An Iranian foundation has announced a reward of 1,000 square metres of agricultural land for the man who attacked Salman Rushdie, reports said.

Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident identified as Hadi Matar, the US national of Lebanese origin, on stage on August last year while he was being introduced at a literary event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.

Rushdie lived in hiding for years after Iran's first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered his killing for what he deemed the blasphemous nature of "The Satanic Verses," published in 1988.

Bankrupt Sri Lanka is set to postpone local elections due next month, according to a top official, prompting opposition protests that forced parliament to be adjourned.

The March 9 vote was meant to be a key test of support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office in July after months of protests over a dire economic crisis.

According to a court submission by the Election Commission, the treasury has refused to fund the printing of ballot papers, fuel or police protection for polling booths.

The president previously said elections were impossible as state revenue was insufficient to pay salaries, pensions and maintain essential services.

Wickremesinghe, who replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa after protesters stormed the presidential palace, has implemented swingeing tax hikes and price rises in an effort to secure a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Nigerians will vote for a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari on Feb 25 in an unprecedented race between three frontrunners battling to govern Africa's most populous democracy.

After eight years under Buhari, Nigeria still faces huge challenges, from attacks by jihadists and separatists to a sluggish economy and growing poverty, leaving many Nigerians desperate for change.

The February 25 election will be closely watched after coups in Mali and Burkina Faso knocked West Africa's democracy and Islamist militancy spread north of Nigeria's Gulf of Guinea neighbours.

Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress or the APC is fielding Bola Tinubu, 70, a long-time kingmaker who points to his success as Lagos governor and claims "It is my turn."

Stressing on consensus among G20 countries, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports Anurag Thakur said a consensus among the G20 countries on coordinated solutions to key global problems can help the global economy recover from the current slowdown and create new opportunities for growth and prosperity.

Addressing the inaugural session of the G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting  in Bengaluru on Feb 22, the minister said since its inception, the G20 has time and again proven its mettle in forging consensus in times of crisis.

In his inaugural speech, the minister highlighted the importance of India's G20 presidency. He said the theme reflects the importance India places on collaborative efforts to address global challenges.

The G20 Finance Track discussions in 2023 will include strengthening Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to meet the shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing ‘cities of tomorrow’, leveraging digital public infrastructure for financial inclusion and productivity gains and advancing the international taxation agenda, among others. 

The market capitalisation (m-cap) of Adani Group’s 10-listed companies has now fallen below the $100 billion mark. The ongoing rout in group stocks, particularly Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy, since the release of Hindenburg Research’s scathing report on January 24, has wiped out its valuation by a whopping USD 133 billion.

The combined m-cap of 10-Adani stock at the end of Feb 21 trading session was about Rs 8.20 lakh crore, which at the rupee-dollar exchange rate of 82.76, was valued at about USD 99 billion. Adani Group commanded an m-cap of Rs 19.20 lakh crore on January 24, the day when US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research made allegations of stock manipulation, lapses in corporate governance and accounting fraud on the group.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Feb 21 said that all international travellers visiting India will be able to make local payments using Unified Payments Interface (UPI) while they are in the country.

To start with, it is available to travellers from G-20 countries, at select international airports (Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi). Eligible travellers would be issued Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) wallets linked to UPI for making payments at merchant outlets, said RBI.

Earlier, on February 8, the central bank announced a facility to enable all inbound travellers visiting India to make local payments using UPI while they are in India.

In the initial stage, only ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and two non-bank PPI issuers, Pine Labs Private Limited and Transcorp International Limited will issue UPI-linked wallets.

In a bid to meet power demand in peak summer, the power ministry has mandated all imported coal-based thermal plants to function at full capacity in summer. The ministry, in a notice to 15 thermal plants that use imported coal said this order will be valid from March 16 to June  15, 2023. These 15 power plants include Tata Power’s and Adani Power’s plants in Mundra in Gujarat; Essar power plant in Salaya; JSW Ratnagiri; Tata Trombay; Udupi Power; Meenakshi Energy; and JSW Torangallu. This year, the power ministry expects the power demand to touch 230 GW in 2023. The power secretary Alok Kumar had said that the government will take all possible measures to meet the 230 gigawatt (GW) single-day peak demand expected in April 2023.

The ministry invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act, which mandates power plants to open and generate electricity at their full capacity, last year in May 2022 too. Most of these imported coal-based thermal power plants were shut at that time due to high global coal prices and increased cost of power generation. However, following this mandate, these plants had to start their operation.

Foreign lender HSBC on Feb 21 reported a 15.04 per cent jump in its pre-tax profit from operations in India at USD 1.277 billion for 2022.

The bank had reported a pre-tax profit of USD 1.11 billion from its operations in India, which continues to be fourth largest contributor for group profits, in 2021.