Department Financial News

Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, who was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2022 for assisting North Korea in utilizing blockchain technology, has filed a request for a sentence reduction. 

West Bengal government on Thursday preponed the summer vacation of state-run and aided schools from April 22 in view of the prevailing heatwave conditions. A notification issued by the School Education Department on Thursday said apart from pupils, the teaching and non-teaching staff of the schools will be on leave during the period but subject to the direction of election authorities concerned in view of ensuing Lok Sabha elections. «Considering the prevailing heatwave situation, the competent authority has decided to prepone the summer vacation in the schools under your administrative jurisdiction with effect from April 22 except for schools in hill areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, wherein the existing academic schedule may continue until further order,» the notice issued by School Education Secretary to the presidents of primary education and secondary boards said. Earlier in view of the ensuing elections and keeping in mind many schools in northern parts of Bengal have already been turned into camps of security forces as also booths, the summer vacation had been scheduled from May 6.

Train number 06005/06006, the Dr. MGR Chennai Central train, will depart at 5:35 am on April 18 (Thursday) and April 20 (Saturday). It is scheduled to arrive at its destination, Whitefield, at noon on the same day.

state-run WAM news agency termed the rainfall as “a historic weather event" ." The widespread rainfall observed across the UAE is attributed to various factors, including cloud seeding. Here are 10 points to know on Dubai floods 1. The rain caused chaos for residents as water entered the city’s expensive homes and underground car parks with some buildings were also left without power.

laying off an undisclosed number of employees as the technology giant cracks down on costs, a company spokesperson said as reported by Reuters. According to the Google spokesperson, the layoffs are not company-wide. The impacted staff will have the chance to seek for internal roles, the spokeswoman added.

Who won yesterday IPL Match? Gujarat Titans (GT) clashed with Delhi Capitals (DC) at home on April 17. Delhi, coming from two wins in six matches, won the toss and decided to bowl first. Skipper Shubman Gill (8 off 6 balls) was the first to depart for Gujarat.

chips, is poised to get more than $6 billion in grants from the Commerce Department to help pay for domestic factory projects, part of an effort to bring semiconductor production back to American soil. The award, which isn’t yet finalized, could be announced as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. It’s not clear whether the company also plans to accept loans available through the 2022 Chips and Science Act in addition to the direct grant funding.

Amarillo, Texas back in the year 2010 was found leaving her house back in North Bolton recently, leading to mysterious conspiracy theories.

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democrati...

An engineer at Boeing alleges the aircraft company is taking manufacturing shortcuts that could lead to jetliners breaking apart

A federal judge has rejected a request by Native American tribes and environmentalists to stop work on a $10 billion electricity transmission line slated to run through a remote valley in southern Arizona

Some Canadians making money from capital gains are set to pay higher taxes starting this year, according to the federal budget tabled by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit the trail to make a series of pre-budget announcements, mostly on housing, that left some wondering what was left to be said when the federal budget 2024 was released on Wednesday. It turned out, the Liberals still had some surprises in store for Canadians and businesses.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Space sector under the Foreign Exchange Management Rules which will now enable Indian space startups working on capital-intensive space products to now access a global pool of capital. The cabinet on February 21 had allowed 74% foreign direct investment (FDI) under automatic route for satellite manufacturing, upto 49% under automatic route for launch vehicles, and upto 100% under automatic route for manufacturing of components and systems.

Bengal on Wednesday recorded temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, with the meteorological department predicting heatwave conditions persisting until April 21. The forecast indicates that heatwave conditions will persist across various districts in south Bengal, including Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia, Bankura, and Birbhum. Additionally, the weather office said hot and humid conditions will prevail in other parts of the region. Over the next three days, the maximum temperature is expected to increase by two to three degrees Celsius, with minimal change thereafter, according to the Meteorological department.

complaint has been filed against e-commerce major Flipkart and Tata Group firm BigBasket for allegedly making delivery boys work on the day of voting on April 19 in the state. In the complaint filed before Tamil Nadu state election commissioner B Kothi Nirmalasamy on Wednesday, Chennai High Court lawyer K Narasimhan has stated that despite the state government declaring leave of April 19 for the election day, Flipkart and BigBasket are promising guaranteed delivery of orders even on the day of voting. Narasimhan said that as per government order April 19 has been officially declared a public holiday under section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881 to facilitate the electoral process. He said that the Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department of Tamil Nadu has mandated a paid holiday for all employees working in shops, commercial establishments, industrial establishments and IT companies on April 19 to ensure their participation in the democratic process.

Kerala's Idukki on Wednesday. Samir V Kamat, Secretary, Department of Defence--Research and Development (R&D)--and Chairman, DRDO, inaugurated the platform at Underwater Acoustic Research Facility in Kulamavu in Idukki, a Defence Ministry release said. According to the release, SPACE, set up by the Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory of DRDO, has been designed as a premier testing and evaluation hub for sonar systems destined for Indian Navy onboard various platforms, including ships, submarines and helicopters.

Najafgarh zones of this city have offered a 20 per cent discount offer for eligible voters in an attempt to increase voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections, officials said on Tuesday. This place will have its Lok Sabha elections on May 25. Deputy Commissioner of the Karol Bagh Zone Abhishek Mishra stated, «This initiative underscores the crucial role of voter participation in strengthening democracy and nurturing civic responsibility.» In order to receive the discount under this program, voters must show proof of their involvement by showing the ink mark on their finger.

Congress on Wednesday questioned the Election Commission's move to get a post on electoral bonds scheme deleted from social media platform X and said that the issue raised in the post makes the government «extremely uncomfortable». The opposition party's remarks came after the social media platform X said that the Election Commission ordered it to take down select posts of YSR Congress, AAP, N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary for violation of the model code of conduct. The orders were issued on April 2 and April 3 and a follow-up email was sent by the poll panel on April 10 in which it cited a violation of the «voluntary code of ethics» if 'X' fails to remove the four posts reported to it. Congress spokesperson and party's social media department head Supriya Shrinate said the Election Commission had asked platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to delete some posts, one of which was about electoral bonds.

India's power consumption grew nearly 10 per cent year-on-year to 70.66 billion units (BU) in the first half of April this year, showing improvement in economic activities and consumption patterns, according to the power ministry data. According to the data, power consumption in the country rose to 70.66 BU during April 1-15 this year from 64.24 MU in the year-ago period. The peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day rose to about 218 GW in the first half of April compared to 206 GW in the same period a year ago. The highest supply in a day during the entire month of April last year was about 216 GW.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun held talks in nearly 18 months and discussed US-China defence relations and regional and global security issues, the Pentagon said. In the meeting held via videoconference on Tuesday, Austin stressed the importance of keeping military-to-military communication lines between the US and China open, it said. It is the first time since November 2022 that Austin has held talks with his Chinese counterpart when he spoke with the then defence minister of China Wei Fenghe in Cambodia. Dong was appointed China's Defence minister in December. China then named General Li Shangfu as its defence minister.