Global prices for food commodities like grain and vegetable oils were the highest on record last year even after falling for nine months in a row, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said, as Russia's war in Ukraine, drought and other factors drove up inflation and worsened hunger worldwide.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly traded food commodities, dipped by 1.9% in December from a month earlier, the Rome-based organization said Friday. For the whole year, it averaged 143.7 points, more than 14% above the 2021 average, which also saw large increases.

Tesla Inc. made another round of price cuts on its Model 3 and Y electric vehicles in China on Friday, while also introducing its higher-end Model S sedan and Model X to get a better hold on the premium end of the world’s biggest EV market.

The starting price for the locally-built Model Y sports utility vehicle has been slashed to 259,900 yuan ($37,875) from 288,900 yuan, according to the company’s Chinese website. That’s a record low for China and 43% cheaper than the $65,900 starting price listed on Tesla’s US website.

India logged 228 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 2,503, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,79,547).

The death toll stands at 5,30,714, with four deaths. Two deaths were reconciled by Kerala while one death each was reported from Bihar and Uttarakhand in last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft Executive Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella are on the invitees list of the Andhra Pradesh government for its Global Investors Summit (GIS) to be held in Visakhapatnam on March 3 and 4.

Fifteen Union Ministers, 15 Chief Ministers, 44 global industrialists, 53 Indian industry bigwigs and ambassadors of various countries are being invited for the two-day event on which the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is betting big to attract large-scale investments into the state.

The cold wave in Uttar Pradesh is turning deadlier by the day.

In Kanpur, on Thursday, 25 persons died due to heart attack and brain stroke.

Seventeen of these died even before they could be given any medical aid.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday said the startup movement has picked up momentum in the country and led to the creation of over 80,000 startups, whose number was about 350 before 2014.

Singh said that due to a push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the startup movement has picked up momentum in India.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has reportedly approached several banks to get loans adding up to Rs 7,000 crore, a report in the Economic Times (ET) said on Friday. The State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank and IDFC First Bank are among the banks that the telco has approached.

The lenders have, however, sought clarity from the telco on the government's potential shareholding and its plans to infuse capital in Vi. The bulk of the loans will be used to pay a part of its dues to Indus Towers.

Amazon.com Inc. is laying off more than 18,000 employees — a significantly bigger number than previously planned — in the latest sign that a technology slump is deepening.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy announced the move in a memo to staff Wednesday, saying it followed the company’s annual planning process. The cuts, which began last year, were previously expected to affect about 10,000 people.

Telecom operators Jio and Bharti Airtel on Thursday started their 5G services in the state capital.

The 5G services of both the companies were unveiled by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at an event here.

Godrej properties has sold over 1 million square feet of area at the launch of a new project, Celeste, in its township, Godrej Garden City, in Ahmedabad.

The company has sold 870 homes with a booking value of approximately Rs 435 crore since the project was launched in October, last year, it said in a statement.

The project covers nearly 2.3 hectares and includes 8 towers which offer homes and retail outlets of various configurations.

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