ET NEWS

A horrifying incident in Dallas, Texas, has left the Indian-American community in shock after a 50-year-old motel manager was brutally beheaded in front of his wife and son.The victim, identified as Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah, was originally from Karnataka, India. He managed the Downtown Suites Motel in Dallas, where the tragedy occurred on Wednesday morning.According to the Dallas Police Department, Nagamallaiah was killed following a dispute with a co-worker over a malfunctioning washing machine. The suspect, 37-year-old Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, allegedly became enraged when Nagamallaiah asked another person to translate instructions rather than speak with him directly.Surveillance footage reportedly captured Cobos-Martinez retrieving a machete before attacking Nagamallaiah. The victim tried to escape toward the motel office, where his wife and 18-year-old son were present. Despite their desperate attempts to intervene, the suspect allegedly carried out the fatal assault in front of them.Cobos-Martinez, who has a criminal history including arrests for auto theft and assault in Houston, has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bond at Dallas County Jail. Jail records also indicate an immigration hold against him, suggesting he may have been in the U.S. without legal status. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty.Friends and relatives have described Nagamallaiah, affectionately known as “Bob,” as a kind and hardworking man, a devoted husband, and a loving father. “This unimaginable tragedy was not only sudden but deeply traumatic,” said friends, who have organized a fundraiser to support his grieving family. The campaign will help cover funeral expenses, daily living costs, and his son’s college education.Funeral services for Nagamallaiah are scheduled for Saturday, and members of the local Indian community are expected to gather to pay their respects.Police say the case remains under investigation as they continue to piece together what triggered the deadly altercation.

Mumbai: India's equity valuations are trading slightly below their own historical averages but remain elevated compared with regional peers.The benchmark Nifty currently trades at a price to earnings (PE) ratio-a valuation measure--of around 21.97 times earnings, below its five- and 10-year averages of about 24.4 and 24.8, respectively. However, the premium over Asia remains stark: Hong Kong's Hang Seng trades at 11.7, South Korea's Kospi is below 13, and South Africa sits at around 12.7. While the PE ratio shows valuations are lower than long-term averages, it comes as no comfort to investors as equities here still are at a premium to other markets in the region-a concern amplified by slowing earnings growth.Valuations of India's stock market have long traded above its regional counterparts, but that rarely dimmed investor appetite thanks to steady growth prospects. Now, as cracks emerge in the corporate earnings narrative, several foreign investors are paring exposure and delaying deployments. 123840779 Nominal GDP Growth "Valuations have begun mattering now because nominal GDP growth has slipped into single digits compared to around 12-13%," said Ritesh Jain, founder, Pinetree Macro, a global macro asset allocation fund. "Corporate profitability is a function of nominal GDP. So, for an overseas fund manager looking at various markets, a country with slowing nominal growth and rich valuations is far less appealing despite its inherent strengths."India is the second most expensive major market after the US, prompting foreign fund managers to consider cheaper Chinese equities of late. European and Japanese equities are among the other markets that are gaining in popularity, though the US remains the most preferred despite rich valuations.Fund managers said headline valuation metrics can be misleading without considering sector weights in Indian benchmarks."The composition of Indian indices must be taken into account while looking at valuations," said Nilesh Shah, managing director, Kotak Mutual Fund. "If the Sensex and Nifty are full of expensive consumer names and there are fewer commodity players, it's bound to push up valuation levels. If we were to remove some of the consumer names, our valuation, the valuations are around averages on a historical basis."

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Thursday spoke to Radosław Sikorski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland on recent developments pertaining to Poland’s security.Underlining that India favors an early end to hostilities, Jaishankar also highlighted the need for a durable solution for the Ukraine conflict.Alongside India, the foreign ministers of Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania issued a joint statement on Thursday to condemn Russia over Wednesday's intrusion of drones into Polish airspace, calling it a 'deliberate and unprecedented provocation'.This comes after Polish authorities reported that the NATO and EU member's airspace was violated 19 times on Wednesday, with at least three drones shot down as Poland and NATO allies scrambled jets.