9 Safe investments in India for a middle income householder

Hmmm, I was looking for some 'safe' investment options for investment in these troubled times of bad politics and worse market fluctuations ...when I came across this kinda old article in rediff.com(Which in turn, had been taken by rediff from Sunil Dhawan, Outlook Money).. Well, reading it turned out to be pretty interesting and worth sharing as it not only listed out the options but also mentioned the pros and cons of the stuff. It even featured some of the commonly held myths on investments and busted them... and so without further ado, here is the link:
"The 9 safest investments for you"


Just to summarise, as per the article, the 9 safest investment options are:

1. Bank Deposits (the usual suspect)
2. Public Provident Fund (a very good tool when you desire to have a certain amount of tax saving edge to your investments)
3. National Savings certificate. (good tax saving tool which can tailored for every pocket, easy to procure and for people who are not looking for a regular income kinda outcome to the investment)
4. Senior Citizens Saving Scheme (one of the best tool for retired individuals)
5. Post Office Monthly Income Schemes (another reliable and easily available scheme. albeit, personally I feel the ROI is a little bad).
6. 8 per cent Taxable Savings Bonds (these are an alternative to the Post office scheme with a half yearly interest payment option and no upper investment limit)
7. Kisan Vikas Patras (interest on this tool is fully taxable but it has been a reliable item to investment when looking to supplement existing investments to have something set aside for a future expenditure)
8. Time deposits (available from both banks and Post Offices. not very attractive tools where interests are fully taxable better to go for section 80c enabled FD tools)
9. Recurrind depostis (another tool available from both Post Offices and Banks. Banks offer the more attractive option in this)