India loses 11 billionaires after note ban, Mukesh Ambani still richest: Hurun report

While the number of billionaires in India fell after demonetisation, the aggregate total wealth of the ultra rich increased by 16 per cent over last year, says Hurun rich list report

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, is the richest Indian billionaire with a fortune of Rs175,400 crore ($26 billion), according to the Hurun Global Rich List India.

Ambani topped the list of 132 individuals in India while globally he is at rank 28.

Chairman of Hinduja group S.P.Hinduja & family (global rank: 74) with a net worth of Rs101,000 crore ($14 billion), is at number 2 followed by Dilip Shanghvi (global rank: 74), founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals. Shangvi has dropped to the third position because of a 22% decline in his wealth of Rs99,000 crore ($14 billion), fueled by an 18% drop in shares of Sun Pharma.

Indian construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry (global rank: 97) is in the fourth position. Mistry is the largest individual shareholder in Tata Sons Ltd. He is worth Rs82,700 crore ($12 billion). Lakshmi N. Mittal (global rank: 97) chairman of Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steel maker by output, ranks fifth with Rs81,800 crore ($12 billion).

Industrialist cum philanthropist Shiv Nadar, (global rank: 97) is at number 6 with a net worth of Rs81,200 crore ($12 billion), followed by Cyrus S. Poonawalla (global rank: 106), also known as the vaccine billionaire, who has a personal fortune of Rs75,400 crore ($11billion).

Wipro’s Azim Premji (global rank: 134) is the 8th richest Indian with wealth of Rs66,300 crore ($9.7billion), a 26% increase from last year, followed by Uday Kotak (global rank: 134). Incidentally, Kotak is the only individual from the banking sector in the list.

India-born Rueben brothers—David and Simon, share the 10th position with a fortune of Rs45,600 crore ($6.7 billion) with a rise of 29% in their wealth from last year. The Rueben brothers are majority owners of Global Switch and their Reuben Foundation focuses on healthcare and educational causes.

Two new entrants to the list are Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm and Directi’s Divyank Turakhia, who also happens to the be the youngest Indian billionaire, worth $1.2 billion.

The report says that since demonetisation, India has lost 11 billionaires. E-commerce poster boys Sachin and Binny Bansal are no longer part of the billionaires list.

With 132 individuals from the Hurun India Global List 2017, Mumbai is the capital for India’s super rich with 42 billionaires, followed by Delhi (21) and Ahmedabad (9).

China based research firm Hurun’s Global Rich List for 2016 ranked 2,188 billionaires from 68 countries, adding 99 to last year’s list. Their total wealth increased by 9% to $7.3 trillion, which is more than the combined gross domestic product of Germany and the UK and close to half that of the US, said the report.

SpaceX’s moon mission should be Nasa’s wake-up call

Nasa should refocus its considerable resources on autonomous exploration and on doing the basic research necessary to help US space firms like SpaceX succeed

If all goes as planned, two tourists will crawl into a space capsule at the end of next year and blast off for a weeklong trip to the moon and back. It’s the ultimate couple’s vacation, offered exclusively by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which announced the venture last week. It may also serve as the starting gun for a new and very different space race.

Unlike during the Cold War, the competition this time around isn’t between countries. Instead, it’s between start-up companies like SpaceX, on the one hand, and government space agencies and traditional contractors on the other. The immediate prize is the moon. But longer-term, victory will go to whoever speeds up the pace of exploration while driving down the costs. In that race, the private sector will always have an advantage—and the sooner the US government accepts that, the better.

Since Americans last visited the moon in 1972, Nasa’s human exploration program has been hindered by poor planning and shifting priorities. In 2005, President George W. Bush announced an ambitious plan for new lunar missions that would (over time, in theory) reduce the cost of exploration. Five years later, Barack Obama’s administration cancelled that plan in favour of a poorly defined “Journey to Mars.”

The key hardware for that venture includes a space capsule named Orion and a massive rocket called the Space Launch System, or SLS. Combined, they’re costing more than $3 billion a year to develop. Yet for all that, the Orion capsule has flown exactly once, in 2014, and the SLS hasn’t flown at all. The first manned Orion mission isn’t expected until 2021 at the earliest. Any future missions would theoretically happen about once a year, but no one has quite figured out where they’ll go.

SpaceX works faster and cheaper, and that’s one reason it seems so confident about lapping Nasa. Its lunar tour will launch atop a Falcon Heavy rocket, a variant of the company’s successful Falcon 9, which has been through dozens of launches, including resupply flights to the International Space Station. Its Dragon capsule has also completed cargo missions, and the Dragon 2—designed for humans—will be launched twice later this year.

Maybe more important, the price is right: Development of the Falcon 9 cost just $390 million, compared to the $1.7 billion to $4 billion that Nasa would’ve spent on the same project, as one study found. A launch on the Falcon Heavy is priced at just $90 million, while estimates of an SLS launch range from $500 million to $1 billion.

Of course, Musk is prone to over-promising. And considerable risks remain for SpaceX’s much-hyped moon mission, starting with the (presumably) amateur astronauts who will be aboard. They’ll be subject to training, but in the event of an emergency they’re unlikely to respond as well as a professional would. The liability waiver forms will surely be extensive.

But Nasa’s risks may be even greater. For one thing, it may be launching astronauts atop an untested rocket, an idea that Donald Trump’s administration recently asked the agency to study in the hopes of speeding things up. Nasa has attempted that only once, for the first flight of the space shuttle in 1981, and the consequences were nearly disastrous. Nasa will also incur substantial new costs in fast-tracking Orion, which still lacks a tested life-support system, among other problems. More to the point, no one knows precisely what the payoff would be to justify all the added risk.

That doesn’t mean that Nasa should pull out of the space race entirely. But rather than do things that private companies are proving they can do faster and cheaper, it should refocus its considerable resources on autonomous exploration and on doing the basic research necessary to help US space companies succeed. Already, SpaceX is competing against other government space agencies for commercial satellite business. In time, that competition will move to the moon, where companies such as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin Llc have long-term ambitions to set up permanent bases. If American companies are to succeed in these goals against the likes of China, they’ll need Nasa’s help.

That’s the real space race, and SpaceX and its tourists are—for now—winning it. 

IISc Bangalore ranked 8th in World’s Best Small Universities ranking

Caltech retained the top position in the World’s Best Small Universities 2017 ranking from the UK’s Times Higher Education

IISc Bangalore is also the first and only institute from India to make it to the top 10 in these rankings

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) is the eighth best small university in the world, UK’s Times Higher Education (THE) said.

IISc is also the first and only institute from India to make it to the top 10 in these rankings.

The World’s Best Small Universities 2017 ranks universities with less than 5,000 students and teach and research across more than four disciplines. Only universities that find a place in Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings (WUR) 2016-17 were eligible to be considered.

According to the ranking, IISc Bangalore has 3,398 students. It featured in 201-250 range in the WUR 2016-17 rankings.

In 2016, two Indian institutes – Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, and Savitribai Phule Pune University—were ranked 14th and 18th respectively in the list.

“The Best Small Universities in the World for 2017 highlights that small universities provide high student satisfaction and good working relationships between students and their professors. Many students are drawn to smaller class sizes, higher teacher to student ratios and the community-like feel that a small university can provide,” Seeta Bhardwa, student editor at Times Higher Education, said in a media statement.

Bhardwa added that students across the world enjoy attending a university with a more close-knit learning environment.

“It’s important to provide students with a definitive ranking of the world’s best small universities to ensure that we are providing as much information as we can to cater to all students’ needs. The more information we can provide students on the different types of universities there are, the clearer a picture they can gain about the best institution for them,” she said.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech), US, retained the top position. Three French universities also featured in top 10. They were École Normale Supérieure, ranked second, followed by École Polytechnique at fourth position, and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon that stood at seventh position. Three universities from Italy– Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa in fifth place; Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna at sixth; and Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, at 10th—also made the list.

Welfare schemes for which Aadhaar is mandatory

‘Mint’ lists the government’s welfare schemes for which Aadhaar is mandatory to be able to receive the benefits

The government has issued several notifications in the last two weeks that mandate Aadhaar as a form of identification to be able to receive the benefits of various welfare schemes. Mint takes a look at some of these schemes, which come under various ministries.

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

On 6 March , the government issued a notification, saying that any individual receiving cash rewards under the National Award Scheme for Innovations in Petrochemicals is required to furnish Aadhaar as a proof of identity. In case of lack of Aadhaar, he/she must enrol for it on or before 31 March 2017. Until then, no one will be denied the benefit and can produce an alternate source of proof in place of Aadhaar.

On the same day, there was another gazette notification, saying that compensation received by the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy will also require Aadhaar. For this scheme, the last date of enrolment for Aadhaar is 30 May 2017.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

On 6 March, it was notified that all women belonging to below poverty line families getting a new liquified petroleum gas connection are required to provide Aadhaar in order to recover the expenditure and get subsidies under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme . The last date for Aadhaar enrolment in case of this scheme is 31 March 2017.

Ministry of Social Justice and Employment

On 3 March, it was notified that all disabled people receiving cash benefits such as transport cost, boarding and lodging cost, conveyance cost, cost for post placement support under the Central Sector Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disability Act, 1995 are required to furnish Aadhaar as a form of identity or enrol for it on or before 30 May 2017.

On the same day, it was notified that all cash benefits under the Central Sector Sponsorship Scheme for Disabled People will be received by people who provide Aadhaar or get enrolled for it on or before 30 May 2017.

Ministry of Human Resource Development

All salary and benefits paid for teaching and training out of the Consolidated Fund of India under two schemes—Scheme of Adult Education and Skill Development and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan—have been notified with Aadhaar on 3 and 2 March, respectively.

Mint reported earlier that the Mid-day Meal Scheme has also been brought under the list of notifications in the 28 February Gazette. The last date for enroling for Aadhaar is 30 June 2017 for it.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

On 28 February, the contractual staff working in different states and Union territories under the Nation Health Mission were asked to submit Aadhaar as a form of identity in order to receive remuneration. Alternate sources of proof can be given but the individual must get Aadhaar or enrol for it on or before 31 March 2017.

Ministry of Rural Development

Members of Self Help Groups were asked to serve Aadhaar for receiving remuneration under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission on 28 February in an official gazette. The last date to provide Aadhaar or enrol for it to avail the benefits is 30 September 2017.

Ministry of Women and Child Development

On 23 February, beneficiaries related to two schemes—Protection and Empowerment for Women and Swadhar Greh Scheme (the latter targeting women found in unfortunate circumstances) were also asked to furnish Aadhaar in order to avail benefits. The benefits include facilities like food, clothing, medical care and education. The deadlines given to the beneficiaries to produce Aadhaar or enrol for it under the two schemes are 30 September 2017 and 31 March 2017, respectively.

Aadhaar was also made mandatory for training and assistance provided for skill development for women under the Support to Training and Employment Programme (STEP) Scheme on 25 February. The deadline for Aadhaar enrolment for it is 30 June 2017.

Mint reported the government’s notification on the Integrated Child Development Scheme on 6 February—remuneration for the services rendered by the Aanganwadi workers and helpers will be given only if beneficiaries provide Aadhaar as a source of identity. The deadline for enroling to Aadhaar is 31 March 2017 for it.

Experts welcome new trademark rules

The rules focus on larger number of digital filings and reducing procedural steps by bringing down the number of forms from 74 to eigh

A well-known trademark is one which has widespread reach and recognition, something like the half-eaten apple symbol or the three slanted bars from a popular sportswear manufacturer.

 The Union government’s new trademark rules, notified on Monday, are largely being lauded by practitioners and experts as a step in the right direction.

The rules focus on larger number of digital filings and reducing procedural steps by bringing down the number of forms from 74 to eight.

The rules also bring about clarity in the process of registering a mark as a “well-known trademark”. Under the Trade Marks Act 1999, a well-known trademark is one which has widespread reach and recognition, something like the half-eaten apple symbol or the three slanted bars from a popular sportswear manufacturer.

Experts and practitioners have found this change to be positive as it will allow bigger brands, especially ones with trans-border reputation, to file applications claiming that they have achieved the standing of a well-known mark.

“At an elementary level, it makes a lot of difference because now you’ll have to recognise trans-border reputation and well-known marks in other jurisdictions,” said Dev Robinson, partner and national practice head for intellectual property rights, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., a law firm.

“Now one can file an application and claim a mark to be well-known, and go ahead and demonstrate it. Earlier one had to file a representation, seeking the mark to be recognised as a well-known mark. There is better clarity now, which increases the chances of having the mark recognised as a well-known mark,” he added.

Senior advocate and intellectual property lawyer Prathiba Singh called the new rules on well-known marks excellent, as they bring the concept of raising objections to such marks being registered.

“The (trademark) registry’s power has been expanded to say these marks can be advertised and there can be objections as well. Earlier it declared very ordinary marks as well-known marks. Now that can be overcome,” she said.

However, experts also expressed the need to maintain the quality of marks being recognized as well-known.

“We have to be really cautious about what trademarks we declare as ‘well known’ ones, given that it confers huge legal power on these marks. Owners of such marks can stop even those goods and services that are far removed from their ordinary line of business. Courts have been quite circumspect about declaring marks to be well known and have done it through a hard fought adversarial process. One hopes that the government would be equally cautious,” said Shamnad Basheer, former chair professor of IP law at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, and founder of the website SpicyIP.

Singh added that these should not become routine applications.

“Timelines should be strictly followed and those marks which correctly deserve to be declared well known should be registered under this. Both timelines and quality of marks have to be maintained,” she said.

India clears the decks for multi-modal transnational connectivity play

India will be the 71st signatory to this international transit system, designed to facilitate the seamless movement of goods in Asia and Europe

 India is moving ahead with its plans of accessing transnational multi-modal connectivity.

As part of this strategy, the Union cabinet on Monday approved the signing of the Transports Internationaux Routiers or International Road Transports (TIR) Convention by the government.

The multilateral international transit treaty—Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets—is also referred to as the TIR Convention and functions under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

India will be the 71st signatory to this international transit system, designed to facilitate the seamless movement of goods throughout these countries in Asia and Europe. Interestingly, the two countries which signed TIR before India were Pakistan (2015) and China (2016).

Hence, India’s participation in TIR may also facilitate trade with its eastern and western neighbours.

Viewed along with the Indian Railways’s plan of setting up a Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) route presented last week, these intermodal regional connectivity plays succinctly articulate India’s role in the proposed transportation architecture in the region and beyond.

This comes against the backdrop of China’s ambitious “One Belt One Road” initiative aimed at connecting some 60 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe to boost trade and economic ties on the lines of the traditional maritime route.

“(The TIR Convention) is to improve the international connectivity and movement of cargo across the countries in the multi-modal format. Goods can go from Mumbai or Kandla Port to Iran. From Iran they can go via rail or road to Central Asia or Europe,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.

In response to Mint’s specific query on TIR Convention facilitating India’s trade relationship with Pakistan and China, a UNECE spokesperson declined to comment.

“With regard to your specific questions, they mainly relate to issues subject to national law or bilateral or regional regulations. Therefore, the UNECE secretariat, which serves to facilitate the administration of the TIR Convention, is not in a position to provide you with specific answers,” the UNECE spokesperson said in an emailed response.

The initiative comes at a time when India’s willingness to attend a meeting of Indus Water commissioners in Lahore later this month is being viewed as an indication that the two countries were ready to start re-engaging after a year of acrimony.

The TIR Convention will help India move goods along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)—an ambitious multi-modal transportation established in 2000 by Iran, Russia and India to promote transportation cooperation. INSTC is to connect the India Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea through Iran and then onwards to St. Petersburg and northern Europe through Russia.

To make the TAR route of Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Amritsar-Lahore-Islamabad-Zahedaan-Tehran-Istanbul operational, a meeting of the chief executives of the railways of Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and India is to be held this month in India.

“By joining the convention, the need for inspection of goods at intermediate borders as well as physical escorts en route shall be obviated due to reciprocal recognition of Customs controls. Customs clearance can take place at internal Customs locations thereby avoiding clearances at Border Crossing Points and ports that may often be congested. Movement under the TIR can be allowed by checking only the seals and the external conditions of the load compartment or the container thereby reducing border delays, transport and transaction costs thereby leading to increased competitiveness and growth for the trade and transport sectors,” the government said in a statement on Monday.

Experts say that India is laying down the building blocks.

“Economic integration is the only way forward. When economic interests converge, other things fall in place. That’s the reason why gas from India was intended to fuel Lahore’s kitchens,” said Saurabh Chandra, a former secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion.

India has been promoting a multi-modal transport strategy involving railways, highways and waterways. The government’s intent was articulated by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech last month, where he stressed upon the importance of an effective multi-modal transportation system for a competitive economy.

India plans to develop Chabahar port in Iran, which will allow access to landlocked Afghanistan and energy-rich Central Asia through the Jawaharlal Nehru and Kandla ports on India’s west coast.

In addition, India has built a 218km-road link connecting Delaram with Zaranj in Afghanistan, which is adjacent to Iran’s border.

India has also been instrumental in the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, along with the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement.

“The idea behind the TIR concept is easy and quick movement of cargo,” said another government official, who also declined to be named.

Learning from Japan’s ‘womenomics’

Female participation is crucial for Japan, since its population is declining and also ageing rapidly

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe of Japan is best known for his economic revival strategy consisting of the three arrows, collectively called Abenomics. Abe’s campaign promise, before his party’s stunning victory in December 2012, was to bring Japan out of its deflationary funk, into strong and sustainable economic growth. His three arrows consisted of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies (the first two arrows), and structural and economic reforms (the third). This third arrow consisted of deregulation, trade liberalization, tax reform and industrial restructuring.

An important component of the third arrow was “womenomics”, getting more women into the workforce and in positions of leadership. Women have long been considered the most “underutilized” resource of the Japanese economy, a point often underscored by Abe. Japanese women are highly educated on average, and indeed have a higher college enrolment than men. Yet female labour force participation rate in Japan has been among the lowest among OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. It was 63.2% in 2010 and, thanks to Abenomics, rose to 66.7% in 2015. More recently, among 25- to 54-year-olds, the Japanese female participation rate has risen to 73%—slightly ahead of the US, where it has fallen. Of course, it is still far below Sweden’s 88.3%. Furthermore, many jobs taken up by women are either part-time or on contract. Their pay for similar jobs is only 72% of what men are paid. So it’s not just the quantity but the quality of participation that also matters. A recent government survey showed 63% of women quit their jobs disappointed by their career prospects. Seventy per cent of the women are not able to return to the workforce after the birth of their first child. The reasons include non-availability of quality childcare centres.

Female participation is crucial for Japan, since its population is declining and also ageing rapidly. The elderly will make up 40% of the total population by 2060, and the ratio of working to retired persons will be 1:1 by 2050. Unless women participate in much greater numbers to expand the workforce, the pension and tax burden will be crushing, and will affect economic growth. If female labour participation is on a par with other industrial nations, Japan’s per capita output would be higher by 4%. Female participation in Japan is lower by as much as 25% compared to males. If this were on parity with males, then Goldman Sachs’ estimates suggest Japan would gain eight million workers, and its gross domestic product (GDP) would be higher by 14%.

It’s precisely because of such dismal numbers and a “low base” that the benefits from increasing female participation will be immense to Japan. Realizing this, Abe put in place numerical targets and tangible metrics in his “womenomics” strategy. He initially aimed to have 30% of leadership positions for women in government and business. This number has been pared down recently, but the numerical target remains. For instance, last year a woman was appointed for the first time as the governor of Tokyo. Since availability of day-care is a big hurdle to young mothers rejoining the workforce, the aim is to reduce daycare waiting lists. Around 400,000 new centres will be opened by the end of 2017. Abe wants businesses to double their childcare leave to three years. Only 3.1% of the board seats are held by women in Japan, as against 19.2% in the US and 20.8% in Canada. The “womenomics” plan also contains reforms like removing the tax penalty for working mothers, and introducing new training subsidies to help them return to the workplace. Abe’s aim is to increase the percentage of women returning to the workforce from the current 30% or so to 55%.

Clearly “womenomics” is working, albeit not as fast as planned. Even though India is not in the OECD peer group, there are lessons from Japan’s “womenomics”. The Indian parliament recently passed a landmark maternity benefits Bill, which will benefit women returning to the workforce. In recent years, the female labour force participation rate (LFPR) in India has been falling. It fell by 11% between 1987 and 2011, according to data from the National Sample Survey. Only one-third of the female labour force describes itself as “working”. Presumably, the remaining do unpaid work. Even among those who are “working”, the pay gap for similar work is substantial. Only in programmes like MGNREGA is the gender gap low.

The LFPR pattern shows a U-shaped relationship with women’s education attainment. As women get more education, the LFPR initially falls. This signifies that their “time at home” becomes more valuable, and hence they choose to drop out of the workforce. But eventually as women’s average education achievement crosses, say, eighth or tenth grade schooling, it results in higher LFPR as well as lower fertility. This is clearly manifest across major states of India—the total fertility rate in many southern states, with relatively higher female education attainment, has fallen to replacement levels. Those states also exhibit higher LFPR.

Beyond education, skilling, pay parity and board positions, India’s agenda also includes providing women leadership positions in political life. The recent violent experience in Nagaland, wherein the local community refused to let women enjoy 33% reservation in local governments, shows how far we have to go. This resistance to even constitutional mandates shows that there is as much a cultural hurdle as an economic policy hurdle to achieving progress for women. But as Japan’s “womenomics” shows, numerical targets do help us get started.