For Sachin Tendulkar's last match, security as tight as World Cup

The security agencies in Mumbai are treating Sachin Tendulkar's 200th and final Test match at the Wankhede Stadium here like a World Cup final. On Wednesday, Mumbai Cricket Association officials and senior officers of the Mumbai Police discussed elaborate security measures to ensure that the high-profile match to be attended by the who's who of the country passed off incident free.

The bustling city of Mumbai has always been a soft target for terror groups. The Champions League T20 championship was cancelled after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks by Pakistani gunmen. In July 2011, a series of explosions rocked the city leaving at least 26 people dead. Tendulkar's 200th game is being seen as more than just a Test match and hence the attention from all security agencies is understandable.

Among major steps, four sets of Quick Response Teams, armed with automatic weapons, will escort the players. The police will also post liaison officers with both the Indian and the West Indian squads. Parking restrictions in and around the Wankhede Stadium and specific entrance for players and VVIPs are part of the security measures.

Anti-sabotage measures will also be in place as part of the security bandobast. Even the caterers who will bring in food for spectators and players will have restricted entry and will be frisked. Except authorized personnel, no Private Security Officers with weapons will be allowed entry in the core areas of the stadium.

Cricket players have been at the receiving end of terrorist strikes. In March 2009, at least six Sri Lankan cricketers were injured after gunmen opened fire on the team bus at Lahore. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed when 12 masked gunmen on rickshaws attacked with guns, grenades and rockets. The Sri Lankan team bus came under fire as the players headed to the Gaddafi Stadium for the third day of the second Test against Pakistan. Mumbai Police is taking no chances with Tendulkar's mega match.

First Look: the ticket of Sachin Tendulkar's 200th and last Test

Sachin Tendulkar will play the last match of his glittering career - also his 200th Test - at his home ground the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
After the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) used a Sachin portrait on the tickets for his 199th Test at the Eden Gardens, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has followed suit with different Sachin images smarting up the match ticket.
Here's how the ticket looks like:

After Kolkata used a Sachin portrait on the tickets, Mumbai has followed suit with different Sachin images smarting up his 200th and farewell Test ticket.

Is a home saver loan an option for existing borrowers?

Victor has taken a home loan of around 25 lakhs. He is regularly paying the EMI. Despite interest rate increases and rising inflation, Victor never defaulted. His savings reduced drastically because of increase in EMI. On top of that he had paid off a lump sum amount of Rs.5L as part of his prepayment to help him ease off the strain on his monthly budget with the consecutive hikes that happened the previous year. However, it was all going well till Victor had to spend 3 lakhs for an emergency. He had to run from pillar to post, ask friends & families, and talk to banks. Finally he was able to arrange for funds but it was a very stressful time for him!

This is not a very uncommon situation. Many of the borrowers can easily identify with such situations where pre-payment of loan puts extra burden on them because it took all their savings leaving them exposed to any emergency situation. Pre-payment of your home loan is a double edged sword. It reduces the future obligation but incurs opportunity cost and more risk in case of emergency situations.

Home Saver Loans

What if there is option where loan borrowers can pay more (just like in case of pre-payment) when they have surplus fund and withdraw from the same fund when they face emergency situations like what Victor faced. What if there is an option where loan borrowers are saved from further ignominy of running pillar to post to arrange emergency expenses.

Home saver loan is one such option that not only allows home loan borrowers to pay more from their surplus money but also lets them withdraw from the same pool if they need it in emergency cases.

How it works

The concept, though simple, is very powerful. The idea is to make use of your deposit in current or savings account to offset some part of the principal. Once a part of the principal is offset, your interest obligation comes down. Let's understand this with the same example.

Suppose Victor, instead of paying 5 lakhs as prepayment, would have deposited 5 lakhs in his current or savings account which was linked to his home saver account and left it. His interest obligation would have been calculated not on the loan outstanding but on the loan outstanding minus 5 lakhs. What's more? Victor can withdraw this money or a part of it whenever he wants it. Let's see how this works by an example.

Example of savings using Home Savers option	Case 1	Case 2
Amount outstanding	2,000,000.00	2,000,000.00
Interest rate charged	8%	8%
EMI	16,728.00	16,728.00
Deposit in current account linked to home savers account	-	500,000.00
Interest to be calculated on	2,000,000.00	1,500,000.00
Interest obligation	13,333.33	10,000.00
Principal paid	3,394.67	6,728.00
Remaining principal to be paid	1,996,605.33	1,993,272.00

It can be clearly seen that the borrower has saved more than Rs 3,000 in the first month itself. This saving can be humongous if you consider the fact that you have to pay the EMI for next several years.

What if you do not have Rs 5 lakhs in your current/savings account? In that case, even when you deposit a recurring amount in your account, this deposit will be subtracted from principal outstanding to calculate the EMI. The savings would be less in initial months but will compound in the later part of the tenure.

Home savers accounts will not only help borrowers save on payment but will also reduce the tenure of EMI as principal will reduce with every passing month.

Caution points

This is certainly a good innovative loan product but it has its own pitfalls. First, keeping money in saving or current account is not profitable. Investors would rather start SIP in mutual funds, which can give better returns. While liquidity is an issue in case of mutual funds relative to savings or current account, this is manageable as redemption of mutual funds can happen in few days.

Second, home saver loan are given at a higher rate than normal home loan. Banks typically charge anywhere between 0.5% to 1% higher rates than normal home loan. For example, for loan amount up to 25 lakhs, IDBI charges 10.5% floating rate of interest on normal home loan while the same is 11.5% on home saver home loan. Despite the higher rate, the overall savings is tremendous.

Finally, this option is relatively better only when you have enough money to park in the linked account. Moreover, home saver loan is not offered by all the banks as of now. Few banks that offer are Citibank, standard chartered, IDBI, HSBC, ICICI, and SBI. The rates vary with banks. Borrowers should also look at the criteria for eligibility as this is different from normal home loan where banks have similar criteria. Hence, if you do not get home saver loan from one bank, you should try in another.

EMIs in Credit Card dues

EMI is a common household term today, as more and more people are availing different kinds of credits to meet their financial needs. The same is applicable to outstanding amounts in credit card dues which the customer may find difficult to pay in one go. Is the EMI facility on credit card payments a good option or does it come with strings attached? Let's first understand what EMIs in credit cards are.

When you make a purchase using your credit card, you can make its payment by any of the following ways:

• Make the full payment of the card on the due date
• Make a part payment and pay interest on the unpaid amount till it is repaid
• Pay the outstanding amount in EMI

The third option is when the amount can be paid back to the credit card company in equal parts. EMI in credit card dues thus works like a loan, wherein you pay off the outstanding amount equally during the pre-decided tenure.

The card issuer usually specifies the conditions that only specific purchases of certain amount from select stores would be eligible to avail the EMI benefit. While this option is generally available at the time of making purchases, some banks offer the facility of opting for EMI option even at a later date or on outstanding dues on the card. A credit card holder must ensure at the outset that the issuer of the card has given an option to avail this facility as it is not available across all kinds of cards.

Forms of EMI payment:

• Most EMI options on credit cards carry an interest rate. This interest rate is generally lower than the normal interest rate on the credit card. The EMI is made up of two variable components- principal amount and interest rate. Assume you make a purchase for Rs. 15,000 and opt for EMI option at a monthly rate of 1.5% over 6 months. The total outstanding amount is first calculated, which is then broken up into equal payments over 6 months, comprising of both principal and interest components. The component of interest amount is higher in initial years and decreases over the years. The component of principal amount is lower in initial years and increases over the years.

• You can avail an interest-free EMI option on certain purchases. So if the purchase amount is Rs.15,000 and you opt for a 6 month EMI, then this will translate into six monthly payments of Rs. 2,500 each. However, this could be a short-duration promotional offer where there are no charges at all. It can also be applicable if you are transacting at a retail outlet that has a tie-up with the bank. Further, in this case, you must evaluate to check if the discount on the product is taken away when you opt for EMI option. For instance, the product worth Rs.15,000 may be available for Rs. 13,000 without the EMI option.

In both the above cases, the customer is charged a one-time processing fee which is a percentage based on the transaction amount. This percentage varies from bank to bank.

Options to mitigate the EMI Risk

The credit card companies have many shrewd plans to extract maximum interest from the unsuspecting customers. They design products in such a way that they always stand to gain. Some banks do offer Insurance on EMI so that in case of an emergency the insurance takes care of your minimum dues for certain period but not the entire amount. However, you'll have to purchase insurance upfront with a premium. Thus, the options to avoid paying higher interest when taking EMI facility from credit cards are limited.

Drawbacks of availing EMI option on Credit card dues

• If you opt for an EMI facility, the EMI amount will get reflected on your monthly credit card bills along with your other dues. If you fail to pay your credit card dues in any month, you will be charged a hefty interest of anywhere between 24%-36% for non-payment. This interest will be charged on your EMI amount as well, which already carries the basic interest of the EMI facility, causing a double whammy.

The customer gets an impression that the amount being repaid is being treated as a separate loan and once the EMI starts, the entire card limit can be used again. But it is not true as till the total amount is paid, one can only use the remaining limit from the credit card. If you want to repay the entire outstanding at one go, there is a prepayment penalty. Most banks will charge you 1%-5% on the outstanding. Moreover, if you forget to pay EMIs, there will be an extra interest cost involved.

Therefore the need for discipline in all kinds of spending through credit cards is essential for smart financial management of personal expenses. Any big ticket buy through credit card without sufficient funds to make the payment in one go can result in huge interest burden subsequently. Such offers need to be carefully evaluated on a case by case basis to see if there are any savings by the cardholder before taking it up.

How and when TDS Deductions can be avoided

Even though many of us are familiar with tax filing, the process of TDS deduction is still confusing for many. When and where TDS is applicable, what are the procedures to reduce it and how to claim the deducted amount at the time of filing tax returns are few of the queries we have. So, here we discuss TDS deductions with a focus on how and when it can be reduced to help you in everyday life.

Understanding TDS:

The Indian tax structure is broadly a two dimensional approach towards payment of tax liabilities. In the first method- self assessment, taxes can be paid voluntarily after evaluation of income during a financial year. In the second method, Tax Deductions at

Source or TDS, as the name suggests, is the spot deduction of tax from the income source itself, at the time of earning. This is to simplify the taxation procedure for the government and to ensure that the payment making and receiving individual / company is accounting the same without fail.

TDS is applicable for earnings from several financial instruments and business transactions like sale of property, interest income from banks, commissions and incentives, payment received for contracts and services, vendors, dividends and awards or prices earned as money.

There is no uniform rate for TDS deduction. Depending on the source of earnings, it can range from 1% for sale proceeds to 30% .

From Salary and Commissions

It is mandatory as per Indian Income Tax rules that companies as well as working professionals who earn above the aforementioned figure should deduct tax at source from the payments they make.

Employers normally will ask employees to fill an investment declaration form. If you have done an early homework to save your TDS deduction by investing in several tax saving instruments under Sections 80C, 80D, or planning to do within that financial year, do declare the details in the form with required proofs to save TDS. If despite all your investments, your salary is still above the exemption limit, TDS will be deducted monthly.

The employer will issue a TDS certificate (also referred as Form No.16 (a)) at the end of the financial year which can be produced while filing income tax return to get the credit of the TDS ( if applicable) during the personal income tax assessment.

TDS is applicable for payments including commissions, service fees, professional fees and payment via contracts. Here the TDS certificate issued will be Form 16 B which like Form 16 A, can be produced while filing income tax return to get reversed if applicable.

TDS from Property, Awards and Incentives:

TDS is applicable in case of earnings sale of property, rental / lease income, cash prizes, lottery winnings etc. The amount of deduction may vary from 1% in case of sale proceeds to nearly 30% in case of cash awards.

Individuals seeking TDS refund in the above mentioned situations can submit form 15G/H which is a self deceleration that your income is below taxable limit. This is applicable only for Indian residents including senior citizens and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF’s). Form 15G can be filed by all Indian residents whose total financial income for the designated financial year is below the threshold limit while senior citizens need to avail Form 15H for the same purpose. It is imperative to note that Non resident Indians are not allowed the use of forms 15G and 15H and need to apply separately.

In case of rental income, TDS will be deducted only if the rent you receive is not less than Rs1.8 lakh a year. In case of joint ownership of rented / leased property, where the specific share of the property is decided, the limit of Rs 1.8 lakh can be claimed separately by each owner.

Income generated through bank deposits-

TDS is deductable on interest income paid by banks and financial institutions in respect of FDs (exceeding Rs.10000 in a FY) and term deposits (exceeding Rs.5000 in a FY).

If your income is below the taxable limit, but the interest earned from your deposits is above Rs 10,000, you can request your bank not to deduct tax by submitting form 15 G and 15 H to the bank at the beginning of the financial year.

Another effective way is to opt for multiple smaller fixed deposits across various banks.

Splitting the interest earned across two financial years in such a way that the overall annual interest earned from any of the FD not exceeding Rs 10,000 is another workable option.

In certain cases, dividing fixed deposits under two different heads can also be useful in avoiding. Individuals can divide deposits in their names and have some under a HUF account to avoid interest generation cross the taxable limit.

And never forget to carry your PAN card for all fixed deposits over Rs.50000, because on not receipt of PAN number banks may deduct 20% TDS which is non reversible.

Reversing TS collected

As you file your tax returns, you will know the tax bracket you are which determines the balance tax to be paid or that can be reversed. So do keep a track of the TDS that you have paid with Form 26AS or annual tax statement. All the taxes deducted on your behalf will be listed in it and it can be availed from the concerned sources along with Form 16. Otherwise missing taxes will be considered unpaid by the income tax authorities.

Source	Deduction pattern	How to reduce TDS	How to reverse TDS	Conditions (if any)
Salary	Monthly by employer	Submitting investment declaration with proofs	At the time of filing ITR (with proofs of investments under 80C and 80D. Form 16 A	Ensure to have a tax savings plan under 80c and 80D
Incentives , Commissions, Services, Contracts, Rental Income	At the time of payment	Possible only to reverse	At the time of filing ITR (with proofs of investments under 80C and 80D. Form 16B	Only if eligible under 80C and 80D clauses
Sale of Property	At the time of transaction	If the transaction as per papers is below 20 lakhs in panchayaths and below 50 lakhs in municipality / corporation limits	NA	As per costs shown in documents
Bank Deposits	During interest remittance by bank	Form 15 G / 15 H, Splitting of accounts across banks / HUFs ( if applicable), splitting of interest in two FY	Form 15 G / 15 H,	Will not be reversed if a single deposit is above 50,000 and PAN no. not submitted

Sachin Tendulkar

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra

Current age 40 years 193 days

Major teams India, Asia XI, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians,Yorkshire

Nickname Tendlya, Little Master

Playing role Top-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak googly

Height 5 ft 5 in

Education Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

In a nutshell Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshipped cricketer in the world, Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, and most international runs. More

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	198	327	33	15837	248*	53.86			51	67		69	115	0
ODIs	463	452	41	18426	200*	44.83	21367	86.23	49	96	2016	195	140	0
T20Is	1	1	0	10	10	10.00	12	83.33	0	0	2	0	1	0
First-class	308	488	51	25312	248*	57.92			81	115			186	0
List A	551	538	55	21999	200*	45.54			60	114			175	0
Twenty20	96	96	11	2797	100*	32.90	2310	121.08	1	16	359	38	28	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	198	142	4198	2461	45	3/10	3/14	54.68	3.51	93.2	0	0	0
ODIs	463	270	8054	6850	154	5/32	5/32	44.48	5.10	52.2	4	2	0
T20Is	1	1	15	12	1	1/12	1/12	12.00	4.80	15.0	0	0	0
First-class	308		7563	4353	70	3/10		62.18	3.45	108.0		0	0
List A	551		10230	8478	201	5/32	5/32	42.17	4.97	50.8	4	2	0
Twenty20	96	8	93	123	2	1/12	1/12	61.50	7.93	46.5	0	0	0

Career statistics

Test debut	Pakistan v India at Karachi, Nov 15-20, 1989 scorecard
Last Test	India v Australia at Delhi, Mar 22-24, 2013 scorecard
Test statistics	- Statsguru Test analysis -  Player analysis menu/filter  Test match list  ---------------------------------  Batting career summary  Batting innings list  High scores  Batting series averages  ---------------------------------  Bowling career summary  Bowling innings list  Bowling match list  Best innings bowling  Best match bowling  Bowling series averages  ---------------------------------  Fielding career summary  Fielding innings list  Most catches in an innings  Fielding series statistics
ODI debut	Pakistan v India at Gujranwala, Dec 18, 1989 scorecard
Last ODI	India v Pakistan at Dhaka, Mar 18, 2012 scorecard
ODI statistics	- Statsguru ODI analysis -  Player analysis menu/filter  ODI match list  ---------------------------------  Batting career summary  Batting innings list  High scores  Batting series averages  ---------------------------------  Bowling career summary  Bowling innings list  Best innings bowling  Bowling series averages  ---------------------------------  Fielding career summary  Fielding innings list  Most catches in an innings  Fielding series statistics
Only T20I	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard
T20I statistics	- Statsguru T20I analysis -  Player analysis menu/filter  T20I match list  ---------------------------------  Batting career summary  Batting innings list  ---------------------------------  Bowling career summary  Bowling innings list  ---------------------------------  Fielding career summary  Fielding innings list
First-class debut	1988/89
Last First-class	Haryana v Mumbai at Rohtak, Oct 27-30, 2013 scorecard
List A debut	1989/90
Last List A	India v Pakistan at Dhaka, Mar 18, 2012 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	South Africa v India at Johannesburg, Dec 1, 2006 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Delhi, Oct 6, 2013 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
5, 79*	Mumbai	v Haryana	Rohtak	27 Oct 2013	FC
15	Mum Indians	v Royals	Delhi	6 Oct 2013	T20
35	Mum Indians	v Trinidad & T	Delhi	5 Oct 2013	T20
0	Mum Indians	v Scorchers	Delhi	2 Oct 2013	T20
5	Mum Indians	v Lions	Jaipur	27 Sep 2013	T20
15	Mum Indians	v Royals	Jaipur	21 Sep 2013	T20
38*	Mum Indians	v Sunrisers	Mumbai	13 May 2013	T20
15	Mum Indians	v Warriors	Pune	11 May 2013	T20
48	Mum Indians	v KKR	Mumbai	7 May 2013	T20
15	Mum Indians	v Super Kings	Mumbai	5 May 2013	T20

Profile

Sachin Tendulkar has been the most complete batsman of his time, the most prolific runmaker of all time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon the game has ever known. His batting is based on the purest principles: perfect balance, economy of movement, precision in stroke-making, and that intangible quality given only to geniuses - anticipation. If he doesn't have a signature stroke - the upright, back-foot punch comes close - it is because he is equally proficient at each of the full range of orthodox shots (and plenty of improvised ones as well) and can pull them out at will.