January 2020

Vijay Mallya let his 17-bedroom French island mansion rot; bank lists it for sale Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s 17-bedroom mansion on a French island is rotting, a bank has said. A bank that has sued Vijay Mallya for the unpaid debt has alleged that the 1.3-hectare property on the French island Ile Sainte Marguerite, which has a cinema, helipad, and its own nightclub, was left to fall into disrepair, a report in Bloomberg has said. As per the report, Mallya bought the mansion using a $30 million loan from Ansbacher & Co, a unit of Qatar National Bank SAQ....

Jack Dorsey Asks Elon Musk How to Fix Twitter Elon Musk’s suggestion for how to fix Twitter? Identify the bots. Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla Inc. chief executive officer, was asked Thursday by Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey how he would fix the social network, where Musk has almost 31 million followers. “Give us some direct feedback,” said Dorsey, who spoke to Musk via a video call from a company meeting in Houston. Musk was projected onto a giant screen as thousands of Twitter employees watched the two executives chat. “If you were running Twitter,“ Dorsey continued, “what would you do?” “I think it...

Piramal sells DRG business to Clarivate Analytics for USD 950 mn Ajay Piramal-led Piramal Enterprises has signed an agreement for sale of its Decision Resources Group (DRG) business to US-headquartered Clarivate Analytics for USD 950 million (over Rs 6,745 crore), and will use the money to reduce debt and to explore organic and inorganic growth opportunities. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of February 2020, Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) said in a statement. PEL DRG Dutch HoldCo BV, a 100 per cent subsidiary of PEL and the holding company for DRG, has signed a definitive agreement for sale of DRG to...

ED summons Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes, top management on Jan 20 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the entire top management of AirAsia, including its Malaysia-based CEO Tony Fernandes, in connection with a scam. Officials said while Fernandes has been summoned on January 20, few others have also been asked to depose for questioning in the following days. The fresh summons have been issued to take the probe forward, they added. The case relates to an alleged violation of norms by Group President Tharumalingam Kanagalingam also known as Bo Lingam, Arun Bhatia who held substantial stake in the airline, former...

Google introduces online coding course ‘Python’ to train workers San Francisco: The US based tech Google has introduced a new “Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate” a program which is designed to provide job-ready skills in Python, Git and IT automation in under six months. “Python is now the most in-demand programming language, and more than 530,000 U.S. jobs, including 75,000 entry-level jobs require Python proficiency. With this new certificate, you can learn Python, Git and IT automation within six months,” Natalie Van Kleef Conley Product Lead, Grow with Google, said in a statement on Thursday. The program includes...

‘Should have informed me’: Kerala governor on state government challenging CAA in Supreme Court Making his stand very clear, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday said that he is not a rubber stamp and will apply his own mind. Khan was reacting to the media after reports surfaced that he refused to sign an ordinance approved by the Kerala cabinet to increase the number of members in local bodies. “I make it very clear that the Constitution does not expect me to be a rubber stamp. I have to apply my own mind. I will need time to go...

Jeff Bezos Calls Shah Rukh Khan ‘Most Humble Man’, Almost Chokes on Water at Khan’s Response Shah Rukh Khan might be a number of things, but the actor has never been a pretentious man. He has been playfully arrogant about his success, as well as brutally honest about his failures. During his recent interaction with Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, he displayed the SRK brand of wit in response to a compliment paid to him. Bezos was on stage with SRK and Zoya Akhtar, when he said, “I was talking to them backstage and he’s one of the most humble people...

Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani reveals his ‘craziest’ mistake ever Future Group Founder and CEO Kishore Biyani on Thursday revealed what he thought was his “craziest” mistake ever. He was responding to Amazon India Marketplace Vice President Gopal Pillai’s question on the biggest mistake he has made as an entrepreneur during a fireside chat on Day 2 of the first edition of Amazon Smbhav – a summit for small, micro, and medium business (SMBs) in New Delhi.  Biyani had produced Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan starrer Na Tum Jaano Na Hum that released in 2002 and Chura Liya Hai...

MS Dhoni starts practicing with Jharkhand Ranji squad after omission from BCCI contract list Dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list, former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni began practising with the Jharkhand Ranji Trophy squad on Thursday amid fresh speculation on his future. The 38-year-old showed up at his home team’s net practice in Ranchi, indicating that he is gearing himself for the upcoming Indian Premier League. This was on a day when BCCI axed him from the list of centrally contracted players. “Even we did not know that he was going to come and train with us. It was a...

Sonam Kapoor Shares Her ‘Scariest’ Uber Experience in London, Says Was Shaken After the Ride Actress Sonam Kapoor shared a ‘scary experience’ she had, when she travelled by an Uber cab on her recent visit to London. Shaken by the ride, Sonam took to the micro-blogging site Twitter and advised her fans to opt for local transportation. “Hey guys, I’ve had the scariest experience with @Uber London. Please please be careful. The best and safest is just to use the local public transportation or cabs. I’m super shaken,” she wrote. A concerned fan asked her to give details about the...