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Says Indian Hotels, Tata Motors' passenger cars, Tata Steel UK, telecom biz and Mundra UMPP are legacy hotspots Group companies in the salt-to-software Tata Sons conglomerate faces potential writedowns to the tune of close to $18 billion (about Rs 1,18,000 crore) due to investments in unprofitable businesses, according to an internal letter that ousted Chairman   Cyrus Mistry   sent to the company's board. Mistry was shunted out of the company on Monday by the   Tata Sons   board for reasons not officially made public by the group, however, sources told Reuters that Mistry had lost favor with family patriarch   Ratan Tata   and the powerful trusts, which own two-thirds of the group. Mistry said in the letter that Indian Hotels Co, passenger-vehicle operations of Tata Motors Ltd, the loss-making European steel operations of Tata Steel, its telecom venture and the Mundra ultra mega power plant of Tata Power are "legacy hotspots" of the company. "A...

Karan Johar's film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan Under fire over "brokering" a deal between producers of " Ae Dil Hai Mushkil " and MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that he had opposed the offer of Rs 5 crore contribution from makers to the Army welfare fund. Karan Johar's film faced protests by MNS workers for casting Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Film's smooth release, scheduled to open on October 28, was ensured at a meeting Film Producers' Guild, producers and MNS Thackeray, mediated by  Devendra Fadnavis   last week. A key demand conceded in the meeting was Rs 5 crore contribution from makers for the army welfare. "Thackeray had put three demands, out of which there was no objections to the other two. When the issue of Rs 5 crore came up, I intervened and made it clear to the Film Producers' Guild that they need not have to agree to it. I ...

Walking out of the shadow of his father and uncle and with the support of Congress and Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav could be bad news for the BJP The split in the   Samajwadi Party   (SP), which increasingly looks imminent, is bad news for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), not just for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls but also for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With the Congress weakened, the BJP effort has been to dent the support base as well as credibility of regional political parties that have the potential to form the nucleus of a strong third front in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. These parties are Uttar Pradesh-based SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP); Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha; the Dravidian parties of Tamil Nadu; the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad   Akhilesh Yadav   combine in Bihar, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in Bengal and the Left parties. The states where these parties wield influence – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Benga...

India wins 2016 Kabaddi World Cup beats Iran 38-29 India fought off a tough challenge from Iran to win their third successive   Kabaddi World Cup 2016   here on Saturday. In perhaps the most exciting match of this World Cup, the Indians overturned a first-half deficit with a superb second-half performance to win 38-29. India have thus won all the three Kabaddi World Cups held so far. They have beaten Iran in the finals of all the three editions. The experienced Ajay Thakur played a crucial role in India's win with his raiding prowess. Iran enjoyed a stronger start and dominated the first half. But the Indians showed superb fighting spirit and aggression to pull off the win. Thakur had started the revival early in the second session by claiming four consecutive raid points. His team-mates also showed excellent raiding and defending technique to edge out their opponents. "This is the best moment of my life," Thakur said after the win.   Read More

Trai nod to Jio free offer till December 3 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday said   Reliance Jio   can offer its free promotional offer till December 3, also clarifying that tariffs offered by the Mukesh Ambani-led firm were not predatory or discriminatory. This means new customers won’t be able to avail the offer after December 3 and Jio subscribers would have to pay as per the tariffs announced by the company. Customers who have subscribed before December 3 will enjoy benefits till December 31. In its quarterly results, Jio said it might extend the period of free services in case its subscribers were unable to get adequate experience of seamless connectivity across the network because of interconnection congestion and the quality of service parameters are not as per the benchmarks desired by the Jio management. Jio had launched the commercial services on September 5 and also announced it would provide all voice and data services free ti...

India's 1st indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine can carry between 4 to 12 nuclear-tipped missiles India quietly commissioned into service its first indigenous nuclear submarine, the   INS Arihant , in August this year and the vessel has been operational since then, The Times of India reported on Tuesday while citing sources. With its induction, India has completed the first step towards setting up a nuclear triad. The national daily said that according to the same sources, despite being inducted, the Arihant is "not yet fully ready" to be deployed for "deterrent patrols". The report added that the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Navy have refused to comment on the matter. All you need to know about INS Arihant: INS Arihant is India's first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. While India has leased nuclear submarines from Russia before, Arihant is the first such vessel built indigenously. According to reports, th...

Leaders of the five economies agree to work on credit rating agency, trade in local currency and cooperation on tax evasion While a key agreement on setting up a   BRICS   credit rating agency eluded them, leaders of the five emerging large economies ended their eighth summit with a commitment to strive for greater synergy and higher economic growth. With Indian and Chinese exports to the West shrinking, Prime Minister   Narendra Modi called for doubling of intra-BRICS trade to $500 billion by 2020. This was seen as a key to spur growth in BRICS economies, two of which have recorded negative growth. Chinese President Xi Jinping drew attention to “some countries getting more inward looking in their policies… Protectionism is rising and the forces against globalisation are an emerging risk,” he said. The ‘Goa Declaration’, issued at the end of the summit, welcomed “experts exploring the possibility of setting up an independent BRICS Rating Agency based on market...

Candidates interviewed by webcam send their response to the firm for review The future of   job interview s might horrify you. It horrified Jake Rosen. A recent graduate of UCLA, Rosen was applying to be a page at NBC (yes, yes, just like Kenneth) when he learned he wouldn't be going to an office to talk to a human being about his skills. Instead, he interviewed by webcam, on a laptop. So Skype, right? Nope, nothing as personal as that. He recorded his answers and sent them back to a hiring manager at NBC for review at the company's convenience. It's the   robo-interview , and it goes something like this. In the more humane experience, a hiring manager, who also isn't all that practised in the art of digital video, delivers taped questions. Or, if it's truly Mr Roboto, a question pops up on the screen. You have a limited amount of time to answer. You talk to your computer, record the responses, and send them back to the company. Sometimes there's a p...

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016 is awarded to Bob Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". The prize has gone to an American after a gap of 23 years, novelist Toni Morrison won it for the US in 1993.   The Nobel Prize in Literature 2015 was awarded to Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexievich.  Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Japanese author Haruki Murakami and Syrian poet, essayist and translator Adonis were among the favourites tippped to win the prize. Dylan has recorded a large number of albums revolving around topics like the social conditions of man, religion, politics and love. The lyrics have continuously been published in new editions, under the title Lyrics. As an artist, he is strikingly versatile; he has been active as painter, actor, and scriptwriter. Bob Dylan was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. He grew up in a Jewish middleclass family in the city of Hibbing.  Dylan ...

Azhar argues that organisations like his JeM can achieve victory for Pakistan in Kashmir and avenge the 1971 defeat Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) head   Masood Azhar   has called on the Pakistani government to "shows a little courage" and allow jihadist organisations a free hand in escalating their attacks in India, in order to "resolve" the Kashmir dispute, the   Indian Express   reported on Thursday. According to the report, Azhar, alleged to have masterminded the Pathankot attack in January this year, was addressing the Pakistani establishment in the current issue of the JeM weekly magazine   al-Qalam . Quoting Azhar, the national daily's report said: “If the government of Pakistan shows a little courage... The problem of Kashmir, as well as the dispute over water, can be resolved once and for all right now. If nothing else, the government simply has to open the path for the mujahideen. Then, god willing, all the bitter memories of 1971 will be dissolved i...

Best remembered for her work in fighting AIDS, she was incredibly networked across biz and entertainment On a day when millions across the world and in India celebrated the festival of Dussehra, came news that 71-year-old   Parmeshwar Godrej , wife of industrialist Adi Godrej, was no more. She passed away on Monday night in a hospital here. Her death came as a shock to many of her friends and well-wishers, who took to twitter to express their grief. Pam, as she was referred to among friends, is survived by her husband and three children – Tanya, Nisa and Pirojsha. She was among India's foremost style icons, philanthropist and a gracious host, who was the life of every party she attended or threw. Behind the glamour, however, was a strong woman, say acquaintances and friends, who was intelligent, who carried herself well and who could strike up a conversation easily, helping her straddle the world of business and entertainment well. An example of her influence in social ...

Plane evacuated at Louisville airport after replaced Samsung phone starts smoking An overheating, smoking   Samsung smartphone   forced the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines jet that was preparing to take off from the Louisville airport. The incident raised fresh trouble for Samsung, which saw its new Galaxy Note 7 device recalled last month because of overheating batteries. Samsung, Southwest and federal aviation-safety officials declined to say what model of Samsung phone was involved, saying they were still investigating. But an Indiana woman, Sarah Green, told The Courier-Journal of Louisville that it was her husband’s   Samsung Galaxy Note 7   that made popping noises and started to smoke after he powered it down while the plane sat at the gate. Green told the newspaper that her husband, Brian, received the Galaxy Note 7 about two weeks ago as a replacement for his recalled phone. He called her from someone else’s phone to tell her what happened. ...