Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma, China’s richest man, pledged $14.5 million to fight the coronavirus Tech billionaire Jack Ma has pledged $14.5 million towards fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Ma, who is China’s richest man and the founder of ecommerce giant Alibaba, will donate the money through his eponymous charitable foundation to support the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Source: Business Insider
Gita Sabharwal of India appointed UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand The UN has appointed Gita Sabharwal of India as the Resident Coordinator in Thailand. The UN Resident Coordinator is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level. Resident Coordinators lead UN Country Teams and coordinate the world body’s support to countries in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Resident Coordinators are the designated representatives of the UN Secretary-General. They report to the UN chief. “United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Gita Sabharwal of India as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Thailand, with the host government’s approval,”...
Big setback for Jana Sena, VV Lakshminarayana quits party Former CBI Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana, who had joined Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) last year, quit the party on Monday. Lakshminarayana has probed a number of high-profile cases, most prominently the disproportionate assets case against YSRCP chief and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, among others. Lakshminarayana had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a Jana Sena candidate from Visakhapatnam, and was one of the key member leaders of JSP. In a letter addressed to JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, Lakshminarayana wrote that his reason for quitting was...
Tesla chief Elon Musk adds $2.3 billion to his fortune in just 60 minutes Elon Musk’s fortune swelled by $2.3 billion in the span of an hour Wednesday after shares of Tesla Inc. soared in extended trading on stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and ramped up production of its Model Y crossover SUV. The electric-vehicle maker’s stock, which closed at $580.99, surged 12% to $649 at 5:16 p.m. in New York, boosting the chief executive officer’s net worth to about $36 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk, 48, owns about a fifth of Tesla’s outstanding stock, which comprises the bulk of his fortune,...
Rahul Bajaj to step down from executive role, to stay as non-executive Chairman NEW DELHI : Bajaj Auto’s long serving Chairman Rahul Bajaj will step down from executive role to become a non-executive director while continuing to hold his current position, the company said on Thursday. Bajaj, who has been a director of the company since April 1, 1970, was last reappointed by the board for a five-year term with effect from April 1, 2015, and his term as executive chairman is expiring on March 31, 2020, the company said in a regulatory filing. Source: Livemint
India vs New Zealand | Super Overs Aren’t Really Our Friends, Says Williamson Hamilton: “Super Overs aren’t really New Zealand’s friend,” skipper Kane Williamson said after a heart-breaking loss to India in the thrilling third T20 International here on Wednesday. India defeated The Back Caps via Super Over to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Rohit Sharma smashed consecutive sixes in the final two balls of the eliminator to lead the visitors to their maiden T20 series win in New Zealand. The defeat brought back memories of the 2019 World Cup final, which New Zealand agonisingly lost to...
Dalai Lama’s advice to followers to contain spread of coronavirus Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has advised his followers in China to chant a mantra to contain the threat posed by coronavirus, which has reportedly left over 100 dead. A group of mainland Chinese devotees on Facebook had requested for the Dalai Lama’s advice amid widespread health scare after the virus was discovered in Wuhan. Responding to their concern, the Dalai Lama advised his followers and Buddhist monasteries across China to chant the ‘Tara Mantra’ as it would be “beneficial for effectively containing the spread of the virus”. He...
‘Like I wasn’t there’: climate activist Vanessa Nakate on being erased from a movement “When I saw the photo, I only saw part of my jacket. I was not on the list of participants. None of my comments from the press conference were included,” she said. “It was like I wasn’t even there.” The 23-year-old Ugandan activist had appeared at a joint press conference in Davos with other prominent climate activists, including Greta Thunberg, Loukina Tille, Luisa Neubauer and Isabelle Axelsson. But when the news agency published a picture of the event, Nakate had been cut from the image –...
‘The epidemic is a demon, can’t let it hide’: Xi Jinping on Coronavirus China is battling a “demon” virus that has so far killed more than 100 people, President Xi Jinping said Tuesday, as foreign nations prepared to evacuate their citizens and the US said it was developing a vaccine. Xi made his remarks during talks with the head of the World Health Organization in Beijing amid growing global concerns about a novel coronavirus that has infected thousands in China and reached more than a dozen other countries. In a development that could cause more jitters abroad, Japan and Germany...
Why son of Russian billionaire rents two-room flat, takes subway to work You wouldn’t know that Alexander Fridman is the child of Russia’s 11th-richest person. He rents a two-room flat on the outskirts of Moscow for $500 a month and uses the subway to get to work. “I eat, live, sleep, dress in everything that I earned myself,” said Fridman, 19, whose father, Mikhail Fridman, has a $13.7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The junior Fridman returned to Moscow last year after graduating from a high school near London. Five months ago, he started SF Development, a...
