Time to end tax havens: Richest 1% own 58% of India's total wealth

Globally, just 8 billionaires have same amount of wealth as the poorest 50% of the world population

Breaking News - In signs of rising income inequality, India's richest 1 per cent now hold a huge 58 per cent of the country's total wealth -- higher than the global figure of about 50 per cent, a new study showed today.

The study, released by rights group Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting here attended by rich and powerful from across the world, showed that just 57 billionaires in India now have same wealth (USD 216 billion) as that of the bottom 70 per cent population of the country.

Globally, just 8 billionaires have the same amount of wealth as the poorest 50 per cent of the world population.

The study said there are 84 billionaires in India, with a collective wealth of USD 248 billion, led by Mukesh Ambani (USD 19.3 billion), Dilip Shanghvi (USD 16.7 billion) and Azim Premji (USD 15 billion). The total Indian wealth in the country stood at USD 3.1 trillion.

The total global wealth in the year was USD 255.7 trillion, of which about USD 6.5 trillion was held by billionaires, led by Bill Gates (USD 75 billion), Amancio Ortega (USD 67 billion) and Warren Buffett (USD 60.8 billion).

In the report titled 'An economy for the 99 per cent', Oxfam said it is time to build a human economy that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few.

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India can be the next China for Apple: Tim Cook

With iPhone sales growing at a fast clip in India, the last large untapped market globally, CEO Tim Cook is confident that he can turn the country into the next China for Apple.

As sales of the iconic iPhone continue to fall globally, India is emerging as a shining star for Apple. Sales of the flagship devices were up by 50 per cent year-on-year in the 12 months that ended September.

"Our iPhone sales in India were up over 50% in financial year 2016 compared to the prior year, and we believe we're just beginning to scratch the surface of this large and growing market opportunity," said Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, in its latest earnings call with investors on Wednesday.

While sales of the iPhone in India are still minuscule in comparison to that of China, a fast growing economy and massive youth population could help Apple develop it into a huge market. Moreover, with 4G infrastructure only bursting onto the scene in the past few months, sales of smartphones in India are expected to accelerate even further.

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Eighth BRICS Summit: Fantastic five

8th BRICS Summit

The sun, sand and sea of Goa will play host to some of the most powerful global leaders over the next two days, as India chairs the 8th BRICS Summit with a packed economic and political agenda.

From being an acronym denoting the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, coined by Goldman Sachs analysts in 2001, BRIC became a formal grouping by 2006. Four years later, South Africa joined, making it BRICS, a transcontinental alliance comprising 43 per cent of the world's population and 30 per cent of its GDP, with a 17 per cent share in world trade.

Starting essentially with economic issues of mutual interest, the agenda of BRICS meetings has widened to encompass topical global issues such as political and safety challenges. While India leads the group in GDP growth, it trails on other parameters such as per capita income, poverty and life expectancy.

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India never been in stronger position than today: Deepak Parekh

HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh on Monday said the country's economy is in a "stronger position" and demonstrating an immense growth potential with a strong leadership at the helm bringing in key reforms.

"India has never been in a stronger position than today from a macro-economic perspective. The country is demonstrating an immense growth potential helped by a strong leadership at the helm, driving key policy changes," Parekh said at a risk summit organised by CII.

He noted that with the present government, large scale corruption has been weeded out.He said India, with an expected GDP of above 7.5 per cent, stands out well in comparison to its global peers.

"We in India hold a key advantage by being a major economy with tremendous growth potential," he said.

The veteran banker said the country has benefited tremendously from lower crude oil prices.

He said the private sector capex has continued to be slow, so support has been boosted from public sector spending on infrastructure.

"Often when infrastructure projects are a work-in-progress, there tends to be a feeling that nothing is happening on the ground. But this is certainly not the case in read more..