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The crimes were perpetrated as part of a systematic, widespread attack against civilians, the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a new report to be formally presented next week. «The commission has concluded that Russian authorities committed enforced disappearances and torture as crimes against humanity,» the report said. «Both were perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to a coordinated state policy,» it added. The categorical nature of that statement was unusual for UN investigators.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The same cast of characters features in most wildlife conservation campaigns: majestic tigers, adorable pandas or other creatures that tug human heartstrings. Images of the blood-splattered bills of endangered vultures tend to evoke less sympathy, but a new study provides a reason to be concerned for their survival.

OfBusiness. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can also enhance employment from 110 million to 175 million, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, it said. «AI and technology transformation can scale-up SMEs production and then reach to 50% contribution to the GDP from the current 30%, and enhancing employment from 110 million to 175 million, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, would not be difficult. This would prove to be a major game-changer for the Indian economy,» OfBusiness said in a statement. It said most SMEs are looking forward to adopting AI & ML in their business operations to upscale production.

Gig workers, or those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are set to play a key role in the world's fifth-biggest economy, spurred partly by high unemployment after COVID-19 pandemic curbs fuelled growth in the sector. Tamil Nadu is also introducing an insurance scheme for nearly 150,000 gig workers to compensate for accidental deaths and disability, its finance minister, Thangam Thenarasu, said while unveiling the budget.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s biggest telecom operators—Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel Ltd—turning marketing agents for Elon Musk’s satellite broadband project, Starlink, is a welcome development. The government must explicitly assist in this with funds from the Universal Service Obligation Fund, now dubbed the Digital Bharat Nidhi, to make satellite broadband connection affordable even for low-income communities in rural areas.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Last week, science delivered a really cute experimental result. Researchers created a “colossal woolly mouse," a fluffy rodent that’s purported to be a step on the way to resurrecting woolly mammoths from the age of dinosaurs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As businesses navigate the future of work in the post-pandemic era, the return to physical offices is being touted as essential for rebuilding culture and collaboration. At the heart of this shift lies an untapped asset—the silver generation of professionals aged 50 and above.

Elon Musk’s satellite communications venture, Starlink, to establish a control centre in India. This move aims to enable authorities to suspend or shut down communication services in sensitive or troubled areas when necessary to maintain law and order, according to top sources cited by TOI. As per the TOI report, the government has also outlined security requirements, including allowing law-enforcement agencies to intercept calls through official channels when required. These directives come as Starlink’s application for a satellite communications licence reaches the final stage. The company has been working on agreements with Reliance Jio and Airtel for marketing, deployment, and network enhancement.

James Fishback, CEO of Azoria, has clarified who would be eligible for the proposed $5,000 DOGE Dividend stimulus checks. Speaking on Steve Ram’s podcast, Fishback explained, «If you file a federal income tax return—if you pay federal income tax, which is to say that you worked—you would receive a DOGE dividend check. That individual and their household would benefit from this payment.» The proposal seeks to use cost savings from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to provide direct payments to taxpayers. Backed by President Donald Trump and DOGE head Elon Musk, the initiative claims to reward working Americans by redistributing government savings.

Elon Musk's budget-cutting advisers to terminate leases that they say waste money. Musk's Department of Government Efficiency maintains a list of canceled real estate leases on its website, but internal documents obtained by The Associated Press contain a crucial detail: when those cancellations are expected to take effect. The documents from inside the General Services Administration, the US government's real estate manager, list dozens of federal office and building leases expected to end by June 30, with hundreds more slated over the coming months. The rapid pace of cancellations has raised alarms, with some agencies and lawmakers appealing to DOGE to exempt specific buildings. Several agencies are facing 20 or more lease cancellations in all, including the IRS, the Social Security Administration, the US Department of Agriculture and the US Geological Survey. Many of the terminations would affect agencies that aren't as well-known but oversee services critical to many Americans. They span from a Boise, Idaho, office of the Bureau of Reclamation — which oversees water supply and deals with disputes across the often-parched American West — to a Joliet, Illinois, outpost of the Railroad Retirement Board, which provides benefits for railroad workers and their survivors.

artificial intelligence servers. Net profit for October-December for Apple's top iPhone assembler and Nvidia's AI server maker likely came in at T$54.4 billion ($1.65 billion), according to an LSEG consensus estimate of 15 analysts, versus T$53.15 billion a year earlier. Foxconn said in January its fourth-quarter revenue jumped 15.2% to a record for that quarter on strong sales of AI servers.

Telecom operators are resisting the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) decision to migrate to an authorisation regime, asking for the current practice of entering into contractual agreements with licensed entities to be kept in place. They said the current approach is vital in maintaining regulatory certainty, protecting existing investments and ensuring sustained investment growth in the sector. The telecom operators, through a letter from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to the telecom secretary Neeraj Mittal, cited examples of the ministries of coal and petroleum and natural gas which grants licenses to successful bidders in their respective fields that are contractual in nature.

On Thursday, Manipur police said movement of 226 vehicles carrying essential items along NH-37 has been ensured. «Strict security measures are taken up in all vulnerable locations and a security convoy is provided in sensitive stretches in order to ensure free and safe movement of the vehicles.

money laundering, corruption, fraud, asset recovery and the financing of illicit activities, the ED said Thursday. The collaboration between Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) of Mauritius will «bolster» financial enforcement capabilities and will also contribute to broader economic and security cooperation between the two nations, the federal probe agency said in a statement. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was exchanged in the presence of Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam. During the discussions leading to the MoU, the ED and the FCC explored the possibilities of «joint operations» to detect, investigate and prosecute cross-border money laundering offences, according to the ED. They also underlined the significance of exchange programmes, experience sharing, training and skill building of the officers of both the organisations, it said. «Discussions were held on how ED can assist FCC by providing technological assistance and sharing of their digital forensic tools and best practices, towards ensuring better data seizing and extraction, and more productive data analysis,» the statement said.

Teyana Taylor and former NBA player Iman Shumpert's divorce is officially coming to an end. They are now making headlines for their multi-million dollar settlement. The agreement between the couple was finalized in June 2024. Taylor will be rewarded with significant assets in the agreement, including luxurious properties and automobiles. Shumpert has agreed to provide substantial child support payments for his two daughters. Details of their personal lives continue to garner a lot of public attention, but the couple have shown resilience and dedication to their children. They have agreed on co-parenting their daughters.

Navratna companies, have seen significant improvement in board meeting attendance by directors over the past four years, according to a survey by Excellence Enablers. The survey, which covered 13 Maharatna and 20 Navratna companies, found that in FY24, no director had zero attendance at board meetings. In contrast, in FY23, 14 directors had zero attendance. In FY22, there were 9 such directors, and 3 directors were absent from all board meetings in FY21. The Excellence Enablers' fourth edition of the survey emphasised that it is a reasonable expectation for all directors, both executive and non-executive, to attend every board meeting. Absences should only occur for extraordinary reasons that could not have been anticipated. While the legal requirement mandates that each director attend at least one board meeting per year, the survey finds this standard is clearly unsatisfactory. It suggests that directors who miss meetings for legitimate reasons should still be able to submit their comments on agenda items in advance so that they can be taken note of during discussions. Further, the survey by a Corporate Governance advisory firm said, «the question of discontinuing the appointment of Directors who have had zero attendance in the previous FY should be seriously considered». The survey, which analyses corporate governance data of Maharatna and Navratna companies from publicly available sources, also looked into other aspects of board governance, including board size, the presence of independent directors (IDs), and gender representation on boards.

Price Support Scheme (PSS), benefitting 89,219 farmers, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday. Under the PSS for the 2024-25 Kharif season, the ministry has approved the procurement of a total of 13.22 lakh tonnes of tur from nine states — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. According to the ministry, tur procurement has already started in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana. «A total quantity of 1.31 lakh tonne of tur (arhar) has been procured in these states till March 11,» the ministry said in a statement. The procurement of tur in other states will also commence soon.

«The poorest households in Slovenia and Malta are now better off than those in the UK,» the report states, attributing this decline to stagnating real incomes since the 2008 financial crisis. While other European countries have seen steady income growth, the UK has fallen behind.