Innholdsfortegnelse for 24 September 2017 i Business Today

The very wealthy are extremely efficient at keeping their exact net worth out of public glare. Using trusts, limited liability partnerships and other such legal structures, the rich manage to not only grow their wealth but also keep their net worth out of scrutiny of jealous rivals, pesky journalists and tax-happy governments. In general, most billionaires in India (and globally) are likely to have a vastly higher net worth than what is calculated by the various lists that come out periodically. But while it is impossible to say with any degree of accuracy how rich the seriously rich are – or even how many dollar multimillionaires and billionaires are there around the world or in India – some broad numbers are available. The Credit Suisse Research Institute’s Global Wealth Report…

$58 billion Losses in Texas from Hurricane Harvey. This makes Harvey the world's 9th most expensive natural disaster since 1900. SETBACK FOR ISRO, LAUNCH UNSUCCESSFUL The launch of India’s latest navigation satellite onboard a polar rocket failed following a technical glitch prior to its scheduled orbiting in space. The rare setback for ISRO involving the workhorse rocket, a polar satellite launch vehicle, came shortly after a perfect lift off of the PSLV C-39 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. SAAB, ADANI TO PARTNER FOR SINGLE-ENGINE FIGHTER JETS Sweden’s Saab plans to tie up with the Adani Group to bid for a contract to make fighter aircraft in India, according to a media report. The two will compete with Lockheed Martin. India's armed forces are looking to acquire single-engine jets that…

Adecade ago, Leonard Lauder, Chairman of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, while attending the Elizabeth Hurley-Arun Nayyar wedding in Jodhpur, was so enamoured by the ayurvedic beauty products of Forest Essentials that he acquired a minority stake in the company. One of India’s premier hotel chains, the 1934-born Oberoi Group of Hotels, has time and again been recognised as being among the best in the world. But these have been exceptions, and until recently, few Indian luxury brands have made the global cut, having largely a reputation for being kitschy. Overseas, a “Made in India” tag was hardly an asset amid the swish set. This is not the case any longer; not when Nirav Modi has his eponymous jewellery store on Madison Avenue, New York, or when Sujatha Keshavan, Ravi Prasad…

WITH A SHARP RISE in the number of high networth individuals (HNIs) and the growing incidence of disputes among legal heirs, the need for estate planning is growing rapidly. Additionally, expansion of businesses and listings of companies result in the personal assets of promoters becoming more susceptible to claims and challenges. To mitigate this risk and to safeguard the future of promoters and their families, it is important to provide a suitable mechanism to ring-fence their assets. The most favoured options used by HNIs and promoters for effective estate planning are wills, trusts, family settlement agreements and family constitutions. WILL A will is a legal document that declares the intention of a person (the testator) and sets out the manner of bequest of the testator’s assets upon his/her death. A…

My passion for luxury watches started 15 years ago when I married into the family of the oldest luxury watch retailer in the country. Before my marriage, whenever I visited my would-be in-laws, they showed me their vintage collection. It contained pocket watches, jewellery watches and classic watches, which looked simple but were handcrafted. That was when I realised that watchmaking is an art. My fascination for watchmaking deepened when I visited the factory of Roger Dubuis in Geneva. The factory hardly looked like one, though. There were these colourfully dressed youngsters who were having a lot of fun while they handcrafted watches. They were painting the dials, which was a painstaking process. My heart melted when they put the clay to bake, and if it cracked, they had to…

Back in Focus Nandan Nilekani is back at Infosys as its non-executive chairman, an initiative welcomed by the company’s beleaguered investors. “I am happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of nonexecutive chairman, and look forward to working with my colleagues on the board and in executive management on the business opportunities we see before us and delivering benefits to our clients, shareholders, employees and communities,” he said in a statement. Nilekani had left Infy in 2009 and even refused co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy’s request when the company was looking for a Chief Executive in 2013. But after the not-so-unexpected turn of events, which saw the first-ever non-founder CEO Vishal Sikka resign following a tussle between Narayana Murthy and the board members, he decided to rejoin the IT…

Intestate: If a person dies without making a will, he/she dies intestate Testator: It is the person who writes the will Executor: A person or institution appointed by the testator to execute the terms of the will Nominee: A person who receives asset/s on the death of the owner. But as per law, a nominee is a trustee or caretaker of asset/s till it is transferred to the legal heir. Succession Certificate: It establishes the authenticity of the heirs and gives them the authority to inherit debts, securities and other assets that the deceased may have left behind. Legal Heirship Certificate: A legal heirship certificate is issued to identify the living heirs of a deceased person Probate: A copy of the will certified under the seal of a court of…

Banks have slashed deposit rates to a multi-year low. The triggers include the broader decline in interest rates, excess liquidity after demonetisation and poor credit offtake. State Bank of India recently lowered the rate on savings account by 50 basis points (100 basis points is equal to one per cent) to 3.5 per cent. Others, including Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Yes Bank, have also done the same. We all keep some cash in savings accounts for dayto- day expenses for liquidity and convenience. Now, with interest rates as low as 3.5-4 per cent, it is unwise to keep a large sum of money in savings accounts, as considering inflation, one is actually earning negative returns. That is why experts have started asking people…

Emerging Companies Are Quite Impressive This refers to your lead story Vaulting to the Big League (September 10). This inclusive project on mid-sized Indian companies has accommodated the rising scale of companies in agriculture and brought forth the successful attitudes of the entrepreneurs. It indicated that Indian entrepreneurs are second to none. In manufacturing, they have cashed in on customer preferences. In services, the localised approach has helped. In agriculture, value-addition to agroproducts and commercialisation of improved rice has given rise to new business verticals. Though agriculture is the predominant occupation in India, it is not bestowed with suitable policy interventions causing productivity concerns and forcing untold misery in farming. These industrialists have taken timely and right decisions on issues of importance in creating new businesses. The winners are impressive…

6-7 SUSTAINABLE GROWTH WHAT: 12TH CII SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT WHEN: 6-7 Sept, Delhi WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015 is a key inspiration and opportunity to reshape the economy. There will be several tracks on Climate Change, CSR, Digital inclusion, Responsible Businesses and Circular Economy. 15 BUILDING SKILLS WHAT: GLOBAL SKILL SUMMIT 2017 WHEN: 15 Sept, Delhi WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Many drivers of transformation currently affecting industries are expected to have a significant impact on jobs, from job creation to job displacement, and from heightened labour productivity to widening skills gaps. The 10th edition of the Global Skill Summit will take a deeper look at automation potential in the global workplace and its impact on employment and productivity. 6 GENDER DIVERSITY WHAT:…

The steep fall in the tariffs of both wind and solar energy this year should have been cause for rejoicing. In fact the drops have had unexpectedly adverse consequences. In February this year, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), an arm of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) held the country’s first ever wind auction for 1,000 MW of projects. The auction saw winning bids of `3.46 per unit. Until then, wind tariffs were fixed by the respective power regulators of the eight main wind energy producing states and had varied between `4 and `6. Following the auction, the discoms of the windy states all felt that the price set by their power regulators had been too generous. Most have decided they will no longer buy power…

There are various ways of camouflaging one’s income to avoid paying taxes. The easiest way out is to be a part of the informal/cash economy and stay under the radar of the Income Tax (IT) Department. On the other hand, many taxpayers do not make a full and true disclosure of their taxable income. Bigger businesses might be filing IT returns but they are not disclosing their real income either. The most common way of doing it is to keep a part of the transactions or turnover out of the account books. In fact, the business components where the entire chain of buyer, supplier and manufacturer operates in cash, mostly fall under these off-the-record transactions. Siphoning off profits is another way of evading taxes. What happens to the money generated…

Our work in tea takes us to the most unusual and some of the most beautiful places in the country. Imagine climbing 630 steps to reach a garden, or driving through nine kilometres of forest land in Assam to arrive at the estate, or riding on a ferry to reach the farthest corner of the country to find a tea that’s truly sublime. Often, during the season, before dawn breaks, we set out from Siliguri. Most of the town is still asleep as we make our way towards the hills. Twenty minutes later, we are surrounded by nature – tall pine trees, rhododendrons, and, of course, the familiar swathes of green tea bushes. As the sun lights up the landscape, host gardens would have set up their tasting tables. We…

Who is Muskaan Sodhi? Dressed casually in a white crop top, ripped jeans and white sneakers, when she alighted from a chauffeur-driven white Jaguar to meet me at our sprawling, sunny studio in the National Capital Region, heads turned, and some did a double take. The rich and the famous are hardly a rarity in a media office visited by the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Baba Ramdev. But Sodhi, 32, belongs to a different genre – the twentysomething (some of them are a bit older) clan of bold, brash, uber-rich and Chanel-toting elites who love to flaunt their lavish lifestyle on Instagram. She has shot to fame after being featured on the Rich Parents of Instagram and seems to be on a roll with more than 72,000 followers.…

Q. Overall luxury car volumes in India have been stagnant since 2015. What is stifling the industry? It’s primarily prices. We are super expensive in India because we are taxed to hell and back. Our overall market penetration in Germany is 24 per cent; in China they sell seven times more cars than India and 53 times more in the luxury segment. That is a factor of seven. It has to do with taxation. Q. The pole position in India’s luxury car market has changed thrice in the last eight years. What do you make of that? Leadership includes an attractive product portfolio, good resale value to justify the premium position and really good after-sales service. You also need a dense network so that you are close to customers. It…

Documents required for asset transfer depends on type of the asset, ownership pattern, nomination and the will. Usually the documents required include: A copy of the death certificate, duly attested KYC document of the legal heir A copy of the succession certificate or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction in case the deceased has not left a will A copy of the probate (in case of a will) or a Letter of Administration (in the absence of an executor) Indemnity bond/indemnity-cum-affidavit in the absence of a will This is not an exhaustive list as the requirement may vary based on the requirement of each institution.…

FACEBOOK You can organise it Click on down arrow in top right end corner Go to Settings Click General Choose Legacy Contact if you wish to Memorialise or Click Manage Account Request account deletion TWITTER Family member/friend can inform after death Go to Profile & Settings (Click on your picture in top right corner) Go to Help Centre-Policies & Reporting Click Reporting Policy Violation Go to Report a Violation Click Contacting Twitter about a deceased user Click on ‘Use this form’ Fill in the details LINKEDIN Family member/friend can inform after death Click on your picture in Top right corner Select Help Center Type ‘deceased’ in the help box Open article ‘Deceased LinkedIn Member-Removing Profile Click on ‘filling out this form’ GOOGLE You can organise it Go to top right…

Returns are as of 16th August’17 Equity funds are ranked on the basis of 5-year performance Fixed Income funds are ranked on the basis of 3-year performance AUM filter of minimum Rs.500 Cr is applied on all the categories All portfolio related data is as of July’17 end; unless specified Returns of time-period more than one year are annualised * As of June’17 Source: Morningstar…

STAY CONNECTED WITH US ON www.facebook.com/BusinessToday @BT_India PERSPECTIVES Can Diamond Change the Future of ICEX? There is a big scope of growth which opens an entirely new market for the diamond players, says Sanjit Prasad, MD & CEO of ICEX businesstoday.in/icex-diamond Why New AI Chief’s appointment Is Going to Be Pointless Bansal’s tenure – just for three months – is a too short period to make any significant contribution to the ongoing disinvestment plan businesstoday.in/ai-bansal Rlys Minister Prabhu Is Also Paying the Price for Bringing Reforms Most of the railway accidents are happening because of the legacy issues, not because of laxity. Will exit of Prabhu help in reducing the number of accidents and deaths? businesstoday.in/mishaps-prabhu Unending Worries in Tata Steel Europe- ThyssenKrupp Merger The German trade unions want steel…

HE IS KNOWN TO BE combative. Certainly, doesn’t mince words. That makes him the right man to pop this timely question. Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO of India’s largest luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz, was just done launching a “hyper” sports car in Delhi, one that purrs over 300 km an hour and comes with a price tag of `2.3 crore. India, however, is not buying enough of these machines. About 35,000 luxury cars are sold in the country a year – that needle hasn’t moved in four years. Something’s wrong? Nearly all wealth reports point to the country’s growing prosperity, but timid luxe car sales can be a bit confounding. Kotak Wealth Management’s CHINMAI SHARMA Chief Revenue Officer, Taj Group “Luxury, a few years ago, was all about…

It WAS QUITE A public relations splash. Donald Trump came jetting into Pune way back in August 2014 to inaugurate the first of the Trump Towers in India. The super luxury residential towers were being developed by the Chordias of Panchshil Realty. Unfortunately, there was a small last-minute glitch. Nobody had figured that the ‘T-Bird’, as Trump calls his personal $100-million Boeing 757-200 jet, was too large for Pune’s airport facilities, and he couldn’t get off. After being stranded in the plane for an hour, the ground staff put together a special ramp, and Donald Trump descended to Mother Earth. The tycoon, someone reported, was nonplussed and after an hour of jovial bantering went on to open his first commercial franchise in India – two 22-storey towers in Pune’s upscale…

Nothing has ever made me happier than sitting alone at my bar with a Balvenie 16 while listening to Shofukhan by Snarky Puppy. Many times I have been asked what’s the one drink that I couldn’t do without. While it’s a tough choice between some Montalcino or Barollo versus the best single malt whisky, I’d have to admit that if I had to drink one drink for the rest of my life, single malt whisky would win hands down. My earliest memory of being introduced properly to single malt was at my mentor and friend Ashok Kurien’s house more than a decade ago. Ashok, being the ultimate advertising professional, was back then the consummate malt connoisseur who knew more about the finer points of malt than most. Over the years,…

All our lives we work hard and accumulate assets in the fond hope that these could be passed on to our loved ones when we pass away. But very few of us write wills or fill in nomination forms to ensure hassle-free asset transfers. According to WillJini.com, a succession services provider, not even 2 per cent people in India make their wills. “Due to lack of awareness or a traditional mindset [no one likes to be reminded of death and demise], most people never do that essential paperwork. Only a few high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) make wills as these hold large business interests for all concerned. Again, individuals with difficult family members consider writing a will,” says Director Jatin S. Popat. And the upshot? The horror stories are too many. The…

A will can be handwritten or made by a legal professional or made online. A plain paper will without registration is 100 per cent legal. GoI has exempted stamp duty on a will. A will includes details of all assets, including artefacts, patents and copyrights. A will may be challenged in court if: It is not written in a known language The content is not known/explained It was under force It was signed under influence of drug, alcohol or unsound mind condition. Husband and wife can make a joint will, which will only take effect after both have died. A person can make a will as many times as he/she wants. The last will where it is mentioned ‘This is the Last Will and all past Wills, if any, to…

Equity investors have of late been getting a rush of adrenaline with every new stock on the block. This is because the rush of investors for initial public offers, or IPOs, means huge gains for those lucky enough to be allotted the shares. Since January this year, 12 companies have come out with IPOs, which have given an average return of 51 per cent, according to Prime Database. Of these, the eight that listed in the first quarter of the financial year gave an average return of 40 per cent. These include CDSL and AU Small Finance Bank. But D-Street is divided over whether these returns are justified or a build-up to a future bubble. “We are fast. We are approaching the furious. We are at the fag end of…