Tatas enter airport business, Ola may launch self-drive service, and more top news

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The Tata Group has forayed into the airport business by acquiring a 20% stake in GMR Infrastructure’s airport vertical. The salt-to-software conglomerate will team up with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and SSG Capital Management to invest ₹8,000 crore in GMR Airports, which operates the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, among others. GIC, SSG and parent GMR Infrastructure will own 15%, 10% and 54%, respectively, in the company following the deal. Last month, Adani Group stormed its way into the airport business by winning bids to operate six non-metro airports. Here's what people are saying.

Ola may invest over $500 million to launch a self-drive service, Economic Times reports, citing sources. The investment, likely to come from a mix of debt and equity, will be used deploy nearly 10,000 vehicles in major cities. An Ola spokesperson confirmed that the company will pilot the service across rentals, subscription and corporate leasing formats. The move would make the homegrown cab-hailing firm the definitive leader in a highly fragmented market, which has few large players such as Zoomcar and Drivezy. Earlier this month, Ola raised $300 million from Hyundai for developing India-specific mobility solutions. Here's what people are saying.

India has joined the ranks of Russia, China and the US in piloting anti-satellite technology. A missile test conducted on Wednesday brought down a low-orbit satellite in three minutes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, adding that India was against the use of weapons in space. Though the Centre isn’t concerned about falling space debris, experts say remnants could hinder communication satellites. The country has been expanding its space footprint: $1.43 billion was set aside last year for its first manned mission by 2022. Here's what people are saying.

Mumbai-Delhi has retained its position as the world’s third-busiest domestic air route. A report by UK-based consultancy OAG shows six airlines operated 45,188 flights on the sector in 2018, averaging almost 124 every day. That’s, however, down nearly 5% from 2017 as demand for air travel slowed and airlines cancelled flights due to financial constraints and pilot shortage. Bengaluru-Delhi was the 19th busiest domestic route worldwide, with 28,716 flights by seven airlines. Globally, Jeju-Seoul Gimpo (South Korea) was the busiest domestic sector, followed by Melbourne-Sydney.

Banks have recovered ₹1,008 crore from Vijay Mallya by selling 74 lakh of his shares in United Breweries, the Enforcement Directorate announced. Mallya had pledged the shares with Yes Bank for a loan to the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines. The ED discovered that the loan had been repaid with only a small portion outstanding, and took control of the shares which were “now more or less free from encumbrances and only nominally under the pledge of Yes Bank.” Mallya, who has slammed banks for “double standards” in saving Jet while refusing to bail out Kingfisher Airlines, lashed out again on Twitter in response. 

Cricketer MS Dhoni has approached the Supreme Court against Amrapali Group over non-payment of ₹39 crore, Times of India reports. Dhoni – who became Amrapali’s brand ambassador in 2009 but ended the contract in 2016 – requested the court to set aside certain land parcels of the group to protect his interests. Last year, Dhoni had sued the embattled real estate firm to recover around ₹150 crore. Amrapali is already in the dock for duping 46,000 homebuyers and diverting funds amounting to ₹2,765 crore. Here's what people are saying.

Idea of the Day: Companies must strive for high employee engagement to succeed, says Mirvac CEO and Managing Director Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz.

“Highly engaged people are instinctive ambassadors… they are willing to go above and beyond what’s required – not because you’ve told them to, but because they want to.”

— Abhigyan Chand and Adith Charlie/Share this using #DailyRundown

Wednesday’s rundown saw comments on Netflix’s cheap plan for mobile users and on Mallya’s claims of being treated unfairly. Top Commenter Ritwika Roy highlighted the differences between Jet and Kingfisher episodes. Join the conversation here.