Modi sarkar’s mission men, how Ratan Tata’s startup bets fare, and more news

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Narendra Modi has begun his second term as Prime Minister by taking oath with 57 others (see list). Among the new faces in the 25-member cabinet are Amit Shah, who could get the home or finance ministry, and S Jaishankar, a former foreign secretary seen as the next foreign minister. Notable inductees include Kailash Choudhary, the youngest minister at age 35, and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, a first-time MP who campaigned on a bicycle. Besides Arun Jaitley (who opted out), Sushma Swaraj, Suresh Prabhu, Jayant Sinha and Rajyavardhan Rathore failed to make the cut. 

Ratan Tata’s innings as a startup investor shows a string of hits, Business Standard reports, citing Traxcn data. Tata Sons’ chairman emeritus has backed 43 ventures, from high-growth firms such as Ola and Paytm to offbeat startups like BoHeCo and QikPod. Nearly half of them have gone on to raise follow-on funding while a few have become unicorns. Just two of them have shut shop in a market where 90% startups fail in the first five years. Tata – who typically cuts ₹10 lakh-10 crore cheques – has been willing to invest at rich valuations in companies with proven business models. Here's what people are saying.

India will slug it out with the US and the UK over the taxation framework for digital MNCs at OECD’s June meeting, Business Standard reports. The country has G24’s backing for its “significant economic presence” principle, which gives more revenue rights to developing economies, versus the US’ “marketing intangibles” and the UK’s “user-base” models. If India’s proposals see the light of the day, Google, Facebook and their ilk would have to pay taxes on local revenues derived from their search engines, social networks and online marketplaces, aside from a 6% equalisation levy (Google tax) enforced in 2016.

Cognizant will offer 18% higher salary packages of ₹4 lakh to engineering graduates from next year, PTI reports. A company spokesperson said the move was aimed at aligning freshers’ salaries with those having “premium” digital technology skills, given most good colleges have included emerging tech in their curricula. The good tidings for freshers come amid reports of layoffs at the middle-managerial and top levels in the company, following weak financial performance. Entry-level engineers’ salaries have long remained stagnant in the ₹3.1-3.3 lakh band, but TCS and HCL effected a 6-10% hike last year.

Think clowning is not a serious profession? Think again. Times of India reports that hospitals are slowly opening doors to medical clowns to help ease patient anxiety and promote optimism in their wards. Delhi-based Clownselors, for example, provides paid sessions in Apollo and Max Saket hospitals while volunteering at public health centres, orphanages and old-age homes. There’s formal training available, too: Puducherry’s MeDi Clown Academy offers a 600-hour course covering medical anthropology and well-being techniques. Want a change of scenery? Therapeutic clowning also has applications in schools and high-stress corporate environments. Here's what people are saying.

Idea of the Day: Running a business is not as simple as choosing complexity versus simplicity, says Rakuten CEO Mickey Mikitani.

“You really cannot choose one over the other: It’s about how to deftly weave together a combination of both.”

- LinkedIn Editors India/Share this using #DailyRundown