DYFI, Youth Congress activists wave black flags at Karnataka CM

Pune, Jul 4: Now that wearing mask in public places has become the new normal, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad of Pune district, Shankar Kurade has got himself a mask made of gold worth Rs 2.89 lakhs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's a thin mask with minute holes so that there is no difficulty in breathing. I am not sure whether this mask will be effective," said Kurade.

Kurade loves wearing gold ornaments and his hands and neck are loaded with jewellery.

This unique idea struck him soon after he saw a man wearing a silver mask on social media.

"I saw a video on social media of a man in Kolhapur wearing a silver mask and then an idea struck me to have a mask of gold. I talked to a goldsmith and he gave me this five and a half pound gold mask in a week," said Kurade.

"All my family members love gold, if they too demand it, then I will get it designed for them too. I do not know if I will be infected with coronavirus wearing a gold mask or not, but following all the rules of the government can prevent the spread of virus," he added.

Since childhood, Shankar is very fond of gold ornaments, that is the reason he wears gold rings in all the fingers, gold bracelets on his wrist and huge gold chains around his neck.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrange for airlifting the Indians stranded in Wuhan province of China, the epicentre of coronavirus, saying the ground situation there has further worsened.

In a letter to Mr. Modi, he said since the situation in Wuhan was grave, it would be appropriate to operate a special flight to Wuhan or a nearby functional airport and airlift Indian nationals stranded there.

Mr. Vijayan also wanted the Prime Minister to give necessary instructions to the Indian Embassy in China to act pro-actively and provide necessary assistance and reassurance to Indians, including Keralites, stranded in Wuhan and Yichang.

The Chief Minister offered assistance of medical professionals from the State in case of evacuation of the Indians from Wuhan.

Chinese health authorities have announced the death toll due to coronavirus has sharply increased to 80 with 2,744 confirmed cases.

The confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus officially described as 2019-nCoV included 461 patients who are in critical condition.

Mumbai, Jun 16: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, is all set to pick up a stake in Jio Platforms, which would complete 25% of Jio’s equity dilution to the investors, said a report by the Gulf News.

Jio Platforms is part of the Reliance Industries empire owned by Mukesh Ambani. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) will acquire 2.33% for an estimated $1.5 billion, the report said.

So far, Jio Platforms has raised investment from 10 different global investors in seven weeks, the latest being TPG Capital buying 0.93% equity for Rs 4,547 crore and private equity firm L Catterton picking up a 0.39% stake for Rs 1894.50 crore.

Jio Platforms has raised a total of Rs 1.04 lakh crore so far from leading global investors including Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and L Catterton since April 22.

With PIF coming on board, Jio Platforms would have diluted 25% of its equity. That's the maximum they intend to dilute to financial investors, which includes Mark Zukerberg's Facebook.

Any new investors coming on board in future will have to be "strategic investors, a tech giant, for instance," said a source who was part of the deal-making process, the report said.

In recent days, Jio Platforms, which will merge telecom, content streaming, gaming and ecommerce features into its app, has seen Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and ADIA pick up significant stakes amounting to $1.2 billion and $750 million, respectively.

Reliance Industries' owner, Ambani, Asia's richest man, has been on an investor acquisition spree, with the likes of Facebook and private equity majors such as KKR and Silver Lake Capital investing in Jio Platforms.

The contours of the deal with Saudi Arabia's PIF was finalised during Ramadan. "It was always Mukesh Ambani's wish to have a special relationship with Saudi Arabia and the UAE," said Anshuman Mishra, a London-based confidante and family friend of the Ambani family of longstanding, Gulf News quoted as saying.

He has also worked extensively with Gulf sovereign wealth funds over the years.

"Saudi Arabia's coming in to close the financial investor round in Jio is indicative of the special nature of the relationship. This is also indicative of the multi-billion-dollar partnership announced last year with Saudi Aramco.

"This is a major success for the present Indian government's foreign policy initiative in the gulf and symbolic of India's significance in the GCC," it said.