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☆ YouTube Looking Into Gandhi’s Claim Political Videos in India Suppressed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Newley Purnell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two videos criticizing India’s government are alleged to be receiving far fewer views than YouTube analytics suggest they should. YouTube’s chief executive said in an email that the company is looking into a claim by Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi that the Alphabet Inc. unit is suppressing his videos criticizing India’s ruling party and a billionaire who controls a conglomerate accused of wide-ranging fraud. The March 25 email from YouTube’s Neal Mohan , which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, came in response to a letter sent two weeks earlier from the leader of a group of overseas Indians who support Mr. Gandhi’s Congress party.

HISTORY OF DEFAMATION AS A CRIMINAL OFFENCESection 499 of the Indian Penal Code enacted by British colonial rulers in 1860 made defamation a criminal offence and Section 500 set out punishment. Anyone found guilty of criminal defamation can be jailed but a civil offence means they can only be made to pay damages. The criminal law has been invoked in cases filed against journalists, politicians and industry leaders but convictions have been rare. "Criminal defamation laws have an inhibitory and silencing effect, even before a conviction,” it said. However, Supreme Court advocate Raju Ramachandran said the section on criminal defamation "is carefully and elaborately worded" and should stay.

☆ India's disqualified Gandhi says he will not stop asking Modi questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI, March 25 (Reuters) - Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday he had been disqualified from parliament because he has been asking the prime minister tough questions about his relationship with Gautam Adani, founder of the embattled Adani conglomerate. Gandhi, who represented India’s main opposition Congress party in parliament, lost his seat on Friday, a day after a court in the western state of Gujarat convicted him in a defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. The defamation case was filed in connection with comments Gandhi made in a speech that many deemed insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India's next general election is due by mid-2024 and Gandhi has recently been trying to revive the fortunes of his party. Modi’s enormous popularity remains intact despite the accusations of undue favours to the Adani group, approval ratings have shown.

☆ Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi Expelled From Parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Rajesh Roy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, in white shirt and beard, leaves Parliament in New Delhi on Friday. NEW DELHI—India’s Parliament disqualified opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker on Friday after a lower court convicted and sentenced him to two years in prison in a defamation case linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s surname. The move casts a shadow over Mr. Gandhi’s political future as elections approach next year. His Congress party plans to appeal the conviction soon, according to party leaders. If the appeal is accepted, Mr. Gandhi would be able to retake his seat in the legislature.

Yet he remains at the centre of India's opposition politics and the main target of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu- nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Gandhi entered politics and was first elected to parliament in 2004 from his family borough of Amethi in the northern heartland state of Uttar Pradesh. He repeated that victory in 2009 and 2014 but suffered a shock setback in 2019 when he lost the seat. However, he had also contested a seat in the Kerala state and won there to return to parliament. Outside parliament, he has often reminded his supporters of his family's commitment and sacrifices, talking about the assassinations of his grandmother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and his former prime minister father, Rajiv Gandhi.

☆ India's parliament disqualifies opposition leader Rahul Gandhi
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

NEW DELHI, March 24 (Reuters) - India's parliament on Friday disqualified opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker after a lower court found him guilty of defamation and sentenced him to two years in prison, according to a parliament notice. Gandhi, 52, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, was convicted on Thursday for a 2019 speech in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi. The court granted him bail immediately and suspended the sentence for a month. Reporting by Shivam Patel; Editing by Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's Congress party to launch street protests against Gandhi's conviction
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Rupam Jain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Supporters of the Youth Congress Party hold placards during a silent protest against the conviction of Rahul Gandhi, President of India's main opposition Congress party, in a 2019 Defamation case by a Surat court, on a street in Mumbai, India, March 23, 2023. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasNEW DELHI, March 24 (Reuters) - Members of India's main opposition Congress party will take to the streets on Friday to protest against leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction for defamation, party officials said a day after a magistrate's court sentenced Gandhi to a two-year jail term. Two senior Congress leaders told Reuters that Gandhi will respect the local court's verdict and will not attend parliament. Officials in the Congress party said they are also depending on regional opposition parties to galvanize political support against the verdict. The president's office confirmed that Congress leaders have sought a meeting with President Draupadi Murmu to lodge a protest against the conviction with the top constitutional executive.

☆ Factbox: Why Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi may lose his parliament seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Arpan Chaturvedi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A formal disqualification order will, however, have to be passed by the secretariat of the lower house of parliament of which Gandhi is a member. CAN GANDHI CONTEST ELECTIONS? The law also mandates that a convicted lawmaker cannot contest elections for six years after the end of their jail sentence. To avoid disqualification, a convicted lawmaker has to secure an order from a higher court suspending the conviction, lawyers said. He can secure bail extensions during the appeal period but cannot contest elections until the conviction is stayed or he is acquitted in the case.

☆ Indian court convicts Rahul Gandhi of defamation, gives two-year sentence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Gandhi was present at the court in Surat, a city in Gujarat, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. Gandhi would appeal against the verdict in a higher court, the president of his Congress party said on Twitter, calling Modi's government "cowardly and dictatorial". "The court has found Rahul Gandhi’s comment to be defamatory. Gandhi said in court that he had made the comment to highlight corruption and not against any community. Reporting by Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Economists who obsess about tightly calibrating the quantity of money in the system balk at QE as a tool. Two weeks of turmoil in mid-sized U.S. banks follow just nine months in which the Fed had been winding down its outsize balance sheet that peaked near $9 trillion during the pandemic. "Illiquidity episodes may force central banks to slow the process of reserve withdrawal. Reuters GraphicsILLIQUIDTY EPISODESThis could become a trap that prevents normalisation of the balance sheet longer term, they said. Better-measured and more forward-looking liquidity regulations, incentives for longer-duration deposits during QE bouts and rethinking stress tests were all options, they wrote.

☆ Fleetcor Strikes Board Agreement With Activist Shareholder D. E. Shaw
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Lauren Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fleetcor Technologies is considering a breakup of its business. Payments company Fleetcor Technologies Inc. has struck an agreement with activist shareholder D. E. Shaw Group to refresh its board and consider separating parts of its business. As part of the agreement unveiled Monday, Fleetcor has appointed Rahul Gupta, the former chief executive of healthcare-billing and payments company RevSpring Inc., to its board, as well as another mutually agreed-upon director.

☆ Starc scythes down India as Australia win second ODI to level series
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 19 (Reuters) - Australian pacer Mitchell Starc ripped through India's lineup with five wickets to lay the platform for a crushing 10-wicket win in the second one-day international in Visakhapatnam on Sunday that levelled their three-match series at 1-1. "Starc in particular with the new ball, swinging it back down the line and putting them under early pressure. We didn't play to our potential and didn't apply ourselves with the bat," Rohit said after India's heaviest defeat in terms of balls remaining. He's been doing it for years for Australia with the new ball. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Barclays cuts 2023 oil price forecasts on resilient Russian output
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Barclays PLC FollowMarch 8 (Reuters) - Barclays cut its 2023 oil price forecasts on Wednesday, due in part to more resilient output from Russia than expected, and said the market could flip into a deficit in the second half of the year due to growing demand in China. China's oil demand could increase by 500,000 to 600,000 bpd in 2023, Haitham Al Ghais, the secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday at the CERAWEEK conference, with global oil demand seen rising by 2.3 million bpd in 2023. Barclays, meanwhile, revised its 2023 demand estimate 150,000 bpd higher due in part to a somewhat improved growth outlook for the United States and Europe. It sees a 900,000 bpd increase in Chinese demand this year. The Group of Seven economies, the European Union and Australia agreed a price cap on Russian oil late last year, aiming to deprive Moscow of funds for its war in Ukraine.

☆ What could go wrong? Oscars team prepares for anything after Will Smith slap
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Lisa Richwine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, March 8 (Reuters) - Organizers of Sunday's 95th Academy Awards are preparing for the unexpected after Will Smith's infamous slap of Chris Rock convulsed Hollywood's biggest awards ceremony last year. For the first time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has created a crisis team to respond to any mishaps. The organization has not disclosed details about the membership of the crisis team or how it may react to anything out of the ordinary. Weiss said the team was planning to pepper the show with moments that they hope would spread on Twitter and TikTok. Pop superstar Rihanna will sing her nominated song "Lift Me Up" from "Wakanda Forever."

☆ This India ETF is the only one among its peers that's risen this year — and pros see more upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The VanEck Digital India ETF is the only India-focused stock exchange-traded fund listed on Western exchanges to have posted gains this year. The emerging market fund tracks the MVIS Digital India Index. "We suspect this will remain the dominant theme setting the direction for Indian markets in the near term." However, the short-term turmoil in Indian markets hasn't upset long-term bulls on the Indian economy, according to Dutch bank ING. CNBC Pro did not include the Canada-listed iShares India Index ETF and BMO MSCI India ESG Leaders Index ETF and U.S.-listed VanEck India Growth Leaders ETF owing to a lack of price targets from FactSet.

☆ Unsure about the market rally? Strategist picks 3 stocks to stay ‘defensively offensive’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"There are basically two stories in the market today," Rahul Ghosh, portfolio specialist, equity division at T. Rowe Price, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Thursday. Be 'defensively offensive' In this environment, Ghosh said investors should look to be "almost defensively offensive." Stock Ideas One of Ghosh's top stock picks is chip maker Nvidia , which he described as a "clear winner" in the artificial intelligence "arms race." We're talking about slowing from 50% growth rate to 30%, and potentially picking up next year. Are we going to potentially slow down and have a hard landing, a no landing, or a soft landing?

☆ INDIA RUPEE Dollar pullback ahead of U.S. inflation data to lift rupee at open
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Nimesh Vora | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee was poised to open higher against the U.S. dollar, tracking a broad pullback on the currency in the lead-up to key U.S. inflation data due later on Tuesday. The non-deliverable forward market indicated an opening of around 82.60 for the rupee compared with 82.7175 in the previous session. Intraday position takers were not likely to chase the USD/INR pair lower at open, a spot trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. The overnight risk of the U.S. data and India's surprise on inflation would mean little follow-through after the open, he added. Asian currencies were mostly higher ahead of data that is expected to show that U.S. inflation had eased.

☆ The great venture-capital resignation is now the great uncertainty for many solo GPs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But what's gone almost unnoticed in the midst of the tech bloodletting is that consolidation is coming for venture investors, too. "Anyone who wanted to raise a fund could," said Nichole Wischoff, a solo venture capitalist. In essence, the great venture-capital resignation has become the great uncertainty. Family offices and institutions that front money to venture funds are being inundated with pitches, multiple sources said. "There's not going to be a rush by the big mega-platforms to hire them," said the principal at the early-stage venture firm.

☆ How to delete yourself from the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

With so much personal data floating publicly on the internet, consumers have a legitimate interest in controlling the information flow. Self-help tools to remove personal informationFor those who are so inclined, there are ways to limit the amount of personal information available on the internet. If that fails, Google says it may remove personal information "that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harms." It can be hard to gauge the effectiveness of these services, partly because there's so much personal information in the public domain. DeleteMe's website says that 2,389 pieces of personal information, on average, are found over a two-year subscription.

☆ Australia drop Head, Murphy debuts against India in Nagpur
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NAGPUR, India, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Australia dropped middle-order batter Travis Head and handed uncapped off-spinner Todd Murphy his debut for the opening test against India in Nagpur on Thursday. Touring captain Pat Cummins won an important toss and elected to bat in spin-friendly conditions at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. "We know we're going to have to tweak a few things to how we play in Australia, can't wait." For India, Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked Twenty20 batter, will make his test debut alongside wicketkeeper KS Bharat. India captain Rohit Sharma said they too would have preferred to bat first.

☆ India's Modi lashes opposition as Adani allegations persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Shivam Patel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Modi spent a nearly 90-minute speech to parliament mainly listing governments achievements and without naming the under-fire Adani Group. However, opposition lawmakers who are demanding an investigation into the business group interrupted him several times shouting slogans. "The blessings of 1.4 billion people in the country is my protective cover and you can't destroy it with lies and abuses," said Modi as opposition lawmakers chanted "Adani, Adani". Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS), Adani Power (ADAN.NS) and Adani Wilmar (ADAW.NS) rose 5% each, while Adani Green (ADNA.NS) and Adani Total Gas Ltd (ADAG.NS) fell 5% each. They have questioned investments made by state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIFI.NS) and the State Bank of India (SBI.NS) in Adani Group companies.

☆ India's Gandhi ends 135-day march to revive Congress party in snowy Kashmir
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Fayaz Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"All secular parties must come together to liberate the country from BJP," D. Raja, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, said at the rally. Several other opposition leaders failed to make it to the rally because flights into Srinagar's airport were cancelled due to the heavy snow. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has controlled the Congress party for decades but has also overseen its recent decline. Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress president after the last election. "I am not from the Congress party but want to support the cause Gandhi stands for," Ahmad said.

Adani, whose home state is Gujarat in western India, built his business empire from scratch after starting as a commodities trader. Adani's business empire grew rapidly and his wealth ballooned. In recent years, the $220 billion Adani Group empire has attracted foreign investment - France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), for example, partnered with Adani last year to develop the world's biggest green hydrogen ecosystem. It is not known what was discussed and Adani Group did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Adani Group's consolidated gross debt stands at $23.34 billion, Jefferies says.

☆ Bank of America announced a new class of managing directors — here are all 87 names in corporate and investment banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America has announced a new class of 360 managing directors. Insider has the list of the 87 new MDs for the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank. It's managing director promotion day at Bank of America. On Thursday, the class of 360 managing directors across the firm were announced internally, up 15% from the 314 promoted in 2022.Insider has the list of the 87 employees who were promoted in the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank — the division responsible for dealmaking. That's down 17% from 105 new MDs last year in the division, likely a reflection of a difficult year in investment banking across Wall Street that saw revenues drop in excess of 50%.

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