January 2020

Nirav Modi’s luxury watches, cars, paintings to go on auction NEW DELHI : Fugitive businessman Nirav Modi’s seized assets including artworks, luxury watches, handbags and cars will go under the hammer at Saffronart’s two upcoming auctions. The Mumbai-based auction house has been selected to host the sales on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate, Government of India. While the first sale, a live auction, will be held on February 27 in Mumbai, the second will be an online sale on March 3-4. Source: Livemint

Protest as you like but CAA will stay, asserts Amit Shah ‘Protest as you like but the Citizenship (Amendment) Act [CAA] will not be withdrawn’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted here on Tuesday. The debate on the CAA was a “fight” between those who wanted the good of the country and those who wanted to “break the country into pieces,” he said, using the phrase ‘Bharat ke tukde’ to target the CAA critics. Mr. Shah, who was addressing a rally in support of the CAA, said: “Today I have come to Lucknow to say it aloud that  whoever wants to protest, can protest,...

Urvashi Rautela bashed for copying PM Modi’s tweet for Shabana Azmi. Cut copy paste, says Twitter Urvashi Rautela is under the spotlight once again and this time she getting massively trolled for copy pasting PM Narendra Modi’s tweet. Urvashi recently took to Twitter to wish a speedy recovery for Shabana Azmi, who was hospitalized yesterday after meeting with an accident. But her tweet was an exact copy of PM Modi’s message for Shaban Azmi, which he posted last night. Urvashi had tweeted, “The news of @AzmiShabana Ji’s injury in an accident is distressing. I pray for her quick recovery.” And...

Currently, I am in a happy space as an actor – Shraddha Kapoor Shraddha Kapoor is currently busy and on a roll actively promoting her upcoming dance flick Street Dancer 3D. Recently, her music release from Street Dancer 3D “Illegal Weapon 2.0” crossed over 75 Million views on Youtube. The actress has broken barriers with her dancing skills as we see in Street Dancer 3D being a non-dancer, she has given her fans a shock with her unmatchable groovy moves. Shraddha opened up about the changes in the industry and the things she still has in her ‘To Do’ list...

Govt to stop substitutable coal import; can go for auction of 100 fully explored new blocks: Joshi Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday said the Centre will stop the “substitutable import” of coal in the next three to four years and can go for auction of 100 fully explored blocks. The statement assumes significance in view of recent developments in the sector where the government recently brought an ordinance to amend laws to open up coal mining to firms other than those in the steel and power sectors, removing restrictions on end-use of the fuel. Terming the promulgation of the...

TikTok can become bigger than Instagram: Snap CEO Spiegel Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel says TikTok could become bigger than rival Instagram. Chinese giant ByteDance Inc. has emerged as the world’s most valuable startup on the explosive popularity of TikTok, known as Douyin locally, where users share short clips of lip-syncing and dance videos. The short-form video service has about 400 million active users daily, a Niko Partners analyst estimates. “I love TikTok,” Spiegel said Sunday on the “Bavaria” stage at the annual Digital Life Design Conference in Munich. “I’m a big fan.” Source: Livemint

Difficult to predict war scenario with Pakistan, but we’re prepared, says CDS Bipin Rawat Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Monday said it was very difficult to predict if a scenario of a war with Pakistan would emerge or not but all the defence services were prepared to take on any challenge. The top general, who inducted the Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron here, was responding to a question about any possibility of a war emerging between India and Pakistan. “All the defence services are tasked to be prepared for any option that may emerge. It is very difficult to predict a...

After a bruising trade war, Donald Trump says Sino-US deal is ‘momentous’ US President Donald Trump signed Wednesday a partial, Phase I deal with China which, he said before the signing, was a “momentous step” towards a future of fair and reciprocal trade between the two countries. Signed by Vice-Premier Liu He for the Chinese, the deal will put on pause a two-year-long trade war between the world’s two largest economies that had shaken up the global economy. The agreement includes a “major commitment” by China to make “significant reforms” in a wide range of critical areas and to make...

Nitin Gadkari on $5 trillion economy: Goal difficult, not impossible; here’s what he said on slowdown Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday that the goalof making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024 was “difficult but not impossible”. It can be achieved by increasing domestic production and reducing dependence on imports, he said at the 29th International Management Conclave of the Indore Management Association here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders have often spoken about the goal of turning India into a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024. “Strong political will is very important to achieve any...

Meet NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat, the Padma Shri awardee who claimed J&K only uses internet to watch ‘dirty films’ NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat, who created a controversy on Saturday by claiming that internet in Kashmir is only used to watch “dirty films,” has worn many hats — not only is he the chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he is also a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and a Padma Shri recipient. On Saturday, in a response to a question by a reporter, Saraswat had said, “What difference does it make if there is no...