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Slowdown in India is temporary, govt reforms will pay off: Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance India, believes India’s current slowdown is temporary and he was hopeful that government’s reforms would soon pay off. Ambani said the slump was caused by external turbulence, and the country has reasons to be more optimistic for the next decade. Asia’s richest man lost some $5 billion of his wealth year to date in notional terms. Source: The Economic Times

‘The fighter jet era has passed’: Elon Musk Speaking in front of a crowd of fighter pilots for the US Air Force (USAF), technology entrepreneur Elon Musk pronounced the end to the manned fighter jet era. “The fighter jet era has passed,” says the founder of rocket builder SpaceX and artificial intelligence company OpenAI at the Air Force Association Air Warfare conference in Orlando, Florida on 28 February. The crowd of hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand, fighter pilots went noticeably silent before murmuring among themselves. Source: Fight Global

As coronavirus spreads, world’s richest lose $444 bn after hellish week for markets Last week was an expensive one for most investors, even for billionaires. The combined fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people fell by $444 billion as the coronavirus continued to spread — and spread fear — rattling equity markets worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 12%, the biggest five-day slide since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, in a rout that vaporized more than $6 trillion from global stocks. The drubbing more than erased the $78 billion in gains that the 500 wealthiest...

President Emmanuel Macron says France facing coronavirus ‘epidemic’ President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding “we are going to have to deal with it as best we can.” “We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming,” Macron said while visiting staff at the La Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, where the first French person carrying the new coronavirus died Tuesday. “We know that we’re only at the beginning… we’re going to try with all our caretakers to make the right decisions,” Macron said alongside Health Minister...

‘Trump’s trip demonstrates value US places on ties with India,’ says Mike Pompeo President Donald Trump’s just-concluded India trip demonstrated the value the United Stated placed on its ties with New Delhi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Trump’s “first official trip to India this week demonstrates the value the US places on the US-India partnership”, Pompeo said in a tweet, a day after the president returned from his historic two-day visit to India with stops in Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi. “Democratic traditions unite us, shared interests bond us, and under the President’s leadership our partnership has...

Jimmy Lai: Pro-democracy media tycoon arrested and charged The illegal assembly charge relates to a banned anti-government march on 31 August, which Mr Lai is accused of attending. The intimidation charge relates to a clash with a journalist in 2017. The newspaper Mr Lai founded, Apple Daily, is frequently critical of Hong Kong and Chinese leadership. Two other pro-democracy figures, politicians Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum, were also arrested on Friday. They have also been charged with one count of illegal assembly in relation to the same protest. Source: BBC

Mahatma Gandhi’s spirit needed more than ever: UN chief Guterres on Delhi violence xpressing sadness over the violence in Delhi, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Mahatma Gandhi’s spirit is needed more than ever as it is essential to create conditions for a true community reconciliation. Mr. Guterres has expressed sadness over the casualties following the protests in Delhi, and called for maximum restraint and for violence to be avoided, the UN chief’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday. Source: The Hindu

Putin reveals plan to use body double to make public appearances for him Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday revealed there was a secret plan to use a double to make public appearances for him, while insisting he vetoed it — and that he is the real Putin. Putin’s comments showed that a conspiracy theory widespread on the internet that the Russian strongman has been impersonated over the years or even replaced by a lookalike is not entirely without basis. TASS state news agency showed Putin a list of popular Russian-language Internet searches including “Putin double proof”. Source: Hindustan Times

Raghuram Rajan says fight the virus first, worry about stimulus later The best economic tonic for the coronavirus shock is to contain its spread and worry about stimulus later, said Raghuram Rajan, former head of RBI. There’s little central banks can do, and while more government spending would help, the priority should be on convincing companies and households that the virus is under control, he said. “People want to have a sense that there is a limit to the spread of this virus perhaps because of containment measures or because there is hope that some kind of viral solution can...

36 Rafale aircraft will not be adequate for IAF: Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria NEW DELHI: The 36 Rafale fighter aircraft will not provide the Indian Air Force a complete solution and there is a need to develop indigenous weapons and technology which will be a major “gamechanger” in the future, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria said on Friday. Bhadauria, while speaking at a seminar “Air Power in ‘No War No Peace’ Scenario”, explained that the induction of the Rafales armed with Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Meteor missiles, will give the IAF an edge over the Pakistan Air...