December 2019

Anand Mahindra quits as M&M rolls out succession plan Mumbai: With the $20.9 billion M & M Group undergoing a transition, as over the next 15 months, a number of key leaders are set to retire. In the light of this, a succession plan has been instituted under the aegis of the Governance, Nomination & Remuneration Committee (GNRC) of the Board. The process has been completed in a structured manner after and rigorous review of top management succession, which has now been ratified by the Board of Directors. source:

Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy became joint most expensive players to go under the hammer so far in the IPL Auction 2019. The two were sold for Rs 8.4 crore each. Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy kicked up bidding wars to become the joint most expensive players to go under the hammer, acquired by Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab respectively for Rs 8.4 crore in the IPL Auction 2019 on Tuesday. Source: The Indian Express

Trump becomes third U.S. president to be impeached as House approves both articles against him The House voted after nearly 12 hours of debate Wednesday night to impeach President Trump for his conduct toward Ukraine and his refusal to cooperate with the inquiry, making him only the third president in U.S. history to receive that sanction. Democrats had more than enough votes to approve the two articles of impeachment against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, even with two Democratic defections on the first, three on the second and presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) voting “present”...

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry named as ICC Women’s Cricketer of the year The ICC announced on Tuesday that Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry has been named the Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2019 and walks away with the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award. The award was last year bagged by Mandhana. Perry has also been named as the ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year. She has had a stellar year across formats, with three hundreds, including one in the Ashes Test. She averages 73.50 from 12 ODIs this year, where she has also taken 21 wickets, including a national record...

Yuvraj Singh slams India’s World Cup 2019 planning: It was completely wrong World Cup-winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh slammed the Indian team management for getting it “completely wrong” at the 2019 World Cup, stressing that an inexperienced middle-order worked against the team’s chances. Yuvraj Singh, speaking at Agenda AajTak in New Delhi, said India lacked clarity when it came to picking a middle-order that could have complimented the quality top-order. Yuvraj said he was disappointed with the way the team management handled Ambati Rayudu’s case in the lead up to the World Cup. source:

Greta Thunberg, born 3 January 2003 is a Swedish climate activist. She is known for her work against climate change, a popular example of youth activism. She started protesting on 20 August 2018, outside of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm. Teenage Climate Change Activist Thundberg Named Time’s Person of the Year Greta Thunberg is the youngest person to win the award after quickly evolving into one of the world’s most prominent climate change activists. Source

Veteran actor Shreeram Lagoo dies in Pune at 92 Veteran actor Shreeram Lagoo took his last breath on December 17 and passed away at the age of 92 in Pune. The popular actor and social activist was being treated at the Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital for the last few days, says reports. His contribution to the Marathi and Hindi cinema is enormous. He acted in more than 100 Hindi and Marathi films, over 40 Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati plays, and has directed more than 20 Marathi plays.  source:

Oracle appoints Safra Catz as sole CEO, Vishal Sikka joins the board It is never easy when a global corporation loses a CEO, who was in the public eye for almost a decade. Oracle Corporation’s Co-CEO Mark Hurd’s passing left a hole in the company. But, Executive Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison, wasted no time in pointing out that Safra Catz, the Co-CEO with Mark Hurd, would be running the show. To strengthen the management team, Ellison also appointed Vishal Sikka, Founder of Vianai, former CEO of Infosys, and former CTO at SAP, to Oracle’s board. source:

NCLAT reinstates Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons executive chairman Three years after Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was unceremoniously removed from the post of Executive Chairman of Tata Sons, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday ruled the decision “illegal”, paving the way for his reinstatement. The replacement of the present ‘Executive Chairman’ and reinstatement of Mr. Mistry will however come into effect after four weeks during which Tata Sons has the option to challenge the tribunal’s verdict before the Supreme Court. Additionally, the tribunal clarified that the Mr Mistry will be reinstated as Director of the ‘Tata Companies’ with immediate effect....

BSNL freezes hiring, looks to integrate MTNL network: Purwar BSNL, on the back of recent Cabinet-approved revival strategy is on the path to turn a corner, and with 78,569 employees opting for voluntary retirement, the state-owned telco would save as much as 50% or at least Rs 600 crore monthly on its wage bill from February next year. In an interaction with ETTelecom, BSNL chairman Pravin Kumar Purwar talks on various issues such as tariff hike, market consolidation, and much-awaited commercial 4G launch.  source: