1. N Chandrasekaran to Take the Reins of Tata Sons Today
Sometime in the first half of Tuesday, 21 February, the directors of Tata Sons Ltd will meet in the boardroom at Bombay House, the conglomerate’s iconic headquarters in south Mumbai.
Interim chairman Ratan Tata, 79, will chair the meeting, which has been called to mark Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s “assumption of charge”, as a Tata spokesperson put it.
The 53-year-old Chandrasekaran will be the first chairman of the $103 billion Tata group with no family links to the Tatas, although he has spent all his working life at one Tata company, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS).
(Source: Livemint)
2. Majority of Consumers Willing to Adopt Mobile Payments: Report
Majority of consumers in the country are ready to move away from cash and adopt mobile payments for their purchases, says a report. Consumers also believe that relying on mobile payments could be a time-saver, according to the ‘Visa Mobile Payments Readiness Survey’.
The survey asked 1,000 consumers about their attitudes towards using their mobile phones to make purchases. It found that 93 percent of respondents were interested in using electronic payments more often
Asked whether convenience or security was a more important consideration when it comes to mobile payments, 71 percent of the respondents cited security as a higher priority for them.
(Source: PTI)
3. Financial Crisis Likely Under Donald Trump, Says RBI Governor Urjit Patel
Urjit Patel, the RBI Governor in a first ever elaborate interview to CNBC-TV 18, spoke about demonetisation, growth, rates and US Trade policy. In a spirited defence of demonetisation, he said that it was well managed and that remonetisation has been very quick. The Governor said that quick and faster remonetisation was part of the plan.
It may be recalled that of 86 percent of India’s currency in circulation was scrapped. With a large number of ATMs running dry, there seemed no end to people’s difficulties for sometime.
Despite government’s claims of remonetisation being complete, latest data (till 20 January, 2017) shows that currency with public is still 40 percent less than what it was a year ago.
(Source: Financial Express)
4. How a Bengaluru Startup Managed 40 Tonnes of Waste at Aero India 2017
Bigger the event, bigger the trash. At the Aero India 2017, while nearly 2 lakh people enjoyed watching metal birds taking off and carrying out sorties, Bengaluru-based startup Reddonatura was managing the trash that people were leaving behind and helped in reducing the carbon footprint.
On macro economic indicators Governor Patel said that the best way to support durable growth is to keep the inflation low. And India’s 7.5 per cent GDP growth target should not be ridiculed.
Nearly 10 tonnes of wet waste that consisted of food waste mainly as well as 30 tonnes of dry waste was collected, segregated and processed on site.Abhishek Gupta, Co-founder, Reddonatura
(Source: BloombergQuint)
5. Artificial Intelligence Won't Lead to Job Cuts in India: Microsoft Chief Satya Nadella
Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella said "an enlightened immigration policy" has enabled him to live the American dream, even as he emphasised that governments had the right to determine immigration and trade policies.
"American values have always been about inclusion and diversity. It's a land of immigrants," said Nadella, who was born in Hyderabad and completed his bachelor's degree in engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, before moving to the US in 1988.
Recent actions of the Trump administration – notably the attempt to stop immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries – have raised concerns about America's continuing commitment to attracting the best talent from across the world.
(Source: Economic Times)
6. Expect a Visit From Taxman If You've Ignored I-T Dept's Email
Income Tax officials could soon be at your doorstep if you have deposited a huge amount during the note-swapping exercise last year, and have not yet explained the source of the cash.
"We have tried to keep the exercise non-intrusive. But if people have not come forward, then some kind of verification is needed especially in cases that involve deposits of large sums," a senior income-tax department official told ET.
Under the 'Operation Clean Money', the I-T department had sent out SMSes and e-mails to about 18 lakh people who deposited over Rs 5 lakh each during the 50-day window from November 10 to December 30, because the deposits did not tally with their income.
(Source: Financial Express)
7. Indian Railways: Onion Farmers Get Another Train to Transport Bumper Crop
Railways have stepped in to quickly transport the bumper harvest of the famed red Nashik onions by operating an additional freight train from today. The new rake will further enhance the carrying capacity of onions by 30 percent and will be in addition to the existing three freight trains operated by Central Railways to carry the bulbs from Nashik.
Onion farmers have yielded a bumper crop which is almost double than the previous year. “Railways are already providing 50 percent extra goods trains than last year. As per the directives of the Minister for Railways, one more rake will be made available from February 20 for onion farmers for sending their produce to the markets,” the senior officer Narendra Patil told PTI.
(Source: PTI)
8. Why the IPL Auction Was a Conservative Affair
The price tags associated with English cricketers Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills might hog the headlines, but overall, the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction on Monday was a rather conservative affair.
The eight teams together spent less than two-thirds of their total available budget of Rs 148 crore, with five of the eight teams buying fewer players than they required. Several players with a high reserve price found no bidders at all. And 65 percent of the players were bought at their reserve prices.
At first sight, this last point suggests that there might have been some collusion – lots of players being sold at their reserve prices implies each of these players was wanted by exactly one team – a situation that can arise out of collusion
(Source: Livemint)
9. Toll Operators Yet To Get Compensation For Demonetisation Loss
For 23 days after the prime minister announced the demonetisation exercise on 8 November, toll collection remained suspended across the country. It has been two months since collections resumed but operators are yet to be compensated for their losses as promised by the government.
No, we haven’t received anything yet. Whatever we have lost (during demonetisation), has to be compensated. The fight is still on.Isaac George, Director and CFO, GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd.
The government had then decided that the toll concessionaires would be reimbursed up to 75 percent of the total loss in collection.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)