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Aditya Birla Group, capped by entry into the elite $100 billion market capitalisation club. The group’s cement business consolidated its position as the largest in India through multiple acquisitions. It entered paints with a plan to add a massive 40% of the industry’s production capacity. Group company Vodafone Idea, India’s third largest telecom player, raised `18,000 crore through the biggest-ever domestic follow-on public offer. Helmed by 57-year-old Kumar Mangalam Birla — the fourth generation of the Birla family — the group has also forayed into competitive branded jewellery. The jury recognised the outstanding year the group has had, picking Birla as Business Leader of the Year in a unanimous vote. What Kumar has achieved — $100 billion market capitalisation for the group this year — is enormous, said one jury member. Established early in the 20th century by Ghanshyam Das Birla, the group started off in industries critical to nationbuilding, with the next leg of growth — led by Aditya Vikram Birla — focusing on establishing it on the global stage.

Fox News host Sean Hannity pretty harshly criticized US President Joe Biden for allegedly focusing on ‘sabotaging’ US President- elect Donald Trump's upcoming administration during his final weeks in office, reported Fox News. According to Fox News, Sean Hannity actually characterized the administration of Joe Biden as extremely ‘pathetic’ while labelling him as the ‘worst, most corrupt, most incompetent, most divisive, one-term president in modern American history’. He also placed an argument that certainly instead of working to improve the country, Joe Biden is actually making decisions that are extremely ‘dumb’ and ‘dangerous’. Also Read: Challenge to JD Vance? Kamala Harris will run for the 2028 US Presidential elections; says, 'don't write me off, you haven’t seen the last of me'

Ashwini Vaishnaw as Business Reformer of the Year for his significant contributions across different ministries over the last few years. A Wharton Business School alumnus and a former Indian Administrative Service officer, Vaishnaw helms the ministries of railways, electronics & information technology, and information & broadcasting. He has spearheaded policy to make the country a manufacturing hub and is overseeing a massive capital expenditure programme to modernise the Indian Railways. From locally made mobile phones and IT hardware to rolling stock for the railways, his mantra has been to create a conducive environment for both private and public investments and lift domestic production. Even as Made in India mobile phone shipments reached record highs in the last two years under his watch, production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for IT hardware and telecom equipment have been rolled out. Electronics manufacturing giants such as Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, Oracle, Jabil and Foxconn have set up new plants in India or expanded existing facilities. “Manufacturing in India has been completely transformed with the country now exporting goods that it imported,” Vaishnaw said last week. India is also set to become a semiconductor centre. Global companies such as Micron and joint ventures such as TataPSMC have already committed billions for manufacturing and assembling chips in India.

Vishakha Mulye was chosen as Businesswoman of the Year for her role in driving growth at the financial services arm of Aditya Birla Group as chief executive of Aditya Birla Capital (ABCL). Mulye, who assumed charge in July 2022 after working at ICICI Bank for 30 years, successfully transitioned the non-banking finance company (NBFC) from a book dominated by large lumpy wholesale clients toward smaller, better-yielding retail clients. In the two-and-a-half years at the helm, Mulye has raised 4,000 crore of capital at the holding company level, selling part of the company’s stake in the broking business, and divesting shares in the asset management company. Additionally, she consolidated the financial services business by merging the NBFC with itself. Under her leadership, the holding company’s assets under management rose to `. 5 lakh crore from `. 3.55 lakh crore, and the consolidated lending book doubled to `. 1.38 lakh crore from `. 67,887 crore. She won the category in a tight vote, indicating the level of the competition among the women nominees. “Vishakha is a very good manager… and is working towards transforming Aditya Birla Capital,” said one jury member.

Lite Bite Foods, which runs restaurant chains Punjab Grill, Street Foods, YouMee and Asia 7, has initiated talks with private equity firms and strategic investors to sell a minority stake in the company, executives with knowledge of the development said. The company's two promoters, Amit Burman of the Dabur family and co-founder Rohit Aggarwal, will continue to hold significant majority stake in the business, according to the executives. «Lite Bite Foods is exploring multiple options to bring in either private equity players or a strategic investor onboard. The talks are in exploratory stages,» according to one executive. The company is looking to accelerate growth at a time when competition in the specialised dining space is heating up and investor interest has accelerated.

Fareed Zakaria emerged as the consensus choice for Global Indian of the Year, a jury member endorsed him by stating, “He undoubtedly does more for India on the global stage than any other Indian.” This recognition is a testament to the prominent Indian-American journalist, political commentator and author’s global renown for his sharp and insightful take on international affairs and complex geopolitical matters. Born on January 20, 1964, in Mumbai, Zakaria hails from a distinguished Konkani Muslim family. Father Rafiq Zakaria was a respected politician and Islamic scholar, while mother Fatma was an accomplished journalist, who worked at The Times of India and elsewhere.

Netflix has announced the renewal of Man on the Inside for a second season. The show debuted in November 2023, and the new season is expected to arrive in 2025.

Trai) will launch an updated and more user-friendly 'do not disturb' (DND) app soon to provide mobile phone users some respite from spam. The app is planned to be launched in two months after deliberations with stakeholders on the technical feasibility of the new features, Trai chairman AK Lahoti told ET. «The intention is to make it user-friendly… the experience should be good, and it should become the preferred app for DND registration,» Lahoti said, adding that additional functionalities that can be built in, such as reporting and blocking spam calls, need to be examined.

Mallikarjun Kharge while participating in the Constitution debate, attacked the ruling BJP for promoting "hate politics". Kharge also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's «jumla» charge at the Congress and said that it's his government which was fooling people with false promises. Arguing against the BJP's charges, Kharge said that it was under the Indira Gandhi government in 1971 that the Indian forces divided Pakistan into two parts and liberated Bangladesh. He also urged the Centre to ensure the safeguarding of Hindu minorities in the neighbouring country. He said that BJP leaders keep abusing Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Mahatma Gandhi and then go on to give lectures on probity in public life. «Merely pointing fingers at each other won't help. The Jan Sangh had once aimed to structure the Constitution based on the laws of Manusmriti. This was the intent of the RSS. Those who despise the tricolour, the Ashoka Chakra and the Constitution are lecturing us. On the day the Constitution was implemented, these people burnt the effigies of Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru at Ramlila Maidan. They insult the Nehru-Gandhi family without shame,» he said.

Prime Ministers' Museum and Library, and wondered what were in these documents which the Gandhi family didn't want to become public. BJP MP Sambit Patra cited reports of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library's (PMML) deliberations on the issue to note that Nehru's correspondence with Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the last British viceroy to India, and eminent leaders Jayaprakash Narayan and Jagjivan Ram lay with the erstwhile Nehru Museum and Library Society, which returned them to Sonia Gandhi in 2008. Addressing a press conference, Patra said the historical documents belonged to the country and were not anyone's personal property.

food prices moderated, official data released Monday showed. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 2.4% in October. A year earlier, it was 0.4%. On an average, wholesale inflation accelerated to 2.1% in fiscal 2024-25 till November, compared with a contraction of 1.3% in the corresponding period last year.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday initiated the debate on the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha and launched a scathing attack on the Congress accusing the party of amending the Constitution to restrict civil liberties and to protect those in power. Starting with the First Amendment of the Constitution, she accused the Congress of curbing freedom of speech. «In the last seven decades, this living document, our Constitution, has seen many amendments,» she said, adding, "...The Supreme Court in 1950 had ruled in favour of the Communist magazine 'Cross Roads' and the RSS organisational magazine 'Organiser'. But in response, the (then) interim government thought that there was a need for a First Constitutional Amendment and that was brought in by the Indian National Congress and it was essentially to curb freedom. So India, a democratic country which prides itself even today on freedom of expression, saw the first interim government coming up with a constitutional amendment which was to curb the freedom of speech of Indians and that too within one year of adoption of the Constitution..." She added that the First Amendment was done by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru despite MPs being against it, to harm the press and it is still affecting the freedom of media.

Prince Andrew won't join royals for Christmas dinner, following the Chinese spy scandal. It is understood that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will not be dining with the rest of the Royal Family on Christmas dinner, as quoted in a report by Metro. Since his connections to a suspected Chinese spy were first made public, the Duke of York has come under increased scrutiny. MI5 banned Yang Tengbo, the suspected spy, from the UK last week because of the possible security risk. Prior to publicly revealing his name in order to refute the accusations made against him, he was subject to an anonymity order known only as H6. According to reports, Prince Andrew has now decided not to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the Royal Family this year. The Duke claimed on Friday that he had ceased all contact with Tengbo after receiving advice from officials and that he had never spoken to him about anything sensitive.

SUV sales are driving the share of diesel with nine out of ten diesel-powered vehicles sold in the country this year being SUVs. This has helped boost the share of diesel in the domestic passenger vehicle market for only the second time in 13 years at a time when the auto fuel is getting increasingly outshined by petrol, CNG and electric vehicles. The share of diesel in total PV sales is estimated at 18% as of the first half of December 2024, up from 17.8% in 2023, according to Jato Dynamics, a market research, data and analytics firm. Diesel vehicle sales climbed to 774,000 units from 738,000 units during this period. SUVs have a 55% share of total car sales this year, up from 48.4% in 2023. This is the second instance since 2011 of diesel improving its share in the Indian passenger vehicle market. It last rose in 2022 to 19% from 13% in 2021.

Silo will end after its fourth season. The show is currently airing its second season, and new episodes will continue until January 17, 2025.

Yellowstone'-at least in its original form- has come to an end after five seasons. Viewers tuned into to learn the fate of the Dutton’s family ranch. “Yellowstone” Season 5 Part 2 episode 14 airs on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 8/7c on Paramount Network. While the episode was expected to serve as the series finale, Rip and Beth will continue to ride on after «Yellowstone» ends, as Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) have reportedly finalized their deals to reprise their characters in a new «Yellowstone» spinoff, reports USA Today. According to reports, Yellowstone will live on in a new form with original cast members returning. ALSO READ: Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2: When and where to watch for free and all-episode guide. Is Season 6 on cards?

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, and Jennifer Lopez, with a twist, appear to be co-parenting together. Despite the reported tension, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, and Jennifer Lopez all came together for a very endearing co-parenting moment in a genuinely surprising move. The fact that this co-parenting moment was between Lopez's child Emme and Garner and Affleck's child Seraphina, who are reportedly closer than ever even after the divorce, makes it extra-sweet, as quoted in a report by SheKnows.

Centre for Science and Environment. India's urban water crisis could ease if all the wastewater is treated and reused, the report released here on Monday said. Rajiv Kumar Mital, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), said, «Using and disposing of treated water without harnessing its potential means we are losing out on utilising an important resource. The challenge is to scale up and ensure that the work we do in this sector is impactful.» Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Director General Sunita Narain said India faces significant water scarcity challenges due to rapid urbanisation, industrial growth, population expansion and, most importantly, climate change.

S&P Global said on Monday that its flash manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.3 this month from 49.7 in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a flash reading of 49.8. A PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction in manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3% of the economy. A gauge of production at factories declined to 46.0, the lowest level since May 2020, from 47.9 in November.

Isak Andic who was the founder of the European fashion company Mango and also a billionaire eventually passed away at the age of 71 following a tragic accident, reported Business Insider. According to Business Insider, Mango CEO Toni Ruiz revealed that Isak Andic died when he suffered a fall into a ravine while he was hiking with his family in the caves of Salnitre which are located near Barcelona. Toni Ruiz with a very heavy heart and immense sadness also praised about Isak Andic by saying that his strategic vision and leadership he left an indelible mark on the company and thus embodied its core values. Also Read: Once friends now foe: A-list celebrities who once partied with Diddy now dissociate with the rapper; here are the stars who have befriended him