·       Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals (Abdul Raof Arghandiwal , Hibatullah Alizai and  Abdul Jabar Wafa ) told The Associated Press.

India on Oct 31 presented the second tranche of aid of USD 2.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for the financial year 2022-2023.

In a statement, India's Representative Office in Ramallah said this will support the agency's core programs and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services.

Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for "peace and unity" after narrowly winning a divisive runoff election on Oct 30, capping a remarkable political comeback by defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro -- who has yet to accept defeat.

The victory marks a stunning turnaround for the charismatic but tarnished leftist heavyweight, who left office in 2010 as the most popular president in Brazilian history, fell into disgrace when he was imprisoned for 18 months on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges, and now returns for an unprecedented third term at age 77.

All eyes will now be on how Bolsonaro and his supporters react to the result after months of alleging -- without evidence -- that Brazil's electronic voting system is plagued by fraud and that the courts, media and other institutions had conspired against his far-right movement.

Billionaire Elon Musk is already floating major changes for Twitter — and faces major hurdles as he begins his first week as owner of the social-media platform.

Twitter's new owner fired the company's board of directors and made himself the board's sole member, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk later said on Twitter that the new board setup is “temporary,” but he didn't provide any details.

Meanwhile, billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he and his Kingdom Holding Company rolled over a combined $1.89 billion in existing Twitter shares, making them the company’s largest shareholder after Musk. The news raised concerns among some lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.

The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) on  Oct 31 approved 42 companies including Samsung, Nokia, government-owned ITI Ltd, Tata group-owned Tejas Network  and Foxconn under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and networking products.

Of these selected firms, 17 have applied for additional incentive of 1% under design-led manufacturing criteria

The ministry said these companies have committed investment of Rs 4,115 crore and expected to generate more than 44,000 jobs over the scheme period. The selected companies under the scheme include global majors like Samsung, Nokia, Jabil, Rising Star, Flextronics as well as local players like HFCL, ITI, VVDN, Tejas Networks, etc.

In budget 2022-23, the government had announced a design-led PLI scheme for telecom and networking products. It provided additional incentive of 1% over and above the existing incentives for products that are designed and manufactured in India. Design-led PLI scheme was launched in June 2022 and applications were invited from design-led manufacturers as well as others, for availing incentive under the PLI scheme for five years commencing from April 1, 2022.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on  Oct 31 imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on LIC Housing Finance Ltd for non-compliance with certain provisions of the Housing Finance Companies Directions, 2010 issued by the National Housing Bank (NHB).

This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers, the central bank clarified.

It’s been a week to remember for budding shuttler Sankar Muthusamy. Up against some of the finest talents around the world, the 18-year-old showed his prowess with the racquet to stand apart. Entering the court for his final match in the BWF World Junior Championship in Santander, Spain on Oct 30 , Sankar had a chance to claim the top prize and enter the history books. However, things didn’t go according to Sankar’s script as his opponent, clearly superior on the day, outwitted him to take the gold instead.

When ASI Mini Raju won a 2018 district-level arm wrestling competition organised by Kerala Police Association after entering it at the last moment, little did she know that four years down the line she would make India proud by winning double gold in the World Arm Wrestling Competition held at Turkey recently.

Another feather in her cap is that she was also the captain of the 43-member Indian team that participated in the world sporting event and bagged 13 medals -- three gold, five silver and five bronze -- a haul which was a first for the country at the competition.

Of the 13 medals, eight were won by arm wrestlers from Kerala