Seven soldiers trapped in Arunachal avalanche found dead: Army

 The seven army personnel, part of a patrol, were struck by an avalanche in the high altitude area of Kameng Sector in Arunachal Pradesh on February 6

The bodies of the seven soldiers, who went missing after their patrol along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district was hit by an avalanche, have been found, the Indian Army said on Tuesday.

“Bodies of all seven individuals have been recovered from the avalanche site. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, all seven have been confirmed deceased,” it said. The seven army personnel, part of a patrol, were struck by an avalanche in the high altitude area of Kameng Sector in Arunachal Pradesh on February 6. The area, located at an altitude of 14,500 feet, had been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days.

“The bodies of the soldiers are currently being transferred from the avalanche site to the nearest Army medical facility for further formalities,” the Army said. The area has been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days, the force said. Arunachal Pradesh is generally divided into Kameng area on the west and Rest of Arunachal Pradesh. The Army’s Eastern Command handles the 1,346-km-long Line of Actual Control including Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Afghan women face violence, repression as world focus shifts

 Under the Taliban’s latest rule, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Afghanistan are facing “grave threats” of violence and death

The Taliban reportedly captured 40 people in Mazar-e-Sharif, a medium-sized city in Afghanistan, at the end of January 2022. Taliban members then allegedly gang-raped eight of the women. The women who survived the gang rape were subsequently killed by their families. The fact that the women had been raped violated a societal honor code called Pashtunwalli, which prohibits women from engaging in sex outside of marriage.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that some of the women they arrested “remain detained because their male relatives have not yet come to escort them.” News of the attack is circulating among various Afghan communities and some local media, according to several Afghan women’s rights activists who are part of my academic network. These colleagues cannot be named because of security concerns. Women’s rights activists marched in Kabul on Jan. 16, 2022, asking where the women of the Mazar-e-Sharif attack have gone.

China locks down city on Vietnam border as Covid-19 cases rise

The effort takes on extra urgency during the staging of the Winter Olympics, which began on Friday and run until Feb. 20, as well as a busy travel season for the Lunar New Year holiday

Authorities in China’s southwestern city of Baise ordered residents to stay at home from Monday and avoid unnecessary travel as they enforced curbs that are among the toughest in the nation’s tool-box to fight rising local infections of COVID-19.

The outbreak in Baise, which has a population of about 3.6 million and borders Vietnam, is tiny by global standards, but the curbs, including a ban on non-essential trips in and out, follow a national guideline to quickly contain any flare-ups. The effort takes on extra urgency during the staging of the Winter Olympics, which began on Friday and run until Feb. 20, as well as a busy travel season for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Dozens of athletes for the Games, hosted by the capital Beijing and the northern province of Hebei, have tested positive and moved into isolation, but events have not been seriously affected in the absence of cluster spread in the closed loop insulating them from the public. Baise, in the region of Guangxi, reported 37 domestically transmitted infections with confirmed symptoms for Sunday, up from six the day before, data from the National Health Commission showed….Read More

 

Nine killed after car-truck collision in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapuram

 The incident took place on Sunday.

Nine people died after a collision between a car and a lorry at Budagavi village of Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapuram district. According to Venkata Swamy, Sub Inspector of police, Uravakonda Police Station, the car was carrying a total of nine passengers including the drive. The incident took place on Sunday. “The victims were returning to Nimmagallu. The police have registered a case and further investigation is underway,” said Venkata Swamy. The police said the truck was travelling at a high speed when it lost control and rammed into the car coming from the opposite direction.

Russian attack on Ukraine possible any day, diplomacy still an option: US

 As Russia masses more than 100,000 troops near the border, Moscow has said it is not planning an invasion but could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met

Russian President Vladimir Putin could order an attack on Ukraine within days or weeks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday, as Washington and its European allies continued efforts to offer Putin a diplomatic way out of the crisis.

“We are in the window. Any day now, Russia could take military action against Ukraine, or it could be a couple of weeks from now, or Russia could choose to take the diplomatic path instead,” Sullivan told the “Fox News Sunday” program. Sullivan made the comments in television interviews after two U.S. officials on Saturday said Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, has in place about 70% of the combat power it believes it would need for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As Russia masses more than 100,000 troops near the border, Moscow has said it is not planning an invasion but could take unspecified military action if its security demands are not met. Those include a promise that NATO will never admit Ukraine, a demand the United States and the 30-nation Western security alliance have called unacceptable. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the White House said. That call came ahead of a visit by Macron to Moscow on Monday, the culmination of days of French contacts with Russia and Ukraine to try to de-escalate tensions….Read More

No plan to change 'forest cover' definition at present, says govt

 The comment was made in the Rajya Sabha

India has “no plan”, at present, to change the definition of “forest cover and very dense forest”, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, has said in the Rajya Sabha. The definition of forest cover in ISFR represents true picture as described, he added.

The minister was responding to MP Vandana Chavan’s question: “If the government is aware that the current definition of ‘forest cover‘ in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) does not differentiate between natural forests and plantations, thereby providing an incomplete picture of the status of forests, whether the ISFR used ancillary field datasets to define ‘very dense’ forests and also, whether the government planned to change the definition of forest cover and very dense forests to better reflect country’s actual forest cover.”

India’s definition of forest has been taken on the basis of three criteria as per the decision under Kyoto Protocol and very well accepted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for their reporting or communications, the Rajya Sabha was told…Read More

Jumla for India, jobs for China: Rahul targets govt on 'Make in India'

 He alleged that the imports from China are at an all-time high under the Modi government as it has “destroyed” the medium and small industries and unorganised sector that creates jobs

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday targeted the Modi government over the issue of jobs, charging that ‘Make in India’ is turning into ‘Buy from China’. He alleged that the imports from China are at an all-time high under the Modi government as it has “destroyed” the medium and small industries and unorganised sector that creates jobs. “JUMLA for India, JOBS for China! Modi Government has destroyed the Unorganised Sector and MSMEs that create the most jobs. Result: ‘Make In India’ is now ‘Buy from China’,” he said on Twitter.

The former Congress chief also shared a 1.30 minute video where it is alleged that the Modi government promised ‘Make in India’, yet it only “buys from China” and there has been a record 46 percent increase in imports from China in 2021, which is the highest ever. In the short video, he also shared excerpts of his speech in Parliament on the issue, where he attacked the government on China. Gandhi and his Congress party have been critical of the government’s response and handling of the border dispute with China and have been demanding strong action on the matter.

Budget credit positive for India Inc, fiscal challenges remain: Moody's

 The path toward the government’s medium-term deficit target of 4.5% of GDP by FY25 remains undefined.

Rating agency Moody’s said the government’s Budget for FY 2022-23, with emphasis on capital expenditure to support growth, is credit positive for non-financial companies, financial institutions, but poses long-term fiscal challenges for the sovereign. There is continued emphasis on rising capital expenditure to sustain growth momentum near term, as the economy continues to rebound from its coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic trough, the rating agency said in a report. India’s sovereign rating is “Baa3 stable”.

The conservative Budget 2022 assumptions leave room for the government to respond to prevailing macroeconomic and pandemic risks over the next year. However, the path toward the government’s medium-term deficit target of 4.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by FY25 remains undefined. India’s Budget, presented on February 1, 2022, projects a narrowing in the central government deficit to 6.4 per cent of GDP in FY22 from an estimated 6.9 per cent in FY21….

SC asks states to pay Covid death compensation to families in 10 days

 The apex court said that the endeavour of legal services authority would be to reach to those sufferers/victims who have yet not approached for whatever reasons

The Supreme Court Friday directed all states governments and Union Territories to appoint dedicated nodal officer to coordinate with the member secretary of the state legal service authority (SLSA) to facilitate payment of ex gratia compensation to family members of COVID-19 victims.

A bench comprising Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna also directed the state governments to give full particulars like name, address and death certificate to the concerned SLSA, as also complete details with respect to orphans, within one week from today (Friday) failing which the matter shall be viewed very seriously.

The top court reiterated that applications seeking compensation should not be rejected on technical grounds and if any technical glitch is found, the states concerned should give them opportunity to cure defects as the ultimate goal of the welfare state is to provide some solace and compensation to victims. States should make all endeavours to pay the compensation to the victims within a maximum period of 10 days from the receipt of the claim, it said….Read More

South Korean firms take precautions to block Covid spread after holidays

 Many people in South Korea travelled during the holidays to see family, likely leading to an uptick in infections

Some of South Korea’s corporate giants have asked staff to test themselves for COVID-19 before returning to work on Thursday after the Lunar New Year holidays, amid concerns the break could fuel the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant. Kakao Corp, operator of South Korea’s dominant chat app, went further and blocked employees from coming to the office for two weeks, as the country’s daily infections hit record highs. Many people in South Korea travelled during the holidays to see family, likely leading to an uptick in infections.

Kakao barred employees from entering the office until Feb. 18 without approval, with very few exceptions. Even then, the employee is required to self-diagnose with a test kit in a prepared space and enter only after a negative result. After Feb. 18, Kakao will also deliver 10 at-home test kits, which can be used 20 times, to each employee’s home so they can test themselves before coming to the office, it said in a statement….Read More

WhatsApp to get message reactions on iPhone, Android soon: Report

 WhatsApp is also working on a new feature that would allow group admins on WhatsApp to delete messages for other members of the group as well.

Few months ago, WhatsApp had started developing iMessage-like reactions for its app and now the company seems almost ready to release this feature.WABetaInfo has shared some screenshots of WhatsApp reactions, giving us an early preview of what the feature might look like once it goes live. WhatsApp users will see a row of emoji just above the message. It’s unclear whether users will have to long-press on a message or there will be a dedicated button next to the message to add a reaction. According to the report, the message reactions will come with end-to-end encryptions, but for now, very little information is available.

WhatsApp is also working on a new feature that would allow group admins on WhatsApp to delete messages for other members of the group as well. A user will see the ‘This was deleted by an admin’ message whenever any admin deletes a particular message.”If you are a group admin, you will be able to delete any message for everyone in your groups, in a future update of WhatsApp beta for Android,” WABetaInfo said in a tweet recently.

Facebook loses daily users for first time ever, ad growth slows

 The Meta-owned Facebook platform registered 1.929 billion daily users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — from 1.93 billion in the previous quarter

For the first time ever, Facebook has lost daily users globally, reporting lower-than-expected ad growth that sent its stock plunging nearly 20 per cent. The massive stock drop instantly wiped out roughly $200 billion in its market value. The Meta-owned Facebook platform registered 1.929 billion daily users in the fourth quarter of 2021 — from 1.93 billion in the previous quarter. The company confirmed late on Wednesday that it is the first sequential decline in its history. Facebook’s monthly active users (MAUs) were 2.91 billion as of December 31, 2021, an increase of 4 per cent year-over-year. Meta still made nearly $40 billion in profit in 2021, mostly from advertising.

“We had a solid quarter as people turned to our products to stay connected and businesses continued to use our services to grow,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “I’m encouraged by the progress we made this past year in a number of important growth areas like Reels, commerce, and virtual reality, and we’ll continue investing in these and other key priorities in 2022 as we work towards building the metaverse,” he added.

Cognizant to hire 50,000 freshers in CY22; highest ever for the company

 The company ended the year with a total headcount of 330,600, up 14 per cent year-on-year.\

Nasdaq-listed IT services company Cognizant will be onboarding 50,000 freshers from India in CY22. The company added 33,000 freshers in CY21. The company reported attrition of 31 per cent of the Q4FY21 (it follows the Jan-Dec financial calendar). Though the attrition numbers are higher compared to peers TCS, Infosys and Wipro, they have come down for the company on a sequential basis. Cognizant had reported attrition of 33 per cent in Q3FY21.

The company ended the year with a total headcount of 330,600, up 14 per cent year-on-year. “While the rest of the industry at least saw an uptick on attrition for this quarter we have managed to get a little respite on a quarter-on-quarter. Is this sustainable? We are doing everything within the organization to make sure that it sustains, but attrition is always dependent on market dynamics,” said Rajesh Nambiar, chairman, Cognizant India and president digital business and technology.

Beyond the third wave: Rural economy, banking recovery, and more

 Budget at a glance: Here’re the key numbers from Union Budget 2022

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a bigger Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget, with higher spending on highways to affordable housing with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was “people-friendly, progressive” and full of possibilities for infrastructure, investment, growth and jobs. In a televised statement, Modi said an important aspect of the Union Budget was the welfare of the poor.

Union Budget 2022: Umbrellas to be costlier, diamonds cheaper

 Keeping with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat plank, FM Sitharaman increased Customs duties on a host of items, such as umbrellas, parts of wearable devices, and electronic smart meters

Keeping with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat plan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday increased Customs duties on a host of items, such as umbrellas, parts of wearable devices, and electronic smart meters. She also proposed to phase out more than 350 exemptions, including on capital goods, in a gradual manner to encourage domestic manufacturing.

“This comprehensive review will simplify the Customs rate and tariff structure, particularly for sectors like chemicals, textiles, and metals, and minimise disputes. Removal of exemption on items that are or can be manufactured in India and providing concessional duties on raw material that go into manufacturing of intermediate products will go many a step forward in achieving our objective of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Sitharaman said….Read More

Union Budget 2022: Real estate sector hails it as a growth-inducing budget

 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday tabled the Union Budget for FY 2022-23

Highlighting the role of the real estate sector in India’s economy, industry experts termed the Union Budget 2022-23 as a growth-inducing budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday tabled the Union Budget for FY 2022-23. During the budget speech, Sitharaman announced the completion of 80 lakh homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and also informed that for this, allocated Rs 48,000 crore under PMAY for urban and rural in FY23. The demand for affordable housing has been increasing in the past few years.

Aditya Kushwaha, CEO and Director, Axis Ecorp said, “The real estate sector is the backbone of the economy and will play a pivotal role in this Amrit Kaal. The budget 2022 is growth-inducing and does the heavy lifting by sharply increasing capital expenditure. On the real estate aspect, the annual budget reinforces the Government’s focus on affordable housing.”

He said the government has also announced an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore toward Gati Shakti for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. In the budget 2022-23, there was also an emphasis on sustainable development with climate action being one of the central themes.

What are the key takeaways from Budget 2022?

 While tabling her fourth Budget, Nirmala Sitharaman said that it will lay the foundation for the next 25 year’s economic growth. Let us examine what this Budget has in store for the country

Budget 2022 saw a sharp increase in capital expenditure and the government committing enhanced support for the hospitality sector and related services. There was also an announcement that a digital rupee, using Blockchain, would be issued by the RBI soon. Among other things, the government also rejigged the customs duty structure.

The share of the Budget allocated to capital expenditure is the highest in 19 years. Budget 2022 has allocated 7.5 trillion rupees to capital expenditure. This is 35.4 per cent higher than the previous year’s allocation of 5.5 trillion rupees. It amounts to 19.02 per cent of the Budget’s total expenditure of 39.45 trillion rupees. The last time that the capital expenditure share touched a similar figure was when it came in at 19.32 per cent for the financial year 2004-05.

U R Bhat, co-founder and director at Alphaniti Fintech, has said that the thrust of Union Budget 2022 has been on infrastructure modernisation, adding that this will have a multiplier effect as far as job creation and economic growth are concerned. He emphasised that the government has refrained from doling out any kind of loan ahead of the Assembly elections in some states. The budget, he said, focuses on the next few years and not the elections.

Budget 2022 should boost consumption via tax breaks, fuel tax cuts: Report

 In a pre-budget report, India Ratings said it expects the new budget to consolidate and strengthen the plan set out in the last budget

The forthcoming budget needs to delay fiscal consolidation, instead should focus more on supporting the pandemic battered-economy and boost consumption demand by offering income tax soaps and cutting fuel taxes, says a report.

In a pre-budget report, India Ratings said it expects the new budget to consolidate and strengthen the plan set out in the last budget, rather than trying out new things by continue with the revenue and capital expenditure pattern of FY’22 to provide stability and consolidation to the past/ongoing efforts, and to focus on boosting demand by generating employment opportunities in areas/sectors that have been impacted more by the pandemic.

The report therefore expects the finance minister to delay fiscal consolidation and make it to be a gradual and calibrated process, thus ensuring the necessary fiscal support that the economy needs is available till the recovery acquires its own momentum.Calling for tax reliefs to households to boost demand as the purchasing power of households was badly hit since the pandemic, the report said this could be done through some income tax reliefs and lowering taxes on oil products as higher fuel prices has been driving up inflation…Budget 2022

Three kids among 4 burnt alive at Jaipur material packaging unit

 Officials said the place was being used to pack thinner for painting works

Four persons including three children were killed on Sunday after a fire broke out in a small painting material packaging unit in Jamwaramgarh area of the district, officials said. “The fire broke out in a hall constructed on a farmland. In the incident, three children and one man were burnt alive,” Jamwaramgarh Circle officer Shiv Kumar said. Officials said the place was being used to pack thinner for painting works. The deceased children belonged to a labourer’s family working and residing on the premises. Station House Officer Jogendra Singh said the two injured people have been admitted to the SMS hospital where their condition is stable…

Second dose inoculation for 15-18 age group to begin in MP on Monday

 Administration of the second dose of anti-Covid-19 vaccines to eligible children in the 15-18 age group will begin from Monday in Madhya Pradesh, an official said

Administration of the second dose of anti-COVID-19 vaccines to eligible children in the 15-18 age group will begin from Monday in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Sunday. Letters were written to all the district collectors in MP in this regard, National Health Mission director Priyanka Das said in an official statement. All the eligible persons from the 15-18 age group will be given the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines from Monday, it said.

Das said 36.42 lakh eligible children from this age group had received the first dose of vaccines against the target of 48 lakh. She said that sessions for the second jab for the eligible teens will be organised in the schools, where the first dose was administered. Das said that registration for the second dose will be held on the spot.

Winter session troubles may hit House again; FM to present Eco Survey today

 The Personal Data Protection Bill is eagerly awaited and may come up in the Budget session

If the winter session of Parliament was a washout, the prognosis for the upcoming Budget session that begins on January 31, with the Preside­nt’s address to both Houses of Parliament, is no better. As Opposition parties reached out to each other to fine-tune parliamentary strat­egy, the Narendra Modi government is expected to be in the Oppo­sition’s cross hairs on issues such as the new revelations on snooping by intelligence interception company Pegasus, farm distress, management of the third wave of Covid-19, the sale of national carrier Air India, and Chinese “incursions” into eastern Ladakh.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2021-22 on Monday and the Union Budget on Tuesday. This is expected to go off with only sporadic interruption. But the Budget session is taking place amid a heated election campaign in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur – that go to polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

As parties go head to head in the field, reverberations will hit Parliament as well. This is not all. Some Bills awaiting discussion and passage are also hotly contested. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, for instance, has been opposed vigorously by several Opposition-ruled states, inclu­ding Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Kerala…Union Budget 2022

Australia's Woodside Petroleum to exit Myanmar on human rights concerns

 The Australian gas producer will now begin formal procedure to exit the exploration assets it holds with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and other entities

Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Thursday it will exit its Myanmar operations citing deteriorating human rights situation, nearly a year after a coup plunged the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.\The Australian gas producer will now begin formal procedure to exit the exploration assets it holds with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and other entities including China National Petroleum Corp and Total, among others. Woodside said a non-cash expense associated with the withdrawal would hurt its fiscal 2021 net profit after tax by about $138 million, in addition to the $71 million exploration expense for one of the oil blocks in Myanmar it had flagged earlier.

“Given the ongoing situation in Myanmar we can no longer contemplate Woodside’s participation in the development of the A-6 gas resources, nor other future activities in-country,” Woodside Chief Executive Meg O’Neill said on Thursday. “While Woodside had hoped to… deliver much-needed energy to the Myanmar people, there was no longer a viable option for Woodside to continue its activities.” In February last year, Woodside had said it was cutting its presence in Myanmar following a coup, bringing hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets and raising human rights concerns.

Pak Hindu lawmaker urges India to issue visas to delegation of pilgrims

 A prominent Hindu lawmaker from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party urged India to issue visas to a delegation of pilgrims to visit the country

A prominent Hindu lawmaker from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party on Wednesday urged India to issue visas to a delegation of pilgrims to visit the country as part of his faith tourism initiative between the two neighbouring countries.

Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and Member of National Assembly Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said on Monday that he would lead a delegation of Pakistani pilgrims to India on January 29 on a special chartered flight of the Pakistan Airlines International (PIA). In a video message shared with PTI, he said that a group of 170 pilgrims who were ready to go to India by a special flight of the PIA were waiting for New Delhi’s approval.//

“I hope that approval will come from India by tomorrow. I have written a letter today to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. I have urged (India) to issue tomorrow, in one day, pilgrimage visas to 170 people or they should be given visas on arrival, he said. In New Delhi, there was no official word on the proposal from the Indian side. Vankwani said that the schedule of travel on January 29 should not be disturbed as all arrangements have been made, including chartered PIA planes. So there should not be any change in the plan, he urged.

What should the government do to address deepening inequality?

 A recent survey claimed that the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households dropped by 53% in 2020-21 from their levels in 2015-16. This report tries to delve into the reasons behind it

As the Budget session is drawing closer, calls to address the growing inequality is also becoming louder. For long, critics have been citing inequality numbers to bring home the point. However, this year, something has changed. For one, the numbers are staggering. They reflect how the Covid-19 pandemic has upended years of progress India had made in addressing this systemic problem.

In the latest round of the ICE 360 Survey 2022, conducted by the People Research on India’s Consumer Economy, it was found that the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households — which was constantly rising since 1995– plunged 53% in the pandemic year 2020-21 from their levels in 2015-16. In the same five-year period, the richest 20% saw their annual household income grow 39%. India’s K-shaped economic recovery is deepening societal fault lines along the lines of income and expenditure. Automakers are beefing up their SUV portfolio but sales of two-wheelers are at their lowest in nine years.

Uday Shankar, James Murdoch firm to pick up 39% stake in Viacom 18

 Lupa India, the investment company set up by Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, is in the final stages of picking up a 39 per cent stake in Viacom 18

Lupa India, the investment company set up by Uday Shankar and James Murdoch, is in the final stages of picking up a 39 per cent stake in Viacom 18, which runs television and digital entertainment channels and is entering the sports business, say sources.

Viacom18 is currently a joint venture in which TV18 controlled by Reliance Industries Ltd, has a 51 per cent stake, and Viacom CBS has a 49 per cent stake. The company runs Color channels, Nickelodeon, India, Comedy Central India, VH1 India, MTV India, History TV 18 besides Viacom 18 Studios (which makes movies and other content), and OTT channel Voot. The news business is run by Network 18 which is a listed company of which TV 18 is a subsidiary. While Reliance’s TV18 will maintain its majority stake of 51 per cent, Shankar-Murdoch will pick up a 39 per cent stake, thereby turning Viacom into a minority player with a 10 per cent share in the company.

Sources say that the Shankar-Murdoch investment arm has made it clear that it has no interest in the group’s news business, and will only invest in the step-down subsidiary. It is also believed that Shankar will play a key role in building the sports business for the JV. Uday Shankar was unavailable for comment. A spokesperson of Reliance Indistries said: “As a policy, we do not comment on media speculation or rumours, Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis.”

Here's why Russia might invade Ukraine and why US is involved in conflict

 Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine over the past several months

U. S. President Joe Biden said on Jan. 19, 2022, that he thinks Russia will invade Ukraine, and cautioned Russian president Vladimir Putin that he “will regret having done it,” following months of building tension. Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine over the past several months. In mid-January, Russia began moving troops into Belarus, a country bordering both Russia and Ukraine, in preparation for joint military exercises in February.

Putin has issued various security demands to the U. S. before he draws his military forces back. Putin’s list includes a ban on Ukraine from entering NATO, and agreement that NATO will remove troops and weapons across much of Eastern Europe. There’s precedent for taking the threat seriously: Putin already annexed the Crimea portion of Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine’s layered history offers a window into the complex nation it is today — and why it is continuously under threat. As an Eastern Europe expert, I highlight five key points to keep in mind.

Israeli PM likely to visit India as 2 nations celebrate 30 years of ties

 Gilon launched the logo virtually along with his Indian counterpart in Tel Aviv, Ambassador Sanjeev Singla

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior officials are likely to visit India this year as the two countries celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations, Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said on Monday. In a Webinar held for the virtual launch of a special logo to set in motion the year-long celebrations to commemorate the occasion, Gilon said he feels very lucky to be Israel’s Ambassador in India when “relations are exceptional” and “beyond regular”, one of “partnership between ancient civilisations”.

To further deepen bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, Gilon said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other officials are likely to visit India as the two countries celebrate 30 years of establishment of diplomatic ties. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had extended an invitation to Bennett from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Israel last year.

“This is an important occasion to reflect on our mutual successes as well as a good opportunity to look ahead and shape the next 30 years of our relations. I am sure that our close existing cooperation in different fields will only continue to grow and flourish in the coming years, Gilon stressed. Gilon launched the logo virtually along with his Indian counterpart in Tel Aviv, Ambassador Sanjeev Singla…Read More

S Korea's daily Covid count tops 8,000 for first time amid Omicron spread

 The new record came amid the spread of the more transmissible but less deadly Omicron variant, which became dominant in the country last week

South Korea’s daily count of new coronavirus cases topped 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads rapidly despite the recent extension of strict social-distancing rules to slow infection.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 8,571 cases for Monday, exceeding the previous peak posted in mid-December of 7,848. The new record came amid the spread of the more transmissible but less deadly Omicron variant, which became dominant in the country last week, and despite less testing over the weekend. South Korea reinstated tougher distancing curbs in December as record-breaking numbers of daily cases and critically ill patients threatened to saturate its medical system before the Omicron wave hit.

Daily tallies had almost halved to around 4,000 this month but began rebounding last week because of Omicron infections, logging their second-highest level on Saturday. The surge fuelled worries about a potentially bigger wave ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, when tens of millions of Koreans usually travel across the country for family visits. Health officials said Omicron would likely account for more than 90% of new infections within two to three weeks, while daily numbers could reach 20,000 to 30,000 or even higher.