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Elon Musk has once again drawn attention to South Korea’s falling birth rates, calling the situation a “catastrophic population collapse.” The billionaire entrepreneur made the statement in response to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that included a stark visualisation of the country’s demographic crisis. The highlighted portion of the post read: “In South Korea, where the total fertility rate is the lowest in the world at 0.68, every 200 fertile-age adults can expect to give life to 68 children; those children will produce 23 grandchildren, who will result in only eight great-grandchildren. That’s a 96 percent population decline over the course of three generations, and that’s if fertility stops decreasing and finally holds steady.” A user reacted to the alarming statistics by stating, “This is such an insane thing to visualise.” Musk replied with a brief but pointed response: “Catastrophic population collapse.”

Zolve has secured $251 million in a debt-equity mix funding round led by Creaegis. The startup offers credit facilities to students and professionals moving to the United States from other countries. Out of the total funds, $51 million is an equity infusion and the rest is debt. Other than Creaegis the round saw participation by HSBC, SBI Investment, GMO Venture Partners, DG Daiwa Ventures, and existing investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group, and DST Global. Accel, DST Global, and others had participated in the platform's first institutional funding round of around $40 million, which took place in October 2021.

Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. It was a light-hearted moment at the Oval Office when Trump ribbed Vance about the green-and-white shamrock socks he wore during a meeting with Ireland Prime Minister Michael Martin. Trump couldn't help but laugh as he was momentarily distracted by Vance's crazy-patterned socks.

Chhattisgarh Waqf Board has decided to reschedule Namaz in mosques across the state this year, as Holi celebrations coincide with Friday prayers. An official directive has been issued to all mosques regarding this change. As per the directive, the Friday prayers, which are usually held between 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM, will now take place between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM on March 14. Speaking on the decision, Chhattisgarh Waqf Board Chairman Dr. Salim Raj said, «The Chhattisgarh State Waqf Board has decided that, considering the festival of Holi, Friday prayers will be held between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM in all mosques. Previously, the prayers were conducted at 12:30 PM or 1:00 PM, but now they will be held later in all mosques across the state. Chhattisgarh has become the first state in the country to implement such a change in mosque prayer timings.» Meanwhile, on Tuesday, according to authorities, Friday Namaaz prayers in mosques in the cities of Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been postponed to the afternoon to avoid overlapping with Holika Dahan timings on March 14, the day of the Holi festival. Haridwar Superintendent of Police Pankaj Gairola confirmed that a meeting with community representatives resulted in the decision to hold Friday prayers after 2:30 pm.

It comes as US President Donald Trump's increasingly hostile stance towards traditional European allies has shaken faith in US commitment to the continent's security. Here's what Germany's armed forces — the Bundeswehr — are thought to need, and how they might get it: — What is the state of the Bundeswehr? - Germany cashed in a so-called «peace dividend» after the Cold War. Like other Western countries, it reduced the size of its armed forces and directed more spending to areas like welfare.

Keki Mistry, Former VC & CEO, HDFC & Independent Director in Several Companies, says he would be surprised if India’s growth is not 7% or very close to 7% by the second half of the year. If monsoons are good, food prices continue to remain low, and there is low geopolitical uncertainty, then we can cross 7% in the latter part of the year. Mistry also says that the risk to India from tariff threat is far lesser than the risk to countries like China, Canada or any of these European countries. India is hugely dependent on the domestic economy though exports make for 22-23% of GDP and the US accounts for 16-17% of total exports. So, the proportion of the impact it will have on India will be lesser than in most other countries. FMCG, retail, also the IT sector will do well because of rupee depreciation.

Seo Hye-jin under Crea Studio. Despite Seo Hye-jin’s history of producing hit shows, Under 15 is generating buzz for all the wrong reasons. The show is actively scouting children between the ages of 3 and 15 from more than 70 countries, sparking widespread concern. Reports indicate that the producer’s goal is to form a group with an average debut age even lower than NewJeans’ 16.4 years, raising ethical questions about the industry's growing push toward increasingly younger idols. As the introductory poster of one of the contestants, eight-year-old Kim Ga Yoon, went viral on X, several netizens condemned the induction of such young children, pointing out that they are vulnerable to predators. Many also objected to the name of the programme, saying that such a suggestive name would attract the attention of pedophiles.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh expressed his pride in ISRO's latest achievement, the successful demonstration of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, calling it a significant step toward India's future space ambitions. In a post on X on Wednesday, Singh congratulated the ISRO team, emphasising that the successful de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites was a critical development for upcoming projects, including the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, Chandrayaan 4, and Gaganyaan. «PM Narendra Modi’s continuous patronage keeps the spirits soaring,» Singh added. The SpaDeX mission, launched on December 30, 2024, marks a crucial milestone in India’s space exploration journey, demonstrating advanced space docking and undocking technology that will be essential for future missions.

Infosys cofounder N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday sought to calm the «exaggerated» hype around artificial intelligence (AI) in India, noting that many systems being labelled AI were nothing more than old programming. “I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal, ordinary programs touted as AI,” he remarked at TiECon Mumbai, an annual conference of entrepreneurs. In a conversation with TiE Mumbai founding president Harish Mehta, Murthy explained that there are two fundamental principles behind true AI: the first is machine learning, which enables large-scale correlation to make predictions; the second is deep learning, which mimics how the human brain works, using unsupervised algorithms.

Blackstone chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman believes the new US tariff regime has the potential to boost growth and strengthen American consumption demand by attracting foreign investment. Speaking during his visit to India to mark Blackstone’s 20th anniversary in the country, Schwarzman discussed global trade, US policy, and India’s economic prospects. Addressing concerns about the impact of reciprocal tariffs on the US economy, he said that while input costs for American businesses may rise, the policy is already stimulating large-scale inbound investments.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The world is being resurrected. Now our saviour, Donald Trump, is back.

Donald Trump has done more than any of his modern predecessors to hollow out the foundations of an international system that the United States painstakingly erected in the 80 years since it emerged victorious from World War II. Without formally declaring a reversal of course or offering a strategic rationale, he has pushed the United States to switch sides in the Ukraine war, abandoning for a time all talk about helping a nascent, flawed democracy defend its borders against a larger invader. He did not hesitate when he ordered the United States to vote with Russia and North Korea — and against virtually all of America's traditional allies — to defeat a U.N.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, which include ending poverty and achieving gender equality, a study has found. However, when grouped according to geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic factors, different countries appear to be making progress on different goals, according to the findings published in the journal PLOS One. Researchers, including those from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, found that, for instance, African and Asian countries-which have the lowest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — have made low progress on goals such as eradicating poverty, achieving gender equality, and ensuring good health and well-being. However, these countries have made the best progress on climate action and responsible consumption and production, the team said.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander touched down on the Moon on 2 March 2025, making it the first commercial spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. It landed in Mare Crisium, a dark basaltic plain formed by an ancient asteroid impact. NASA describes the region as a “large, dark, basaltic plain on the Moon that filled an ancient asteroid impact.” The milestone highlights the increasing role of private companies in space exploration.

Global trade is forecast to grow, albeit less robustly, as the world reacts to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies, Germany's DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer told Reuters on Wednesday. «That outlook is mainly based on the 75% of global trade that does not touch the U.S.,» said Meyer, who noted that segment is seeing positive momentum. The global goods trade is expected to expand at a compound annual rate of 3.1% from 2024 to 2029, a modestly faster pace than during the preceding decade, according to the DHL Trade Atlas 2025 prepared by delivery firm and New York University's Stern School of Business.

cocoa and coffee futures is leaving traders so cash-strapped that many no longer have enough money to ship the two commodities around the world. Rising prices forced traders to deposit large sums of money with the New York exchange to back their futures positions. With so much cash locked up, it’s become much harder to finance cargoes to move beans from where they are produced to where they are consumed. To make matters worse, a rising market has prompted some farmers that sold at lower prices to default, leaving traders without the supply they need. Chocolate maker Hershey Co. argues there’s a “significant disconnect” between prices in the physical and the futures market, and that a lack of liquidity is allowing for unprecedented volatility.

global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the U.S. president. Just hours after Trump's 25% duties on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect, Trump said he would impose additional penalties if the EU follows through with its plan to enact counter tariffs on some U.S. goods next month. «Whatever they charge us, we're charging them,» Trump told reporters at the White House. Trump's hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and raised recession fears. He also has frayed relations with Canada, a close ally and major trading partner, by repeatedly threatening to annex the neighboring country. Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States, announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on those metals along with computers, sports equipment and other products worth $20 billion in total. Canada has already imposed tariffs worth a similar amount on U.S. goods in response to broader tariffs by Trump. «We will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted,» Canada's Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said.

Also read: Bank holidays in March 2025: Check state-wise list of bank holidays in March The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues a list of public and regional holidays for banks under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. As Holika Dahan is a significant festival in North and Central India, many banks in these regions will remain closed.

The Nifty IT index fell 2.9%, while the benchmark Nifty ended 0.1% lower Wednesday.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Mumbai: The back-to-back marketing agreements signed by Starlink with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio has finally paved the way for launch of the Elon-Musk-owned satellite internet provider’s services after an initial attempt four years ago.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Blackstone Group Inc of the US will build out its credit and infrastructure verticals in India to complement its private equity (PE) and real estate businesses, senior executives at the firm said, adding that the firm is expecting to double its India assets under management (AUM) over the next three years. “We have a global (credit) business of over $450 billion in assets that we hope to bring into India," Blackstone’s chairman, chief execuitve officer and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman said in a media interaction in Mumbai.