Coca-Cola to buy UK’s coffee chain for 3.9 billion pounds (Business)
Britain’s Whitbread Plc on Friday said that it had agreed to sell coffee chain Costa to Coca-Cola Company for£3.9 billion ($5.1 billion). Whitbread will look for shareholder approval for the transaction and this is expected by mid-October. Costa, now the UK’s biggest coffee chain was bought by Whitbread in 1995 for £19 million when it had only 39 outlets.
Vodafone-Idea merger complete, replaces Airtel to become India’s largest telco (Business)
Aditya Birla Group announced on Friday that Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have completed the merger and the combined entity replaces Airtel as India’s largest telecom company, a day after clearing the last hurdle with regards to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The combined entity boasts of 408 million active subscribers with a 32.2% revenue market share and will continue to operate as independent brands post the merger.
PM Narendra Modi meets Myanmar President Win Myint (World)
PM Modi met Myanmar President Win Myint today for discussing ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Both the leaders met at Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on the sidelines of the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit. PM Modi yesterday held talks with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.
Trump threatens to withdraw from World Trade Organisation (World)
US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US out of the WTO, complaining that US is treated unfairly in global trade and has blamed WTO. Trump said in an interview that, “If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO.” Nevertheless Trump has accepted that he has won some recent judgments, he asserted that WTO often rules against the US.
PM Modi’s gift to BIMSTEC leaders: stoles from North-Eastern states (World)
BIMSTEC is an international organization which consists of seven nations of South Asia and South East Asia, namely Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal. PM Modi, is in Nepal for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meet, gifted stoles depicting traditional motifs from Northeastern states and West Bengal to leaders of six nations.
Criminal proceedings against Malyalam actor Priya Prakash Varrier quashed by the SC (India)
The SC on Friday has cancelled the criminal case against Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier for her wink song from the movie Oru Adaar Love. Chief Justice Dipak Misra told the petitioner that “somebody sings a song and you have no other job but to file a case”. The FIR had alleged that the song was ‘sacrilegious’ and hurt religious sentiments of the Muslim community.
Russia to stop ferrying US astronauts to the International Space Station (World)
Russia’s contract with NASA to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station will expire in April 2019, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov. Yuri Borisov is in charge for managing military and space issues in the country, as he took over from Dmitry Rogozin, who has been made head of the Russian space agency named the Roscosmos.
West Bengal govt. provides food security to 90% people: Mamta Banerjee (India)
The West Bengal government was providing food security to 90% people in the state under ‘Khadya Sathi’ scheme, said West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee. Under this scheme the food grains are given at Rs.2 per kg or half the market price to the beneficiaries. Rice and wheat is provided through PDS to tea garden workers and to the Toto tribe in north Bengal, she added.
