February 2020

Antonio Guterres to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib during trip to Pakistan UN Chief Antonio Guterres will visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, in Kartarpur during his visit to Pakistan next week. The UN Secretary-General will arrive in Islamabad on Sunday and will hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on that day and speak at an event on sustainable development and climate change. Mr. Guterres will travel to Kartarpur to visit a holy site, Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib, Deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters here on Monday....

Mike Hopkins Named Amazon Video Entertainment Chief, Exits Sony Post Sony Pictures Television Chairman Mike Hopkins is departing his post at the industry’s largest independent TV studio to oversee Amazon’s video entertainment operations, including Amazon Studios and Prime Video, effective Feb. 24. Current Amazon Studios head Jen Salke will report to Hopkins, who will report directly to Amazon chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon’s senior vice president of business development and digital entertainment Jeff Blackburn, whom Salke currently reports to and who oversees the e-commerce giant’s streaming platform, is on sabbatical. Salke, who joined Amazon in 2018, is expected to remain fully engaged with the creative...

Shipbuilder denies reports, says Bill Gates is not buying hydrogen-powered yacht Microsoft co-founder and one of the world’s richest men Bill Gates has not commissioned a hydrogen-powered superyacht by Dutch designer Sinot, the firm has clarified in a statement. Earlier, multiple reports said Gates had commissioned the world’s first hydrogen-powered superyacht for an estimated $644 million. The reports claimed that the 122-metre (370 ft) luxury vessel received a lot of praise at the Monaco Yacht Show last year and would come with an infinity pool, helipad, spa and gym. The ship was said to be powered completely by liquid hydrogen. Source:...

Vijay Mallya arrives for UK High Court appeal against extradition to India Liquor baron Vijay Mallya arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday for his appeal against being extradited to India to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores. The 64-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss, who remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017, avoided the usual scrum of reporters at the court entrance and went in with his lawyers separately. Source: Moneycontrol

Availability of capital at the right time is key for startups: Mohanjit Jolly BENGALURU : Even as the early stage funding momentum in startups continue, 2019 saw a boom in growth stage funding, with newer venture capital funds entering this space. IronPillar, a mid-stage, technology focused venture capital firm, raised a $90 million fund in 2018 and has fully committed the capital to eight companies. In an interview with Mint , Mohanjit Jolly, partner, IronPillar, speaks on entrepreneurship, shift in the startup ecosystem and more venture funds looking at India.  Source: Livemint

Economic growth set to bounce back as slump bottoms out, says Sanjeev Sanyal NEW DELHI : Indian economic growth is poised to bounce back after slipping to a more than six-year low of 4.5% in the July-September quarter as the government has taken measures to prop up investments and consumer demand, a top government adviser said. “Corporate tax reductions, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the banking sector reforms have helped and will help propel growth further,” Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic adviser at the finance ministry, told Reuters. Source: Livemint

The downfall of Anil Ambani: $42 billion net worth to zero in 12 years In 2008, Anil Ambani was the sixth richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a wealth of $42 billion. Twelve years down the line though, the brother of Mukesh Ambani has pleaded poverty to a London court, claiming that he is worth nothing. After taking over the telecom, power generation, financial services businesses post the Ambani brothers split, all of Anil’s businesses are drowning in debts, with some of them landing in the bankruptcy court. Source: The News Minute

Pele depressed, reclusive because of poor health: Son Football legend Pele is experiencing “a kind of depression” and barely leaves home anymore because health problems have left him unable to walk normally, his son said in an interview. “He’s pretty fragile in terms of his mobility… and that makes him suffer a kind of depression,” Edinho said of his 79-year-old father, who has had a series of health problems in recent years. “Just imagine, he’s the ‘King,’ he was always such an imposing figure, and now he can’t walk normally. He gets very shy, very embarrassed about that,” his son...

Pakistan’s version a story, a facade,’ says former IAF chief BS Dhanoa Former chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal (retd) BS Dhanoa, spoke to Hindustan Times close to one year after the Balakot air strike about the details of the operation, what it took to plan and execute, what it means for India’s future military equation with Pakistan, and the capabilities of the Rafale jets. Edited excerpts: Pakistan has tried to project the Balakot operation as a military and diplomatic victory — the Imran Khan government says it brought down an Indian Air Force jet and captured the pilot. It...

People may criticise us, but environment is top priority for Bhutan, says Lotay Tshering Last week, Bhutan’s government took two important decisions which could impact its regional ties, especially with India. The first was to end free entry for regional tourists from India, Bangladesh and Maldives, by levying a daily Sustainable Development Fee (SDF) on them for the first time. Indians make up about 1.8 Lakh of all 2.74 Lakh tourists who visit Bhutan each year. The other decision was to confirm that Bhutan will stay out of the proposed Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN-MVA) that would allow for transit traffic between...