QBullet: Flipkart’s Binny Bansal Quits; Dassault CEO Slams Rahul
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1. Flipkart Promoter Quits After ‘Personal Misconduct’ Probe
Six months after he led Flipkart, India’s most valuable start-up, into the biggest global acquisition deal in e-commerce with Walmart, the world’s largest company by revenue, Binny Bansal quit abruptly on Tuesday as chairperson and group CEO following an “independent investigation into an allegation of serious personal misconduct”.
The 36-year-old Binny, who co-founded Flipkart with fellow IITian Sachin Bansal in 2007, has “strongly denied the allegation”. “Nevertheless, we had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough. While the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgment, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation,” said a joint Flipkart-Walmart statement.
In a separate statement, Binny said the allegations were “uncorroborated after a thorough investigation completed by an independent law firm”, adding that they had left him “stunned”.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. SC Will Review Its Sabarimala Order
A five-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday agreed to reconsider its September judgment that allowed women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, but refused to stay the operation of the verdict that would have the effect of disallowing the entry of women into the hilltop shrine.
The apex court bench, also comprising justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, fixed 22 January to take up the 49 review petitions calling for a reversal of its September 28 verdict and other applications in the matter.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. I Do Not Lie: Dassault CEO on Rahul’s Rafale Charge
Dassault Aviation chief executive officer Eric Trappier, in an interview to news agency ANI, rubbished allegations made by Congress President Rahul Gandhi that he lied about details of the French military planemaker’s offsets joint venture with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group in the Rafale jet deal.
He also claimed the price of each jet, in flyaway condition, under the deal signed by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is 9 percent lower than the price offered by the company to the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in a deal that wasn’t closed.
Trappier’s revelation is unlikely to resolve a highly controversial issue, one which has become central to the Congress’ attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Supreme Court is also hearing petitions related to the case.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Today’s Rulers Undermining Nehru’s Legacy Daily: Sonia
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the ruling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “undermining the legacy” of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and urged the people to honour the late leader by fighting with determination to safeguard the country’s democracy.
“Nehru’s precious legacy is being undermined daily by those who rule us today. They express disdain and contempt for Nehru for all that he did to build the India that they are bent upon changing for the worse,” she said in her address at the launch of new edition of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s 2003 book ‘Nehru: The Invention of India’.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Restrictions on Banks: RBI and Govt Work to Narrow Their Gap
Some common ground is likely to emerge between the RBI and the government on the latter’s proposal for aligning the central bank’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) and capital adequacy framework to global norms.
This is a move that could potentially de-escalate the ongoing tension between the banking regulator and the government. Sources said recent discussions between the Finance Ministry and the RBI indicate that both sides are working to resolve at least two key operating hurdles faced by banks through tweaks in the PCA norms and changes in regulations to improve credit flow to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Sri Lanka SC Stays President’s Order to Sack Parliament
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the president’s order to dissolve Parliament and hold new elections, opening the way for lawmakers to vote on whether to accept his earlier ouster of the prime minister.
Sri Lanka has been in a political crisis since October 26, when President Maithripala Sirisena suddenly fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. J&K BJP Leader’s Killing: 2 Hizbul Men Named as Killers
The Jammu and Kashmir police are learnt to have identified two Hizbul Mujahideen militants – Osama Javed of Dachhan in Kishtwar district and Sajjad Khandey of Pulwama – as the men who shot BJP state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar in Kishtwar on 1 November. A senior police officer said two persons, including a government employee, have been detained for aiding the militants. Pervaiz Ahmed, working with the State Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, is alleged to have provided shelter to the militants at his property in Kishtwar purchased about a year ago.
The second suspect, Riyaz, identified as an overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen, is alleged to have accompanied the militants from Dachhan to Kishtwar town to identify the BJP leader.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. 2002 Riots: SC Will Hear Zakia Plea on 19 November
The Supreme Court will hear on November 19 a plea by Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, challenging the decision of a Gujarat court to accept the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that gave a clean chit to several people, including then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, after probing her complaint on the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Eighty-year-old Zakia’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) came up Tuesday before Justices A M Khanwilkar and Deepak Gupta who fixed the date for hearing. Her husband, a former Congress MP, was killed by a mob which attacked the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on the afternoon of February 28, 2002.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Drunk Irish Flyer Abuses & Assaults AI Crew, Held
After she was refused another drink, an inebriated Irish business class passenger onboard an Air India Mumbai-London flight manhandled a flight attendant.
She also verbally abused the flight attendants and spoke of the “human rights” work she did for free as an international criminal lawyer for Palestinians, Rohingya and other indigenous people across the world. The passenger was arrested after the flight landed in Heathrow.
In a clip (pic) recorded by a cabin crew member, the flyer can be heard uttering expletives more than 40 times. The incident took place on November 10 on board Air India flight AI-131.
(Source: The Times of India)
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