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Tata, M&M Ready Billion-$Plans to Win Back MarketBRANDS: CREATING DESIRE��5 SPORTS: THE GREAT GAMES��21

No Charges Against Clinton Over Email Issue, Says FBIAROUND THE WORLD��17

BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.

THE ECONOMIC TIMESWWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2016

First Semi-final: Battleof the Two Galacticos

Deluge of Freshers Vies for Trickle of IT Jobs

Do most Indians see paying tax as anobligation and not a choice?

www.economictimes.com

Has PM Modi chosen expertise over politics in his new Cabinet?

TODAY’S QUESTION

87%YES

10%NO

3%CAN’T SAY

-0.42

-0.41

-0.08

-0.11

-0.28

-2.52

-2.08

-2.68

% CHANGE

Re/US $

Gold Std*

Silver (`/kg)

Brent ($)

*(`/10gm) Compiled by ETIG Database

Nifty

Sensex

BSE Midcap

BSE Smallcap

LAST

8,335.95

27,166.87

11,916.69

11,992.51

67.46

31,000.00

47,000.00

47.21

Market Tracker

Demand-Supply Mismatch1.5 million+No. of engineers graduating every year in India (more than US and China combined)

200,000-250,000No. of jobs up for grabs in Indian IT

Job acceptance rates at top IT cos have jumped 10-15 percentage points in past 3-4 yrs

Experts say situation may worsen over next few years, given

that a big no. of jobs

are getting automated

Others say economy needs to grow much faster to absorb huge supply of engineers

This results in cut-throat competition and desperate scramble for positions

Rahul.Tripathi @timesgroup.com

New Delhi: India is readying togrant citizenship to Hindus andSikhs who have sought refuge inthe country from religious perse-cution in Pakistan, Bangladesh orAfghanistan.

The home ministry plans to seekcabinet approval ahead of the up-coming monsoon session of Parli-ament, which starts on July 18, toits proposal to empower districtmagistrates to grant citizenship tosuch immigrants, officials said.

As per the Cabinet note, the mini-stry has proposed that those whobelong to the minority communiti-es in Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan and have been stay-ing in India on a long-term visa beallowed to buy property, open bankaccounts and obtain PermanentAccount Number as well as Aadha-ar card.

Once the Cabinet grants its app-roval, the government can issuean executive order and easenorms for these immigrants, a se-nior official said, requesting notto be identified.

In Line with Poll Promise��20

MHA to seek Cabinet nod

empowering DMs to

grant citizenship to those

fleeing persecution

SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS

‘Indian’ Status for Hindu, SikhRefugees Soon

Help at HandMHA PROPOSAL INCLUDES

Allowing them to purchase a dwelling unit for self-occupation or suitable accommodation for carrying out self-employment

Issuing them driving licence, PAN card, Aadhar number

Reduction of citizenregistration fee from

`15,000 to

`100

Giving powers toDMs to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh refugees in 10 districts

Permitting immigrants to open bank accounts without prior approval of Reserve Bank of India

Cong UncertainAbout PriyankaRole in UP Polls

The Congress leadership is

treading cautiously on the

delicate task of rolling out

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s

campaign role beyond the

Amethi-Raebareli belt

during UP Assembly elec-

tions, reports CL Manoj. �� 3

PURE POLITICS

Varanasi’sFresh Bid forSmart Tag

Varanasi is making a deter-

mined bid to make it to the

next list of Smart Cities and

has proposed strategic

tie-ups with companies such

as Uber, Philips, Schneider

Electric, IBM and Ericsson,

reports Aman Sharma.��4

FIVE-DAYREMAND FORKEJRI SECY��PAGE 3

‘HOMEGROWN TERRORISTS BEHIND DHAKA ATTACK’

The Bangladesh government is not ruling out the role

of opposition BNP and banned radical outfit Jamaat-e-

Islami in the terror attack on the Dhaka cafetaria as it

was aimed at unseating the Sheikh Hasina government,

Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu tells

Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury. Inu described the terrorists as homegrown,

notwithstanding claims from the West that IS was behind the act.��4

Bid to Unseat Hasina: Minister

Madhav.Chanchani@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Healthcare startupPracto is in talks to raise a newround of funding which couldvalue it at over $600 million(.̀ 4,000 crore), as it prepares to jo-in an elite crop of hardy Indianstartups attracting attentionfrom choosy investors.

New York-based investmentfirm Thrive Capital, Russia's ru-Net Holdings and existing inves-tor Chinese online giant Tencentare in advanced negotiationswith the Bengaluru-based com-pany, according to two peopleaware of the development.

“The round currently being ne-gotiated is in the range of $50-60million but this may change,” sa-id a third person who is directlyaware of the talks. A term sheetis still being hashed out and maytake two more weeks to finalise.

The deal, when it is finalised,will mark the first Indian invest-ment by Thrive Capital, foundedin 2009 by 31-year-old JoshuaKushner. His brother Jared ismarried to Ivanka Trump, thedaughter of Republican US pre-

sidential nominee DonaldTrump. Thrive’s significant USinvestments include photo-sha-ring app Instagram, live-strea-ming platform Twitch and colla-boration tool Slack.

ru-Net has been active in Indiafor over five years, backing com-panies including FreeChargeand PepperTap.

Practo, Tencent, Thrive Capi-tal and ru-Net did not reply toemails seeking comment.

Some Cos Bucking Trend��20

Practo Books Appointmentfor Fresh Round of Funding

Still in the Limelight

Co has entered international markets in past 12 months and used inorganic route to build an enterprise business

Founded by NIT-Surathkal graduates Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal in 2008, Practo is an online healthcare platform for booking appointments with doctors

Valuations of consumer Internet cos have plummeted and investments have fallen in past 6 months

INTEREST FROM PLAYERS like Thrive Capital & Stripes Group, which has backed BookMyShow, indicates Indian Internet cos high on global investors’ radar

In talks with Thrive Cap, ru-Net & Tencent; valuation may top $600 m

Bigtree Entertainment,

owner of BookMySh-

ow, has raised over

`̀550 crore in funding, led by US’

Stripes Group. Existing investors

Network 18, Accel Partners and

SAIF also participated.��6

BookMyShowRaises .̀ 550 cr inNew Funding

Aurobindo May Bid Up to $1.5 B for Teva Products in EuropeAurobindo Pharma is likely to bid up to

$1.5 billion to acquire certain products from

Israeli giant Teva in the United Kingdom, Ireland

and a few other European nations.

Companies: Pursuit of Profit��7

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Service Sector Growth Falls toSeven-month Low in JuneIndia's service sector growth slowed to a seven-

month low in June due to a weak rise in new

business. The Nikkei India Services Business

Activity Index was placed at 50.3 in June, its

second-lowest reading in the current 12-month

sequence of above-50 readings.

Economy: Macro, Micro & More��14

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No Recovery if Stay Application Pending: CBEC to OfficersThe Central Board of Excise and Customs has

directed field officials not to proceed with

recovery of a ‘confirmed’ demand in relation to

indirect taxes during pendency of stay applica-

tions. "In cases where stay application is pen-

ding before Commissioner (Appeals) or CESTAT

for periods prior to August 6, 2014, no recovery

shall be made during the pendency of the stay

application,” a CBEC circular said.

Economy: Macro, Micro & More��15

Moody’s Sees Challenges to India’sGrowth Story in Two Years Over the next two years, India’s growth will face

challenge from lacklustre global demand, high

corporate leverage and impaired credit supply,

Moody’s Investors Service said, but argued for a

better medium term outlook.

Economy: Macro, Micro & More��15

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Centre to Ensure Monetary PolicyPanel Has Strong Legal FoundationsThe government wants to make sure that the

monetary policy committee that will take over

interest-rate-setting functions has strong legal

foundations and to that end has started dis-

cussions with the Reserve Bank of India.

Economy: Macro, Micro & More��19

Inside story

Big Ministers Lose Out inModi’s Sweeping Reshuffle

BIG CHANGES Javadekar lands HRD; Ravi Shankar Prasad loses telecom; Irani & Sadananda Gowdashunted to smaller ministries; Ananth Kumar given additional charge of parliamentary affairs

Our Political Bureau

New Delhi: Prime Minister Na-rendra Modi effected sweepingchanges in his council of mini-sters, adding Prakash Javadekarto the Cabinet, rewarding somemembers with more importantportfolios and shunting asideothers while signalling clearlythat economically critical depart-ments need dynamic leadership.

The second major reshuffle of thecouncil of ministers since the Mo-di government took charge in May2014 has been made with an eye tothe rest of its five-year term and, asimportantly, key assembly elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh next year.

Javadekar was named the newhuman resource development mi-nister on Tuesday, replacingSmriti Irani, who’s had a tumultu-ous time in the job. Ravi ShankarPrasad was made the new law mi-nister and moved out of telecom.Ananth Kumar was given additio-nal responsibility of parliamen-

tary affairs, which used to be withM Venkaiah Naidu. Kumar willneed to ensure that the ruling coa-lition can build bridges with theOpposition on key reform legisla-tion that’s stuck, such as the go-ods & services tax (GST).

While political equations defini-tely played a role in preparing thelist, Modi has taken into conside-

ration perfor-mance and mo-ved ministersaround in accor-dance with com-petence and ta-lent to portfolioswhere they can gi-ve their best.

Irani has beenmade textile mi-

nister. Anil Madhav Dave will bethe new environment ministerwith independent charge in placeof Javadekar.

Five Ministers of State Dropped��20

MoS withindependentchargePiyush Goyalhas beengiven theportfolio ofmines too

JAYANT SINHA Moved From

Finance toCIVILAVIATION

Key Changes In Modi Ministry

SMRITI IRANI Moved FromHuman ResourceDevelopmentTo TEXTILES

DVSADANANDAGOWDA Moved From

Law toSTATISTICS

ANANTH KUMAR Gets Additional

Charge Of

PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

RAVI SHANKAR PRASADGets Charge Of

LAWLoses Telecom

PRAKASH JAVADEKARGets Charge Of

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

M VENKAIAH NAIDUGets Additional

Charge Of

INFORMATION &BROADCASTING

MJ AKBARMOS EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

NEW ENTRANT

Deepali.Gupta@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Vodafone has emergedas the frontrunner for buying outTelenor’s operations in India, sa-id two people with knowledge ofthe matter, as the country’s No. 2telecom company prepares forthe coming battle over data cus-tomers with rivals Bharti Airteland Reliance Jio Infocomm.

It’s not clear whether the dealwill be restricted to the spectrumor include the company as well —the two people cited above diffe-red on this. But they agreed thatthe airwaves — in the 1800 MHzband that can be used to carry 4Gbut currently being used to offer2G by Telenor India — will be va-

lued at roughly $1 billion (.̀ 6,800crore). Acquiring the Indian unitof the Norwegian company wo-uld entail a slightly greater ex-penditure — the frequencies arereally what an acquirer is loo-king for, given that Telenor’s sub-

scription levelsare still relative-ly low after eightyears of being inIndia.

One of the per-sons said Vodafo-ne may take ondebt and try to re-tain customers inservice areas

where it would provide a majorboost against rivals.

Need to Shore up 4G waves��20

Voda Data Plan may Include Telenor UnitHow Vodafone Gains

It can launch 4G in Andhra, Bihar, Gujarat, Mahar-ashtra, UP(East), UP (West) and Assam with Tel-enor’s spectrum

Of these circles, Vodafone would consolidate revenue share lead in two and benefit in four where it is in second place

VODAFONE’S BUY will mean one less operator under-cutting prices in these markets

It will get cheaper tower rentals on

11,500towers from deals struckby Telenor

Trai will float a

consultation

paper on

wireless data service

quality norms in a

month, seeking to deter-

mine the average data

speed that telcos would

have to offer consumers

to enable faster surfing

and downloading on

mobile phones.�� 7

Trai Paper maySet Data Speedfor Mobiles

Telenor’sairwaves inthe 1800 MHzband that canbe used tocarry 4G willbe valued atroughly $1b

India’s No.2 telco emerges frontrunner for buying out Norwegian company’s local operations

Team ET

Beginning today, we launch thesecond edition of The EconomicTimes Startup Awards, the fi-

nest accolade recognising the best ofIndian entrepreneurship. The awardsceremony will take place on Septem-ber 3 in Bengaluru and the meeting ofthe jury to select the winners will hap-pen on August 6, also in Bengaluru.The awards are in eight categories, in-cluding one that recognises the Star-tup of the Year 2016.

If there is one thing that typifies theoptimism that abrighter future liesahead of India, it isthe startup sector. Inevery part of theeconomy, men andwomen of all stripesare trying to turnideas into realityand in the processcreating a new In-dia. The Internetand the mobile pho-ne are making it pos-sible to organise hit-herto fractured mar-

kets and young people with collegedegrees are coming up with cutting-edge technology that promises totransform how we live our lives.

In recent months, funding has not be-en as plentiful as before, but that is anatural part of doing business. Indianentrepreneurs are learning their les-sons, and emerging stronger. Innova-tion, ingenuity and an indomitablespirit will change India and the world,of that there is no doubt.

The Art of Starting Up��20

CELEBRATING ENTERPRISE

India’s BestStartup AwardsAre Here Again

ET will runa series ofarticles onstarting up,and shareinsightsfrom topinvestors &founders

High-power jury to selectwinners of India’s finestaccolade recognising thebest of entrepreneurship;awards ceremony on Sept 3

MEETTHE JURY

KARTIK HOSANAGARWharton School professor

VANI KOLAKalaari Capital

SUBRATA MITRAAccel Partners

RAJAN ANANDANGoogle Southeast Asia and India MD

MUKESH BANSALMyntra cofounder

SACHIN BANSALFlipkart cofounder

AMITABH KANTNiti Aayog CEO

NANDAN NILEKANIInfosys cofounder

VIJAYSHEKHAR SHARMAPaytm founder

The government has clear-

ed Axis Bank’s proposal to

raise foreign investment

limit to the maximum permissible

under the rules, approved construc-

tion of a major port in Tamil Nadu and

allowed a long-term contract with

Mozambique for import of pulses to

address domestic shortage. ��15

Axis Gets Nod toup Foreign Stake

THE CATEGORIES ��PAGE 6

MORE REPORTS ��P 2, 19

Significant jump in percentage of fresh engineering grads accepting campus offers in past 3-4 years

Anirban.Sen@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: As the number ofjobs in India’s $160-billion in-formation technology industrystarts shrinking with each passingyear, engineering graduatesacross are scrambling for everyvacancy in a sector that was once abig employment generator.

The percentage of fresh enginee-ring graduates accepting campusoffers from India’s largest soft-ware firms such as Tata Consul-tancy Services, Infosys and Wiprohas jumped significantly in thepast three-four years, according tocompany data and executives.

For instance, at Wipro, job accep-tance rates have risen to 85% from65% three years ago, said an ex-

ecutive who didn’t want to benamed. Others said this mirrorsthe industry average of 80-85%now against 65-70% in FY12.

Applications are surging —trebling at Infosysto 1.16 million inFY16 from FY13’s379,000.

Experts said thisis a reflection ofthe demand-supply mismatch.India produces 1.5million enginee-

ring graduates every year whilethe available jobs are pegged at200,000-250,000, according to arecent Kotak Institutional Equiti-es report.

Economy Must Grow Faster��20

Experts saywith advent ofautomation,newly mintedengineeringgraduates facea bleak future