PM Modi's Africa tour: Key agendas on the table

PM Modi's Africa tour: Key agendas on the table

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in South Africa on Friday as part of his five-day, four-nation Africa tour aimed at enhancing ties with those countries, particularly in the economic sphere.

The prime minister has already concluded the first leg of his tour in Mozambique. After South Africa, he will go to Tanzania and Kenya.

During his South Africa visit, Modi will meet President Jacob Zuma and also Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy President.

"My Africa tour, aimed at enhancing ties between India & Africa will begin from Mozambique in a brief but key visit,"Modi tweeted ahead of his departure.

"My programmes in South Africa will span across Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban & Pietermaritzburg," he added.

Here are the priorities of the PM's tour:

6 reasons why PM Modi moved Ravi Shankar Prasad out of telecom

6 reasons why PM Modi moved Ravi Shankar Prasad out of telecom

With the reshuffle over, day two was about why a certain minister was moved out and another brought in. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who’s lost the high-profile telecom portfolio to Manoj Sinha, was one such.

Sources in the government and the sector point to six big reasons that could have prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to move Prasad out, while retaining him for information technology & electronics, additionally giving him heavyweight law & justice.

Caution against any controversy topped the list of reasons. Telecom had under the earlier government's rule been in the headlines for scams, court cases and loss to the exchequer due to mis-steps by policy makers. This government wants to stay clear of any allegations or even a hint of corruption. It could have decided against keeping any one minister with a portfolio such as telecom for long.

The second that people in the know cite is some recent policies, such as penalising operators for call drops, which went against the incumbents. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) came up with a call drop penalty regulation which sought to levy a penalty of Rs 1 a dropped call, not exceeding three calls a day, and Prasad backed it. Subsequently, the Supreme Court snubbed the regulator on the matter, leaving Prasad on a weak footing. Read more.

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Coca-Cola India gets 'results-oriented' CA as its first woman CFO

Coca-Cola India gets 'results-oriented' CA as its first woman CFO

Sarvita Sethi, a chartered accountant with more than 15 years of experience in corporate finance, is set to become the first woman chief financial officer of the country’s largest beverage maker — Coca-Cola India. Sethi, in her forties, is currently based out of Athens, Greece and is expected to take over from Sanjeev Kumar any time soon. Kumar is currently heading the financial operations for India and South West Asia for the beverages maker.