The Maldives government denied it was selling a cluster of small islands to Saudi Arabia, following opposition protests against such a deal.
The government was seeking foreign investment to develop the area.
The Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had accused the government of ceding control of the inhabited atoll of Faafu to Saudi Arabia.
the government is working with a range of international investors to develop Faafu and the rest of the country and wanted to construct apartments, tourist resorts and airports.
Turkey and Germany Must Rebuild Friendship
Germany urged Turkey to work toward restoring ties frayed by a series of bitter disputes but warned that any comparison to the Nazi era was a red line that cannot be crossed.
Despite Berlin and Ankara's deep differences on a host of issues, there is no alternative to dialogue because that is the only way we can return, step-by-step, to a normal and friendly relationship.
Billionaire Uday Kotak sold 2.76 crore shares of his personal stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank for Rs. 2,255 crore to two Canadian pension fund managers in an open market transaction. This move will help the bank comply with a Reserve Bank of India directive on promoter shareholding.
With this sale, the promoter group’s shareholding comes down to 32.11%.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board had already owned a 5.76% stake in the private Indian lender.
Aadhaar Pay App Launched
IDFC Bank has officially launched its Aadhaar pay infrastructure meant for those without any mobile phone to carry out cashless transactions.
The bank aims to reach 50,000-75,000 merchant points to be connected to the Aadhaar pay module in the next two years.
IRDAI Clears Different Levels of Licences
Insurance regulator IRDAI has cleared different levels of licences to a host of new players in the insurance industry in non-life and reinsurance.
Not a single licence was cleared by the insurance regulator for any player on life space as it didn't receive any such application this time.
Insurance and reinsurance companies promoted by billionaire investors like Warren Buffet and Narayana Murthy have been given regulatory clearances by the IRDAI for their Indian foray.
Ronald Drever, one of the architects behind the first detection of gravitational waves, has died aged 85.
Ronald Drever's role in the detection of gravitational waves was recognised in a stream of awards last year, including the Gruber, Breakthrough and Kavli Prizes.
He co-founded the LIGO project, and was a co-inventor of the Pound–Drever–Hall technique for laser stabilisation.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become the first pair of spinners to be jointly top-ranked in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.
The announcement was made by International Cricket Council (ICC) after the rankings were released after the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru.
The last time two bowlers shared the top spot was in April 2008 when Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralidaran were at the top.
India and other members of the G4 have offered to initially forgo veto powers as permanent members in a reformed Security Council as a bargaining chip to get the reform process moving.
The new permanent members would in principle have veto powers that the current five have, they shall not exercise the veto until a decision on the matter has been taken during a review.
India, Brazil, Germany and Japan constitute the G4, which lobbies for Council reforms and they mutually support each other's candidatures for permanent seats on an expanded body.
Vishwanath Mahadeshwar Elected as Mumbai Mayor
Shiv Sena's Vishwanath Mahadeshwar has been elected as the Mayor of Mumbai with the support of the BJP.