Indian households typically own just two financial instruments but require at least four to significantly reduce financial anxiety, according to the अ-Nishchit Index 2.0 released Monday by Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance.

The perception-based study, validated by Drshti Strategic Research Services, found that perceived uncertainty scores remain elevated at approximately 78–80 when families hold one to three insurance policies. This figure drops to around 73 only after crossing the four-product threshold. Investment portfolios show a parallel pattern, with uncertainty declining to roughly 75 at four or more holdings.

The index measured perceived uncertainty against the national baseline score of 79. Average portfolios currently stall at about two instruments, leaving most households with fragile protection despite feeling initially secure.

Aditya Birla Sun Life attributes the inflection point to coverage completeness rather than mere product accumulation. The company identified four essential components: term insurance for dependent protection, comprehensive health cover with riders, emergency fund liquidity, and goal-linked long-term investments. Missing any component forces families to liquidate growth assets during emergencies or underfund goals after income disruptions, behaviors that sustain high uncertainty levels.

The insurer emphasized that moving from two to four products requires integrated planning rather than piecemeal purchases. Annual portfolio reviews, inflation-adjusted targets, and automatic contributions help reduce decision friction and improve financial resilience.

Mumbai-based Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group and Canada’s Sun Life Financial, manages assets under management of ₹1.04 lakh crore as of September 2025. The company operates through 440-plus branches and serves 28.64 lakh active customers.

The study’s findings come as Indian households navigate inflation and volatile markets, with systematic financial planning emerging as a key differentiator in perceived security.

Published on January 28, 2026

Equity benchmarks extended gains from the previous session following India-EU trade agreement optimisim aided by supportive global cues that sparked fresh buying interest across the market. All eyes on Union Budget presentation on Feb 1, 2026.

Sensex traded 302.35 pts or 0.37 per cent positive at 82,159.83 at 12.34 pm, after rallying over 600 pts to 82,503.97 during the session. Nifty 50 traded 103.25 pts or 0.41 per cent higher at 25,278.65, hitting an intraday high of 25,372.10 (up 146 pts from day’s low).

Smallcap index outperformed with 1.5 per cent increase, while midcap rose by 0.84 per cent. On the sectoral front, oil & gas and metal indices surged 3 per cent, while FMCG declined 1 per cent. In addition, auto, pharma, and IT dipped, while all other indices traded in positive territory.

Top movers intraday

Among the Nifty 50 components, ONGC, Hindalco, Coal India, Eternal and Bharat Electronics led the gainers, while Tata Consumer Products, Asian Paints, Eicher Motors, Maruti and Infosys were major laggards.

Market breadth was firmly positive, with 3,142 stocks traded on the NSE, of which 2,271 advanced, 780 declined and 91 remained unchanged, while 61 stocks hit fresh 52-week highs against 133 that touched new 52-week lows; as many as 94 counters were locked in the upper circuit, compared with 38 in the lower circuit.

Companies like L&T, Maruti Suzuki, BEL, ICRA, Star Health, GRSE, ACC and Cochin Shipyard will announce Q3 results today. Follow our live

Midcap stocks Motilal OFS, Oil India, National Aluminium, BDL and Cochin Shipyard zoomed 5-9 per cent, while Vishal Mega Mart, Bharti Hexacom, IDFC First Bank and Coromandel International fell 2-5 per cent.

Under the smallcap segment, Hindustan Copper, Data Patterns, Tejas Networks, IGIL and BEML rallied 7-13 per cent, while Radico, Aegis Vopak, IKS, Anant Raj and CreditAccess depreciated 2-4 per cent.

Published on January 28, 2026

File Photo: The crash site of Air India Ltd. Flight 171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on Friday, June 13, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Bloomberg

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons were killed in an aircraft crash on Wednesday morning, bringing back the memories of other major crashes in which political heavyweights and prominent figures lost their lives.

The incident occurred when the plane carrying NCP leader Pawar (66) and others was trying to land in Pune’s Baramati area.

Here is a list of the top politicians and prominent figures who lost their lives in air tragedies:

* Homi Bhabha (1966) India’s pioneering nuclear physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha died in a tragic crash aboard Air India Flight 101 on January 24, 1966. The plane crashed into Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps due to a miscommunication with the Geneva air traffic control.

* Sanjay Gandhi (1980) Congress leader and son of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi died in a tragic crash on June 23, 1980. Attempting aerial stunts in a Delhi Flying Club aircraft near the Safdarjung Airport, the plane lost control and crashed.

* Madhavrao Scindia (2001) Senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia, himself a former civil aviation minister, died on September 30, 2001 in a plane crash en route a political rally in Kanpur. The 10-seater private aircraft crashed due to poor weather conditions in Uttar Pradesh.

* GMC Balayogi (2002) Lok Sabha Speaker and Telugu Desam Party leader G M C Balayogi died in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002, when a private helicopter carrying him from Bhimavaram in the West Godavari district crashed into a pond near Kaikalur in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

* Cyprian Sangma (2004) Meghalaya’s Rural Development Minister Cyprian Sangma and nine others, who were heading from Guwahati to Shillong on a Pawan Hans helicopter, were killed when the chopper crashed near the Barapani lake, just 20 km from the state capital, on September 22, 2004.

* K S Sowmya (2004) Famous South Indian actress K S Sowmya, popular as Soundarya, lost her life in an air crash on April 17, 2004. The “Sooryavansham” actress was flying from Bengaluru to Karimnagar with her brother at the time of the crash.

* O P Jindal and Surender Singh (2005) Industrialist and Haryana minister Om Prakash Jindal lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2005 along with Agriculture Minister Surender Singh. Their chopper was en route Chandigarh from Delhi when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur.

* Y S Reddy (2009) Then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (2009), popularly known as YSR, died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad weather.

* Dorjee Khandu (2011) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others were killed on April 30, 2011, when a helicopter carrying them from Tawang to Itanagar crashed in the West Kameng district of the state.

* CDS General Bipin Rawat (2021) India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash on December 8, 2021. The incident occurred near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while he was en route from Sulur to Wellington with his wife and 11 others.

* Vijay Rupani (2025) Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani died in a plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, 2025. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (AI171) and more than 20 persons, including MBBS students on the ground, were killed in the aircraft crash.

Published on January 28, 2026