News & Politics

Americas Summit: Joe Biden Hopeful Of Positive Outcome Despite Open Criticism

US President Joe Biden’s Americas summit with leaders from across the hemisphere is a carefully choreographed bid to show that democracy can work. Biden welcomed the leaders in Los Angeles for the summit but faced open criticism for being selective in inviting leaders.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Joe Biden was criticized for calling Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela autocrats
• Belize, the smallest nation in hemisphere, came in open criticism of Biden
• Biden met Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for the first time at the summit
• Biden is closing the summit on Friday

Why Was Joe Biden Criticized?

Biden’s decision of excluding the leftist leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela on the grounds that they are autocrats didn’t go down well with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador who called for a boycott of the summit.

Argentina’s center-left president, Alberto Fernandez, said dialogue was the best way to promote democracy but criticized Biden for imposing a right of admission on member countries of the continent for being the host country of the summit.

But the hardest criticism was from Belize whose representatives told Biden that not inviting … Read the rest

10 Highlights Of The QS World University Rankings 2022

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the global higher education analyst, released the 19th edition of the world’s most popular comparative data about university performance. But there is little to cheer for Indian universities as most slipped in the coveted QS world ranking.

Top 10 Points Of The 19th Edition Of QS Ranking For Indian Universities

The Delhi University, the 10th best Indian University, slipped from 501-510 to 521-530.
Jawaharlal Nehru University declined to 601-650 from 561-570.
Jamia Millia Islamia now ranks between 801-1000 from 751-800 the previous year.
Jamia Hamdard loses its ranking from 1001-1200 to 1201-1400.
the University of Hyderabad (from 651-700 to 751-800), Jadavpur University (from 651-700 to 701-750), and IIT-Bhubaneswar (from 701-750 to 801-1000).
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, gains 31 places and becomes the fastest rising South Asian University among the top 200 varsities.
Indian Institute of Technology here has gained 11 places to 174th.
13 Indian universities improved on the Citations per Faculty (CpF) score which shows their research impact relative to global competitors has increased.
But the QS’ measure of institutional teaching capacity of Indian Universities has further declined with thirty our of forty-one

… Read the rest

Know Why Sheryl Sandberg Left Facebook In A Hurry

Sheryl Sandberg will leave Facebook after 14-day tenure but she will remain a board member of the company. Sandberg joined Facebook in 2008 when it was just a startup and she played a formative role in the development of Facebook as a multi-billion dollar company. She’s leaving the company when it is facing an uncertain future and fierce competition.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sheryl Sandberg leaving Facebook after 14 years of service
• She drew fire over probing the billionaire investor, George Soros
• Mark Zuckerberg said Sandberg was there for many of the important moments in his life
• The next COO of Facebook would be different from the status Sandberg held

Who Is Sheryl Sandberg?

A Harvard-educated, 52-year-old Sheryl Sandberg was the second most powerful executive on Facebook. She joined the company when it was just four years old and Zuckerberg acknowledged her help in running a company when he was just 23 and barely knew anything about running a firm.

Sandberg became a household name after writing the book “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.” Published in 2013, the book encouraged women to “lean in” to … Read the rest

No Verdict In Johnny Depp And Amber Heard Defamation Trial

The bitter defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard has yet to reach a verdict as the jury in the trial concluded deliberations for the day on Tuesday. The panel met for two hours on Friday and seven hours on Tuesday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”
• “Aquaman” star Amber Heard countersued Johnny Depp for $100 million claiming “rampant physical violence and abuse” she suffered at the hands of Depp
• Hundreds of Depp fans watched the televised trial and also started a #JusticeForJohnnyDepp campaign on social media

What Amber Heard Wrote In That Op-Ed?

In December 2018, Amber Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post where she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” While she didn’t name Depp in the article, Depp took it as an allegation and sued Heard for implying he was a domestic abuser. He sought $50 million in damages.

How Did Amber React To The Lawsuit?

Johnny Depp And Amber Heard Defamation Trial

The Texas-born 36-year-old Heard countersued Depp for $100 million claiming she suffered “rampant … Read the rest

WHO Says This On World No Tobacco Day 2022

World No Tobacco Day 2022 would be used to highlight the environmental impact of the tobacco cycle decided by the UN. Also, the world agency has statistics showing the impact of tobacco on the environment.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The UN would highlight the environmental impact of tobacco on World No Tobacco Day 2022
• The world agency has shared a fact sheet to aware people about the harmful impact of tobacco on the environment
• Austria’s Cancer Council also shares interesting statistics about challenges faced by smokers in quitting

What UN Has To Say On World No Tobacco Day 2022?

The consumption of tobacco leaves a devastating impact on the environment, WHO said while releasing a fact-sheet highlighting the environmental impact of tobacco consumption. The data provided in the fact sheet relates large-scale deforestation and loss of biodiversity including wildlife to tobacco consumption.

WHO further makes tobacco consumption responsible for the depletion of water, exhaustion of fossil fuel and metal resources, and desertification by loss of soil fertility.

WHO’s Fact-Sheet:

• Every year 8 million people die from tobacco use
• 600,000,000 trees are chopped
• … Read the rest

Check Your LIC IPO Allotment Status In The Following Ways

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is likely to announce the allotment status of its IPO today. Opened for subscription From May 4 to 9, LIC IPO is the largest initial public offering in the history of the Indian stock market.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Subscribers can check the status of their LIC IPO allotment today
• The LIC IPO was subscribed 2.95 times despite weaker market conditions
• The IPO will be listed on stock exchanges on May 17

About LIC IPO

The state-owned Life Insurance Corporation offered 16 crore shares through an IPO and received bids for 47 crore shares in the six days of the IPO bidding process. The IPO was subscribed 2.95 times but some experts are of the opinion that LIC IPO failed to perform despite its huge size because of a weak market environment.

But retail investors show much interest in the offering. The portion reserved for them was oversubscribed by 1.99 times on the last day of the bidding process.

Price of LIC IPO Shares

LIC offered its shares at a price band of Rs.902-Rs.949 per share but experts rate it low … Read the rest