Story of the week

The Drama continues

A week after the boardroom coup, Mistry is still chairman and non-executive
director of Tata Motors Ltd, owner of Jaguar Land Rover; Tata Power Ltd and
Indian Hotels Co. Ltd, among other companies. Tata Sons doesnt hold a majority
of the stock in those and other group units, making the task of evicting Mistry
more difficult.In the meantime, ten Tata group firms had lost a combined market
capitalisation of Rs. 44000 crore within three days after the fiasco.

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/IloFx27b4VhnDZyzwMgLWN/Cyrus-

Mistry-wont-resign-as-chairman-of-Tata-group-companie.html

The week that was

WORLD BANK Gets a new face: Kristalina Georgieva
Kristalina Georgieva, a former head of EU humanitarian affairs, has been appointed chief executive of
the World Bank.She will succeed Sri Mulyani Indrawati on January 2017. Georgieva is a Bulgarian
economist and administrator and currently serving as European Commission Vice President for
Budget and Human Resource.

Read more https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/oct/28/world-bank-

appoints-kristalina-georgieva-chief-executive
1)Union Cabinet approves new Trade Agreement between India and Bhutan
The Union Cabinet has approved a new agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit between
India and Bhutan. The Agreement provides for a free trade regime between two countries. It
also provides duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries. As per
the agreement, bilateral trade between both neighbouring countries will continue to be
transacted in Indian Rupees and Bhutanese Ngultrums.
Read more at http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/cabinet-nod-for-new-free-trade-
agreement-with-bhutan-116102701675_1.html

2.GST: a four tier structure finalised

A 4-tier GST tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28%, with lower rates for essential
items and the highest for luxury and de-merits goods that would also attract an
additional cess, was decided by the all- powerful GST Council on Thursday. With a
view to keeping inflation under check, essential items including food, which
presently constitute roughly half of the consumer inflation basket, will be taxed
at zero rate. Luxury cars, tobacco and aerated drinks would also be levied with
an additional cess on top of the highest tax rate.

3 Filipino Delight: Miss International

Kylie Verzosa, from Pillipines was named 2016 Miss International in the
coronation held at Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan.Contestants from
Australia, Indonesia, Nicaragua and United States finished first, second,
third and fourth runners-up, respectively.In her speech after the
announcement of the finalist, Verzosa said that should she win the title, she
wants to focus on cultural and international understanding.

4 A step towards equity: Madhubabu Aain Sahayata Sibir (MASS) policy

The Odisha government has launched new scheme Madhubabu Aain Sahayata Sibir (MASS) to
provide legal assistance to the deprived sections of the society at the grassroots level in all its 6,812
gram panchayats across the state. The legal assistance lawyer, who would receive Rs 500 per sitting
as remuneration, would help people especially the women, children and educationally backward to
resolve long pending litigations.

WHAT A STRATEGY
Nokia completes Alcatel-Lucent acquisition
Finnish telecom giant Nokia today said it had finalised its acquisition of former French-
American rival Alcatel-Lucent. Nokia, the world's number one mobile phone maker for more
than a decade until 2012, had struck a deal to buy the other firm in April 2015 but has
struggled to buy up the remaining shares to gain full control of the company. Alcatel-Lucent
focused on fixed, mobile and converged networking hardware, IP technologies, software and
services, with operations in more than 130 countries. It had been named Industry Group Leader
for Technology Hardware & Equipment sector in the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/55212036.cms?
utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Sunil Bharti Mittal appointed as Chairman of GSMA

The Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal was appointed as
Chairman of GSM Association (GSMA). He is the first Indian to elected for the Chair. In his
new role, Mittal will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation. GSMA , who will
oversee the strategic direction of GSMA, which represents nearly 800 of the worlds mobile operators
and more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

Read more at http://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-elects-new-board-

members-elects-sunil-bharti-mittal-chair/
NMCE hoping for merger to stay alive
To prevent an order to exit, the Ahmedabad-based National Multi Commodity Exchange
(NMCE) wishes to merge with an existing player to the meet the funds requirement set by
regulatory authorities. It has to do so before before May 5, 2017, the deadline for meeting the
minimum net worth criteria. NMCE was the first exchange to obtain the national
commodity futures accolade, in 2002. However, it failed to get the first-mover advantage.
SEBI has fixed the minimum net worth at Rs 100 crore whereas NMCE is rreling at 60
crores. It is the only national exchange that does not the required criteria
Read more at http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/nmce-hoping-for-merger-to-
stay-alive-116110201134_1.html

Facts at a glance
Kerala becomes 3rd Open Defecation Free state

Kerala has become the third Open Defecation Free state in the country after Sikkim and
Himachal Pradesh under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (Gramin).. The announcement in
this regard was made by the Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer in
New Delhi on the occasion foundation day of Kerala (1 November).

Read more at http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/kerala-becomes-open-defecation-

free-state/article9291523.ece

India ranks 133rd in 2016 Global Youth Development Index

India has been ranked 133rd out of 183 countries in the 2016 Global Youth Development
Index (YDI) compiled by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Global Youth Development
Index report measures countries prospects for young people in employment, education,
health, civic and political spheres.
Read more at http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-ranks-poorly-in-
commonwealth-youth-index-116102800429_1.html
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana top Ease of Doing Business list

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the Ease of Doing Business Reforms
Ranking 2015-16. The ranking of the states was conducted by the Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the World Bank. States were ranked on their
implementation of DIPP-proposed 340-point Business Reform Action Plan in period between
July 2015 and June 2016.
Read more at http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/ease-of-doing-business-andhra-
pradesh-telangana-tops-2016-allindia-ranking/article9288074.ece
The day that lasted forever--October 31
National Unity Day

Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) was observed across India on 31 October to
commemorate birth anniversary of Independent Indias first Deputy Prime Minister Sardar
Vallabhai Patel. Observance of the day provided an opportunity to re-affirm inherent strength
and resilience of our nation to withstand actual and potential threats to unity, integrity and
security of our country.This time the theme was:Integration of India
Read more at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/sardar-patel-
week-to-be-observed-from-october-31/articleshow/54926841.cms
2016 United Nations World Cities Day

The United Nations World Cities Day is observed every year on October 31 with the commitment to
work together for a planned and sustainable urban life in the wake of rapid growth of population and
problems. The 2016 theme was Inclusive Cities, Shared Development to highlight the role of
urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Antarticas Ross Sea declared as worlds largest Marine Protected Area

Antarticas Ross Sea was declared as worlds largest Marine Protected Area (MPA) to protect
the Earths most pristine marine ecosystem. It was declared after landmark international
agreement among 24 countries and European Union in Commission for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting in Hobart, Australia.
Read more at http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37789594

M&A
Tesla, SolarCity shares fall ahead of merger details
Shares of Tesla Motors Inc and SolarCity Corp tumbled on Tuesday ahead of expected
financial details from the electric carmaker on a pending $2.6 billion merger that has been
met with widespread investor skepticism. Shares of Tesla were down 4.1 percent in afternoon
trading to $189.60 and shares of solar panel installer SolarCity were down 3.5 percent at
$18.91.
Read more at http://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/tesla-solarcity-shares-fall-
ahead-of-merger-details-3733138/

State Bank of Hyderabad faces blues ahead of merger with SBI

There may be just one more quarter left before the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) stops
filing separate financial results in the run-up to the merger with State Bank of India (SBI),
like the other four associate banks of the country's biggest lender. But the results filed by the
bank for the quarter ended September, 2016 have just denied it a place in history of being a
consistently profit making bank since its inception
Read more at http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/state-bank-of-hyderabad-
faces-blues-ahead-of-merger-with-sbi-116103100771_1.html

Gran Marby, ICANN CEO

On move towards Internet Multistakeholder model

Weve been doing the same work for 18 years. The policy making process has been happening all along.
We are very grateful for the Indian government's support to make the multistakeholder model a success. They
understood the positives of this model, which is worth reiterating. The continuous support of your community is
going to be important because of the amount of users you have and also the diversity of users, with 22
languages

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/55218546.cms?
utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/55218546.cms?
utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

India's role be in the new scheme of things?

Read more at:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/55218546.cms?
utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst