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BlackRock has once again reduced its valuation of Indian ed-tech unicorn Byju’s, this time by around 95 percent from $22 billion to $1 billion, as per a Tech Crunch report citing company disclosures. At $22 billion, Byju's was India's most valuable start-up. The downgrade is not too surprising.

OpenAI unveils GPT Store for custom AI-powered chatbots Pictures of Altman's wedding began circulating on social media on Thursday, showing the couple surrounded by palm trees in a ceremony apparently attended by only a dozen or so people. According to a report by The Free Press Journal, Altman and Mulherin shared the news of their union via a post on Instagram.

India in defending freedom of navigation in the Red Sea as the two countries discussed «shared concerns» over the reckless Houthi attacks in the region. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Thursday and «discussed the United States and India's shared concerns over the reckless Houthi attacks in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which threaten the free flow of commerce, endanger innocent mariners, and violate international law». State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that Blinken emphasised the Red Sea is a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade and «welcomed increased cooperation with India in defending freedom of navigation in the region».

BEIJING — China's exports rose more than expected in December, but failed to offset an overall decline for 2023, customs data showed Friday.

The U.S. ambassador to Serbia says the United States has received Kosovo’s request for the purchase of Javelin anti-tank missiles

An industry association reports that China’s auto exports surged 63.7% in 2023 while sales at home rose 4.2%

Quiver Quantitative — The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is witnessing its largest-ever wave of megaprojects, signaling a robust future for natural gas in the global energy mix. Despite international efforts to move away from fossil fuels, exemplified by the recent UN climate talks in Dubai, the energy sector is betting heavily on natural gas. This commitment is evident in the expansion of the world’s largest natural-gas export facility in Qatar and the initiation of massive LNG projects in the United States. These developments are underpinned by the belief that natural gas, as the third leading fossil fuel, will remain a significant part of the world’s energy portfolio through at least 2050.

Recent days in northern Europe have been marked by an onslaught of winter with negative temperatures, leading to a rise in natural gas consumption.

MUMBAI : Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank is waiting for the right time to increase the overseas investment limit for domestic mutual funds, which is currently capped at $7 billion for the entire industry. The RBI governor said although the rupee has stabilized after it was under pressure at the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, RBI is still waiting for the right time to revise the overseas investment limit for mutual funds.

Ukraine has shown the world that Russia's military can be stopped, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday as he began a visit to the Baltic nations in search of more help for his country against the Kremlin's larger and better-supplied forces in the 22-month-old invasion. Speaking in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, Zelenskyy said Ukraine still must bolster its air defenses against Russia's intensified missile and drone onslaughts and replenish its ammunition supplies as long-range strikes become the main feature of this winter's fighting. «We have proven that Russia can be stopped, that deterrence is possible,» he said after talks with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on his first foreign trip of the year. The massive Russian barrages — more than 500 drones and missiles were fired between Dec. 29 and Jan.

Times of India report, tour operators have seen a noticeable decline in enquiries and a significant drop in prices for Maldives holiday packages despite multiple long weekends in January. The ToI report cited the example of Hyderabad, wherein a three-day package from Telangana's capital city to Maldives would cost between ₹55,000 and ₹70,000, now costs ₹45,000. Or even lower! The ToI report also said one-way flight tickets from here to Male are now going between ₹12,000 and ₹15,000, down from the previous average of ₹20,000.

eastward enlargement, once dormant policy areas, are now priorities—giving a new voice to Ukraine’s neighbours in central Europe. The rise of China, and the prospect of resurgent Trumpism in America, has caused the EU to rethink its economic arrangements—often along statist French lines. Climate imperatives have reinforced the value of taking action at collective level—an approach favoured by the EU’s quasi-federal institutions in Brussels.

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Yemen's Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea area. The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Japan, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce «and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.»

U.S. consumers looking to get a tax credit on an electric vehicle purchase will have fewer models to choose from under new rules that limit the countries where automakers can buy battery parts and minerals

diesel exports to Europe rose 42% year-on-year in December on a combination of winter demand and the near absence of Russian supplies in the continent. India exported 248,000 barrels per day (bpd) of diesel to Europe in December, up from 175,000 bpd in December 2022 and 247,000 bpd in November, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa. India's overall exports rose 17% year-on-year in December to 637,000 bpd. Europe's share in India's diesel exports was 39% in December, up from 32% in December '22 and 37% in November. India didn't export any diesel to the US in December.

ALSO READ: India-Maldives row: ‘China one of our best allies’, Maldives President Muizzu urges Beijing to send more tourists He reached Beijing last night after staying in the Chinese city of Fujian for two days. In an address to the Maldives Business Forum in Fujian Province on Tuesday, Muizzu appealed to China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to his country.

Sotheby’s abused its “privilege, power and reputation” to help dupe a Russian billionaire out of millions of dollars as he amassed a world-class art collection, a lawyer for the businessman argued on the first day of a closely watched trial in New York.

In a world increasingly fraught with risks, leading near-term concerns are shifting to the dangers of technology and related problems like the spread of disinformation, and away from economic worries, according to an annual survey of policymakers, industry leaders and experts on risk conducted by the World Economic Forum. The survey of more than 1,400 experts and leaders, released on Wednesday ahead of the WEF annual meeting in Davos next week, points to a moderately risky global environment through 2026 that deteriorates significantly over the coming decade.

The planners of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against the country’s Russian invaders last year envisioned that elite forces, like the unit led by Capt. Anatoliy Kharchenko, would sweep in to deliver the final blows of a D-Day-like triumph. But by the time paratroopers in Kharchenko’s company entered the battle on a moonless night last August, the counteroffensive was already skidding toward failure—and his men were about to learn all of the deadly reasons why.

Ukraine war have fallen to an 11-month low as the price tag on the discounted oil rises, figures show. Since the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, India has bought hundreds of millions of barrels of cut-price Russian crude, saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow's war coffers. The purchases have catapulted it to second place among Russia's customers behind China, and Indian officials have made no secret of their decision to prioritise national interest over international sanctions against Moscow. But the price of Russian crude has risen in the face of OPEC+ production cuts and increased demand from China, analysts say, making it less attractive to Indian customers. Indian refiners bought 1.45 million barrels per day of Russian oil last month, their lowest amount since last January and down nearly 16 percent from November, according to global energy trade intelligence platform Kpler. The «interplay between India and China» was a key driver of the change, Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler told AFP, «as both countries now vie for the same barrels». The biggest beneficiary of the change is Moscow: Russian crude has been trading above $85 per barrel, reports say, even though a coalition of the G7, EU and Australia imposed a $60 price cap a year ago. New Delhi's reduced imports will be welcomed by some European policymakers who have raised concerns over how Indian refiners have processed Russian crude into fuel for the European market, effectively bypassing the EU's sanctions. New Delhi and Moscow have ties dating back to the Cold War, and Russia remains by far the biggest arms supplier to the world's most populous country. India has shied away from explicit condemnations of Russia