NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK
BINNY BANSAL’S EXIT FROM FLIPKART HAS SHOCKED INDIAN BUSINESSES AS HE WAS REGARDED A SUPERSTAR ENTREPRENEUR. THIS IS A LESSON FOR STARTUPS THAT GOVERNANCE ISSUES CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED. MANAGEMENTS NEED TO BE SENSITIVE, ALERT AND PREPARED.
BINNY BANSAL
The head of Walmart Inc’s Indian venture Flipkart Group, Binny Bansal, has resigned following a probe into “serious personal misconduct”, a shock to the US retailer’s efforts to compete with Amazon in India’s huge consumer market. Mr Bansal, 37 and one of the most high profile of India’s new generation of young, tech- savvy billionaires, said that he and the woman complainant had a “consensual affair’’.
MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA
In a major setback to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, the Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned his controversial decision to dissolve Parliament and ordered a halt to preparations for snap elections on January 5. A 3member bench, including country’s chief justice Nalin Perera, delivered its ruling after two days of deliberations on as many as 13 petitions against and five for Sirisena’s November 9 decision to dissolve Parliament, nearly two years before the term was to end.
DONALD TRUMP
A federal judge on Friday ordered the White House to reinstate the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta, whose pass was revoked after a heated exchange with President Donald Trump, the network said. CNN’s Jim Acosta has returned to his post at the White House following the court ruling. The White House had revoked Acosta’s credentials after he and Trump tangled during a press conference last week. Trump had made his dislike of CNN clear since before he took office.
AKIHIKO KONDO
Akihiko Kondo’s mother refused an invitation to her only son’s wedding in Tokyo this month. The soft- spoken 35- yearold married a virtual reality singer named Hatsune Miku — an animated 16- year- old with saucer eyes and lengthy aquamarine pigtails. He spent $ 17,600 on a formal ceremony. He sleeps alongside the doll version, complete with a wedding ring that fits around her left wrist. Kondo’s marriage might not have any legal standing, but that doesn’t bother him.
ANANTH KUMAR
Union parliamentary affairs minister and senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. The 59- year- old six time MP of Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency, was known for his organisational skills and strategy to build the party especially in Bengaluru. He never lost the elections since 1996. When NDA was out of power, Mr Kumar was party national general secretary and in charge of MP and Bihar.