March 2020

PM Modi stings Manmohan Singh for ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ barb Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday delivered a sharp rejoinder to ex-PM Manmohan Singh who had recently expressed concern at the slogan of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. It appears some people get offended by people raising the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, the prime minister told Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs on Tuesday. PM Modi’s remark was seen as a reference to former prime minister Manmohan Singh recently red flagging what he called the misuse of the slogan hailing the motherland to construct a militant and purely emotional idea of India...

Sri Lankan President dissolves Parliament, calls for a snap poll on April 25 Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday dissolved Parliament six months ahead of its schedule and called a snap election on April 25. He signed the Gazette notification dissolving Parliament from midnight tonight, the Government Printers Department said. The current parliament was appointed on September 1, 2015. Gotabaya sacked Parliament after the minimum term of four-and-a-half years necessary to dissolve it was completed on midnight Sunday. Source: The News Minute

Virat Kohli loses his cool when asked whether he needs to tone down aggression CHRISTCHURCH: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday got annoyed after being asked about his animated celebrations over Kane Williamson’s dismissal on day two of the second Test before clarifying that match referee Ranjan Madugalle had no issues with what happened. However, when Williamson was asked about the incident, New Zealand captain downplayed the incident, saying it was “typical of Virat, who plays the game with lot of passion”. Source: Times of India

Twitter’s new stakeholder reportedly wants to remove CEO Jack Dorsey Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey‘s job at the microblogging platform is reportedly at risk, as Elliott Management, a new major stakeholder in the company is looking to have him replaced, according to Bloomberg. The $40 billion hedge fund, which is a major activist investor (the kind of investor that acquires a stake in a company in order to influence its direction in business) led by billionaire Paul Singer, isn’t keen on Dorsey serving as CEO at both Twitter and Square simultaneously. Source: TNW

Nokia appoints new CEO Pekka Lundmark to replace Rajeev Suri from September Nokia Chief Executive Rajeev Suri will step down in September and be replaced by Pekka Lundmark, who used to work for the Finnish company and is the current CEO of energy group Fortum, Nokia said on Monday. Suri has been in the role for six years and was previously head of Nokia Siemens Networks. The Finnish company has been struggling to regain investors’ confidence after it issued a surprise profit warning in October that slashed off a third of its value and forced it to admit to some...

Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of GE, dies at 84 Jack Welch, a railroad conductor’s son who became chairman and CEO of General Electric and led it for two decades, growing its market value from $12 billion to $410 billion, has died. He was 84. Welch died late Sunday at home, surrounded by his wife, Suzy, and family, and his beloved dogs nearby. The cause of death was renal failure, his wife said Monday. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences, saying “there was no corporate leader like ‘neutron’ Jack.” Source: CNBC

Thinking of giving up my social media accounts: PM Narendra Modi NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he plans to give up his social media accounts on various platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. “This Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube. Will keep you all posted,” he tweeted. Source: Livemint

Uncertainty looms as Iraqi PM-designate Allawi steps down Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi has withdrawn his candidacy for the post, accusing members of the country’s fractured parliament of standing in his way and prolonging a months-long political crisis. Allawi’s move on Sunday came hours after legislators failed for the second time this week to approve his cabinet of independents amid political infighting in a country that has been rocked by months of anti-establishment protests that forced the resignation of Prime  Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Source: Aljazeera

UN asks India to mediate between Israel and Palestine NEW DELHI: The Un is exploring ways to engage India for mediation between Israel and Palestine to resolve the protracted conflict between the two in the Middle East. A delegation of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People was on a two-day visit to New Delhi beginning from Monday. The team includes UN Ambassadors and Representatives of Senegal (Committee Chair); Indonesia and Malaysia (Committee Members); and the State of Palestine (Committee Observer). Source: The New Indian Express

Pete Buttigieg Drops Out of the US Democratic presidential race Pete Buttigieg, a little known politician whose strange and seemingly unpronounceable name became his best asset initially, suspended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination Sunday, ending a historic first real shot at the coveted job by on openly gay man or woman. Buttigieg, the two-term mayor of Indiana’s South Bend city, became the second Democrat running for the party’s presidential nomination to drop out of the race after a blow-out performance from former Vice-President Joe Biden in the South Carolina on Saturday with an emphatic win that’s overhauling the race....