Top biz headlines: Mistry back as Tata chairman, GST Council meet, & more

In a first, the GST Council on Wednesday resorted to voting to decide an issue

NCLAT restores Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons

More than three years after the dramatic boardroom sacking of Cyrus Mistry, an appeals court — National Company Law Appellate Tribunal — on Wednesday reinstated him as the executive chairman of the Tata group. The 172-page order, while upholding Mistry’s charges that he was ousted without due process, said the action taken by Ratan Tata and others against the former Tata Sons chairman was oppressive and illegal. Read more

Donald Trump impeached by US House of Representatives for abuse of power

The US House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for abuse of power Wednesday, marking only the third time in US history that lawmakers invoked the ultimate constitutional sanction of a president.

In a first, GST Council votes to tax lotteries at uniform rate of 28%

In a first, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Wednesday resorted to voting to decide an issue. The controversial issue of the GST rate for lotteries was decided on the basis of voting, with the Council fixing a uniform tax rate of 28 per cent on both state and private lotteries with effect from March 1, 2020. Read more

Visa case: Infosys settles lawsuit in US with payout of $800,000

Infosys has settled a case relating to allegations of non-payment of payroll taxes for some employees by agreeing to pay $800,000 (Rs 5.6 crore) to the American state of California. Read more

Trai's IUC extension might benefit Jio; limited gains for Voda Idea, Airtel

With incoming off-net calls of Reliance Jio hitting over 50 per cent of its total calls with incumbent operators in November end, the decision of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to extend the Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) regime for one more year might benefit the new player by letting Jio earn additional revenues, without providing any additional financial benefit to the incumbent operators. Read more

Airtel will continue to invest Rs 20,000-cr despite slowdown: Sunil Mittal

Despite the slowdown, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said the company was continuing with its annual target of investing around Rs 20,000 crore in the business.

“We typically invest Rs 20,000 crore in telecom every year, and we will continue to do so,” Mittal said after his two-hour-long meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Read more

GST revenue growth promised to states may be trimmed to 10-12% from FY21

The annual growth in goods and services tax  revenue promised to states under the GST law could be slashed to either 12 per cent or 10 per cent from the current promise of 14 per cent from next year, Business Standard has learnt. Read more https://mybs.in/2XBTn8V

As UPI gears up for global markets, Indian fintechs smell opportunity

While UPI is all set to test international markets, Indian fintechs working in and around UPI are looking at it as a great growth opportunity.

Few of the fintechs have already started getting queries from international banks, financial institutions and governments. Read more

Shapoorji Pallonji-Allianz JV buys Hyderabad IT park

Hyderabad’s prominent Information Technology-Special Economic Zone WaveRock has been bought by the Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate Fund for Rs 1,800 crore, Times of India reports, citing sources.

Snapdeal Founders summoned in ‘fake’ HUL products case

The Delhi High Court has ordered Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal to personally appear before it on January 9, according to the Economic Times. The order is in a contempt case where two sellers had allegedly listed counterfeit Hindustan Unilever products on the platform by flouting a court order.