From Najeeb Jung's resignation to GST Council meet: 5 key developments

In other news, Congress accuses Modi, Fadnavis of politicising Shivaji memorial event

Business Standard brings to you a list of five key developments across the country.

Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung quits

In a sudden move, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung resigned on Thursday, ending a nearly three-and-half- year-long eventful tenure, mostly marked by bitter confrontation with the Aam Aadmi Party government on a range of issues that virtually brought governance to a halt on many occasions. Without citing reasons for the decision, 65-year-old Jung, who had taken charge in July 2013, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his help and cooperation and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his “association”. In a brief statement, Jung’s office said he has submitted his resignation to the Government of India and that he would be returning back to academics, “his first love”.

NCLT orders Mistry to prove allegations against Tata Sons

It was not a routine hearing by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday as it was the first court room encounter of India’s largest conglomerate, Tata group, with ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry. Unlike the usual court rooms, NCLT is more an office with a large conference room at the Fountain Telecom Building, Mumbai. The tribunal room, known for its sophisticated hearings, sounded quite noisy on Thursday. It was jam-packed with lawyers, media personnel and shareholders.

Politics over Shivaji Memorial event

The Congress on Thursday accused the BJP-led Maharashtra government of trying to derive a political mileage from scheduled foundation stone laying ceremony of Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial, which will be performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Government is spending Rs 18 crore for publicity of the event. The money is being used for marketing Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image.

Developers deal in banned notes
 

Even 40 days after the ban on high-value currency notes, many real estate developers, including the bigger ones, are still dealing in banned notes with their buyers and investors in many ways, it is learnt. “Many developers are doing it (taking old notes),” said Ajay Jain, head, executive director, investment banking and head, real estate group at Centrum Capital.  Cash component in real estate transactions has been an age-old practice.

GST Council meet

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, comprising the Union finance minister and state representatives, mainly their finance ministers, cleared most of the draft model GST Bill on Thursday. This leaves mainly the contentious issue of administrative turf between the Centre and states for Friday. Some state finance ministers did not rule out the Centre resorting to voting for resolving the issue of control over assessees under the proposed regime.