDA)

Tier 2:
Minimum contribution of Rs 1000 at the time of account opening
Minimum balance of Rs 2000 at the end of a financial year

Here is the list of documents that you need to open the NPS account:

2 copies of identity proof

2 copies of address proof

Proof for Date of Birth

Self declaration indicating that the applicant is not a pre-existing member of NPS

Colored Passport size photograph

For Tier 2 account, in addition to the above docs, you need to submit bank details and a cancelled cheque.

Exclusive benefits of NPS:

• Provides tax benefits under section 80C of income tax laws.
• Govt provided pension plan directly regulated by PFRDA.
• Portable plan, nation wide access to NPS over a period of time.
• Investment in NPS is highly safe and it contains very less amount of risk.
• NPS provides higher returns compared to other relative investment options
• Cost effective mode of retirement planning – cost structure is very efficient compared to that of the charges levied by mutual funds or other investment options.

In case of death due to any cause, the nominee will have the option to withdraw the proceeds in lump sum. Also, if the vesting age is less than 60 years, then 20% of the amount accumulated can be withdrawn and the balance 80% will have to be used to purchase annuity. On the other hand if the vesting age is 60 years or more but less than 70 years, then 60% of the amount can be withdrawn either as lump sum or in a phased manner between age 60 & 70. Balance 40% will have to be used to purchase annuity. If you are looking for safe returns at normal rate of growth towards pension, this scheme is for you! If you have more questions on your mind, feel free to visit this FAQ site of PFRDA.

Not many are aware that the Indian Postal department is issuing photo ID cards as ‘Address Proof’ through their huge network of Post Offices. If you are in need of address proof with photo ID card, you know where to go now! But remember, the validity
period is three years from the date of issue. Here is more information if you are thinking of getting such an address proof identity card.

Postal Department will send a postman to the address furnished by the applicant and gets it confirmed. They also enquire with the neighbors of the applicant about residence. After getting the address confirmed, they will issue a photo identity card. Postal Department will collect a nominal fee for providing this service. There was no clarity from the officials when I enquired about it today. Many working people often shift their houses and it is difficult to produce an address proof issued by Government agency for many purposes(including passport) with latest address. In such cases it is always better to get this identity card. Hold on… there is a requirement of a current address proof to obtain this id card. It can be any document from your employer or house rent agreement etc., Also, be informed that not all post offices issue such an ID card, it is issued only in selected head post offices. So, go figure out which is the nearby post office close to your locality.

Looks like I have been dating post office related services very frequently off late! This week I filed my tax returns online through the official income tax department website. Upon online submission, they will email form ITR-V which we need to print out and mail them through ordinary post for acknowledgement within 120 days from the date of submission. This is required if you are filing at individual capacity and do not have digital signature. So, I was in search of a post box in order to drop ITR-V form through a stamped envelop and the image attached is what I saw! Couldn’t recognize this post box that easily… thanks to all the dirty posters on it. Can I request the appropriate authorities to levy heavy penalty on cults of such a hasty practice of maligning the glittery RED box?

Oh yes, today I was at a nearby post office to collect my Passport. Though the post man came home to deliver the same, I was not at home. They seem to have stricter rules towards the passport delivery process. They deliver the passport only to the applicant in person upon furnishing a photo ID proof. Since I was at work when he arrived, I had to go to post office to collect the same. He double confirmed the identity by asking me to cut open the passport to verify the photo inside is that of the intended recipient. By the way, Passport dept Seva Kendra website status site indicated that I would receive an email and SMS when the passport is dispatch. That never happened in my case! Yet another feather of goof up in the cap of Passport Seva Kendra site maintained by TCS!!!

This article is aimed at throwing light on “Dementia”, which is a word for a group of symptoms caused by disorders that affect the brain. It is not a specific disease but not many are aware of this. Poornima Bisineer, a doctor turned medical teacher and a reader of this blog writes this guest article to share her personal experience to empower and bring in more positiveness in caregiver’s thoughts.

——
I can describe my husband Dr. Raju MP as slim, smart, well-dressed, smiling, reserved and a nice person. I am going to narrate the events leading to Raju being diagnosed with Pick’s Disease, a pre-senile dementia and how it changed my life. After 8 years of marriage and having two children I thought I knew my husband very well. But more often than not, there were instances where I could not understand his behavior. The first abnormal thing I noticed was in the middle of 1999, that he was lying down most of the time. He complained he was not feeling all right, he feels tired always. Then he started neglecting his practice and his work in the hospital. He lacked interest in any thing at all. Going out for dinner with his friends, having drinks and informing me in the last minute became more frequent.  He became more and more indifferent to my needs and problems.

One day in October 99, I fell down from scooter, came home bleeding with many cuts and lacerations. His only reaction was ‘wash the wounds and take some analgesics’ and he pulled the blanket over his face and went back to his sleep! I felt he was being rude and uncaring. In the beginning of 2001, I noticed he was forgetting the roads to familiar destinations. By the end of 2001 he was watching TV compulsively, taking ‘anxit’ regularly as he was not getting sleep; also the obsessive compulsive traits had started. He was also talking to strangers, repeating sentences, reading all the boards on road, driving recklessly and totally neglecting work. By now I knew something was terribly wrong. Yet our relatives and friends could not understand my anguish. One needs to stay for atleast a day with him to make out he is not all right.

Raju was not ready to see a doctor. He believed he is normal. I tried to make him understand how he has changed from last few months. When I could not convince him with all the reasoning, I was almost shouting at him. I even told him that he cannot take me for granted; if he does not come out of his recluse I will just walk away. He was not angry, did not shout back, he just told ‘don’t leave me, I will listen to you, if you leave I will follow you! After two to three weeks, I realized he does not understand. Finally I had to blackmail him to take him to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed his problem as ‘depression’. When I was not convinced he said anxiety,confusion and memory problems can be symptoms of depression. Raju was put on citalopram. After two months of treatment, with maximum dose, when there was no improvement, I took him to another psychiatrist, who diagnosed his problem as obsessive compulsive disorder and put him on fluoxetine.

When I told my brother-in-law who had accompanied us that Raju does not remember many things, he started asking questions to him and I was shocked when Raju could not remember our anniversary date and our daughter’s age. Then we decided, a brain scan has to be done. When I finally got MRI scanning done, the report said some parts of his brain are atrophied. I was terrified. Dementia was still the farthest thing from my mind. Raju was so young. No one in his family ever had it and he was still doing surgeries – a far cry from the idea I had about the disease. I couldn’t think he is really ill. On the contrary, he was the picture of health – most of the time he was cheerful and also had gained weight. So I took him to NIMHANS and Dr.Ratnavalli after ruling out all the treatable causes of dementia diagnosed Raju’s case as “Pick’s Disease”. It was in August 2002. The diagnosis was devastating. Worst thing I suspected was schizophrenia, even a brain tumor or a stroke was better than this diagnoses. I had never felt so frightened in all my life. I imagined Raju’s brain shrunken and dying. I wished I could give him half of my brain! I was angry with him for much of the year before diagnoses and it made me less sympathetic with Raju’s growing plight and it made him more anxious and ashamed. After I came to know the diagnosis all my anger vanished and I could only feel compassion for him. But they are telling half of my husband’s brain has degenerated, the remaining is going to die and there is nothing we can do about it! It was as if the whole world was collapsing around me.

Seeing my husband who was a competent surgeon and a compassionate doctor in this pathetic condition is not easy. Caring for a loved one with dementia requires courage. In my experience as a caregiver the worst thing about this disease is, you are alone throughout. He is in a different world. I cannot understand what he is going through… He does not have a clue what I am going through… No way to contact him. Finally I have come to a stage where I have accepted his disease, I have accepted no appreciation, for all the struggle I am through, I have accepted this punishment of watching him fade away & accept being a wife I cannot even comfort him, when I am ready to do anything for him.. I only pray to GOD “Please God let him have some peace, I cannot bear to see him like this, so restless, confused, depressed”. I have realized my only salvation is to take care of him to the best of my ability.

Being a widow appears easy in front of what I am going through. Death appears simple compared to what a caregiver is asked to bear…You find no meaning for his existence – but you cannot kill him. You cannot live your life; your life is robbed out of your world, your ambitions, interests, your hobbies washed away… You are asked to do the impossible care, care, care – 24 hrs, 7 days, 365days, no recognition by the patient, and no sympathy from the society, no insurance policy recognizes ‘death’ when it is worse than death. You are stranded… no improvement, just getting worse in spite of all your efforts. In case of death you grieve for 6 months? 1year? 2years? Then at least you can take care of your life, concentrate on career and bring up the children in the best possible way… It’s not to be so easy… that’s my destiny. Sometimes I feel a stone is tied to my neck and asked to swim…I tried to solve this knotted problem thread by thread…In the process I did everything possible, everything others assured would help… vastu, fenshui, homa, temples, churches, dargas, alternate therapies… being a doctor I did all this. I even imported drug – ‘memantine’ from Europe and imported Chinese medicine… In the end I felt duped, wasted a lot of money and time. I realized I couldn’t go on doing these kinds of things. If God didn’t want me to go through this, he would not have let it happen in the first place… It’s better to accept and concentrate on care, using the resources for better care, using the time to care for my husband and children and for doing justice for the pay I get because that is what gives me my livelihood… In the course of my struggle there were some good things happening.

I found so many people exist in this world, who are ready to help you, though they might not know you, seen you… For instance when I imported the drug memantine it was held in the customs and I was asked to pay exorbitant tax but through the help many people (like the customs officer, clearing agent, government doctor who certified it was a life saving drug, taking the risk ) in the end I got it without any tax! This experience made me realize ‘there is hope’, not everything is lost… And people of ARDSI and of my support group spread across the globe – they are my friends, they are there for me, they vouch their understanding, pray for me, give me even cyber hugs. There are many people around you who are good; you get help from unexpected quarters. Then I felt there is a role I need to perform… it’s better to come out do something, which can help others, which can give meaning to my life… So I found a way, to continue…not to just live but live a beautiful life, a meaningful life.

Look at it this way, here is my husband who does not lie, is truthful, who does not hide, who is open, tells whatever comes to his mind, who is not unfaithful, who needs me, who does not hesitate to tell me that I am beautiful, and that he loves me, who trusts me that I am capable of taking care of my children, who smiles when I hug him… There are so many so-called normal husbands who abuse their wives. How can I get angry with him? I can only feel compassion. Though I felt I have lost communication with him, still there were instances where I could see the glimpses of his old self even now… Some kind of contact, a word, a gesture, an expression… Instances like when I had taken him for a ride in the car… I had given him some orange so that he is not restless…. was thinking what all the things I need to do on that Sunday… all of a sudden I find him offering a piece of orange…I was so touched. Still he is with me… Another instance when we had gone for a walk, had only one umbrella and it started raining. He opened it and I asked would he let me get wet? He smiled, put his arm around me and took me under the umbrella. Or another instance when I had taken him for walk in the beach, he was trying to catch the little crabs, I was trying to bring him back to the path… and all of a sudden he stopped and started writing something in the sand…Dear poonu, I LOVE YOU, Raju….I felt so happy as I realized he is still trying to communicate with me. It is instances like this, which makes sense in this senseless world and made the entire struggle worthwhile.

How did I cope? I stopped feeling sorry for myself; I decided to face the situation head front. Found a good doctor to manage my husband, changed the job to increase my income, handled the finance and took care of my children’s emotions. My hobby of reading books helped me – I read English classics, even enrolled myself in open university for kannada MA, read ‘Kumaravyasa Bharatha’ which took me into a different world where I forgot my suffering though temporarily… Even reading Ramaraksha stotra, Lalithasahasranama helped! And of course praying or just the act of doing pooja calmed my mind. Talked to friends whenever depressed. Came out, tried to do something which gave meaning to my life like help others who are more unfortunate than me, tried to make someone’s suffering less. I counted my blessings. At least I had two beautiful children, supportive family, a good doctor like Dr. Sharma and a good job, which made expenses manageable.

What did I learn? I have changed, changed for better.I stopped questioning ‘why me?’ I accepted it. I learnt to concentrate on solving the problem at hand than worrying about the future. I have become a stronger person – I never knew there was so much strength in me! I have become a better person in that now I don’t fight with people, I find nothing is as important as to fight over and loose your peace. Now I don’t get angry with people even when they are unreasonable. Instead I feel sorry for them because I know they are struggling inside. My perception has changed, I am no more bound by conventions, I don’t hesitate to do anything that can help me taking care of my husband and children better irrespective of what others think. I have become bolder; I dare to do things now, which I never would have done before. I have become more patient. I don’t get ‘shocked’ by death anymore – after all I am seeing it everyday! But I have become more sensitive to others suffering. I am not scared to face adversity, have become strong enough to console those who are suffering. I don’t even need 7 hrs sleep, I can manage very well with 5hrs! Maybe there is a purpose behind all this, there is hope at the end of the tunnel, for “I am the chosen one”. Care giving is a long and arduous road. However, it is also a gift and a blessing. It is an honor to be trusted with someone else’s care.

My suggestions to Caregivers – You need a lot of courage. You need a lot of patience. You need a lot of help – don’t hesitate to ask for it. You are asked to bear this burden, bear it with dignity, with love, with courage. Don’t ever feel guilty – it’s not your fault nor the patient’s fault, you need not feel embarrassed. About the social stigma – you can never make some people understand, no use in wasting your time and energy- ending up with frustration and anger. Learn to be patient with the ignorant. It takes time for awareness. Please recognize it is not ‘he’, it is the disease, which is evil, which makes him violent or abusive. Learn to separate the two. This will help in not loosing temper and to be more compassionate with the patient. Don’t be scared, the worst is over. Remember everything passes… take one day at a time.

Don’t be vulnerable; beware of people who try to take advantage of your situation. Consult a lawyer – take legal guardianship or power of attorney or a will if the patient is still capable of doing the signature. Read books like ‘Alzheimer’s journey, 36 hours, Losing Lou Ann etc. etc. – learn more, know what is happening. Manage the finances; get the gratuity, pension, disability benefit from LIC if you have a policy or from provident fund if the patient was a member. Claim the income tax benefit of the clause – 80DDB – 40,000 reduction at source. At least some money to take care of the patient with some dignity he deserves! You cannot always provide ideal caring you want to give to your loved one… know your limitations, don’t be hard on yourself, do your best, strive to do better. Know that you are not alone, meet a support group, form one if you don’t have, become a member of support group in the internet. (This from what I got from another caregiver)

And lastly a special word who have taken the final steps with their loved ones and know the burden of eternal farewell. My heartfelt wishes for your recovery, above all my wish that you receive the special wisdom and peace of mind that is unique to those who have taken the long journey of care giving. You are an unique person with a unique experience. treasure it, share it, and reflect on it from time to time and it will pay rich dividents for the reminder of your life. go with thanks!

After the initial post on the lost mobile and a sequence of challenges there after to obtain an FIR (First Investigation Report) from police, here comes the remaining experience. Thanks to Sanjay again for taking time to provide an update even while he is on vacation due to the enormous amount of response that was shown in the previous article.

When I went to Sangeetha mobile store near JC road (Insurance guys sits here) to submit document, I came to know that the police receipt i have, is just an acknowledgement stating my mobile is missing and this was not sufficient for mobile costing 15k and above. I had to submit FIR else my claim will be rejected and also I had to submit all document within 7 days of incident.

I went to Police station again asking for FIR and was simply rejected by the Sub Inspector. I had a feeling that it may take more than a week to get a FIR so I spoke to insurance guys and mailed them asking them more time to submit documents (I did so because that mail can be used as proof later on to convince the legal authorities that I requested for more time to get FIR).

After all these hiccups, decided to find a contact/email of any Police officer at commissioners office (COP) and submit a complaint against that inspector who denied the issuance of FIR. Searched internet a lot and found that I can file an FIR online as well as complaint against police too. We can even reach out to them up on their helpline numbers too.

Here is a piece of information which I think people in Bangalore should know:
1. Bangalore city Police Information Website – http://bcp.gov.in/ or http://www.ksp.gov.in/
2. Commissioner Office contacts: 22942222, Control Room for general information (this was helpful to me) and more contacts are available here
3. Commissioner of Police Email ID – cpbangalore@rediffmail.com
4. What is FIR, here is a good article to understand
5. Place to file FIR/Complaint against Police Online (links at the end of page) – http://www.ksp.gov.in/fir/

I called up commissioner office next day and told them that FIR is not lodged, they asked me to come office in person to seek more details. As always, we need to run behind the govt officials giving up all our work. Not sure when they will start working as PUBLIC SERVANTS. I went there, found that at reception one needs to inform the concern of and accordingly they will tell you where to go. Told them that I was suggested to come here and write a complaint against police in person (they had a laughing look at me), anyway they took a photo of me and gave a visitor id with photo and told me to go to a particular room. I met a person named Mr. Nagraj there and he told me that the complaint can be written against Inspector only as he will be held responsible for it even if sub-inspector has denied it. He asked me to go there again and ask Inspector and Inspector only, he gave me his name and number too from his contact list. I was bit relieved here and immediately went to police station and asked for Inspector. Upon enquiry found that he was on leave till 18th to my bad. I called up Mr. Nagraj again and informed him about the situation. He told me to wait till Inspector comes and check he is not willing to accept the complaint and issue an FIR. Then only I can write complaint against the police inspector.

Now I was in bit strange situation as I had planned a vacation to go to my native on 18th and was on vacation for rest of the next week, so I decided to postpone my flight to Sunday to meet Inspector on Saturday (He was back on duty after vacation on 19th June, Saturday). I went Saturday morning and informed Inspector about the whole story and he asked me to provide him a copy of mobile bill with my mobile no and phone’s IMEI number and wait for a week and two, they will try to trace my mobile. I was surprised to hear this as this lethargic behavior wasn’t what I was expecting. I told him that submission date is max 7 days from the date of incident to claim the insurance and I need the FIR immediately. Somehow he got ready to trace me mobile till Monday 21st June or will issue an FIR instead. I told him that I will be out of station on Sunday which was already a rescheduled program because of Inspector’s vacation!!. He agreed to pass on the FIR to my brother in my absence.

So further, instead of stretching my story, in short – my brother got FIR on Tuesday 22nd June with an agreement that if Mobile is found by them later, it will be used by them for their official purpose, which I agreed :).

Have you ever lost a pricey mobile phone? How difficult was it to claim insurance on such an electronic gadget? Did you get the First Investigation Report (FIR) from police without much hassle? Here is a guest post by Sanjay, my colleague. He narrates the story of his lost N97 mobile and a series of Monday morning blues which continued to haunt him for rest of the day… or probably for rest of the week!

Very much inline with the Monday mornings, I woke up a bit late and managed to reach bike servicing centre as it was due. Folks out there said it will take 2 days for servicing. After leaving my bike there for service, came to BMTC bus stop at Koromangala Canara Bank. I had my backpack one side and in the other hand I was carrying a helmet. As I waited for the bus, especially for the Volvo, my hands were full and was not in a position to stand through an ordinary crowded bus. After 10 minutes of wait, I saw route # 201R volvo bus which gave me little relief but not for long! Though I could feel that it was a moderately crowded bus, was in no mood to wait for some more time and hence got into this bus around 10.25 am. Found a corner place and kept my bag and helmet on top of it. For that too, I had to struggle much in that crowded bus. I think this is the time when someone smartly pick-pocketed my Nokia N97 mobile.

Anyway I couldn’t notice something of this sort happened until the bus reached EGL stop. I took my bag, helmet and as usual as per my habit checked for my mobile in the pocket. Oh my god, I didn’t get any feel of having it in my pocket. I checked my backpack just to be sure  in case I may have put in there. I saw my wallet in the bag but not my N97. I immediately checked around in bus where I was standing with the thought that I might have dropped it. Sadly, stars weren’t in my favor and couldn’t find it anywhere.

From that point till I reached the office reception, my mind went through each and every activity of that day many a times to get a clue on whether it was pick-pocketed or I dropped it. Anyways, I decided to call my mobile from reception and found it to be in not reachable mode already. Thus it was sure for now that it is stolen. Realizing the reality, called my brother and explained him the story, asked for suggestion on what to do. At one point I was very sad to lose my mobile where on other side I was happy by myself on buying a mobile with ‘Theft Insurance’ which was by default added with any mobile purchases at ‘Sangeetha mobiles’. I then contacted insurance office and asked if pickpocket is covered and got a YES, I was so happy to hear that it is covered. Then asked the process to claim and they said they want some form to download from Sangeetha mobiles website which has few forms to be printed, fill them up and submit to insurance office. Other than this we had to get an FIR from Police, mobile bill, id proof and acknowledgement from network provider mentioning that the number is blocked within 24 hours from the incident.

It was already 1 pm in the afternoon and had to finish all the documentation work and most importantly to get an FIR. Phew… don’t want to talk about the story of getting an FIR, I get so tense about the whole process. Since pick-pocketing would have happened near ‘sony world junction in Koramangala’, my brother suggested to go to Koramangala police station. I went there and talked to our law protectors there and told the whole story including an explanation to all their silly doubts. It took atleast 15 min to explain them the situation and finally they said that since the mobile theft was realized at EGL bus stop, needs to be handled by HAL police station which comes under HAL police station limits and hence told me to go there. This was just a starter to get pissed off.

Without much options, I had no choice than going to HAL police station and spent the same amount of time to explain the story to another bunch of new police folks. OMG! After story is narrated, they asked to go to Airport police station as EGL comes under its limits. Again got pissed off and started searching for Airport Police station, it took more than 45 mins to find this police station in rain, as it was in small place near old airport but very inside and unreachable location. Finally this police station was the last station to visit to get an FIR but there was no end to my frustration yet as they rejected to file FIR for a case of mobile pick-pocketing. But after they came to know about the price of N97, they were willing to register an FIR with some twist and you can guess what it was.

Wrote the whole story in an application with the subject as ‘Filing FIR’, which they immediately rejected and told me to write a new one removing FIR word. I wrote another application without FIR and wrote ‘Stolen’ word as I had to prove that Mobile was stolen for Insurance purpose. They rejected this one too suggesting to remove the word ‘stolen’ and include ‘missing’ instead. Phew… I was totally pissed off! I told him that I have to file for insurance and how can I write missing? But they had their evil grin before assuring me not to worry and will get insurance as this kind of cases come very frequent. Anyway I gave them the application and got an FIR. Time was already 5pm by them. Came back office, collected my bag and went to Vodafone care center for collecting new SIM and old SIM blocked acknowledgement. I called up the Insurance guys at Sangeetha and asked them if i can come to submit the document, but they said office time is only from 10 AM to 3 PM and it was not possible on that day. That bought curtains to a special ‘monday’

Here is a bit of information I missed to mention earlier. According to Insurance company if theft is claimed within one month to 6 month of purchase date, company will reimburse 75% of amount otherwise 50 % of it. The good new was I had lost my mobile on the 171th day of purchase i.e., well within 6th month of purchase.

Finance ministry has released the second draft of proposed Direct Tax Code (DTC) today, which upon approval will be effective from financial year 2011-12. You can read my initial article on the first draft of DTC if you aren’t aware of this proposal. Let us look at some of the highlights of this draft.

• It proposes the “Exempt-Exempt-Taxation” (EET) method of taxation for savings.
• Based on the EET principle, the Code provides for deduction in respect of aggregate contributions upto a limit of three hundred thousand rupees (both by the employee and the employer) to any account maintained with any permitted savings intermediary, during the financial year.
• The DTC provides that the withdrawal of any amount of accumulated balance as on the 31st day of March, 2011 in the account of the individual in a Provident Fund (PF), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Recognized Provident Funds (RPFs) and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will not be subject to tax. There after the new contributions will be subjected to tax as per EET method.
• Tax payers require some flexibility in making withdrawals in lump sum without being subjected to tax. People may need lump sum funds on retirement for various family obligations. Requests have therefore been made for continuation of Exempt Exempt Exempt (EEE) method of tax treatment of investments.
• Investments made, before the date of commencement of the DTC, in instruments which enjoy EEE method of taxation under the current law, would continue to be eligible for EEE method of tax treatment for the full tenure of the instrument.
• An employer‟s contribution to an approved provident fund, superannuation fund and New Pension Scheme within the limits prescribed shall not be considered as salary in the hands of the employee. Also, retirement benefits received by an employee will be exempt subject to specified monetary limits.
• Home Loans : The following deductions will be admissible against the gross rent:-

1. Amount of taxes levied by a local authority and tax on services, if actually paid.
2. Twenty per cent of the gross rent towards repairs and maintenance as against thirty per cent at present.
3. Amount of any interest payable on capital borrowed for the purposes of acquiring, constructing, repairing, renewing or re-constructing the property. (ceiling of Rs. 1.5 lakh)

• No distinction of short-term investment asset and long-term investment asset.
• The capital gains from all investment assets will be aggregated to arrive at the total amount of current income from capital gains.
• The DTC proposes to abolish Securities Transaction Tax.
• The net wealth of an individual or HUF in excess of Rupees fifty crore shall be chargeable to wealth-tax at the rate of 0.25 per cent.

For more information on the revised Discussion Paper on the proposed DTC is available on this link as well as on these two websites - finmin.nic.in and incometaxindia.gov.in Responses to the Revised Discussion Paper should be sent online through the link provided at those mentioned websites or by sending an e-mail to directtaxescode-rev@nic.in All the responses are solicited upto 30th June, 2010.