Cyrus Mistry ousted as Tata chief; Ratan Tata returns

Mumbai, Oct 24 (PTI) In a sudden and dramatic turn of events, Cyrus Mistry was today sacked as Chairman of India's largest conglomerate Tata Group and replaced by his predecessor Ratan Tata in the interim, triggering a possible confrontation between the single-largest shareholder and the company's founding family.

Mistry's family firm Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which has 18.4 per cent in Tata Sons -- the holding company of USD 100- billion salt-to-software conglomerate -- is believed to be considering fighting out the "illegal" removal.

In the suprise development, the board of Tata Sons, where 66 per cent shares are held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of Tata family, ousted Chairman Mistry saying it was acting "for the long-term interest" of the firm.

No reason was given for removing Mistry who was brought in less than four years back with much fanfare, but it is believed there were differences over management style and his approach of selling assets after writing them down.

The board named a five-member search committee, which includes Tata, to choose a successor within four months.

"Tata Sons Board met today and decided to replace him as Chairman with immediate effect. The Tatas Sons board in its collective wisdom and on the recommendation of principal shareholder decided that it may be appropriate to consider a change for the long term interest of Tata Sons and the Tata group," a Group spokesperson said.

Mistry, 48, who replaced Tata, 78, as chairman in December 2012, was only the sixth group Chairman in nearly 15 decades and the first from outside the Tata family. He will remain a director of the individual companies, though his tenure as Chairman is the shortest so far at the group.

Tata will be interim head of the group while a Selection Committee appointed by the company searches for a replacement.

The spokesperson said the Committee has been constituted with a mandate to complete the process in four months.

Also, there will be no change at the level of CEOs in the operating company, he said. .

SP on brink of split as CM sacks Shivpal; Ramgopal expelled

Lucknow, Oct 23 (PTI) Ruling Samajwadi Party appeared to be headed for a split today as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his party supremo and father Mulayam Singh were engaged in an open face-off, sacking each other's loyalists Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav.

While Akhilesh sacked Shivpal, his uncle and party's state unit chief, along with three other "pro-Amar Singh" ministers from his Cabinet, his father hit back by dismissing Ramgopal, pro-CM cousin and SP's national general secretary, from the party for six years.

The fast-paced developments unfolded this morning when Akhilesh held a meeting of party legislators, a day ahead of a mega meeting of party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and ministers called by Mulayam where some more tough decisions were likely to be taken.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister recommended to Governor Ram Naik that Shivpal, Narad Rai and Om Prakash Singh (all Cabinet ministers) and Sayeda Shadab Fatima (MoS - Independent charge) be sacked from his ministry. This was accepted immediately.

While the meeting was underway, hundreds of Akhilesh's supporters collected outside his residence, raising slogans in his favour.

Significantly, before Akhilesh announced the sacking of Shivpal and three other ministers, Ramgopal issued a letter written to party workers, expressing support to the Chief Minister and warning those opposing him.

"Those who oppose Akhilesh won't be able to show their faces in the legislative assembly. Where Akhilesh is, victory follows," he said in the letter.

After his sacking, Shivpal met Mulayam at his residence, which is just nearby that of the CM's bungalow.

Hours later, he announced that the SP chief had expelled Ramgopal from the party for six years.

Shivpal told mediapersons that Ramgopal was colluding with BJP and had thrice met a senior leader of the saffron party to save himself and his son from a CBI probe in connection with alleged involvement in the Yadav Singh Noida scam probe.

He said he was not worried about being dropped from the government and declared that the state Assembly elections would be fought under leadership of Mulayam.

Launching a scathing attack on Ramgopal, Shivpal said he was tarnishing the image of SP by dabbling in corruption, colluding with BJP and weakening Mulayam's leadership.

"On Mulayam's directive, Ramgopal is being stripped of his posts of party spokesman and national general secretary and is being expelled from the party for six years," Shivpal said, giving rise to intense speculation about an imminent split.

India triumph in Kabaddi World Cup, maintain dominance / PM Congratulates

PM congratulates Indian team for winning Kabaddi World Cup

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated the Indian Kabaddi team for winning the Kabaddi World Cup.

“Congratulations to Indian team for winning the Kabaddi World Cup. The team showed exceptional skills, grit and determination. Well done!”, the Prime Minister said.

Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (PTI) India on Saturday triumphed in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup for a third straight time as they staged a remarkable fightback to overcome a tough Iran 38-29 in the title clash, maintaining their dominance in the sport.

This was India's third title triumph on the trot in a sport they have dominated for long.

Incidentally, Iran tasted defeat to India in the last two World Cup finals and at the Asian Games.

Ajay Thakur was the star performer of the final, claiming 12 points.

Iran fought bravely and took the lead going into the first half break at 18-13, but Thakur changed the complexion in the second half and he was helped by some resolute defending from the hosts.

Clinton's win would result in spread of ISIS: Trump

Washington, Oct 22 (PTI) Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump today slammed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, saying her victory in the upcoming US presidential elections would result in "four more years of Obama" and the "spread of ISIS".

"Let me tell you, if Hillary Clinton gets elected, we have got four more years of (Barack) Obama. We have a disaster. We have ISIS all over," Trump said during his address in North Carolina.

"We won't win anymore. And your taxes are going up. And she wants to double up and triple up on Obamacare, which has to be repealed and replaced. It is a disaster," he said.

Trump, 70, said he will renegotiate NAFTA and stand up for "foreign cheating" to stop the jobs from leaving the US.

"We are going to start making things in America again. We are going to start making things in North Carolina again. We are bringing back our jobs. America first," he said.

Noting that he would create an "America Desk" to bring all trade related issues at one point, Trump said all trade policy will be consolidated into one office.

"It will report to a thing called the American Desk," Trump said.

He said the mission of the desk will be to protect the economic interest of the American worker and national interest of the US.

"We are losing our manufacturing all over the country," he alleged.

Trump alleged that Clinton allowed the release of thousands of criminals as their home countries would not take them back.

"They don't want to take back killers and drug dealers and all of the people that we are sending back. It was just reported, and Hillary took it - she said, bring them back, bring them back. They won't take them," he said.

"We are going to take these people out day one, the people that are the criminals, drug lords, gang members, killers," he said.

Sensex gripped by US rate hike fears, slips into red zone

Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) Market showed some signs of restraint as the Sensex ended up in the red today after RIL earnings failed to move investors and on heightened prospects of a US rate hike amid mixed Asian cues.

However, for the week, the Sensex and the Nifty recorded gains by rising 403.58 points, or 1.45 per cent, and 109.65 points, or 1.27 per cent, respectively.

Foreign investors held themselves back due to the surge in US dollar index led by increasing certainty of higher US borrowing costs.

"FIIs were not active in the market due to the surge in US dollar index led by increasing certainty of Fed rate hike. As expected, ECB maintained status quo and ruled out possibility of sudden end in QE which provided breather to the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Fin Services.

The 30-share index stayed in the negative zone for the most part. But some fag-end value buying meant it recovered a bit before closing at 28,077.18, down 52.66 points, or 0.19 per cent.

The broader Nifty also succumbed to the pressure before recovering to close lower by 6.35 points, or 0.07 per cent at 8,693.05.

A mixed trend prevailed in rest of Asia following an earthquake in western Japan, which weighed on equities. Hong Kong markets were shut due to a typhoon.

In contrast, broader markets were in a better shape, with the mid-cap and small-cap indices closing higher by 0.31 per cent and 0.10 per cent, respectively.

Brokers said selling by funds as well as retailers gathered momentum after Reliance Industries yesterday reported a 23 per cent drop in its second quarter consolidated net profit, which had a bearing on stock movement.

RIL shares fell 2.21 per cent to Rs 1,064.40 after the consolidated net profit in July-September came in at Rs 7,206 crore, 22.9 per cent lower than Rs 9,345 crore in the same period a year ago.

Shares of cement maker ACC plunged 3.10 per cent to Rs 1,562.05 after the company said its consolidated net profit fell 29 per cent to Rs 81.97 crore for the September quarter.

Sectorwise, the BSE consumer durables index fell by 1.70 per cent and metal index shed 0.62 per cent. Realty gained the most by surging 0.86 per cent followed by IT 0.69 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 7.30 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Globally, a mixed trend emerged in other Asian bourses, helping key indices on the domestic bourses trim their losses, the brokers added.

Japan's Nikkei came off six-month highs by falling 0.30 per cent after the quake while Shanghai Composite rose 0.21 per cent.

In Europe, most indices rose in their early deals after the European Central Bank quashed talks regarding its future monetary policy. Key indices in France, Germany and London rose between 0.04 per cent and 0.12 per cent. .

Gavaskar to receive Lifetime Achievement Award from SJAM

Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) As a part of its golden jubilee celebrations, the Sports Journalists' Association of Mumbai (SJAM) will present cricket legend Sunil Manohar Gavaskar with the Lifetime Achievement award here on December 11 at the Cricket Club of India.

The award will be presented to the former India captain on the fourth day of the fourth Test match between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium, said a media release from SJAM.

The SJAM's first Lifetime Achievement award was presented to badminton legend Nandu Natekar in September 2013.

Gavaskar has completed a memorable 50-year connect with the Indian cricket. He made his first class debut representing Vazir Sultan XI against Dungarpur XI in the quarter-final of the Moin-Ud-Dowlah Gold Cup in October 1966.

He made his debut for Bombay in the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Mysore at the Brabourne Stadium in March 1970.

After recording a phenomenal aggregate of 774 runs in his debut Test series on the 1970-71 tour of the West Indies in 1971, Gavaskar became the first batsman in annals of Test cricket to cross the 10,000 run mark.

He was a part of the Indian team led by Kapil Dev that won the third Prudential World Cup in 1983. He was the captain of the team that won the Benson and Hedges World Championship tournament in Australia in 1985.

Gavaskar played 125 Test matches and scored 10,122 runs with 34 centuries. He also represented India in 108 ODIs tallying over 3,000 runs.

After his retirement from international cricket in 1987, Gavaskar occupied a number of posts such as Chairman of the BCCI's Technical Committee and ICC Cricket Committee. He has been an ICC Match Referee, Chairman of the Mumbai Cricket Association's Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC), batting coach of the Indian team.

He has also stepped in as coach when Ajit Wadekar fell ill in a tournament in Sharjah.

In 2014, the Supreme Court nominated him President BCCI for the IPL tournament held in the UAE and in India.

BSF kills 7 Pak Rangers, one terrorist on Jammu border

Jammu, Oct 21 (PTI) BSF today said it had killed 7 personnel of Pakistani Rangers and a terrorist while retaliating to a ceasefire violation on the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in which one BSF jawan was injured.

Pakistan Rangers, the border force of Pakistan, resorted to sniper attacks at Indian posts at Hira Nagar in Kathua at around 9.35 AM, BSF said.

The Indian border guarding force launched an aggressive offensive against the Pakistani firing, BSF said in a release, adding seven Rangers and a terrorist were shot dead in the retaliatory firing.

Seeking to suggest that the killings had been corroborated by Pakistani media, the BSF said "source input" claimed that a media organisation in that country was running a news item about death of 5 Rangers.

The strong response by the BSF came after one of Constables Gurnam Singh was injured in a sniper fire attack by Pakistani Rangers this morning in the same area.

Singh, whose condition is considered to be critical, was evacuated with the cover fire to Government Medical College, Jammu.

This firing from Pakistan was effectively retaliated and that has claimed the casualties of Pakistani forces, the release said. .

Rita Bahuguna joins BJP, slams Rahul for barb at Modi

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) In a jolt to Congress in poll- bound Uttar Pradesh, senior party leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi today joined BJP and attacked Rahul Gandhi over the way he was running the party and his reaction to the army's surgical strikes.

67-year-old Joshi, daughter of late Congress veteran Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, over whom there has been speculation of deserting Congress, joined BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah at the party headquaters here.

A former UPCC president who resigned as a Congress MLA today, said there is no alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP.

Joshi, who was said to be unhappy with the Congress leadership over projection of Sheila Dikshit as its chief ministerial face in Uttar Pradesh, rued the present state of affairs in the party, alleging that it is in such a bad shape that it has contracted out its working to strategist Prashant Kishore.

Slamming Rahul for his 'dalali' barb at Modi over the surgical strikes, Joshi said she has been disheartened by the events which happened in the last few days.

"India is fighting terrorism and the Modi government has given the army a free hand. Besides valour of the army, the government's strong leadership was also behind the surgical strikes.

"Along with the nation, I too was happy. The whole world accepted India's arguments behind the strikes. Congress, however, behaved like a small party and went on to question it. The whole nation was upset with a phrase like 'khoon like dalali'," she said attacking Gandhi.

His remarks gave Pakistan an opportunity to question surgical strikes, she said, adding that political differences over national interest were not good.

Noting that she had spent 24 years out of 27 years of her political career in Congress and only 10 months in Samajwadi Party, she said, "The decision to quit Congress was not easy.

However, I took it in the interest of the nation and the state (UP)." 

Her joining BJP is expected to give a boost to the party's efforts to consolidate Brahmin voters as it looks to capture power in the state following a gap of over 15 years.

The assembly polls in UP are due early next year. Ruling Samajwadi Parry and BSP have been in the power by turn all this while.

No hidden agenda behind triple talaq opposition: Law Minister

New Delhi, Oct 20 (PTI) Government has no "hidden agenda" of imposing uniform civil code or behind the opposition to the triple talaq among Muslims, says Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad rejecting allegations by religious bodies and opposition parties as completely baseless.

He also asserts that while India respects freedom of religion and faith, "unreasonable or discriminatory" practices cannot be held integral to it and protected.

"This whole apprehension that we are bringing uniform civil code or it is an agenda is completely baseless. The two need not be linked at all. The Law Commission is examining it and let there be a widest consultation possible by all the stakeholders," Prasad told PTI in an interview.

He said the people opposing the common civil code should tell so to the law panel which has sought public opinion on the subject.

"Say your opposition also. But the government presently has nothing to say. Let the Law Commission take a view. The entire argument of any hidden agenda is something which I deny with all the authority at my command," he said.

Prasad cited the practice of "untouchability" to assert that religious practices need to be in accord with constitutional values and emphasised that "gender justice, gender equality and gender dignity" were at the core of the Narendra Modi government's priority.

"... we respect freedom of religion and freedom of faith which are protected by the fundamental rights. But every unreasonable or discriminatory practice cannot be held integral to faith....

"For instance, can anyone claim that untouchability against Dalits flows from my faith and I can practice it.

Therefore, religious practices also need to be in accord with the constitutional values," he said.

The government had on October 7 opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of triple talaq among Muslims, maintaining that it cannot be regarded as an essential part of religion.

Responding to questions on the issue of triple talaq, the senior BJP leader said a set of women cannot lose their rights for being from a particular religion.

"Can in a secular country like India a big chunk of women be forced to live in a state of vulnerability only on the ground that they belong to a particular religion?" he questioned.

Noting that gender equality stands embedded right from the day the Constitution came into existence, the minister said development and empowerment of women were also among government's priorities. .

India, Myanmar to enhance security, trade ties

New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) As Myanmar embarks on a journey of democracy and development, India today assured it of unstinted support as the two traditionally close neighbours agreed to enhance ties in a range of areas including security and trade during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar's top leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The two sides signed three agreements to boost cooperation in power, banking and insurance sectors besides deciding to step up ties in areas of oil and gas, agriculture, renewable energy and health care.

It is Suu Kyi's first visit to India after her National League for Democracy wrested power from the military junta in a landmark election earlier this year. Suu Kyi, who could not become Myanmar's President due to a constitutional provision but has full control over the government, holds the position of State Councillor and Foreign Minister.

Welcoming Suu Kyi, the Prime Minister described India as her second home and assured that "India and its friendship will stand with you in full support and solidarity."

"You are no stranger to the people of India. The sights, the sounds and vibrancy of Delhi are familiar to you. Welcome back, Excellency, to your second home!

"Excellency, you are an iconic leader," he said in a media statement. Suu Kyi had done her graduation from Delhi University.

In her comments, the Myanmerase leader invoked Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and said Myanmar drew huge inspiration from the two Indian leaders in its struggle for democracy.

The Prime Minister said as close and friendly neighbours, the security interests of India and Myanmar are closely aligned.

The two countries agreed that close coordination to ensure security in the areas along border, and sensitivity to each other's strategic interests, will help both neighbours, he said.

Myanmar, considered one of India's strategic neighbours, shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.

Giving details of the talks, Modi said the two countries agreed to enhance engagement in several areas including agriculture, power, renewable energy and power sector.

"Let me assure you, Excellency, that as you lead Myanmar to become a modern, secure, economically prosperous and better connected nation, India and its friendship will stand with you in full support and solidarity," Modi said.

Effusive in his praise, Modi said, "Your clear vision, mature leadership, struggle and eventual success in establishing democracy in Myanmar has inspired people across the world.

"It is indeed an honour for us to receive you in India.

We are also grateful for your participation at the BIMSTEC and the BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach Summit in Goa a couple of days ago." .