February 2024

Hours after the Centre announced its decision to bestow the Bharat Ratna on former deputy prime minister LK Advani, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav stated on Saturday that the move is being made to ensure that the BJP’s votes are not scattered.Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that LK Advani would be awarded the Bharat Ratna and hailed the longest-serving head of the BJP for his contributions to public life. Akhilesh Yadav was in Balrampur district to pay tribute to Shiv Pratap Yadav, a senior SP leader and MLA who died on January 26.

In its most recent financial report, Meta disclosed a potential risk related with its Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg. According to a CNBC story, the company, which is not satisfied with Mr Zuckerberg’s lifestyle choices, claimed that his engagement in extreme sports and mixed martial arts (MMA) are not merely personal preferences, but also potentially dangerous for Meta and its investors.The report, submitted last Friday, noted the risk of serious injury or worse connected with participation in combat sports, extreme sports, and even flight, all of which Mr Zuckerberg is known to enjoy. “Mr Zuckerberg and several other members of...

Elon Musk suffered one of the most significant legal setbacks in US history this week, when his $56 billion compensation package was removed in a case brought by an unexpected opponent, a former heavy metal drummer.Richard Tornetta sued Musk in 2018, when the Pennsylvania citizen owned only nine shares of Tesla. The lawsuit eventually went to trial in late 2022, and on Tuesday, a court ruled in Tornetta’s favour, voiding the massive pay package for being unjust to him and all of Tesla’s shareholders. Tornetta could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer declined to speak.

Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war presidential candidate, submitted 105,000 signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Wednesday, which is technically enough to oppose incumbent Vladimir Putin in Russia’s March election.No one expected Nadezhdin, 60, to win. The election of 71-year-old Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister since the end of 1999 and controls all state levers, is widely regarded as certain. However, Nadezhdin has startled some experts with his trenchant condemnation of what the Kremlin terms its “special military operation” in Ukraine, which he deems “a fatal mistake” and says he will try to...

Adani Total Gas announced an almost 18% increase in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by robust sales of compressed natural gas (CNG).The company, which distributes piped gas to numerous Indian towns, said its consolidated earnings increased to 1.77 billion rupees (almost $21 million) for the quarter ended December 31, up from 1.50 billion rupees the previous year. Adani Total Gas has routinely reported greater quarterly profits since March 2023.The company, which is part of the Adani group conglomerate, reported a 24% increase in CNG sales, driven by the opening of 98 additional stations across the country. City gas distributors were...

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reportedly begins his week with a 36-hour fast from 5 p.m. on Sundays to 5 a.m. on Tuesdays, consuming only water, tea, or black coffee during that period. He described it as “an important discipline for me” as part of a “balanced lifestyle”.In an interview with the BBC, Mr Sunak stated, “I try to do some fasting at the beginning of every week as part of a general balanced lifestyle, but everyone does it differently.” Recognising a “weakness” for sweet snacks, he explained, “It means that I can then indulge myself in all the sugary...

The Oxfam report, released earlier this month, showed global inequality and how the rich’s wealth have doubled since 2020. The paper, titled ‘Inequality Inc’, claimed that Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Mark Zuckerberg increased their wealth at an alarming rate of $14 million per hour over that time period and are now worth a total of $869 billion. It further stated that, despite the rising fortunes of the world’s wealthiest men, five billion people had fallen into poverty.Another fascinating figure highlighted by the Oxfam report was that if each of the five wealthiest men spent a...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to “break new ground” to boost China-France ties, just days after French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visit to India, during which the two countries unveiled an ambitious defence roadmap while also intensifying cooperation in the strategic Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region. Mr. Macron’s visit to India coincided with the 60th anniversary of Chinese-French diplomatic relations.Mr. Xi stated in his speech for the occasion, “As today’s world is once again at a critical crossroads, China and France should jointly open up a path of peace, security, prosperity, and progress for human development.”