Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest tech tycoons

Azim Premji and Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest tech tycoons

Wipro chairman Azim Premji and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar are the only two billionaires from India in Forbes' list of the world's 100 richest people in technology, ranking in the top 20 ahead of Google boss Eric Schmidt and Uber chief executive officer (CEO) Travis Kalanick.

The '100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016' list has been topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with an estimated fortune of $78 billion. Premji ranks 13th on the list, with a net worth of $16 billion and Nadar comes on the 17th spot, with $11.6 billion of net worth. Indian-American technology czars — Symphony Technology Group CEO Romesh Wadhwani and founders of IT (information technology) consulting and outsourcing company Syntel Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi — are also on the list. Forbes said Premji, who heads India's third-largest outsourcer, Wipro, has been on a buying spree in the past year to boost growth. Premji's son Rishad, who heads strategy and sits on the board, also oversees Wipro's $100-million venture capital fund. Nadar co-founded HCL, which is reportedly mulling a US listing, Forbes said, adding Nadar also owns HCL TalentCare, a skills-development firm. His latest venture is a $500-million fund to invest in startups and US health care technology firms.(more)

2016 Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals

2016 Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar scripted history as she became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her debut Olympic Games after finishing 8th in the qualifying round here.

The Tripura-girl, who is the country's first woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, managed to perform her much-appreciated 'Produnova' vault cleanly to secure 14.850 points after two attempts.

It was a nervous wait for the Indian after that. She had ended sixth after the third of five sub-divisions.

She dropped to 8th eventually when Canadian Shallon Olsen's terrific effort of 14.950 rejigged the overall standings.

Read our full coverage on the 2016 Rio Olympics

But that was just about enough to secure her a place in the finals scheduled for August 14 as the top-8 made the cut for the medal round.

Dipa secured 7.000 on difficulty and 8.1 on execution in her first attempt. Her score for difficulty was a tad lower at 6.000 in the second attempt.

She landed low on her Produnova vault in the first attempt, while her second vault was a 'Tsuk double full twist' with step to the side.

Three-time world all-round champion Simone Biles topped the charts with a sensational score of 16.050. The American scored a brilliant 9.700 on execution in both her attempts.(more)

Clinton's national lead over Trump touches double digit

Clinton's national lead over Trump touches double digit

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has gained a double digit national lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump who has been going through a rough patch over the past few weeks, according to a latest poll.

"The Clinton-Kaine ticket leads the Trump-Pence ticket by 10 points (49-39 per cent) in the race for the White House," Fox News said as it released results of its first poll after the conclusion of the back to back conventions last week.

While Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia is the vice presidential running mate of Clinton, Governor Mike Penceis Trump's running mate.

Clinton's double digit lead is considered to be significant as it is outside the margin of error.

A month ago, Clinton was up by six points (44-38 per cent, June 26-28), the report said.

According to the poll, however, 61 per cent of the respondents think Clinton is dishonest.

According to the report, Democrat is winning among the "Obama coalition", the key voting blocs that secured his re-election.(more)

Nifty hovers above 8,550; Tata Motors up 4%

Nifty hovers above 8,550; Tata Motors up 4%

Markets have shrugged off the clearance of GST in the upper house and are trading in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.

By 10:25 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 48 points at 27,746 and the Nifty50 gained 14 points to trade 8,559. Broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.5% each.

"Contrary to popular belief, the passage of the GST Constitutional Amendment marks only the beginning of a fairly tedious procedure that should ultimately result in the implementation of a unified GST in India at best by 2HFY18. Even as the adoption of a unified GST is one of the most remarkable tax reforms from a long-term perspective, in the short-term we highlight that this is likely to result in (1) a mild pick-up in inflation as hitherto untaxed goods and services are now brought under the tax net, (2) a meaningful loss of jobs in the informal sector as this sector will no longer be able to fly under the radar of the taxman and (3) consequently trigger pro-electorate measures in the form of higher revenue expenditure from FY18 onwards as the Modi-led BJP Government begins preparing for the 2019 General Elections," adds Ritika Mankar Mukherjee, Senior Economist, Ambit Capital.(more)

Old bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapses; 2 buses, other vehicles missing

Old bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapses; 2 buses, other vehicles missing

At least two buses and several other vehicles went missing near Mahad city after a bridge on the Savitri River collapsed early on Wednesday due to torrential rains in the Konkan region.

The bridge, more than seven decades old and a critical link to the Mumbai-Goa national highway, crashed around 1 a.m. due to the flood waters rushing into the river.

Two state transport buses with 11 passengers each were missing and there was no contact with either their drivers or the passengers, Raigad Collector Sheetal Ugale said.

Since the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses — which started from Mumbai — did not arrive at their scheduled Mahad depot, Ugale appealed people to get in touch with the concerned authorities about their missing relatives.(more)

Donald Trump 'unfit' to serve as US President: Barack Obama

Donald Trump 'unfit' to serve as US President: Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "unfit" to serve as President and lambasted Republicans for sticking with the businessman-turned-politician.

The strong rebuke came after Trump's criticism of the family of a slain Muslim US soldier, along with comments that displayed apparent confusion related to the Russian incursion into Ukraine, CNN reported.

"The Republican nominee is unfit to serve as President," Obama said at a White House news conference with the Prime Minister of Singapore. "He keeps on proving it."

The Trump campaign responded by going after the Democratic nominee as well as the President.

"Hillary Clinton has proven herself unfit to serve in any government office," a Trump statement said, listing a number of policy concerns. "Obama-Clinton have single-handedly destabilised the Middle East, handed Iraq, Libya and Syria to ISIS, and allowed our personnel to be slaughtered at Benghazi."

Obama on Tuesday described his feelings about Trump as unprecedented, recalling disagreements with previous GOP presidential nominees Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney -- but never an outright sense they were unfit to serve.(more)