Major News and Events of 12 October 2015

Infosys chief financial officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal has resigned, the global software major said. "Bansal has informed the company of his intention to resign. He will be replaced by M.D. Ranganath at the close of business," the IT firm said in a statement after announcing financial results for the July-September second quarter of fiscal 2015-16. Bansal, who has also been the executive vice-president, however, will continue as an advisor to the company's chief executive Vishal Sikka and the board of directors till December 31 for a smooth transition. Source: IANS

Vodafone India announced it will launch its 4G services in Mumbai by December. "We are the leading service provider in Mumba,i and our customers have a lot to look forward to. We are excited to launch our new 4G services in the superior 1800 MHz band in Mumbai," Ishmeet Singh, business head-Mumbai, Vodafone India, said in a statement. "Having launched 4G services in several countries, Vodafone has the requisite expertise and experience to ensure that its 4G service in Mumbai will be best in class," he added. The company said it has already rolled out over 1,000 sites in the past six months and invested over Rs.500 crore in Mumbai. Source: IANS

Private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd is in the process of studying integrating the technology platforms of ING Vysya Bank and the study is expected to be over in couple of quarters, said a senior official. Recently ING Vysya Bank got merged with Kotak Mahindra Bank thereby making the latter the fourth largest private bank in the country with over 1,200 branches and over 1,900 automatic teller machines (ATM). Source: IANS

Hours before the launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book, main organiser and former journalist Sudheendra Kulkarni was attacked and his face blackened by Shiv Sena activists here on Monday. The incident was widely condemned but the party said it would continue its protests against the visiting Pakistani leader. The incident happened when Kulkarni was leaving his home in Sion in south-central Mumbai, when a group of around a dozen Sena activists accosted him. Source: IANS

Football king Pele has rated Argentina’s talismanic forward Lionel Messi as the best footballer of the last ten years and declared he has no intention of heading FIFA. However, the Brazilian legend refused to compare Messi with the former greats saying it was difficult to draw comparison between "past players and those playing at the moment". "But, of course, in the last ten years, Messi was the best player," Pele said at a media conference. Source: IANS

Incidents like the lynching in Dadri, near the national capital last month, will actually damage the BJP and the NDA, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said, even as he gave a clean chit to the RSS vis-a-vis rising incidents of communal violence. Parrikar who was speaking during a public interaction event also said that some of the incidents were being "blown out of proportion" by vested political interests. "I think these incidents would actually damage the BJP or the NDA. It also damages the cause or the vision that the prime minister has and therefore they cannot be in the interest of the BJP or the NDA or the country," Parrikar said in response to a question about the Dadri episode at the event. Source: IANS

An IED explosion occurred on a road in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian town, but it failed to cause any damage to any property or life, a police officer said. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed was scheduled to inaugurate a mini-administrative complex in Shopian on Monday. But it was cancelled due to a separatist shutdown in the Kashmir Valley against the Udhampur truck attack in which two residents of Anantnag district were injured. Source: IANS

AAP leader Kumar Vishwas on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up on the lynching of a man following rumours that he ate beef. "When the prime minister can speak on any incident abroad, why is he mum on (Mohammad) Akhlaq's killing?" Kumar Vishwas asked at a media interaction. The Aam Aadmi Party leader's reference was to the September 28 killing of Akhlaq by a mob at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. Source: IANS

Global software major Infosys Ltd has reported net profit of Rs.3,398 crore for second quarter (July-September) of this fiscal (2015-16), registering 9.8 percent growth year-on-year (YoY) and 12 percent sequentially. In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the IT major said consolidated revenue for quarter (Q2) review grew 17.2 percent YoY and 8.9 percent sequentially to Rs.15,635 crore under the Indian accounting standard. Source: IANS

The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections began in 49 constituencies, including Maoist-affected areas, spread across ten districts, officials said. A total of 583 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of elections.Poverty-stricken Jamui, Banka and Bhagalpur are among the 10 districts. The Election Commission has reduced polling hours in Maoist-hit areas to 3 p.m.Source: IANS