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Congress leader Revanth Reddy takes oath as second CM of Telangana | Watch

Congress leader Anumula Revanth Reddy on Thursday took oath as the second Chief Minister of Telangana following the party’s victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections. While Bhatti Vikramarka took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of the southern state.

The swearing-in ceremony of Revanth Reddy took place at the sprawling Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. Reddy becomes the first Congress chief minister of the state that was created in 2014.

Telangana CM Oath Ceremony Live

During the swearing-in ceremony of the 56-year-old CM Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former AICC president Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar were also present.

Revanth Reddy swearing-in today: 10 things to know about new Telangana CM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated A Revanth Reddy on being sworn in as Telangana CM and assured all possible support to further the progress of the state.

In a post on X, Modi said, “Congratulations to Shri Revanth Reddy Garu on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Telangana. I assure all possible support to further the progress of the state and the welfare of its citizens.”

 

Reddy is an MP in the Lok Sabha from INC, representing Malkajgiri Constituency. Earlier, he won the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections in 2014 from the Kodangal seat with a vote share of 46.45%.

In the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, he again won the same seat with a vote share of 39.06% before losing the seat in the 2019 Telangana Assembly elections. He left the TDP and joined Congress in 2017.

In June 2021, he was appointed president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, replacing N Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The Congress wrested power from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in the recent Assembly polls and won 64 out of the total 119 seats.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which ruled India’s youngest state for 10 years, won 38 seats. The BJP won eight seats, and AIMIM got seven.

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European neobroker Scalable Capital raises $65M on a flat $1.4B valuation

Scalable Capital, a Munich startup that aims to make investing in financial markets accessible to a wider range of consumers, is putting more fuel in its tank to drive deeper into Europe. The company has raised €60 million in equity ($65 million at today’s rates). It will be using to build out its business in the six countries — Germany, Austra, Italy, France, Spain and Netherlands — where it is already active and to expand into more. Balderton is leading the round, with participation from HV Capital out of its new growth fund and other unnamed existing backers.

Contrary to the startup’s name, this round is coming in at a flat valuation of $1.4 billion. This was the same valuation Scalable Capital had the last time it raised money — $140 million in 2021, a round led by Tencent, with BlackRock, HV and Tengelmann participating. That is despite the fact that the startup is now “four or five times bigger” than it was two years ago, according to co-CEO Erik Podzuweit, who co-founded the company with Florian Prucker.

Today, Scalable Capital, which started as a digital wealth management platform, now describes itself as a full-service brokerage. It has 1.2 million customers (counted by number of savings accounts on the platform) and close to €17 billion under management, with products covering ETFs, stocks, funds, bonds, cryptocurrencies and derivatives, and loans. It gives users access to investing in 8,000 stocks, 2,500 ETFs, and 3,500 funds among other products; ETFs are the most popular today.

That speaks a lot to the ongoing pressure on startups amid a very tight market for finance at the moment in the region. (More on that theme in the latest annual, barometric report from Atomico.)

“Yes, we are four or five times bigger than we were at the last round,” Podzuweit said in an interview. “So like for like, obviously it’s a it’s a very attractive deal for the investor. But in the current market environment, I think it’s really cool that we managed to get to pull this off.” He confirmed that the company still has “the majority of the money from the last funding round” in the bank, but this extra injection means it can be a little more aggressive in its approach. “We can do a bit more marketing, we can hire the top people but we also have a much bigger equity cushion,” he said. But the company has now raised more than $1.25 billion according to PitchBook, a high number in light of its valuation.

Indeed, the fundraise may be coming at a tight time for startup finance, but one likely reason that Scalable took the money now is that, for neobrokers, the landscape is getting more competitive and crowded.

Late last month, Robinhood — the tech company best known for democratising investing in the U.S. — finally took its first step into international (and European) territories, opening an office in the U.K. Other players out of the U.K. market with clear European ambitions include Freetrade and Lightyear.

And just yesterday, Scalable Capital’s biggest rival among startups, Trade Republic, secured a full banking license from the European Central Bank. The latter, backed by Sequoia among others and last valued at $5.3 billion back in June 2022 (via PitchBook), said it will use the new license to launch more savings and investment products — a move that will lay the gauntlet down for Scalable to figure out if, and how, it will level up.

For now, Scalable Capital is holding steady and not pursuing a license itself, said Podzuweit.

“It’s leaner, obviously,” he said, likening it to how some e-commerce companies might invest in building out their own logistics, and some work with third parties (Scalable’s banking partners, in lieu of a license, include ING.) “Maybe I wouldn’t rule [getting a license] out forever. But right now we’re focusing on building products and launching new markets and we are faster doing it our way.”

The other big forces that are playing in the market include the looming presence of AI and how it will be used both to manage investing platforms, but also investments themselves; and the general state of the economy: generally markets have been in the doldrums, with inflation, and unfavorable interest rates bringing a chilling effect to consumers’ inclination to take risks and invest money that could be used more immediately elsewhere. Scalable’s positioning, as it is with others like it, is that it leaves the door open for smaller and more incremental buy-ins from its customers. On top of this, Podzuweit points out that the startup’s average user age is 35, a person perhaps with more disposable income than some of the younger consumers that other neobrokers have courted.

Balderton general partner Rana Yared is joining the board with this round. “Scalable’s one-stop, digital-first, wealth building and generating platform brings a suite of top-class financial products to individuals across Europe, and is unparalleled in the market,” she said in a statement. “We’ve been impressed by Erik, Florian and team’s vision and execution to date and are delighted to be supporting them in this next chapter.” We’re hopefully hearing from Yared directly later today and will update this more after that.

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Kerala: Health minister orders probe against groom as doctor’s suicide sparks dowry allegations of gold, BMW car demands

Kerala Health Minister Veena George ordered an investigation on Wednesday, into allegations of dowry harassment linked to the alleged death of a 26-year-old female doctor in Thiruvananthapuram.

As reported by ANI, the Director of the Women and Child Development Department has been instructed to furnish a detailed report on the probe into the accusations of dowry harassment involving a male doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College related to this incident.

The deceased, identified as Shahna, was a PG student in the surgery department of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. Police officials said that Shahna was found dead at her rented apartment near the medical college on Tuesday morning, ANI reported.

Also Read: ‘Mohammed Shami demanded dowry, have extra-marital affairs’ wife Hasin Jahan moves SC to lift stay on cricketer’s arrest

After her death, suspected to be alleged as a suicide, the family of the deceased asserts that the doctor accused in the case, whom Shahna was contemplating marrying, insisted on receiving gold, land, and a BMW car as dowry. Allegedly, the male doctor withdrew the marriage proposal when Shahna’s family couldn’t meet his dowry requirements owing to financial limitations.

Also Read: Satya Rani Chadha: The face of India’s anti-dowry movement

Earlier, on Wednesday, the chairperson of the Kerala Women’s Commission, Sathidevi, and fellow commission members visited Shahna’s family. Sathidevi called for a thorough investigation into the issue and stated that the Commission intends to request a report from the police regarding the steps taken in the case.

Also Read: Have we lost the dowry battle?

“If it’s established that the family of the prospective groom had demanded dowry, a case will be registered against them under the Prevention of Dowry Act,” the state women’s commission chief said, ANI reported.

The accused doctor was a representative of the Medical PG Doctors Association. However, he was relieved of all the responsibilities of the organisation in light of the charges against him, sources informed. 

(With inputs from ANI)

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Published: 07 Dec 2023, 12:11 PM IST

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‘False’: Ratan Tata calls out a ‘deepfake’ video of him giving investment advice

Industrialist and former chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, has called out a deep fake video of him giving investment advice on Instagram. The fake video, shared by an Instagram user named Sona Agarwal, deceptively showed the industrialist giving investment advice and the caption of the post offered users a ‘chance’ to exaggerate their investment ‘risk-free’.

The fraudulent Instagram post featured a deep fake interview of Ratan Tata, in which he referred to Agarwal as his manager. The caption of Agarwal’s Instagram post read, “A recommendation from Ratan Tata for everyone in India. This is your chance to exaggerate your investment right today risk-free with 100% guarantee,” the caption of the video post read. “Go to the channel right now.”

Deepfake videos of many prominent personalities have recently gone viral on social media, causing netizens to react with a mixture of shock, horror and panic. The most recent victim of deepfakes was actor Priyanka Chopra, who was seen promoting a brand and revealing her annual income in yet another deceptive video.

Unlike other actors, Priyanka’s face hasn’t been edited in controversial videos. However, her voice and lines from the original video have been replaced with a fake brand ad.

In a similar incident, actor Alia Bhatt was also seen in a deepfake video, which was later found to be untrue. In the viral video, Alia Bhatt’s face is superimposed over another woman, who is seen sitting on a bed. In the video, a girl is seen wearing a blue floral, strappy outfit with Alia’s face on it as she gestures towards the camera.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday met social media platforms to review progress made by them in tackling misinformation and deepfakes, and asserted that advisories will be issued in the next two days to ensure 100 per cent compliance by platforms.

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Published: 07 Dec 2023, 11:41 AM IST

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After e-signatures, Tomorro believes e-contracts will be the next thing

You might not be familiar with the name Tomorro, but it is actually not a new startup. Tomorro is a French contract management platform that originally started as Leeway. And today, the company is announcing its new brand and an $11.9 million funding round (€11 million).

The reason why Leeway is becoming Tomorro is that the company believes we are on the verge of a massive wave of adoption for so-called contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools. With the Covid pandemic, many companies discovered the convenience of e-signatures and they don’t imagine cancelling their DocuSign subscription. Now, the next step is contract management.

Resonance led the Series A round with Financière Saint James, Motier Ventures, existing investor HenQ and several angel investors also participating. While many startups complain that it can be hard to raise a round in the current funding environment, Tomorro didn’t face major issues.

“We didn’t feel any particular difficulties. The roadshow was very quick, and in three weeks or a month, it was mostly done,” co-founder and CEO Antoine Fabre told me. The due diligence process took a bit longer than that of course. He talked to roughly 15 VC funds for this round. As a data point, Tomorro currently has around 200 clients.

So what does Tomorro do exactly? Instead of using Microsoft Word to draft contracts and an Excel spreadsheet to note the amounts, due dates and other relevant information, Tomorro acts as a central repository for all your contracting needs — you no longer need to check if ‘Important contract v3.1 final FINAL.docx’ is indeed the most recent version of a specific contract.

It looks like an online drive with folders and documents, but it’s a multiplayer tool with additional features. Tomorro lets you edit documents in your browser directly, which means that you can create a template library (with variables) and suggest edits from there.

Once a contract is done, Tomorro can send approval notifications to other relevant team members. On the other party’s side, the startup also supports basic e-signatures and has an integration with DocuSign for advanced signatures.

Image Credits: Tomorro

All these features are nice, but Tomorro becomes interesting once you start to think about ways to automate and streamline contract management. For instance, Tomorro can track contracts that are about to expire.

“A product like what we’re building makes a lot of sense in the current context as companies need to control their commitments with their suppliers. They need to know when they can cancel if they want to cancel,” Fabre said.

The tool can also be integrated with a CRM like Salesforce so that a contract is automatically generated once a salesperson is ready to sign a new client without having to connect to Tomorro’s interface.

“The legal team is pinged if it’s necessary to intervene on a contract. Otherwise, they are signed independently. So, the legal department saves time and the sales department is much more efficient,” Fabre said.

The startup also recently added AI features to reformulate text or change the tone of the contract. In the future, the company plans to add more AI features so that you can “talk with your contract” instead of skimming through 30 pages.

Tomorro isn’t the first and only company to focus on contracts. There are other contract lifecycle management companies, such as Ironclad in the U.S. For now, Tomorro is still very much focused on the French market. But it plans to address other European markets in the next couple of years.

“There are a lot of players in this market that is growing fast. I often compare it to the e-signature market five years ago,” Fabre said. “We’re not yet at the same stage of mass adoption as e-signature is today, but we can sense a considerable acceleration in the adoption of these tools.”

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Planning for the polycrisis

COP28 discussions on the Loss and Damage Fund are critical for planetary health. At its heart, the fund should adhere to the principle that the polluter pays

It is now confirmed that this year has been the hottest in the last 125,000 years. To put matters in perspective, this is about 50,000 years before our ancestors left Africa. In the multiple waves in which our ancestors left Africa, one possible route hugged the Arabian coast, somewhere close to where the members of all nations are currently meeting for the 28th time to discuss the future of climate and the planet’s fate.

Nearly 30 years ago, several African nations and small Pacific Islands demanded that rich countries need to compensate for the harm caused by the effects of climate change. A protracted discussion ensued, which finally led to the announcement of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) on the first day of COP28. Most climate activists believe that this is an encouraging start. A modest $420 million was committed by five countries plus the EU. France and Italy each pledged $109mn on Friday; and Canada $16mn—taking the tally to about $655mn by the weekend. Clearly this is not sufficient but good enough to get started.

The pledge money will trickle in by early or mid-2024. The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2024 launched a month earlier had warned us that rich nations are likely scuttle the process and will fail to meet their obligations. Poor countries have received between $194-366 billion less each year than what is required for effective climate mitigation. This does not bode well for the Fund. If past record is anything to go by, developed countries are likely to dither their commitment to the Fund.

Yet, most environmental advocates are cautiously optimistic with the announcement, given the massive investments to exploit fossil fuels and its consumption. The fossil fuel industry receives in excess of $7 trillion in subsidies. Most donors to the LDF have no plans to reduce their commitment to supporting fossil fuel or its consumption. At the leaders’ summit, Sultan al-Jaber, president of COP28, announced a new framework for climate finance, backed by 11 countries. The framework seeks reforms of the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to manage the climate crisis better. It also seeks to operationalise September’s Nairobi Declaration which has called for a carbon tax. Al-Jaber also announced the opening of a new Global Climate Finance Centre, a private sector-focused think-tank that will help “unlock funds at unprecedented scale”.

The LDF money is miniscule given that billions are needed for those who face drought, storms and flood-conditions each year. A shadow hangs over the operationalising of the fund.

The LDF is a global contributory mechanism to help countries facing the worst effects of a warming planet. Its meetings have been the most gruelling that climate negotiators have seen in their careers with the most contentious point being that many rich emitters like the US lobbied to make contributions voluntary. The critical question before its committee is how best it can serve the needs and priorities of the marginalized. Who will receive the funds? Will these be grants or loans?

Another problem before fund administrators is that it will soon dry up; $655mn million is not enough. Several rich countries don’t find it obligatory to contribute as the definition of ‘developing’ and ‘developed’ countries is outdated. The definitions were last revised by the UN in 1992, and The World Bank in 1994. The US, UK and EU are responsible for about 50% of all emissions, while countries such as India, which developed later, are responsible for about 4% of historical emissions. Wealthy countries like Singapore, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are still categorized under ‘developing’ nations, under those outdated definitions, and escape contributing to global funds. To illustrate, Qatar is the 40th largest emitter in the world but each Qatari expends 36 tons of carbon (the global average is 4.7 tons). Bahrain (27), Kuwait (25), Brunei (24) United Arab Emirates (22), Saudi Arabia (19) Oman (18), also emit far too much and do little to mitigate their carbon emissions. The US emits in excess of 15 tons per person. South America as whole emits 2.5 tons per capita, Africa 1 t/c, and low-income countries 0.3 t/c. India is ranked third but emits 1.9 t/c, compared to China’s 8 t/c. The entire calculus of the carbon emission game is skewed. Climate change is a roaring engine and we can’t stop this thing we started. This year saw a series of exposés on how climate mitigation efforts are flawed. An army of consultants, greedy for carbon credit, has made greenwashing for corporations rife. The state of climate economics is deplorable: Economists argue whether to use historical emissions, per capita emissions or total emissions as a reliable metric. As the planet approaches a point of no return, rich countries do not want to reduce their consumption. Growing economies (India, China) argue that their citizens have the right to have the same amount of wealth, and consume as much as the west. Climate-affected poor nations don’t see that far.

LDF requires leadership and collective action from climate-affected countries. It also needs enhanced understanding of several key issues, such as limits to adaptation, fast-tracking mitigation, and pushing rich countries towards avoidance and phasing out of fossil fuel. At its heart, it should adhere to the principle that the polluter pays. It must ensure that those who contributed most to the problem shoulder a proportionate financial burden.

The discussions so far have ignored human rights and global debt in the context of planetary health. Historical debts and the climate crisis have buried poor countries. Vulnerable and marginalised communities in developing countries are often the hardest hit by climate change. For this reason, the LDF must be swift, comprehensive, and effective in providing remedies and redress.

It should broaden its scope beyond addressing ecosystem destruction and climate mitigation strategies. It should mitigate global debt and perverse trade arrangements. Debts push poor countries to cut investments in education, health and environment spending. This pushes communities to find other ways to make ends meet. The casualty is nature. Seas and rivers get overfished. Land gets over-mined. Soils are intensively overworked to produce more. Trees disappear from forests to provide timber, fuelwood or land for more agriculture.

This climate crisis has been particularly severe in Africa. Conditionalities tied to IMF loans in Zambia, Burundi, and Malawi have added to the financial burdens of their populations. Uganda faces economic hardships due to global economic issues, the war in Ukraine, and the 2022 Ebola outbreak. Rising debt repayments and budget revisions curtail financing for improving ecosystem services and push communities to erode soils, forests, and water systems.

The diversity of creditors, the lack of systemic reform in the global financial architecture, and the piecemeal approach to debt treatment negotiations hinder findings of a comprehensive approach to the global debt crisis. These issues and their actors are missing in LDF’s discussions. The chief concerns of Africa and small island nations will remain side-lined.

Poor and developing countries remain reluctant to allow the US and rich nations to indirectly take control of LDF through the World Bank. The next phase would require much more introspection, with the World Bank playing a trustee role rather than allocating the capital itself. Many climate-affected nations are miffed at the idea that these are may be loans, not grants. The lack of any mention of human rights in the management of the fund is also deeply disconcerting.

It would be important to see how the Bank navigates through climate-torn countries with corrupt leaders and bureaucracies. It will have to think beyond conditionalities and debt-for-nature swaps. Providing targeted, reward-based, ecosystem-focussed grants rather than massive country-specific loans can be a start. Making communities not governments responsible will deliver results and reduce indebtedness of countries.

Tackling a planetary polycrisis requires harmonizing the climate COP processes with other treaties and bilateral initiatives. All bilateral donors agreed to forgive past bilateral loans. This has not happened across the board. Debt swaps and debt conversion worked in some countries but failed miserably in others. The G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the Common Framework for Debt Treatments have provided limited relief so far. Unlike past debt reductions, most HIPCs have kept borrowing, mainly from private creditors, even when their debt-to-GDP ratio increased. Today’s more complex private-public creditor landscape makes monitoring and coordination challenging.

The LDF will have to see through the fog of debt and human rights as it speeds up efforts to protect the vulnerable in the immediate term, and reverse climate change in the long term.

Pranay Lal is a biochemist, a public health specialist, and a natural history writer. He is passionate about ecological restoration and reversing climate change.

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How to island hop in the Caribbean this winter

As flights increase and regional connections improve, multi-island adventures are getting easier to plan

Visiting more than one Caribbean country on a single vacation has typically been a surprisingly complex proposition unless you were sailing or cruising. Attempting it by plane has often entailed paying ultra-costly fares that required travelers to backtrack to a US airport due to a dearth of inter-regional connections, some served by tiny carriers with poor track records for safety and timely performance. 

Interest in island-hopping is on the rise, says Margie Hand, travel adviser at Andavo Travel, a Virtuoso agency. “Many want to do a longer trip but are afraid they will get bored being in one location, and want to maximize their time and see as many places as possible.” This year, larger airlines are responding to such demand with new inter-island routes that go beyond the well-trodden ferry hops from St. Maarten to Anguilla or from St. Thomas to Tortola. It’s good timing, as consumer demand for tropical getaways continues to soar, and the Caribbean region expects to record a 10% to 15% year-over-year increase in overseas arrivals in 2023. 

Take Cayman Airways’ flight connecting Grand Cayman and Barbados, which debuted this year. You previously had to fly north to Miami, power through a minimum three-hour layover, and head back down to the Caribbean for a late-night arrival in Barbados. Now, the trip takes just three hours and 15 minutes.

That’s one example among many. The year-old Dominican national carrier Arajet has added pan-Caribbean routes to 23 destinations in recent months; new planes and fares include coach bus transfers between Punta Cana and Santo Domingo. Virgin Atlantic began offering inter-island flights connecting Barbados with Grenada and the Grenadines in June. And such smaller regional carriers as Tradewinds are striking code-sharing partnerships with major US airlines to help make connecting flights more seamless.

Getting to your first island is easier, too, with improved international flight access to the Caribbean from hubs such as Miami, New York-JFK,  Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle. It’s worth noting that ferry service, long seen as a relatively easy way to combine island visits, is also expanding: Major providers Makana Ferry, Val Ferry and L’Express des îles are adding high-speed access to locations where few commercial flights land, such as Eustatius and Saba.

All this is opening up the ease of combining neighbouring or contrasting Caribbean destinations—say, Dutch- and Spanish-speaking places—in a single trip, allowing travelers to appreciate each island’s unique attributes.

Here are six island-hopping adventures that have become possible, along with the logistical details you need to know and a recommended trip length that lets you get the unique flavor of each destination, far beyond the walls of a resort. 

Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands (7 days)

Getting there: Long-established regional airline Cape Air keeps expanding its inter-island routes between Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.  Starting on Dec. 15, two daily flights will operate between San Juan and St. Croix. Low-cost Frontier Airlines also now flies nonstop from San Juan to St. Thomas, with one-way fares starting at just $19.

The ideal trip: Stay at one of two new luxury resorts at Frenchman’s Reef, which has finally recovered from Hurricane Irma on St. Thomas. Then make a pit stop in Vieques, Puerto Rico, where wild horses roam untouched beaches; the island has bioluminescent bays that you can explore in night-time kayak excursions. From there it’s off to San Juan, where the dining scene is booming. 

Your next flight is on Cape Air or Tradewind Aviation to Tortola, capital of the British Virgin Islands. Use it as a jumping-off point to visit the archipelago’s smaller islets, where you’ll find some of the Caribbean’s most spectacular resorts. The Aerial is a new, 16-room, fitness-minded, all-inclusive resort on Buck Island with an on-site ranch for rescued animals. And at the newly reimagined Bitter End Yacht Club—a BVI icon taken down by a pair of 2017 hurricanes—bragging rights include some of the only overwater bungalows in the broader region. 

The Dominican Republic and Jamaica (8 to 10 days)

Getting there:  Since late 2022, the low-cost carrier Arajet has connected two of the Caribbean’s most visited countries—Jamaica and the Dominican Republic—on a first-ever direct flight between their capital cities. Brand new Boeing 737 MAX  8 jets carry 185 passengers in  comfortable seats, and flights generally depart on time. As a bonus, American Airlines will kick off a twice-weekly direct route from Miami to Ian Fleming International Airport in Jamaica’s Ocho Rios starting in February 2024.

The ideal trip: While many travelers might see Jamaica and the Dominican Republic as interchangeable for visits to all-inclusive mega-resorts, visiting both allows you to contrast their histories, cultures and topographies that go well beyond sand and sea.

Overnight in a former Spanish colonial home that’s been turned into lavish rooms, suites and villas at Casas del XVI in Santo Domingo’s buzzy colonial zone, where cobblestoned streets are lined with museums, sidewalk cafes and local art shops, and weekly merengue concerts take place on Plaza España.

In Kingston, you can take a Blue Mountain coffee tour by bicycle at Craighton Estate and catch Jamaica’s best roots, rock, reggae talents live at Kingston Dub Club while spending nights in a white, wood-framed cottage with veranda at Strawberry Hills. Once you’ve gotten a taste for each country’s cultural calling cards, venture to their coveted coastlines: Punta Cana lies two hours east of Santo Domingo, and Ocho Rios is just an hour north of Kingston. 

Antigua, Anguilla and St. Barts (8 days)

Getting there:  Despite their proximity, this trio of islands—all known for attracting barefoot luxury travelers and fewer crowds—are rarely combined. That’s a shame, given their diverse cultural tapestries. In French-speaking St. Barts, you can have Paris-worthy pain au chocolat by the sea for breakfast; Antigua has spectacular steel pan bands, and the beaches in Anguilla’s Shoal Bay are second to very few. It’s now possible to fit this all into a single itinerary using new flights from Anguilla Air Services (thrice-weekly between Antigua and Anguilla) and Tradewind (Antigua to St. Barts). 

The ideal trip:  Antigua’s Curtain Bluff, a dreamy, all-inclusive resort perched atop a peninsula, is debuting a multimillion-dollar renovation this season, including an expanded fitness facility and a new infinity oceanfront pool—reason enough to consider a trip. In Anguilla, the exquisite Cap Juluca, which sits on one of the island’s most tranquil coasts, will debut a highly anticipated Spa by Guerlain in spring 2024; until then, you might opt to stay at the 63-room, ultra-colorful Malliouhana, where a rebranding has yielded such delightful new amenities as Anguillan guava cheese pastries at turndown. Want something more active? Aurora Anguilla has been busy expanding; by the end of 2023 it’s expected to open up a huge entertainment and water park, along with a sports center that’ll include pickleball, basketball and wall climbing. 

If you’re adding a stop in St. Barts, consider the five-star Hôtel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf, whose 21 terrace suites have the rare advantage of being located within walking distance of some of the island’s most popular restaurants, such as Shellona on Shell Beach.

Barbados, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (8 to 10 days)

Getting there:  This combination is easiest if you’re staying at the palm-lined, oceanfront Bequia Beach Hotel in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, whose VIP transfer has long offered its own flights back to either Barbados or St. Lucia on its nine-seater aircraft, in partnership with Bequia Air. (These islands are 30 minutes and 15 minutes distant, respectively.) You can combine that with Bequia Air flights that also complete the circuit with Barbados and St. Lucia. For other options, try the aforementioned routes on Virgin Atlantic or Caribbean Airlines, which connect many of the same points.

The ideal trip:  Heading this far south in the Caribbean affords exploration of the crowd-free Windward Islands, where African, European and Asian cultures fuse in small spaces. Mix beach time with Bajan food in Barbados, hike a volcano in St. Vincent and learn all about chocolate production in cocoa-rich Grenada. If you add Barbados, consider a stay at the island’s first new hotel in years, the all-inclusive, 422-room Wyndham Grand, whose two-balcony suites offer expansive views of the island’s south coast.

Cayman Islands and Barbados (6 days)

Getting there:  Cayman Airways has just kicked off twice-weekly direct service between Grand Cayman island and Barbados, a connection that Caribbean officials described as a milestone in boosting connectivity between the eastern and western Caribbean regions. The schedule is timed to allow seamless connection with Cayman Airways’ new direct flight from Los Angeles; the first-ever direct route from LAX to the Caribbean takes just six hours.

The ideal trip:  While most might think the Cayman Islands and Barbados offer similar experiences due to their shared ties to the British Empire, they are distinct in many ways, from governance to size and cultural vibe. The Cayman Islands is a British overseas territory famed for coral reefs while Barbados is a former colony whose white sand beaches, caves and rugged cliff sides are complemented by an Afro-Caribbean flair. It’s a foolproof combination made better by the 2021 reopening of the iconic  Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman on Seven Mile Beach; a multiyear redesign of interior spaces has resulted in a brighter, much more locally inspired aesthetic. (Heads up: The renowned annual Cayman Cookout festival will celebrate its 15th anniversary Jan. 10-15.)

St. Kitts and St. Maarten/St. Martin (7 days)

Getting there:  A new route between St. Kitts and St. Maarten on Makana Ferry shuttles travelers between the two islands in 90 minutes. From Dutch St. Maarten, you can easily make your way to French St. Martin, or take additional Makana Ferry routes to the less-visited islands of Saba and St. Eustatius or to St. Kitts, depending on how much time you have.

The ideal trip:  Stay at the jet-setter favorite La Samanna facing Baie Longue beach on St. Martin. Match that with a few nights at the clifftop Sunset Reef on St. Kitts or the Four Seasons Nevis, known for exceptionally attentive service and a breezy aesthetic. If you’re looking to plan a trip to coincide with major culture events, the Saint Kitts and Nevis National Carnival, “Sugar Mas,” kicks off in mid-December and lasts through Jan. 2. It makes an especially colorful start to the year.  

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Confident that GST issues will be resolved soon, says E-Gaming Federation chief

The E-Gaming Federation (EGF), a self-regulatory body for the online gaming industry, is confident that issues around the recent GST changes which increased companies’ tax burden will be resolved soon. 

The federation’s CEO, Anuraag Saxena, said he was optimistic about ongoing discussions between the federation and government stakeholders looking to address these concerns. Saxena said in an interview with Mint that the industry was united in presenting a compelling business case to the government, highlighting the sector’s positive social impact. 

“As far as the GST issue is concerned, we’re very optimistic that it will resolve itself in the very near future. The government will be looking to find a balance between providing a fillip to the industry and maximising its revenue. The process for the government and the industry to find some kind of a balance is ongoing,” he said. 

He said when new industries evolve, it takes some time for stakeholders to reach a consensus. “There has been a period of flux and we may be at the tail end of that period right now. Within a fairly short amount of time, we will be able to ensure there are regulations that encourage Indian gaming companies and curb or discourage those that may not be subject to our laws,” he added.

Saxena said the gaming federation hopes the government will recognise that companies are looking to protect players and not trying to circumvent the law, unlike those in the offshore betting segment. “Companies in the skill-based gaming sector are proactively subjecting themselves to Indian norms and rules. At the same time, there are a whole bunch of companies that are not. There will always be bad players in a sector and we are confident that there is enough enforcement in India to weed out bad players from this industry,” he added.

While the government has come down hard on the real-money gaming (RMG) sector, an offshore betting industry has been thriving. These companies run their businesses on remote servers, use offshore accounts which are banned by the government, and don’t pay tax even as they advertise in India. 

Games of skill – which include real-money games – are regulated by the union government while games of chance are regulated by the states. But in the past two years, 71 notices have been sent to RMG companies for alleged tax evasion to the tune of ₹1.12 lakh crore.

“Our expectation of the government is to understand the sector and the intent of the sector better. For example, we are one of the very few sectors that is asking for more regulation. We are very confident that they will come up with a tax regime that is both fair and encouraging,” he said.

He added that the sector is looking to be compliant with self-regulatory bodies, which will make the ecosystem safer. However, the government has deferred its plan to have self-regulatory bodies for now.

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Published: 06 Dec 2023, 01:56 PM IST

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Cyclone Michaung: Maruti, Mahindra, Audi to support cyclone affected customers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh

Auto giants Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra & Mahindra and luxury car maker Audi have extended support to customers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh affected by floods and cyclones, on December 6.

According to a statement, Maruti Suzuki India has collaborated with its dealer partners and made several arrangements at its workshops.

The company proactively sent out 7 lakh SMS alerts to its customers as soon as news about the cyclone ‘Michaung’ was reported. In a statement, it said that even before the cyclone hits, customers could take precautionary measures to protect their cars from potential damage.

It mobilized 46 tow trucks from neighbouring cities and activated 34 roadside assistance vehicles for quick response, augmented spare parts inventory to ensure ready availability, and collaborated with insurance firms to expedite claim processing.

For its customers in the affected areas, Mahindra & Mahindra has provided complimentary roadside assistance, free inspections and damage assessments, and financial relief through special discounts.

In response to the ongoing flooding in Chennai caused by Cyclone Michaung, Audi has announced free 24-hour roadside assistance.

“In light of the unprecedented challenges faced by the city of Chennai, we are making every possible effort to assist our customers in the city,” Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon said.

Cyclone Michaung has weakened into a depression over northeast Telangana, the India Meteorological Department informed on Wednesday.

“Deep Depression (Remnant of Cyclonic Storm “MICHAUNG”, pronounced as MIGJAUM) weakened into a Depression over Northeast Telangana,” IMD wrote on X.

Cyclonic storm ‘Michaung’ has turned into a severe Cyclonic storm, the India India Meteorological Department said on Monday. Heavy rainfall due to Cyclone Michaung caused severe waterlogging in several areas across Chennai on Monday. Several low-lying areas, including hospitals and many residential parts, witnessed inundation even as civic agency personnel were involved in clearing the stagnant water.

(With Inputs from PTI)

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Published: 06 Dec 2023, 01:55 PM IST

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From FM Sitharaman to Roshni Nadar, meet 4 Indians on Forbes’ list of ‘most powerful women for 2023’

The list of 100 most powerful women in the world was released by Forbes on December 5 where 4 Indian women bagged a spot. The list is a sequel to the series of annual ranking list that awards definitive ranking to the most inspirational females.

This 20th list puts forth top female names across the globe who have had a life-changing impact on the world this year. The highest rankings accorded to the most inspirational role models ranging from CEOs, entertainers, politicians, and philanthropists to policymakers.

Also read: Commander Prerna Deosthalee to be first woman to command Indian Naval Warship | Who is she?

The Indian woman who takes the highest spot is Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, who ranks 32. Her rankings improved as compared to last year when she occupied 36th place.

Also read: Falguni Nayar, Roshni Nadar, Nirmala Sitharaman in Forbes’ World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list

Indian billionaire and philanthropist, Roshni Nadar Malhotra occupied 60th rank who is the first Indian woman to lead a listed IT company in India. Daughter of HCL founder Shiv Nadar, she is recognised as the richest woman in India as per IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List (2019).

Chairperson of the Steel Authority of India, Soma Mondal ranks 70. She was honoured with ‘CEO of the Year’ award at the ETPrime Women Leadership Awards that took place this year.

Renowned Indian billionaire entrepreneur, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw secured 76th rank in the list. Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited in Bangalore are founded and run by by her. She has also served as former chairperson of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Also read: Squadron Leader Manisha Padhi becomes India’s first woman Aide-De-Camp to Mizoram Governor

The most inspirational woman who leads the list is European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. She occupies this ranking for the second consecutive year. The second position is secured by European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde while US Vice President, Kamala Harris takes the third spot. All of these three top rankers managed to retain their top spot.’ 

Media and Entertainment category

Fifth place has been secured by famous American singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift. It’s the first time since the list’s inception that an entertainer has taken a spot among top 5 most influential and powerful figures across the globe. Swift’s rankings marked a significant improvement from number 79 in 2022.

She also tops the list of most powerful woman in Media and Entertainment category for the year 2023. The singer joined the billionaires club in October this year and her net worth is over $1.1 billion. This achievement follows from her recent global Eras tour.

Also read: India’s first woman Supreme Court judge Justice Fathima Beevi dies at 96

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