Top stories on 18th August in a capsule
Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO of Infosys; board members-Murthy indulge in blamegame
Infosys MD and CEO Vishal Sikka on Friday resigned from his post citing continuous “personal attacks” and "differences" with co-founder Narayan Murthy, the company statement read hours after the incident. Chief operating officer UB Pravin Rao has been appointed by the company’s board as the interim managing director. Meanhwile, the board backed Sikka and blamed founder CEO Narayana Murthy for the exit. Murthy through an email had criticised the Infosys board for not upholding the governance standards and was quoted as saying that three other board directors had termed Sikka as a less CEO material and more CTO material. Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan however differed with Murthy and said that Sikka is not only a “phenomenal technical guy” but also has blossomed into a “high-performing CEO”. The board on the other hand claimed that the email sent by Murthy has factual inaccuracies, and already disapproved rumours, and statement extracted out of context from his conversations with the board members.
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Black Friday for Infosys, Timeline of Sikka's exit
1) Narayana Murthy’s latest letter stated that many independent directors had complained that Sikka is CTO material, not CEO
2) Murthy is the second CEO who resigned after a short tenure of three years. 3 CEO’s have been changed in 10 years
3) Vishal Sikka resigns as CEO, appointed as executive Vice-chairman
4) Sikka addresses employees via email, says quitting due to continuous distractions
5) Markets start reacting to Sikka’s exit, stocks tank 4%
6) Narayana Murthy’s continuous assaults led to Sikka’s exit despite strong board support: statement by Infosys board of directors
7) The board said it will not offer Murthy a role in formal governance
8) Stocks of Infosys incurred further losses; 20,000 crores wiped out from the market in 40 minutes
9) Narayana Murthy hits back on board's allegations, says he is ‘anguished’ and would reply in the right manner and forum.
10) Infosys loses Rs 30,000 crores in markets at the end of the day, Murthy family alone loses 1,000 crores.
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Sensex, Nifty break 4 day gaining streak as Infosys takes a dive
Indian Indices broke a slow four day gaining streak on Friday, as Infosys tanked 13% on Vishal Sika’s exit. The company swiped out nearly 30,000 crores from the markets, with Narayan Murthy suffering a loss on their shares of 1,000 crores. The BSE Sensex dropped 0.85 percent to 31,524 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index lost 0.67 percent to 9,837. Despite this, the indices advanced by 1% over a week. The markets had lost 3.5% in the previous week’s losing streak. The Indices had declined in opening trade, owing to geopolitical tensions in Spain as the IS attacked and killed 13 civilians______________________________
Mass stabbing in Finland’s Turku, Several injured
At least six people suffered severe injuries after an incident of mass stabbing was reported from Finland’s Turku on Friday. The Finnish Police have shot and arrested a man in the market square in the south-west city of Turku. The police have now asked people to avoid the city Centre area as they suspect the presence of multiple attackers. Finnish police has also reinforced security at Helsinki airport and train stations after the stabbings.______________________________
IS claims Barcelona attack, Death toll rises to 14
Islamic State (IS) on Friday claimed responsibility for the van attack in Barcelona that killed 14 people and injured more than 100, media reports said. The Spanish police confirmed to have shot dead 'four suspected terrorists' in a counter operation and injured a fifth one, who later succumbed to his injuries early on Friday in Barcelona. "We're united in grief," said the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy in a televised address to the nation. United States President, Donald Trump condemned the "terror attack" saying US will do whatever is necessary to help"._______________________________
ADR report shows BJP as biggest beneficiary of corporate donations
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) Report on Thursday showed that a total of 956.77 crore has been donated by business houses to the national parties from 2012-2013 to 2015-2016 with the BJP emerging as the biggest beneficiary with over Rs 705 crore corporate donations from 2.987 donors. The Congress came second, receiving 198.16 crores from 167 corporate donors. The CPI and CPI(M) were reported as parties with the lowest share of donation at 7% and 4%. The report further showed maximum amount of donations were received during the Lok Sabha elections of 2014-2015. The following data has been sourced from fillings of political parties that were made to the Election Commission._______________________________
Allahabad HC seeks probe findings from UP Govt in Gorakhpur case
The Allahabad high court on Friday has asked the state government to present its findings from the inquiry into the death of 30 children in 48 hour in Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College Hospital owing to disruption of oxygen supply. The decision from the HC came after receiving several PILs seeking a judicial probe into the tragedy. The court has now fixed August 29 as the next date of hearing. The bench of Chief Justice, DB Bhosale and Justice, Yashwant Varma has rejected requests for a judicial inquiry for now._______________________________
RBI to introduce new Rs 50 notes, old notes to remain in tender
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said that it would issue a new set of Rs 50 notes although the old notes will continue to be in tender. The notes are in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 and will bear the signature of current RBI Governor Urjit Patel. The paled turquoise notes are quite different from the notes of the same denomination that are currently in circulation. Earlier this year, Economic Affairs Secretary, Shaktikanta Das said the government has now turned its attention on lower denomination notes._______________________________
600 Indians turn to Bangladesh for shelter amidst floods
Around 600 flood victims from West Bengal’s Coochbehar area have now taken shelter in Aditmari Upazila of Bangladesh's border district of Lalmonirhat. The chairman of Moghalhat Union, Habibur Rahman confirmed that around 600 people came to Moghalhat and Durgapur due to the flood. Though, the members of the Moghulhat BGB Company barred the entry of Indians who came in search of shelter. Only after repeated requests, the commander of Lalmonirhat-15 BGB Battalion allowed the entry._______________________________
Deepa Jayakumaran lashes out against Poes Garden being turned into a memorial
A day after Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palanisami declared that late CM Jayalalithaa's 'Poes Garden' residence will be turned into a memorial, Jaya's neice Deepa Jayakumaran, threatened to take legal action over the issue. Jayakumaran, along with her brother Deepak has claimed that they are the ‘legal heirs’ of the property, as there is no will to disregard the claim. “The government shall follow the procedures established under law before attempting to take over the private property without the consent of the heirs/ owners,” Deepak had said in a letter to the Chief Minister last month. The Palaniswami led TN government had on Thursday decided to set up a one-man Committee of Inquiry in relation to late CM Jayalalithaa’s death.______________________________
Fatwa against Tripura's Manik Sarkar; Cash reward to “chop off the CM’s head”
A ‘suo moto’ case has been registered by the Tripura police against a Facebook account that posted a Fatwa against the Tripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar. The account, in the name of Ria Roy, who also presents herself as an Anti- Communist Council member, accused the CM of a lot a crime to his credit and presented a reward of 5.5 lakhs to anyone who would “chop off the CM’s head.” The FIR was launched by Subrata Chakrabarty, who received the post on August 17. “We would seek the help of cyber-crime experts to track the person,” the district police officer of West Tripura, Abhijeet Satparshi said._______________________________
Virat Kohli retains top spot in ICC's best ODI batsman list
The International Cricket Council on Friday released their latest ODI rankings and the Indian captain Virat Kohli retained his top spot yet again. What made it even more special was the fact that the new list was revealed on the day when Virat made his international one day debut. With 873 points Kohli has a narrow 12 point lead over Australia’s David Warner and has a chance to add to his points tally at the upcoming five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting in Dambulla on Sunday. Other Indian batsmen in the top-15 are former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (12th), Shikhar Dhawan (13th) and vice-captain Rohit Sharma (14th). However, no Indian bowler figured in the top-10 list._______________________________
