Views on India's Narendra Modi

A kaleidoscope of events – lot told, half heard and less explored - Narendra Modi’s political life has been quite eventful which on one side is being adored as a role model and the most competent leader in the country while on the other, he is still the most divisive figure and a hated pariah for much of the Western world.

“Ill-told and ill-heard” - the Modi brigade rubbishes the never-ending stories on their enigmatic leader for whom he is the most possible future prime minister of India and his opponents, despite his fast evolving image changeover, still term his a mass murder of Muslims, on the memories of the 2002 Gujarat riots - the darkest chapter that refuses to fade away from history. His rise would rejuvenate the economy of the country but his lineage of aggressive Hindutva nationalism would polarize the country on religious lines and in all possibility, would undermine the long-cherished secular identity of the world’s largest democracy and a key American strategic ally, writes Simon Denyer of the Washingtonpost.

He is being looked upon quite enviously, even by his opponents, for his administrative excellence by which he has uprooted corruption and promoted economic and industrial growth in Gujarat. The Gujarat government under the leadership of Modi attracted investment from all over the world and many leading companies, including those from America like Ford and General Motors, flocked to the new-found favorite investment destination to do business.

However, the United States didn’t seem to have taken these good records into consideration as it denied him a visa over and again for his alleged involvement in the Gujarat riots. He was accused of failing to stop the riot during which nearly 1,000 to 2,000 Muslims were massacred and is also accused of actively encouraging the slaughter.

However, what reflects in his ever swelling popularity is a public demand among certain sections of the middle classes for a strong and decisive leader who can cure the plague of corruption, challenge the Chinese upper hand in the region, prevent the recurring terrorist attacks and finally, it also represents the general impatience of the overstated liberal principles of human rights and social justice, the Washingtonpost reads.

Modi, a man with few close friends, sleeps just three and half hours a night, admits of being a workaholic and his only pastimes is an early-morning spell of yoga. The article takes a look into his office ambience and says Modi demands a similar dedication from his colleagues and the other bureaucrats who work on tight deadlines. It portrays a quite unusual and a radically different way of working as even his cabinet ministers keeps him updated about their day-to-day schedules.

His policies, often harshly criticized as pro-industry and anti-people by his critics, had made sure that every village in the state is served by a paved road and has a reliable supply of electricity and drinking water, claims the report. With aggressive investment in irrigation, Gujarat saw a great leap in agricultural sector.

It’s there Narendra Modi came to be known as a man who can get things done and that reputation made him the favorite to become India’s next prime minister. He outstripped Rahul Gandhi to be voted favorite for the top job in a recent survey by India Today magazine with 24 percent opting Modi to be their desired PM while the Gandhi scion scored just 17 percent.

If the public sentiments grow stronger for Modi and if he climb’s the Prime Minister’s chair, it would be slightly uncomfortable for the United States. US doesn’t permit its diplomats to meet with Modi and Britain wouldn’t deal with him at all while many other countries won’t be worried by his record. “Private conversations with Western diplomats suggest that there is a general desire to rehabilitate Modi,” writes Denyer who also quoted the leaked 2006 cable from U.S. Embassy by WikiLeaks which said, “We believe it would dilute our influence to avoid Modi completely.” The cable also says that waiting until Modi “achieved national stature” to engage with him could be seen as opportunistic.

While it’s not very easy to wash away the stains of his past, his supporters say it is time to move on but his critics still call for his head saying that the systematic nature of violence makes this impossible. They says his increased efforts to do an image makeover is an attempt to fetch the national job but Modi rubbishes these allegations which he puts on “some vested interest groups” and says, “because I have not done anything wrong, and I am committed to the human cause.” With his Sadbhavana mission, Modi tried to reach out to his people with his development stories and to highlight the fact that there had been no major violence between Hindus and Muslims since 2002.

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Earning Less than 8 Lakh in Financial Year 2012-2013? Your Tax will Go Up

The taxpayers have one more reason to get frustrated with the recent budget. The Finance Minister not only kept the tax-saving limit under Section 80C unaltered, but the deduction under Section 80CCF for infrastructure bonds has been removed. This will cut down the total tax savings from 1.2 lakh to 1 lakh which will thrust up the payable tax for individuals.

The deduction was increased two years ago and it has to be extended every year through an amendment. Tax experts had dreaded the worst when the finance minister did not mention it in his budget speech this year. Finance Ministry sources now authenticate that the 20, 000 deductions has been allowed to tumble this year.

It has come clean by now that the change will not burn those with an income of less than 5-6 lakh a year. The taxpayers in this section generally did not invest in infrastructure bonds in a huge way as the tax benefit is lesser for this slab. In a lot of cases, these taxpayers failed to exhaust even their 1 lakh deduction limit under Section 80C.

Though for investors with an income of up to 8 lakh, the scrapping of Section 80CCF means that they will have to pay up to 2,060 more tax next year. It will be more difficult for female taxpayers, but the cruelest gust is held back for senior citizens and very senior citizens. These taxpayers will end up paying almost 4, 120 more as tax. Add the burn of the hike in service tax and you can see a bigger serving of your income going as taxes next year.

Strangely, the elimination of the deduction overlaps with the government's plan to boost the funds to be lifted up by infrastructure lenders in 2012-13. This limit has been doubled to 60, 000 crore. This is the cause, the experts thinks that the deduction should have been allowed to persist. Moreover, it comes at a time when the government wants to raise money for the cash-hungry infrastructure sector. "It is a blow to individual investors as it will actually push up their tax burden. The deduction should be restored immediately,” said DS Rawat, Secretary-General, Assocham.

From Deduction to Exemption

Spending too much time worrying about the scrapped tax deduction is not worth it.  On the contrary, we should think about the exemption you can gain through the tax-free infrastructure bonds. Contrasting to the tax-saving bonds under Section 80CCF, these bonds will not cut your tax outgo. Nevertheless, the interest they earn will be tax-free. The interest earned on Section 80CCF bonds is fully taxable, which decrease the post-tax yield for investors. Besides, the tax has to be paid every year, not on the maturity of the bond.

Alternatively, the income from tax-free infrastructure bonds is completely exempted. What's more, unlike the 20, 000 ceiling in the tax-saving bonds, there is no limit to the amount that a retail investor can park in these bonds. Kamal Rampuria, Senior Vice-President, AUM Capital Market  said, "While the tax-saving bonds under Section 80CCF gave better returns, even tax-free infrastructure bonds are a good option for investors in the highest income bracket.”

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Royal Weddings - Most Expensive Ones

Royal weddings always have a different flavor added to it, with its rich and unique style ranging from decorations to food. The whole world looks upon these high class marriages anxiously with a glint of surprise and delight in their eyes, which cannot be matched with normal weddings. Let us have a look at some of the most extravagant and expensive royal weddings of all time-

William and Kate

The world witnessed the royal wedding of the century on 29 April, previous year when Prince William married the women of his dreams, his college sweetheart Kate Middleton. The streets of London were packed with more than 2 million viewers, who gathered around to get a glimpse of this royal wedding, which happens to be the third most expensive wedding in history with millions splashed out. The total cost of the wedding is estimated to be around $50-80 million, with floral décor costing $800,000, security arrangements -$33 million and Kate’s gown costing $300,000 to $450,000.Moreover since the day was declared as an official holiday, it cost the economy an amount of $6 billion.

Charles and Diana

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, termed as a ‘global event’ took place in the year 1981 which captivated the entire world. This large and extravagant function was more like a fairy tale wedding which had cost around $48 million ($110 million as per today's value). The price of the wedding gown of the bride was 9000 pounds and  for the cake they had to pay an amount of $6,000(rates will be double or triple as per today’s value).The estimated value of the wedding ring in today’s value is around 85,700 pounds and her gown’s 25-foot train is the longest in the history of royal marriages. Notable moments of the wedding were Diana reversing the order of Charle’s name while reading the vows and Charle’s forgetting to kiss his wife at the end of the ceremony. It took nearly 14 weeks to prepare the 27 wedding cakes and five-foot-tall main cake; moreover a duplicate cake was also made as a security measure.

Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum

The wedding of former King of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed with his first cousin Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum which took place in 1979 was more like a national festival which extended up to seven days and the event has found a place for itself in the Guinness records. An entire stadium which could accommodate up to 20, 000 guests was built and the total cost is estimated to be about $44.5 million (around $100 million in today’s value).The stadium featured displays of camel and horse riding, moreover an aerobatics display by the Dubai Air Force made the function even more fascinating and enjoyable. For one whole month the entire Dubai had fun and the King used to visit every village on his horse and supplied food to everyone.

Prince Felipe of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano

The wedding between Felipe and Letizia was held at Cathedral Nuestra Senora de la Almudena in Madrin in the year 2004 and the function created big news with costs going up to $29 million, which included the security charges as well. A huge one million flower plantation campaign and the decorations along with the security of 18,000 policemen and soldiers added to the costs. During the marriage ceremony Felipe gifted Letizia with 13 gold coins as a part of Spanish tradition.

Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling

Princess Victoria accepted her former personal trainer Daniel Westling as her husband two years before an audience of 250,000.An amount of $3 million is the approximate wedding expense and it is supposed to be the most- watched royal wedding after Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s, which also included 150,000 tourists apart from the invited guests. Floral arrangements which were spread across the streets of Stockholm and building imitating the castle of the princess built in the city centre added to the charm of the occasion.

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10 Global Events of 2011-2012 that Shook the Stock Market

Global economy saw a great turmoil during the financial year 2011-12. There are a few considerable incidences which have influenced this. Moneycontrol.com has jotted down such events, right from S&P’s cutting U.S. credit rating to the Chinese slowdown. Let’s have a look.

1. May 14, 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, was disgraced and forced to resign. He faced a trial after being accused of sexual assault on a maid in his penthouse suite of New York's Sofitel Hotel. He resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund. He was also a lead-runner at the French presidential election, but after this incidence, his presidential ambitions were ruined.

2. May 17, 2011

Anti-capitalism demonstrations were started in Spain on this day. These protests were a series of ongoing demonstrations in Spain started on 15 May with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities. By September, they spread to Britain and U.S. via Chile, with tens of thousands, representing across 82 countries by October.

September 17, 2011

Occupy Wall Street movement started on started, in Zuccotti Park, of New York City's Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street was initiated by the Canadian activist group ‘Adbusters’ and has led to “Occupy protests and movements” around the world. The Occupy Wall Street protests are against social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the unjustified influence of corporations on government, especially from the financial services sector.

3. August 6

The United States lost its top AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, a United States-based financial services company. U.S. has lost its rating for the first time in history though there were concerns over the country's deficit and debt. “The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics,” S&P said in a statement to Reuters. The CEO of S&P, Deven Sharma, was soon fired after this.

4. August 23

Gold price rose up to $1911.46 per ounce, which is highest monthly rise since 1999. This eventually happened after some investors sold the yellow metal on a notion of slowing economic growth. Amid crisis, U.S. Fed was taking measures to stimulate the U.S. economy. This made the investors take this decision of selling bullions.

5. September 15, 2011

Rouge trading hit one of Europe’s biggest banks, UBS, costing it up to $2 billion, which almost blow its reputation. This scandalous news pushed down its share by 10.8 percent. Director Kweku Adoboli was held responsible for this and eventually arrested. Sergio Ermotti is the new CEO of UBS.

6. October 5, 2011

World lost a genius and a visionary icon, Steven P Jobs. The Inc Chairman and Co-founder of Apple, who brought a revolution in the tech world of personal computer industry died out of Pancreatic Cancer.

February 29, 2012

Apple's market capitalization soared over $500 billion in trade. Today Apple stands at a market value of $546 billion, with around 63,300 employees.

7. November 6, 2011

Greek PM, George Papandreou, agreed to step down from power amidst crippling debt crisis. He is succeeded by Lucas Papademos, Vice president of the European Central Bank. This was a sign that the country was deep in trouble.

8. November 8, 2011

UN stated in a report that it has “serious concerns” about Iran’s nuclear activities and also has “credible” information that Tehran is working to develop atomic weapons. This notion alerted the West to reinforce sanctions against the Islamic republic.

February 19, 2012

Iran banned oil exports to Britain and France following sanctions put in place by the European Union and the United States in January.

9. December 8, 2011

The European Central Bank gave 489.2 billion euro in cheap, as a three-year loan to 523 banks. This step was taken in effort to seize the financial crisis in the euro zone. Though the markets cheered but this attempt did not fully pay-off and warranted a second round of easing from the ECB.

10 March 11, 2012

China has a trade deficit of $31.5 billion which is the biggest of the decade. This happened as imports increased faster than exports for the nation. China is trying to bring about a standard shift in functioning of the nation, by reducing the dependence only on the export.

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Quit Your Job and Get Rich

Who doesn’t want to be rich? Each and everyone want to be rich. But the only thing which is required is your smartness and creativity. With that you can earn not only millions, but also your talent will increase. Quitting your job and searching for a new job is not a big deal. But your decision of quitting a monotonous job will be only appreciated once you start thinking of an idea which can make you a rich person. That doesn’t mean only wrong steps or ideas will take you forward to become a millionaire. There are other key factors which helps you to get rich, but that just requires your presence of mind and the hunger to work hard. Here are few main advantages that you can look upon by quitting a job, as reported on Make Money Website.

1. Rich people don’t work for money:

This is considered to be the hardest concept for people to understand. Many people think that those who are rich may be having lot of allowance; in fact it’s actually true and thus you need to work hard to get the allowance that helps you to become rich. But actually this is not the case. The rich people don’t actually work for money, they actually work for properties and later that properties will work for money. So in the same sense, if you are smarter enough, then buy a property that can produce you great income and work on them rather than going to a office to do the same monotonous work.

2. Quitting Your job helps you to bring out your creativity:

It is said that each one of us will be having some or the other talent inside us. But for few reasons we tend to be careless about creativity that is hidden inside us. If you work for a company, you tend to spend most of your hours of the week at your office working for that company. Many times you start working on something which you are not so passionate about. With all your work pressure at office you won’t have any time left to think about a new idea which can work for you as you would be already stressed out working the entire day. So, by quitting your job, it doesn’t mean that you have lost your creativity. Instead you will get more time to explore your inner talent. And for sure most of you will be creative enough to get the ideas which work out to you to become rich. This advantage you would never get if you are recruited somewhere working the whole day.

Other than these two ideas reported in the Make Money Website, there are few other tips reported by Rod on the Success Center website.

3. Save sufficient money, Quit Your Job and earn millions:

If you start saving your money from the very first salary without spending it much, you will get a good opportunity to spend it worthy in your future. So, if you save sufficient money for your future from your current job, in future if at all you plan to quit your job and start your own business, the money that you have saved comes to your help at this point of time. It makes setting up of your own business quite easy as you will be financially stable and you would be free from worrying about the financial support for your business. Once you start your business, try to maintain it in a way so that your business runs actively without any loss. With this method for sure you can earn lots of money.

4. Maximize your social media after you start a business:

Once you start your business you must always maximize your social media contacts because at present your social media has expanded enormously which we can say it’s mainly because of its low cost [or you can also say pretty much free] and you can get a large return on investment. It is absolutely a good way to connect with potential customers and also engage in a good way with present clients which makes it easier for them to trust upon you.

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Top Priority of Gen Y ..??? - "Money, Fame and Image"

Gen Y is always an interesting area for researchers and psychologists when it comes to behavioral studies. Yeah, Millennials’ profiles have been reviewed in every perspective. In a workplace, it is important to evaluate the trends of Gen Y employees for associating them to corporate world. Baby Boomers and Gen X were not a big headache for employers, may be because of the less competition in job market. Today, the number of business ventures has increased with a parallel increase of talents in the global job market.  The trend of shifting from companies to companies has also increased in such an extent.

Most studies say Gen Y is very selfish and more ego-centric. The recent study which appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology states that Millenials are more attracted to extrinsic goals which are associated to financial success, appearance, social recognition than intrinsic ones (self-acceptance, affiliation, community feeling).  The research has studied around 10 million young adults from 1966 to 2009 including Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. They were asked questions based on their involvement in community services, life goals along with asking how important it is for them to make an impact in the political structure, participating in charity services and being financially sound in society to develop a significant way of life. The findings show basic differences in community values and even in personal values while Gen Y gives more priority for ‘money, fame and image’.

More astoundingly, only 35 percent stay informed about political affairs, whereas, majority of the Millenials rated community issues are least important to them. Though, they could volunteer for many causes which give appearance, achievement and recognition.  The personal values and community values narrowed to a ‘me-centric’ system which can reason many personal issues like anxiety, despair, and isolation in a great level.

But the changing values of the Gen Y are more demanded in the society and in the personal level. While the tuning of Gen Y to Gen Me advantages by declining discrimination and developing equality, it makes negative impact with their detachment from community services and with impracticable expectations.

Have you thought of why Gen Y fascinated towards extrinsic goals? Well, more than reviewing Gen Y characteristics, many of the behavioral researchers are not interested to question ‘why’. Do you think, ‘what’ can make a big difference in the life style of Gen Y than ‘why’?

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5 Best Mobile Apps to stay connected to IPL 2012

Every cricket fan must have these apps in their smartphone for this IPL season. It is surly a dream to watch all the IPL 2012 matched sitting at home, even if that is not possible you can stay connected with the IPL matches on the move with these apps. All these apps will provide you with live updates of every cricketing action and the match schedules. Check out the best mobile apps for IPL 2012.

1. IPL 2012 for Samsung Bada OS

The IPL 2012 for Samsung Bada OS offers real time match updates along with the player statistic. It also provides the full details about the match schedule; date, time, venue, teams and even the history of IPL series along with a detail profile of the player and his achievements in the IPL series till date.

The interesting feature of this app is the reminder, just set the match for reminder which you don’t want to miss, then the app will remind before 30 minutes of the match.

2. PlayUp for iOS

The PlayUp is a social networking app especially designed for gamers. Along with social networking the app provides real time score updates, match details and schedule. It not only offers the IPL score but also has provides the score and details about other international sports like World Football, Rugby, AFL, Hockey and much more.

You can pick any sports in the list, invite your friends and hang out during the live action. Best part of PlayUp is that it connects all this live sport to you and your friends, allowing you to instantly create private hangouts and message each another in real time around the action.

3. IPL 2012 with Live Score widget for Android

The IPL 2012 with Live Score is an amazing app available for free with a widget which provides real time live scores even if the app is not running. The app comes with a live detailed scorecard, live widget large and small, user friendly UI, player statistics, team statistics and you can even vote to your favorite team, batsman and bowler.

You can also enjoy many interesting features such as up-to-date match scorecard (even old matches), commentary, match photographs, player profile, points table, related latest news and interviews of players.

4. Official DLF IPL 2012 for BlackBerry

BlackBerry users can enjoy the IPL 2012 on the go for free with Official DLF IPL 2012. The app provides up-to-date match scores as they happen, schedule by results, fixtures and by team, teams and player profile sections, latest news and photos during the course of the tournament
and videos. The app has social media integration and also works on BlackBerry PlayBook.

5. IPL Live Streaming-Free for Android

The IPL Live Streaming-Free app allows streaming live IPL matches in normal as well as HD quality for free. You can even see the highlights of recently concluded matches. You just need to select popular channels in the apps and it streams it to your device. The app requires Flash player, make sure your smartphone supports Flash before using the app.

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Tips of Warren Buffet's to Get Rich

Warren Buffet is the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth of $62 billion. He is eminently regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world and is called a ‘Legendary Investor’.

When he began buying stocks in Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, one share cost him around $7.50 dollar. But today the entire scenario is changed and at 81, Buffet is Berkshire’s Chairman and CEO and one share of the company’s class ‘A’ stock worth is close to $119,000. He credits his amazing success to several key strategies. Here are some of Buffett's money-making secrets and tips for you to get rich -

1. Reinvest Your Profits

When you first make profit in the stock market, you may be tempted to spend more in order to gain more. But he says, “Don't.” Instead, he suggests reinvesting the profits. Buffett learnt this lesson much early. In his high school, he and a mate bought a pinball machine to pun in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines. When the friends sold the scheme, Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks so that he could start another small business with the profit. By 26, he'd accumulated $174,000. Even a small sum can turn into great wealth, if it is wisely invested

2. Be Willing To Be Different

Don't let your decisions be based entirely upon what everyone says or does. When Buffett began handling money in 1956 with $100,000, he started with a handful of investors. Back then he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not Wall Street, and he refused to inform his parents where he was investing their money. People foresaw it as a failure but after 14 years, when he closed his partnership; it was worth more than $100 million. Instead of following the crowd, he went out of the box and looked for underrated investments and ended up vastly beating the market average every single year. To Buffett, what everybody is doing is doing is the average. He says ‘to be above average, you need to measure yourself’ which he calls as ‘Inner Scorecard’, that is ‘judging yourself by your own standards and not the world's.’

3. Never Suck Your Thumb

When you need to make money investing or money making decision, gather all information regarding it in advance and solicit a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to your self decided deadline. Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind, taking a decision and executing it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking as “thumb sucking.” Whenever people offered him a business or an investment, he on spot answer was always, “I won't talk unless they bring me a price.”

4. Spell Out the Deal Before You Start

Your bargaining power is always at its greatest before you begin a job. This is a time when you have something good to offer to the other party. Buffett learnt this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours scooping until he could barely straighten his frozen hands. Afterward, his grandfather gave him less than 90 cents. Warren Buffett was shocked to see that he performed such backbreaking work only to earn pennies per hour. Always nail down the particulars of a deal in advance even the deal is with your friends and relatives.

5. Watch Small Expenses

Warren Buffett invests in businesses which are run by managers who are obsessed even over the tiniest of cost. He once acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated and Buffet really appreciated this. He also admired a friend who painted only the road facing side of his office building. Exercising alertness over every expense can make your profits and your paycheck.

6. Limit What You Borrow

Living mostly on credit cards and loans will not make you rich. Buffett has never borrowed a noteworthy amount, not even to invest or mortgage. He has gotten a number of heart rendering letters from people who thought their borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice: “Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you're debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest,” as quoted on his official website.

7. Be Persistent

With obstinacy and resourcefulness, you can even win against a well established competitor. In 1983, Warren Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart as he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. She was a Russian immigrant, who built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the rich ones and she was a merciless delegate who was very good in negotiation. To Warren Buffett, Rose personified the unwavering courage that makes a winner out of an underdog.

8. Know When to Quit

Once, when Warren Buffett was in his teens, went to the racetrack. He gambled on a race and lost. To get back with his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again which actually left him with nothing. He felt sick and wasted nearly a week's earnings. But Buffett learnt from this and never repeated any such mistakes. He says, “Know when to walk away from a loss, and don't let anxiety fool you into trying again.”

9. Assess the Risk

In 1995, an employer of Warren Buffett's son, Howie, was accused by the FBI for price-fixing. Warren Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst and best case scenarios if he stayed with his company. His son quickly realized the risks of staying in the company anymore and he quit the very next day. Hew says asking yourself “and then what?” can help you much more and will let you see all the possible consequences when you're struggling hard to make a decision.

10. Know What Success Really Means

Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett does not measure success as per the number of dollars. In 2006, he vowed to give almost of his fortune to charities, primarily to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He’s adamant about not funding monuments to himself. He doesn’t want any Warren Buffett buildings or halls. He says, “I know people who have a lot of money and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. When you get to my age, you'll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That's the ultimate test of how you've lived your life,” as quoted in his official website.

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How Billionaire`s Wives spend money

India’s super-rich billionaires have buckets of money although they spend most of it into business. But have you ever wondered what their better half’s spending habits are? Is it only shopping or fascination of luxurious accessories? Or they like to reinvest their money to make more profit out of it? Let’s have a look at their lifestyles.

1. Nita Ambani

Nita Ambani, daughter of senior Birla executive, is often called as the “Empress of India”. She is married to the Reliance Industry’s Chairman and MD, Mukesh Ambani, who is the richest man in the country with an estimated wealth of $22.3 billion. Her husband might have built one of the world’s most expensive houses but she is typical Gujju bargain-hunting wife who love to get hold of the best piece at the best rate.

For her high rise home Antilla, she wanted a crockery set of 25,000 pieces of chinaware. This crockery set was from a 106 years old Japanese brand ‘Noritake’, whose crockery is 22 carat gold/platinum-trimmed porcelain. Surprisingly she didn’t buy it from the Mumbai showroom rather she flew to Sri Lanka to get her piece as the price was 70-80 percent less in Sri Lanka than Mumbai.

2. Tina Ambani

Tina Ambani is married to the seventh richest man in the country, Anil Ambani, who has an estimated wealth of $7.8 billion. She is a shy person, and doesn’t like to disclose her spending habits or her purchases. In a chat with ET, she once said, “I'm a very shy person. Please don't make this interview about me”. She has her own “Harmony Art Foundation”, where she hosts many art shows. She generally peeps out only during her art shows.

She is mostly busy with her Harmony art show, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Research Institute. As quoted by ET, she says, “I want to speak about the art show and my work, but the press seems more interested in my clothes and jewellery”. She buys pieces of upcoming artists to encourage them. She bought a 100-m long yacht worth nearly 200 crore, which can host 20 people apart from the crew. She is also a member of 161 year old Royal Bombay Yacht Club (RBYC) in Mumbai.

3. Savitri Jindal           

Savitri Jindal is a Industrialist who is also the fifth richest woman in the country with a net worth of $13.2 billion. She is also referred as “Indian Steel Baroness”. She overtook O. P. Jindal Group as Non Executive CEO, after her husband, Om Prakash died in helicopter crash in 2005.

She is a businesswoman but a very down to earth person. She doesn’t boast a luxurious life and she spends sparingly. She believes in reinvesting her money to make profit by buying or investing in stocks and shares.

4. Melinda Gates

Melinda French Gates is an American businesswoman and wife of Bill Gates, who is the world’s second wealthiest man with a net worth of $61.3 billion. She is the co-founder and co-chair of her foundation called “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”. This initiative makes her out of the list and the only reason is ‘Its Selfless’. In 1999, she along with her husband donated $5 billion of their personal wealth to this foundation.

The primary aim of this foundation is to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty globally. This foundation is controlled by three trustees primarily – Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet. This foundation mainly has three wings under it namely – Global Health, Global Development and United States Program.

5. Gauri Khan

Guari Khan is a film producer and wife of Sharukh khan aka the ‘King Khan’ of Bollywood. She is also the co-founder of ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’, a film production house. Though she is a celebrity’s wife but like to keep a low profile. She is considered as one of the most stylish women in Bollywood. Priya Tanna, Editor of Vogue India says, “That she is stylish, enigmatic, and poised is known, but at the shoot we saw another side of her. Even in the frames she shares with Shah Rukh, she holds her own impressively”, as quoted by Wikipedia.

By profession she is a Fashion Designer and also an interior designer by passion. She bought a house worth 20 million pounds in London and wanted Subodh Gupta to design it for her. She said to NDTV, “When I saw Subhodh's art for the first time it was still coming out and it was very close to my heart… I have just done up my place and in fact we invited him to our place. I wanted to show him our place because I thought if he gets inspired… he would tell us what would look good and what would work. So he called me and invited me to this exhibition to see what he has done and if I like something”.

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