From UP election 2017 to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana: 5 key developments

In other news, Sasikala gets the crown, may be a thorn for Tamil Nadu CM

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

Samajwadi Party rift widens
 

In an open rebellion that could split the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday night "declared" his own candidates for 235 seats, aside from the official list announced by his father and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for the coming Assembly polls.

Shock and awe
 

In the second instalment of our 2016 retrospective, Business Standard recaps a year that stood out for serial tremors in local and global politics — from ‘surgical strikes’ and Jayalalithaa’s death to Donald Trump’s shock victory in the US polls and Brexit.

Sasikala gets the crown

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday elected V K Sasikala (known as Chinnaamma), close aide of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, as general secretary.  At the party’s general council meeting on Thursday, the resolution for appointing Sasikala as Jayalalithaa’s successor was approved by the 2,490 members. 

ONGC cleared GSPC deal 
 

ONGC did not have enough independent directors on its board while approving the purchase of an 80 per cent interest in the Krishna Godavari basin oil block owned by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) last week.  Corporate governance experts have questioned the validity of a deal cleared by such an incomplete board, while the company argued that it was a "normal business decision" and did not result in any undue advantage for the majority shareholder. 

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Making it one of the most successful social-sector projects of the Narendra Modi-led government, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has achieved its target to give cooking gas connections to 15 million families in 2016-17.