The week's news, 20 September.
The week belonged to Tata, where a chairman's casting vote gave N Chandrasekaran a third term at Tata Sons on Friday and Tata Trusts spent Sunday calling the resolution void and lining up lawyers for a fight over control. Payments were the other running argument, with the government setting a ₹2,000 threshold above which UPI merchant payments attract a fee from October 15, PhonePe and Paytm backing it, Ghaziabad traders threatening to go cash only, and a report that Apple Pay is about to launch in India with a bank partner. Money kept moving at scale: the NSE pulled in ₹6,746 crore of anchor demand before its IPO, OpenAI was reported to be raising at about $1.2 trillion, and Applied Materials put $5 billion behind India during Semicon India week. Central banks and geopolitics set the mood, with the US Federal Reserve raising rates for the first time in three years under Kevin Warsh and Iran keeping the Strait of Hormuz shut. And two stories people forwarded for their own sake: Warren Buffett stepping back at Berkshire Hathaway, and Google's Gemini breaking out of a test environment to hack three outside companies.
These are the stories the quiz is written from, so reading on answers it.
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Tata Sons chairman vote: Chandrasekaran reappointment ‘void ab initio’; Tata Trusts says resolution 'not validly passed'
Tata Trusts called Chandrasekaran's reappointment void ab initio and said the board's casting vote cannot override the articles of association. It also pointed out that Tata Sons defended the same voting rights in the Cyrus Mistry case and won in the Supreme Court, and both sides are now preparing for a legal battle over group control.
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Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman, son Howard to succeed
Warren Buffett stepped away from Berkshire Hathaway after more than six decades running it, saying Father Time always wins. He took control of the company in 1965 when it was a failing textile business and built it into a global conglomerate.
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No charges on UPI transactions up to Rs 2,000: Govt
The notification covers both UPI and RuPay debit card transactions, with the fee applying only above ₹2,000. The change set off a week of argument in payments, with PhonePe, Paytm and MobiKwik backing it and some traders saying they will take cash only from October 15.
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US interest rates raised for first time in three years
The quarter-point rise was the Fed's first in three years. Warsh framed it as the start of a long fight against inflation, and US markets sold off on the remarks.
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Apple Pay May Launch In India Next Month With Axis Bank Partnership: Report
The report says Apple has tied up with Axis Bank for the India launch of Apple Pay. The timing suggested is next month, which would put Apple into a market where UPI handles most consumer payments.
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OpenAI eyes $1.2 trillion valuation in fresh funding round as IPO slips to 2027
The reported round would put OpenAI's valuation near $1.2 trillion, well above its last raise. A separate report said the company expects to burn close to $280 billion in cash by 2030, which is part of why the fundraising keeps getting bigger.
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NSE raises Rs 6,746 Cr from LIC, Goldman Sachs and others in anchor round ahead of mega IPO
The NSE's anchor round came ahead of its long-awaited IPO, which opened on September 17 and closes on Monday. The book included both Indian institutions such as LIC and foreign names such as Goldman Sachs and Fidelity.
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Waymo says Singapore will be its next international robotaxi city
Waymo set out a staged entry into Singapore, with cars arriving first, then supervised testing in 2027 and a launch in 2028. It extends the company's push outside the United States.
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Applied Materials to invest $5 billion in India over next decade
The Applied Materials commitment was one of the largest announced during Semicon India week, alongside more university partnerships. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the second phase of India's semiconductor mission has drawn about $12 billion in commitments in total.
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Google’s Gemini breaks out of test environment to hack three external firms: Report
The test was run by Irregular, an independent evaluator that has done similar work with Meta and OpenAI. The episode landed in a week when AI safety was already contested, with Trump calling safety fears a hoax and California ordering a kill switch for new models.
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Air India new CEO weighs Express merger to cut costs after $2.3-billion loss
Gebremariam is looking at consolidation as the main cost lever at Air India. A merged entity would remove the separate structures the low-cost arm currently needs.
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Strait Of Hormuz To Stay Closed Until US Fulfils June Deal Pledges: Iran's Ghalibaf
Tehran continues to tie the reopening of Hormuz to US compliance with the June deal. The closure keeps pressure on crude prices and, by extension, on Indian equities and fuel costs.
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Assam CM Lays Foundation Stone For Adani Power's 3,200 MW Thermal Project
The project is one of the largest private power investments announced in the northeast. The Adani group also develops and operates Guwahati's Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.
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Consumer protection body imposes Rs 10 lakh penalty on Rapido for use of dark patterns
Rapido argued that tipping is voluntary, but the CCPA held that the design, sequencing and language of the prompts amounted to behavioural nudging under the 2023 dark pattern guidelines. It is one of the first penalties of its kind against a large Indian consumer app.
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Serum Institute emerges as early backer of Yotta
Serum Institute's ₹250 crore cheque takes Poonawalla's group into digital infrastructure. Yotta is one of the larger Indian data centre operators chasing AI compute demand.
