Eleven European nations joined the U.S. in recognising opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim President, heightening a global showdown over Nicolas Maduro's socialist rule.
The EU members' coordinated move followed the expiry of an ultimatum for Mr. Maduro to call a new election and aligned them with Washington against Russia and China.
The sitting Venezuelan leader has defied European heads of state and called them sycophants for following President Donald Trump.
Mr. Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declared himself caretaker leader last month in a move that has fed into a global geopolitical divide and brought Venezuelans onto the streets. Mr. Trump quickly recognised him, but Europe had been hesitant.
Pope Francis Calls for End to Wars
Pope Francis called for an end to wars in West Asia during the first ever visit by the head of the Catholic Church to the birthplace of Islam, the Arabian Peninsula.
The pope held talks in Abu Dhabi with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's prestigious seat of learning, before delivering an address at an interfaith meeting.
In his address, the pontiff pushed the need for justice, equality of citizens' rights and an end to all wars, including in Yemen.
UAE and Saudi Arabia are key allies of the Yemeni government, which is locked in a war against Iran-backed rebels that has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
U.K. Seeks to Reassure Foreign Investors
Britain will seek to reassure foreign investors worried about Britain leaving the EU after Japanese automaker Nissan said that it was scrapping a major planned investment less than two months before Brexit.
Britain is on course to crash out of the bloc on March 29 after MPs last month voted massively against a divorce deal struck between May and EU leaders in December.
According to a major new study, scientists have warned that two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers, the world's "Third Pole", could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not reduced.
According to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, even if the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5° C is achieved, one-third of the glaciers would go.
The glaciers feed 10 of the world's most important river systems, including the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Mekong and Irrawaddy, and directly or indirectly supply billions of people with food, energy, clean air and income.
According to data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the fiscal deficit for the period April-December 2018 has touched 112.4% of the budget target of Rs. 6.24 lakh crore for the financial year 2018-19.
The situation, however, is marginally better than last year, where the fiscal deficit at the end of December 2017 was 113.6% of that year's budget estimate.
Centre May Relax Angel Tax Norms for Start-ups
The government decided to set up a five-member working committee to look into the angel tax issue and come up with guidelines in one week.
It also agreed to implement some key changes requested by start-ups regarding the issue.
The 'angel tax', as it is commonly called, is a tax on the excess capital raised by an unlisted company through the issue of shares over and above the fair market value of those shares.
This excess capital is treated as income and taxed accordingly. This tax most commonly affects start-ups and the angel investors who back them.
RCom Barred from Selling Any Asset
According to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Reliance Communications (RCom) or any third party cannot sell, transfer or alienate any of its assets (movable and immovable) without the appellate tribunal's or the Supreme Court's permission.
The directive came after RCom moved the NCLAT for withdrawal of its appeal against an NCLT order, directing the firm to pay Rs. 550 crore to Ericsson, to pursue the resolution plan through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process.
Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Madras have demonstrated the possibility of generating biocompatible lasers from carrots, exploiting a process first discovered by Sir C. V. Raman who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.
This finding by the IIT Madras team, a first-of-its-kind development even globally, promises significant advancements in scientific and industrial research on optical spectroscopy and sensing.
Apart from being bio-friendly, the system they envisage is robust and reliable, with good and linear response to temperature.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee became the first head of a government in the country to hold a cabinet meeting in a traffic police outpost on a pavement in the heart of Kolkata to pass the state budget.
The full cabinet comprising more than 50 ministers huddled in the room as the cabinet led by the Chief Minister passed the budget in a few minutes. The budget was later placed in the state Assembly in the absence of the Chief Minister.
Eyeing a greater pie in India's massive military modernisation, top American defence manufacturing company, Lockheed Martin, has proposed a game-changing partnership with India.
As per Vivek Lall, vice president, Aeronautics Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin, Lockheed Martin is committed to strategic, long-term international defense partnerships with India. India has a pressing need for advanced, scalable defense capabilities.
Lockheed Martin is proposing game-changing defense partnerships that benefit multiple stakeholders" not only in India, but also in the US and beyond.
In the middle of an unprecedented showdown between the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) and the Mamata Banjerjee-led government of West Bengal over the proposed questioning of Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar, the agency got a new director.
Shukla, a 1983 batch IPS official of Madhya Pradesh cadre, took charge.
Shukla's appointment, cleared by the government, is expected to stabilise the CBI which went to turbulent times due to friction between former agency chief Alok Verma and his special director Asthana.
Shukla is former chief of the Madhya Pradesh police.
World Cancer Day is an international day marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.
World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008.
The primary goal of World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer and is an opportunity to rally the international community to end the injustice of preventable suffering from cancer.
In 2016, World Cancer Day started a three-year campaign under the tagline of 'We can. I can.', which explored the power of collective and individual actions to reduce the impact of cancer. Prior to 2016, the campaign themes included "Not Beyond Us" (2015) and "Debunk the Myths" (2014).
2019 - 2021 will be the start of a new campaign theme 'I Am and I Will'.
The Supreme Court upheld the Haj Policy 2019-23, which categorises the Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) on the parameters of their experience and financial strength.
The Court found "nothing arbitrary or unreasonable" in such a classification by the government.
The government allowed women to work in underground mines and eased restrictions that prohibited them from working night shifts in surface mines, striking down a six-decade-old rule that disadvantaged female employees in a sector considered hazardous.
The announcement was made through a notification by the Union Labour Ministry, which said that the Mines Act, 1952, had been amended.
An employer will need to obtain written consent from the female staffer and the underground deployment will be limited to roles that are "technical, supervisory and managerial", the notification said.
According to the new rules, in addition to requiring written consent, employers must provide the workers with adequate facilities and safeguards regarding occupational safety, security and health.
Encrypted Barcode to Curb Malpractices in Examinations
A University Grants Commission (UGC)-appointed panel has preferred the introduction of encrypted barcodes over roll numbers to curb malpractices in examinations and on-demand examination facility to help students.
The nine-member panel, set up to make suggestions for an overhaul of the examination system in the country's higher education institutes, is also of the view that a model should be created for undergraduate, post-graduate, MPhil and PhD courses that will enable continuous internal evaluation and external tests.
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