Indian shareholders prefer snacks over activism

Rina Chandran, a Reuters reporter, gives us an insight of what goes on at shareholder meetings in Mumbai:

July is the season for shareholder meetings, an annual rite of passage for Indian companies, with directors, shareholders and reporters trooping into large, badly-lit auditoriums to hear the chairman speak glowingly of the achievements of the past year, and a litany of woes from shareholders.

Six criminals to save UPA government

It seems like Manmohan Singh’s government will need the vote of at least five of six jailed lawmakers to survive.

Six men convicted of crimes such as extortion and murder have a constitutional right in India to take part in the crucial vote of confidence, which could determine the future of the current government coalition.

If the the UPA government fails to secure a majority in parliament early elections will be called and the contentious nuclear deal, which Singh has turned into the landmark of his 4 years in power, would be canned.

Mint: Transcript of interview with Ranbaxy’s Singh

The legal motion filed by the US federal authorities demanding Ranbaxy to handover confidential documents sent shares of the pharma group down 10% on Tuesday and it put a number of question marks on the future of the deal with the Japanese Daiichi Sankyo. However, on Wednesday Ranbaxy’s CEO Malvinder Singh managed to rescue his company as he personally reassured investors ahead of the market opening. A move which helped Ranbaxy recover most of its losses.

Today, Daiichi came out with a statement backing their “binding and final” agreement to takeover the company owned by the Singh family.