News Highlights: Linda Yaccarino is new Twitter CEO, announces Elon Musk

-- The MLAs who won the December 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections spent on average Rs 27.10 lakh or 68 percent of the expense limit on campaigning, a report prepared by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said on Friday.

-- Under the Representation of the People Act, winning candidates are required to file election expenditure statements within 30 days of results. In the case of Gujarat elections, the deadline was January 8, 2023.

-- An analysis of these affidavits by the ADR showed that the 156 MLAs of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent an average of Rs 27.94 lakh.

-- Individual APE up 38.6% at Rs 2,514 crore vs Rs 1,814 crore (YoY)

-- Total APE up 39.9% at Rs 2,538 crore vs Rs 1,814 crore (YoY)

-- Renewal premium up 8.4% at Rs 5,834 crore vs Rs 5,381 crore

-- Gross Written Premium up 14.4% at Rs 9,154 crore vs Rs 7,999 crore

Firing outside Islamabad High Court, no casualty reported

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed its third Supplementary chargesheet today, against another accused in the Mundra Port case related to the seizure of 2988 kg heroin. The consignment was smuggled into India from Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2021. With this, a total of 42 individuals and 7 firms have so far been charge-sheeted in the case.

Linda Yaccarino modernized the Comcast Corp entertainment and media division's advertising business and had been in talks for the job before NBC announced her departure Friday morning.

Since Musk acquired Twitter in October, advertisers have fled the platform, worried that their ads could appear next to inappropriate content after the company lost nearly 80% of staff. Musk earlier this year acknowledged that Twitter suffered a massive decline in ad revenue.

Her exit is another big blow to NBCUniversal. Last month, NBC parent Comcast CMCSA.O said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was leaving after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation.

Advertising President Mark Marshall will step in as interimchairmanof NBCUniversal's advertising and partnerships group. Marshall was named president of ad sales and partnerships in 2018, overseeing NBC's broadcast entertainment, sports and advanced advertising sales. (Reuters)

-- In two separate operations conducted this week at Chennai, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 23.34 kilograms of smuggled foreign gold totally valued at Rs 14.43 crores that were attempted to be smuggled into the country through Chennai international airport.

-- Both persons including a Sri Lankan national have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

“India is best when it comes to digital, energy and supply chain. For the energy sector, the need for growth is three times by 2050 and India will deliver,” says N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons.

The first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held in Brussels on 16 May that is expected to deliberate on cooperation in areas of critical technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and semiconductors.

The meeting will be co-chaired on the Indian side by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

“We acknowledge and accept the DGCA’s ruling. However, we reject the assertion that no action was taken by Air India in response to the complaint. There were a number of allegations which needed to be worked through with due process and confidentiality, and which commenced immediately upon the complaint being lodged.”

At a book launch event in Delhi, BJP national president JP Nadda speaks on West Bengal; he says, "We don't speak of 'Badla' but 'Badlav'. We want a change there (West Bengal). With your strength, we will be able to do it...They (TMC) speak of 'Ma Mati Manush'. But neither 'Ma' nor 'Mati' survived, 'Manush' perished..."

-- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on Friday said India is a focus market for the carrier as it introduced a new class for travellers on its flights between various Indian cities and Amsterdam.

-- The airline is part of the Air France-KLM Group, which recorded passenger traffic of one million on Indian routes in 2022.

-- India is the world's third largest and one of the fastest aviation markets in the world.

-- Delhi reeled under sweltering heat as the maximum temperature soared to 44 degrees Celsius -- the season's highest -- on Friday.

-- Head of the Indian Meteorological Department’s regional weather forecasting Centre in Delhi, Kuldeep Srivastava, said this is the highest temperature of the season so far.

-- Delhities need to brace themselves for the warmer days ahead as the MeT office has predicted similar conditions for Saturday.

-- The heatwave conditions are expected at isolated places, he added.

Indian boxer Deepak Bhoria wins bronze in men’s 51 kg category at World Championships.