1. Storms lash four states, kill over 40; 64 flights affected in Delhi
Dust storms and thunderstorms wreaked havoc in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and the national capital, killing at least 41 people and leaving behind a trail of destruction.
Uttar Pradesh bore the brunt of a thunderstorm and hail that left at least 18 people dead, while 12 people including four children were killed in West Bengal, nine in Andhra Pradesh, and two in Delhi, officials said.
At several places in north India including Delhi, high-velocity winds uprooted trees and affected road, rail and air services.
According to the India Meteorological Department, thunderstorms also occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Maharashtara, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Read more...
2. From MRF to Shree Cement, here are Dalal Street's wealth-creating machinesShares of MRF, India’s largest tyremaker, recently hit their all-time high level of Rs 81,423. The stock has generated 30 per cent or more annual returns over periods stretching from 5 to 15 years, the data shows. An investor buying the stock at any time in its history would be sitting on a tidy sum.
MRF is not alone in being an outlier on the returns front across time periods. There are 22 other companies whose stocks have delivered a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) return in excess of 30 per cent during this period. This analysis does not include dividends, which would bump up the returns further. Read more...
3. Flipkart-Walmart deal: Tax dept grapples with Tiger Global's liability
Tiger Global is set to make over $3 billion from the $16-billion Walmart-Flipkart deal. Taxing the windfall the venture capital fund makes, however, is going to be tricky for India.
With funds registered in Mauritius, Tiger Global has offices in Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia and its headquarters is in New York. It has been investing in Flipkart since 2010 from Mauritius. And, thus, experts say Tiger Global’s investment in Flipkart — reportedly in tranches — may come under the Indo-Mauritius tax treaty. However, any failure on Tiger’s part to meet the limitation of benefit (LoB) clauses, under the treaty, may lead to the invoking of the general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Read more...
4. From Chennai to Guwahati, govt likely to privatise 8 major airports
The government’s attempt at privatising maintenance of airport terminals has drawn a blank from investors. And, has forced the Narendra Modi government to mull complete privatisation — a plan initiated by the previous United Progressive Alliance government but dropped by the current regime, facing protest from employee unions.
The plan is to privatise at least eight government-owned airports — Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Guwahati. The civil aviation ministry is having discussions on designing the model on how the airports would be bid out, according to sources. It is likely the airports will be bid out for 30 years and the tariffs will be fixed upfront. Read more...