December 2019

Indian-American scientist Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan to lead National Science Foundation in US U.S. President Donald Trump has picked Indian-American computer scientist Sethuraman Panchanathan to lead the prestigious National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a U.S. government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Panchanathan, who completed his bachelor’s degree in University of Madras, is currently the Chief Research and Innovation Officer at the Arizona State University Source: The Hindu

‘People dying’: Malaysia’s Mahathir slams India’s citizenship law Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has criticized India’s new citizenship law, which is seen as discriminatory against Muslims and has sparked deadly protests across the South Asian country. Speaking on the sidelines of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 on Friday, Mahathir questioned the “necessity” of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), when Indians have “lived together for 70 years”. “People are dying because of this law. Why is there a necessity to do this when all the while, for 70 years, they have lived together as citizens without any problem?” he asked Source:...

British PM Boris Johnson wins vote on Brexit deal in time for Christmas British lawmakers gave preliminary approval Friday to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill, clearing the way for the U.K. to leave the European Union next month. The House of Commons voted 358-234 for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill. It will receive more scrutiny and possible amendment next month, and also has to be approved by Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords. But Johnson’s commanding Conservative majority in Parliament means it is almost certain to become law in January. Britain will then leave the EU on Jan. 31....

India-US partnership can only succeed if it is rooted in an honest dialogue: Warren Warren made the comments a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar refused to meet Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who introduced the Congressional resolution on Kashmir urging India to lift all the restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir imposed after revoking Article 370.  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S Jaishankar met US Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T Esper and Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo in Washington DC, US on December 18, 2019, for the second annual India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue....

Anil Ambani’s wealth shrinks by 73% to Rs 970 crore in six months Industrialist Anil Ambani’s equity wealth has seen steep value erosion as it crashed by 73.43 per cent in the last six months to just Rs 970.10 crore ($ 136.6 million) on Wednesday, as against Rs 3,651 crore on June 11. At the peak of his fortunes in 2008, Ambani was ranked the sixth richest man in the world with a wealth of $42 billion. It is thus hard to believe that the value of Ambani’s equity– after excluding pledged shares–stands at just Rs 144.60 crore ($ 20.4...

Uday Kotak may pare stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank Uday Kotak is planning to pare down his stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank,  CNBC-TV18 has learnt. According to the sources, talks are on with large foreign institutional investors for promoters’ stake sale to pare down anywhere between 5 percent and 10 percent in the bank. Kotak is trying to close the deal as soon as possible and the it may be completed by the year-end or so, they say. According to the RBI regulation, a promoter can hold up to 20  percent stake. As of September, Kotak held close to 30...

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran: ‘We need accountability and supervision; we don’t need suspicion’ Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran was the guest at the Express Adda in Mumbai last week. He spoke with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Sunil Jain, Managing Editor, Financial Express, on his book Bridgital Nation, the economic slowdown and how the liquidity problem is largely behind us. source:

We are killing telecom industry in a way that is not conducive: Sunil Bharti Mittal Sunil Bharti Mittal, one of the Billionaires of the country spoke about the condition of the telecom industry. He spoke about how a weird combination of high consumption and rock-bottom tariffs have been killing the telecom industry lately. He also speaks about how TRAI regulators need to seep in between to strike a proper balance of needs for protecting investments and consumer interest. We can wait for things to get better now. source:

Why is Stock Market Going up and Economy Going Down? Former CEA Arvind Subramanian Explains Ahmedabad: Former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Thursday that it was a “puzzle” for him that stock markets are buoyant while the economy is sinking. Subramanian, the first CEA under the Narendra Modi government, was at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) for the inauguration of ‘NSE Centre for Behavioral Science in Finance, Economics and Marketing’. “I hope that the first behavioural economics project of this Centre would be to explain to me why as the economy is going down and down...

Anand Mahindra to Step Down from 1st April; Dr Anish Shah would be new MD & CEO from 2021 Anand Mahindra, the chief of Mahindra & Mahindra group would be stepping down as chairman on 1 April 2020. He will be the non-executive chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Dr Anish Shah will transition, in two phases, to become managing director (MD) and chief executive (CEO) on 2 April 2021 with full oversight of all M&M group businesses, the company said. source: