Tata completes purge of ex-chairman Mistry

Indian salt-to-steel giant Tata completed its purge of former chairman Cyrus Mistry on Monday (6) by removing him from the board of the conglomerate’s holding company.

Mistry was axed as chairman of the holding company Tata Sons in October and then forced out of its operating companies as group patriarch Ratan Tata set about eradicating his influence in the 150-year-old conglomerate.

Mistry’s dismissal from the Tata Sons board at a special meeting in Mumbai on Monday saw him stripped of his last official position in the group, which has annual revenue of $103 billion.

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Founder of Tilda Rice empire passes away

One of Britain’s leading Asian businessmen, Rashmibhai Narshidas Thakrar, whose family founded the Tilda Rice empire, passed away last Friday (3). He was 70.

Along with his brothers Vipul and Shilen, Rashmibhai turned Tilda into a global food brand before it was sold in 2014 to the US food group Hain Celestial in a deal said to be worth £217 million.

Originally from Gujarat, the Thakrar family settled in east Africa before they moved to Britain in the 1970s.

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Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees won’t release in Pakistan

Pakistan’s censor board has not cleared Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan-Mahira Khan starrer Raees for release in the country after finding the film’s content and theme objectionable.

“The portrayal of Muslims is negative and the film’s content undermines Islam, and a specific religious sect, (while also) portraying Muslims as criminals, wanted persons and terrorists,” an official source in the censor board said.

The distributors of Raees, Hum Films had last week submitted the film to the censor board for clearance to release in the Pakistani cinema halls after the government allowed screening of latest Bollywood movies last week.

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ICC begins ‘Big Three’ rollback despite India objection

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has agreed “in principle” to reverse the 2014 decision which effectively put India, England and Australia in control of the game’s finances and administration.

Unsurprisingly, the influential the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) voted against the new proposal after failing to defer the vote in a three-day ICC board meeting that concluded in Dubai on Saturday.

Vikram Limaye, representing BCCI at the meeting, sought to defer the vote on the proposal until the next meeting in April, saying his body had had insufficient time to evaluate it.

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PROUD OF YOU: FREIDA PINTO TO EX DEV PATEL ON OSCAR NOD

Actor Dev Patel's former girlfriend, actress Freida Pinto has congratulated him on earning an Academy Award nomination this year. The 32-year-old actress took to social media to give a shout-out to Dev, who has been nominated in the best actor in a supporting role category for "Lion" in 2017 Oscars.  Sharing a black-and-white picture of Dev, Freida wrote on Instagram, "So proud of you, Dev! 

A fine example of what hardwork, focus, humility and crazy amazing talent rewards one with. Long time coming, so well deserved! Former flames, Dev and Freida met on the sets of the  Oscar-winning film, "Slumdog Millionaire" and started dating after that.The couple split amicably after a six-year-long relationship in December 2014 @lionmov @theacademy #Oscars2017 OscarNominations2017 #bestactorinasupportingrole."

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TRUMP PLANS MAJOR IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN: REPORT

US President Donald Trump is set to sign several executive orders, including one on building a border wall with Mexico, this week to crack down on immigrants - one of his central campaign promises - and could suspend immigration from some Muslim nations, media reports have said. Trump is expected to order the construction of the border  wall with Mexico, the first in a series of actions to bolster national security, The New York Times reported.

The border wall was a signature promise of Trump's campaign to control the illegal flow of immigrants.  His actions would also include slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the US and blocking Syrians and others from "terror prone" nations from entering, at least  temporarily.He could move to suspend some immigration from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, either temporarily or "indefinitely," sources familiar with the plans that have been under consideration were quoted as saying by the ABC news.

   

"Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!," Trump tweeted. He also plans to review whether to resume the once-secret "black site" detention programme; keep open the prison at Guantanamo Bay; and designate the Muslim Brotherhood a  terrorist organisation. Trump is expected to target legal immigrants as early as this week, White House officials said, by halting a decades- old programme that grants refuge to the world's most vulnerable people.

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INDIA, US HOLD TALKS TO PROTECT OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS

India and the US have held extensive talks here to protect ocean ecosystems and promote sustainable development through the 'blue economy', one of the largest bilateral diplomatic engagements in the world specifically focused on oceans.

The two sides held wide-ranging discussions yesterday on areas of cooperation in sustainable marine resource management, including the blue economy, fisheries security, and joint exploration of exclusive economic zones.

The first-ever US-India Ocean Dialogue Preparatory Meeting is part of a decision made during the first US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in 2015 to protect ocean ecosystems and promote sustainable development through the 'blue economy', a release said.

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