SandeshBox for the week

India

• Explosions in Kerala

  1. Multiple explosions rocked a Jehovah’s Witnesses’ prayer meeting in Kalamassery, Kerala resulting in 3 deaths & injuring 51 attendees.

  2. Former member of the sect Dominic Martin, now in police custody, confessed to orchestrating the attack.

  3. Martin, who left the sect six years ago, claimed the organization propagated divisive ideas, including a negative view of the country's inhabitants.

• Kejriwal summoned by ED, demands ED to withdraw it

  1. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was summoned by the ED in connection with its ongoing money-laundering probe in the Delhi excise policy case.

  2. This is after bail application of Manish Sisodia, the deputy CM, was denied by the Supreme Court who is currently behind bars in connection with the same case.

  3. What is this case all about? The excise policy saw the closure of government-owned liquor stores and the grant of licences to run these stores to private parties. However the policy was rolled back within 6 months amid allegations of corruption and favouritism in granting liquor licences.

  4. On October 4, AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was also arrested in connection with the excise policy case after searching properties belonging to him.

  5. Arvind Kejriwal has decided`to skip the summon and headed out to campaign in MP instead. Kejriwal wrote to the agency demanding withdrawal of the summons—claiming it was “illegal and politically motivated.”

• Apple Alerts Opposition Leaders of Potential Spying

  1. Over a dozen opposition leaders inclduing Shash Tharoor, Mahua Mitra, Congress Presient Mallikarjun Kharge recieved recieved a notification from Apple about “state-sponsored attackers may be targetting your iPhones”.

  2. The notification says the attackers are likely targeting these individuals because of who they are or what they do.

  3. The opposition has alleged snooping from the gocernment however the govt says this notification is vague. 

• Train Collision shakes Andhra Pradesh

  1. The accident occurred when the Rayagada train rear-ended the Palasa passenger train, leading to the derailment of three coaches and extensive damage to two.

  2. Neither of the two trains had the railway’s safety system “Kavach” in place with speculation that Rayagada train overshot the “red signal” & struck the other train from behind.

  3. 13 people have died including the driver and assistant of the Raygada train with 50 more injured, some of which are still in critical condition.

• Blinkit delivery agent assaults customer, arrested

  1. In a harrowing incident, a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in her brother in law's flat in a housing society in Greater Noida, where she was housesitting. The assailant, Sumit, a blinkit delivery agent arrived at 5:09am to deliver groceries, but forcibly entered and groped the woman.

  2. The brave victim managed to escape his grasp and seek help. Despite a search, Sumit eluded capture.

  3. He was initially arrested from Khairpur chowk while trying to flee, however, he fled from police custody while a team was bringing him to Bisrakh police station, where he snatched the service revolver of sub-inspector Bharat Singh and jumped off the police vehicle.

  4. Police searched the area for about an hour and found Sumit hiding behind the bushes. “He fired at the cops from the gun he had snatched. When the police team retaliated, a bullet hit him in the right leg and he was arrested again.

Business

• Tata Motors wins against West Bengal

  1. Tata Motors won an arbitral award of ₹765.78 crore plus interest from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited (WBIDC).

  2. The Singur plant was originally designated for the manufacturing of Tata Nano cars with construction starting from January 2007.  However, the plant had to be scrapped in October 2008 due to the protests by the farmers & opposition parties which includes Mamata Banerjee’s TMC party.

  3. The 15 year long case pertained to a compensation claim by Tata Motors from WBIDC under various heads, on account of the loss of capital investments.

• Fincare SFB to merge into AU Small Finance Bank

  1. Fincare Small Finance Bank is set to merge into AU Small Finance Bank (SFB), which is the largest SFB in India, effective from February 1, 2024

  2. Following the merger, shareholders of Fincare SFB will have a 9.9% stake in AU SFB. The acquisition will pave the way for Jaipur-headquartered AU's entry into the southern market and the microfinance business.

  3. This follows a similar trend of consolidation in the industry with Slice also announcing it’s merger with NESFB last month.

• SAT lifts SEBI Ban on Zee's Punit Goenka for Management Roles

  1. The Securities Appellate Tribunal set aside the SEBI’s order barring him from holding key management positions in a listed company over allegations of fund diversion. 

  2. SAT barring SEBI’s order is also crucial for Zee’s merger with Sony Pictures Network India (now Culver Max Entertainment) as Goenka was supposed to helm the merged entity.

  3. Challenge still persist with IDBI Bank, one of Zee’s lenders, challenging the NCLT’s approval before an appellate authority in light of a “non-compete clause” in the deal that they believe defrauds them.

• Blackstone enters Indian Hospital market

  1. Global private equity(PE) firm Blackstone enters Indian healthcare market by acquiring a majority stake in CARE Hospital chain, based in Hyderabad.

  2. CARE Hospitals, in turn, finalizes an agreement to purchase KIMShealth from True North, an Indian PE.

  3. Combined, the deal creates one of India’s largest hospital chains, comprising 23 hospitals, 4,000 beds, and serving over 30 clinical specialties, valued at over $1 billion.

• FTX founder found guilty

  1. Now-defunct FTX founder, Sam Bankman Fried, was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after a month-long trial. FYI, FTX filed for bankruptcy and had misappropriated customer funds of upto $10 Billion.

  2. Bankman-Fried found guilty of embezzling $10 billion for lavish political donations, investments, and personal expenses.

  3. Former associates, including ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, testified against him in exchange for reduced sentences; Bankman-Fried plans to appeal.

Sports, Culture & Everything else

• Interesting tidbits

  1. Kotak Mahindra's tie-up with Sheeran's Mumbai show led to a surge in credit card applications, from 6,000 to 30,000 daily. Pre-sale tickets of Rs 7,500 each, were available for Kotak Bank white credit card holders for Rs 5,500.

  2. Matthew Perry (54),star of the global superhit sitcom Friends, was found dead in a hot tub. Perry, who has battled addiction for long, is suspected to have drowned. Fun fact: He once admitted to beating Canadian PM Trudeau in school.

  3. SGBS Unnati Foundation is set to be the first NGO in the country to list on a social stock exchange (SSE). SSE would help social enterprises raise funds from the public.

  4. Taylor swift is officially an billionaire with a estimated net worth of $1.1 Billion. She is the first musician to become a billionaire solely based on her music career.

  5. Liverpool striker Luis Diaz’s parents have been abducted in Columbia. Although his mother has been rescued, his father remains missing.

  6. A leopard was spotted in Bangalore—prowling the streets in Electronic City. It still hasn’t been tracked down yet. FYI, even the leopard was being chased by street dogs.

  7. Indians can visit Thailand visa-free from November 10 to May 10 of next year.

  8. Users can now register .ing domains. In the works, .meme domains!

  9. An Indian cheese called Eleftheria Brunost which came in at #4 in the world cheese awards and it costs just Rs. 400.

Global

• Israel-Hamas war update

  The war has entered into a new phase with Israel entering the Gaza strip and starting an all-out offensive. Here our the top events to get a overview of the situation.

  1. Israel’s economy is expected to shrink 11% as per JPMorgan Chase & Co. said, as the country’s war with Hamas escalates.

  2. Faced with sharp criticism from allies and opposition alike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday apologized for an earlier statement in which he blamed the security services for failing to prevent the deadly Hamas attack on October 7.

  3. Israeli tanks have waded into main Gaza City as they ventured deeper into Palestinian territory—while airstrikes are hitting closer to hospitals— where thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge

  4. A leaked memo from the Israel defense shows Israel’s plans to shift all Gazans in the Sinai desert controlled by Egypt.

  5. On November 1, an Israeli airstrike hit the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killing at least 50 people. The Israeli military said the strike killed a senior Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, one of the architects of the October 7 attack.

  6. When asked about the excessive civilian deaths in the airstrike, the Israel military said this was just ‘the cost of war’.

  7. Several countries condemened the attack with bolivia officially ending diplomatic ties with Israel.

  8. The war is expected to continue for a long period as the ground invasion clears Hamas leaders one by one.

• North-Korea running out of money

  1. North Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including ones in Spain, Hong Kong, and various countries in Africa in an effort to "rearrange its diplomatic capacity efficiently"

  2. South Korea's unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said this week North Korea's closure of some diplomatic missions was a sign it is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions.