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Hajj and Umrah has announced a significant update regarding the expiry of Umrah visas for pilgrims arriving from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As per the recent declaration, Dhul Qadah 15 (corresponding to May 23) will mark the final day for the expiration of Umrah visas, a change from the previous expiry date of Dhul Qadah 29 (corresponding to June 6). This adjustment aims to facilitate the smooth influx of pilgrims to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The ministry has also clarified that the validity period of the three-month Umrah visa will start from the date of its issuance, rather than from the date of entry into Saudi Arabia, as previously practiced. This clarification comes in response to inquiries received through the ministry's X platform.

Also Read: Empowering the matriarchs: How women take the lead in joint financial decision-making Empowerment begins with knowledge, and various platforms dedicated to financial education are leading the change in providing women with the tools and resources they need to thrive financially. By offering insights into budgeting, investing, and wealth creation, these initiatives are equipping women with the confidence and skills to make informed financial decisions, laying the foundation for long-term financial security.

Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (previously Twitter) to remove certain posts in India containing political speeches from elected politicians, political parties, and candidates. The ECI stated that these posts violated the model code of conduct and must be taken down. According to a TOI report, X complied with the ECI's orders and restricted access to the posts in question in India. The platform expressed disagreement with the ECI's actions, advocating for expanded freedom of expression for political speech. X has notified affected users and published the takedown orders on its platform for transparency. “The Election Commission of India has issued takedown orders requiring X to act on posts containing political speech shared from elected politicians, political parties and candidates for office. In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general,” X stated.

Kerala, particularly in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital, where heavyweight politicians Shashi Tharoor (Congress) and Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BJP) are vying for victory in the Lok Sabha elections. The Kerala Congress has raised questions about Chandrasekhar's ability to implement an infrastructure development plan for Thiruvananthapuram, highlighting that a 7 lm drive on Airport Road from Hebbal to MG Road takes between 45 mins to 1 hour. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee brought attention to the contentious steel bridge project on the social media platform X. Proposed by the Siddaramaiah government in 2016 at a cost of Rs 1,300 crore, the nearly 6.7-kilometer steel bridge project sparked widespread protests and became a focal point of contention. Chandrasekhar's candidacy in Thiruvananthapuram has reignited debates surrounding the shelved steel bridge project.

Telegram messaging app, one of the most popular social media platforms in Ukraine and Russia, will likely cross 1 billion active monthly users within a year, its founder said in remarks published on Tuesday. In a rare interview, Pavel Durov told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson that the Dubai-based free cloud-based app that allows users to send and receive messages, calls and other files, is spreading like a «forest fire».

Mistral AI has been speaking to investors about raising several hundred million dollars at a valuation of $5 billion, The Information reported on Tuesday. It's unclear which investors Mistral has spoken to about a new funding round, the report said, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

These chips are expected to be available in platforms from HP and Lenovo starting in the second quarter of 2024, AMD said in a press release.

LightFury Games, a gaming startup launched by Karan Shroff, former chief marketing officer of Unacademy, has secured $8.5 million in a seed funding round led by Blume Ventures, Mixi and Gemba Capital. Other investors such as Cred founder Kunal Shah and Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal also participated in the round. The startup plans to utilise the new capital to develop AAA games in India and will initially focus on mobile gaming before expanding to other platforms, including consoles.

South Korean police have raided the offices of the sports-themed blockchain platform Winnerz as part of a probe into claims its WNZ token is a “scam coin.”

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Social media platform X on April 16 said that it had restrained certain posts in India featuring political content from elected officials, political parties, and candidates for office following directives from the country's Election Commission, Reuters reported. X (formerly known as Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, expressed disagreement with the orders issued by the election commission.

UPI) are being nudged by digital payments network manager National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to invest and incentivise consumers. This is primarily aimed at getting users to transact through these new platforms, in order to reduce the risk from high concentration of transactions on the PhonePe and Google Pay platforms that control around 85% market share, three companies told ET.

New Delhi: India has begun work on a home-built bullet train that will exceed 250 kilometres per hour (kmph), a top government official told ET. The official said it will be faster than any of the trains now running on the Indian Railways. «It is being built on the Vande Bharat platform that can already clock a maximum speed of 220 kmph,» the official said. The designs are being prepared at the Indian Railways' Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, is stepping into a new role as the host of a spin-off of the popular game show 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?' The show, titled 'Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?' will feature adult contestants answering 6th-grade level questions with the assistance of celebrities. New Opportunity

As Ethereum’s price surges past $3,000 and BNB shows robust growth indicators, investors are closely watching these developments. Meanwhile, BlockDAG captures attention with its imminent presale, priced attractively at $0.006 in its upcoming Batch 10. This marks a significant milestone following a 500% growth since its inception.

The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard has opened registration for an education program aimed at cultivating next-gen leadership within the financial planning and wealth management space.

Mint explains: These are platforms where foreign exchange transactions can take place. They are used by corporates and traders to hedge their foreign currency risks. These transactions can be on over-the-counter (OTC) spot or derivatives platforms authorized by the RBI.

YouTube Premium subscription plan for an ad-free experience, this move follows a global initiative announced last November. In a community update, YouTube emphasized its commitment to enforcing its terms of service and highlighted the adverse effects of ad-blocking apps on creators' ability to monetize their content. The company warned that users employing such apps may encounter buffering issues or encounter error messages when attempting to access videos.

MUMBAI : After investing about $2 billion in India last year, Swedish private equity firm EQT is lining up deals that could lead to another $5 billion worth of investments in the country this year. EQT got its first taste of India in October 2022 after it acquired Baring Private Equity Asia—which once owned Hexaware Technologies Ltd—and has since signalled a strong investment appetite for the country.

Microsoft is investing $1.5 billion in a technology firm based in the United Arab Emirates and overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser

Mint. Currently, the regulations do not permit drone operations beyond the visual line of sight of the drone operator. While the government permitted 20 entities to conduct experimental BVLOS flights in 2021, so far regulatory structure for implementation of these flights is yet to see the light of the day.

UPSC CSE Result 2023 Declared: Aditya Srivastava, the topper of the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023, hails from Lucknow and completed his schooling at City Montessori School (CMS), Aliganj branch in Lucknow. He had also topped in his 12th class by obtaining 95 per cent. He cleared the UPSC CSE 2023 with electrical engineering as an optional subject.