Some years back, when Raja Ravi Verma’s The Begum’s Bath went out for a whopping Rs. 2.5 crore, the turnout and enthusiasm of over 200 bidders, gave a signal that extravagant art buying culture is here to stay and thrive among India’s elite.

Art collectors describe their avocation as 'Passion.' These irreplaceable priceless possessions need to be preserved and taken care of. But unfortunately, inspite of the steep growth in the art market, art insurance is conspicuous by its absence.

Insurance is an effective tool, which comes to rescue in case of any possible harm to the asset insured. However, Amrita Jhaveri of Christies' representative in India points out that there is not much professional art insurance in this country.

One of the hurdles here is that most art is brought for cash. There are no receipts that record the transaction. This is done in order to save the immense amount of money that would flow out, all thanks to tax laws. Hence to hide the true value of the paintings and keep tax authorities at bay, most paintings are purchased in cash, with a very small percent of it paid by cheque, which holds a small value. Arun Sachdev of Galley 7 says that people are selling works of bigger artists at a lower cheque price and the rest of the amount is paid in cash. This makes it all the more difficult to put a price on any painting. The black segment of the economy is significant {Rs 600-800 crore (Rs 6-8 billion) of the business is in the organized sector, perhaps a tenth of the annual trading in art), but by 2010, significant progress would have been made to move towards a cheque economy (else, you'll have to forgo the gains of insurance, and pay huge tax on presumed capital gains).

Companies like Bajaj Allianz have come out with policies for private collections and a specialized policy for paintings displayed in museums or in auctions. Mr. K. Krishnamurty Rao, head of underwriting, Bajaj Allianz points out that the sum insured in these policies ranges from Rs 10,000 to over Rs 1 crore. The premiums vary as per the risks covered like burglary, theft, and damage by rodents, vermin, fungal growth etc.

There are a host of other factors that cause hindrances in the art insurance act. Like, an artist may buy a policy because of his inability to sell the painting and later come back with a claim. Pheroza Godrej, of Cymroza Art Gallery says that there are artists who have made quick money on. their insurance policy. She informs of a case, when a bronze idol, with a cracked base, had come to her gallery for exhibition. She rejected the piece due to the defect. But the artist claimed insurance for the damage and later got the piece auctioned as well. With such problems on a rise, it becomes a little dicey for insurance companies to work efficiently. However with the growing interest and the kind of infrastructure flowing in, Art insurance needs to be reworked on. So the concept of Art Insurance better catch up in the Indian market soon.

‘Ayu’ in Sanskrit means Life and ‘Veda’ means Knowledge. Hence we can summarize AYURVEDA as the knowledge of life.

India’s ancient healing system, Ayurveda (meaning “science of life in Sanskrit”) is an integrated approach to the prevention and treatment of illness that combines philosophical, spiritual, and scientific principles dating back thousands of years. Derived from the Vedas, the ancient body of literature, prayers, and teachings that forms the foundation of Hinduism and Indian culture, Ayurveda is a philosophy of living that encompasses the whole of human life, including the individual’s place in the cosmos. In Ayurvedic medicine, concern isn’t limited to the curing of disease; the promotion of positive and vital health and longevity is important as well.

Ayurveda has various advantages on its side like;

• Long history of safe human usage.
• Offers safety from irritative after-effects.
• The human body responds well to natural substances and has a resistance to synthetic ones.
• The skin and scalp are influenced at the cellular level, helping to improve normal functions.
• Promotes the capacity to absorb products.
• Herbs have a mild effect, but have powerful and specific healing properties.
• Particularly suited to skin and hair care.

Ayurveda aims to improve the overall well-being. This form of alternative healing is considered effective in curing a number of diseases, even chronic in nature. Ayurveda Medicines cure a variety of ailments like hyper-acidity, asthma, constipation, diabetes gastritis, hypertension, female disorders, heartburns, liver ailments and cholesterol problems.

So many cures. So many alternatives. As the west is fast turning towards the ancient Indian science, with Ayurvedic massages and different treatments like Abhyanga, Shirodara, Basti and Meru Chikitsa it is very sad to hear about the 'step motherly' treatment, the medical system is encountering in its very own homeland. It has been reported that patients going in for Ayurvedic or other alternative therapies may find it difficult to get insurance, as insurers have put down the scope of covers against these methods. Dr. Krishna Kumar, Managing Director of Coimbatore Ayurveda Trust, one of the pioneers in Ayurvedic treatments has said that with medical expenses on a rise, health insurance has become a necessity. But the scenario where Ayurveda is concerned is not very encouraging. It is being observed that many insurance companies are not providing cover for Ayurveda and other non-allopathic streams.

Out of the 150 patients in Coimbatore Ayurveda Trust, who applied for medical reimbursement last year, only 2 or 3 bills were cleared. At the same time, medical bills of foreigners who received treatment in India were reimbursed in their respective countries.

A corporate official chain blames the unorganized working in the Ayurvedic sector as a reason for difficulty in getting insurance coverage. The concern stays that Ayurvedic treatments may not necessarily be related to disease. The dispute occurs also because Ayurvedic treatments may not necessitate hospitalization

Insurance officials point out the problem of verifying whether a given treatment is for wellness or illness as a reason for the inefficiency of covering the claims along with finding out if the treatment and medicines were necessary were needed for a particular treatment.

Dr.Kumar is seeking a modification in the policy decision of insurance companies in favour of Ayurveda.He says that insurance companies should recognize Ayurveda as an effective branch of treatment like Allopathy and prescribe a format to submit the relevant documents for claim to make the procedure easy for the patients.

Remember that song from Bluffmaster. ‘The whole thing is that ki Bhaiya, Sabse Bada Rupaiya.’ And so it is. The rupee is breaking through and putting up a spectacular show.
The rise in the rupee was due to global investors buying the local currency; after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would remove the Rs 3,000-crore cap on funds it will absorb each day from lenders through its reverse repo auction. This apart, a surge in stock indices also attracted foreign inflows. RBI hiked the cash reserve ratio (CRR) - the amount that banks need to park with the central bank as a proportion of their total deposits - to 7 per cent. This would churn out cash flows worth Rs 13,500 crore from the banking system within a fortnight.


However, all said and done, the rupee rise is witnessing a host of after effects. There are different industries getting widely affected by this steep rise.

A rising rupee has given ground to severe financial hassles for some commodities like plantations and marine products.

Mr. J.K.Thomas, the president of planters' body United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) observes that the plantation sector accounts for export and revenues summing up to Rs. 4,000 crore and a rise in rupee proves harmful for their earnings. Around 1.3 growers and 2.3 million labourers are involved in the plantations sector.

The marine sector's export earnings crossed Rs 7,000 crores. This labour intensive sector is encountering problems of high interest rates.

Again labour intensive sectors like leather, jewellery, handicrafts and gems depend primarily on exports. The rise in rupee erodes their earnings when dollars are converted to currency. Sushma Srikandant, the chairperson of the spice trade body All- India Spice Exporters Forum reports that the rupee appreciation will bring a fall of at least 8% in export earnings and decline exports, primarily from U.S.

The appreciation of the Indian currency against the U.S. dollar increased the workload for people working in BPO and IT sector. It has been decided that these employees will have to work on Saturdays to counter the impact of the rising rupee. BPO firms, on an average work for 40 hrs a week. Now, the work hours will be increased to 50 hours per week. The outsourcing sector, which was essentially one of India's biggest export earners, has suffered acutely as the rupee rises nearly 10% against the dollar this year.

Again, the rising rupee worst affects the textile sector. According to a study conducted by EXIM bank, the silk industry has been worst affected, as it was 71% sensitive to the hardening of the currency. The speed of the rupee appreciation has added to the damage. It has been noted that the Indian textile industry faced dual attack by the rising rupee along with the Chinese government's ability to control the inflating currency. China is the main competitor of Indian textiles in the global market.

It is being observed that the most companies in the IT sector are very adversely affected with the Indian rupee rising as much of their business comes from the foreign sector.