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Over 65 lakh students did not pass <keyword id="19951608" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="class-10" source="keywords">class 10</keyword> and 12 <keyword id="19954615" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="board-exams" source="keywords">board exams</keyword> across the country last year with the failure rate being higher in <keyword id="22866974" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-boards" source="keywords">state boards</keyword> than the central board, according to Ministry of Education (<keyword id="20349630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="MoE" source="keywords">MoE</keyword>) officials. An analysis of class 10 and 12 results of 59 school boards, including 56 state boards and three national boards, revealed that more girls appeared in class 12 exam from government-managed schools but it is opposite in private schools and government-aided schools. "Around 33.5 lakh students of class 10 are not reaching next grade. While 5.5 lakh candidates did not appear, 28 lakh failed. This is one of the cause for low retention rate and Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) at higher secondary level," a senior MoE official said. Similarly, around 32.4 lakh class 12 students did not complete the grade. While 5.2 lakh did not appear, 27.2 lakh failed. In class 10, the student failure rate in central board stood at 6 per cent while that of state boards was much higher at 16 per cent. In class 12, the failure rate at central board is 12 per cent while that of state boards is 18 per cent. The ministry officials noted that the open school performance was poor in both the classes. The highest number of student failure in class 10 was in Madhya Pradesh board followed by Bihar and UP. While in class 12, the highest student failure was reported from Uttar Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh. "Overall performance of students in 2023 declined in comparison with previous year. This could be due to larger syllabus for examination," the official said. More girls appeared for class 10 and 12 board exams from government schools than boys. "This may reflect gender bias while spending on education by parents. However, girls dominates in pass performance across government, aided and private schools," the official said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-gained-over-3-million-subscribers-in-june-vi-lost-nearly-a-million/articleshow/112670406.cms">Reliance Jio and Airtel gained over 3 million subscribers in June, Vi lost nearly a million</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/the-iphone-pro-models-will-be-made-in-india-for-the-first-time-this-year/articleshow/112653019.cms">The iPhone Pro models will be made in India for the first time this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/orient-technologies-ipo-price-band-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/112646237.cms">Orient Technologies IPO – Price band to risk factors, all you need to know</a>

Over 65 lakh students failed class 10, 12 exams in 2023; higher failure rate in state boards: MoE

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Apple is facing an antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice.</li><li>The lawsuit argues that Apple's tactics have limited the success of other smartphone companies.</li></ul>The US Department of Justice is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-lawsuit-explained-60-seconds-2024-3#:~:text=The%20US%20DOJ%2C%20with%2016,will%20%22vigorously%22%20defend%20itself.">blaming Apple</a> for Amazon and Microsoft's phone failures.On Thursday, Apple was hit with a brutal <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-antitrust-lawsuit-justice-department-2024-3">antitrust</a> lawsuit that accused the Big Tech company of engaging in illegal anticompetitive behaviors in the smartphone market to achieve the <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-rules-gen-z-nearly-90-percent-have-iphone-survey-2023-10">iPhone's dominance</a>.The DOJ and attorneys general from 16 states say their focus on the iPhone relates to the ways Apple limits the functionality of other products and services to iPhone users.Prosecutors said in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline">the suit</a>: "Many prominent, well-financed companies have tried and failed to enter the relevant markets because of these entry barriers successfully."The DOJ cited past smartphone failures, including Amazon's 2014 Fire mobile phone, HTC, LG, and Microsoft's mobile business.The Fire phone famously flamed out in just over a year, forcing the company to take a $170 million write-down charge on costs and leaving Amazon with $83 million worth of unsold Fire Phones still in its inventory, <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://time.com/3536969/amazon-fire-phone-bust/">Time reported</a> in 2014.In the suit, the DOJ says Samsung and Google remain the only "meaningful competitors in the US performance smartphone market.""Barriers are so high that Google is a distant third to Apple and Samsung despite the fact that Google controls development of the Android operating system," the suit read.The DOJ likened the legal action to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-microsoft-antitrust-case-history-outcome-2020-7">antitrust lawsuit filed against Microsoft in 1998</a>.The department accused Apple of engaging "in many of the same tactics that Microsoft used," including "higher prices, fewer new products, and a worse user experience."In a statement shared with Business Insider, a representative for Apple said that if the suit were successful, "it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect."The company also said the suit's success "would set a dangerous precedent, empowering the government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology. We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it."

Apple is to blame for Microsoft and Amazon's phone failures, DOJ says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Kamala Harris unveiled plans for the first-ever federal ban on price gouging.</li><li>Some experts question whether price gouging has been a central factor in inflation's rise.</li></ul>Vice President Kamala Harris' proposal to combat grocery inflation hasn't elicited a range of opinions from economists, and many have turned to history to dispute her idea.Last week, the Democratic presidential nominee unveiled early details of her economic platform, which included a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grocery-costs-inflation-kamala-harris-ban-price-gouging-election-trump-2024-8">pledge to ban grocery price gouging</a>. Price gouging skepticismThe plan has elicited a range of responses from experts and economists, with some deriding it as an unnecessary overstep by the government to address a problem that is not at the heart of the inflation dilemma. "I hope she walks this one back. She had some good ideas, some mixed ideas," Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/17/politics/video/harris-economic-vision-professor-rogoff-digvid">CNN</a>. "This was a horrible idea."Rogoff's position was based on doubts about whether retailers were to blame for the wave of inflation that has weighed on Americans' spending power in the last two years. Harris called for a first-ever federal ban on the basis that firms have notched record profits at a time when many households have struggled to adjust to runaway costs. Since January 2020, grocery prices have jumped 25%.But according to market veteran Ed Yardeni, data doesn't suggest gouging is the problem.He wrote this week that the ratio between the consumer price index and supermarket producer price index has been dropping since 2000, suggesting that profit margins in the industry have been trending down, not up. CPI tracks prices paid by consumers, while PPI measures the prices paid by wholesalers.And yet, consumers feel strongly that corporate greed is a central factor for why prices have risen abruptly. In a <a target="_blank" href="https://socialeconomicslab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Why_dislike_inflation.pdf">study</a> from May, price gouging was the second leading perceived cause of inflation among surveyed consumers.Real-world examples do exist. Cal-Maine, the largest egg producer in the US, saw its profits rocket <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/business/egg-profits-cal-maine/index.html">718% in the first quarter of 2023</a>. By December, the distributor was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-jury-awards-177-mln-kraft-other-producers-egg-price-fixing-case-2023-12-01/">found liable</a> for artificially inflating prices.'Price controls' a partisan label?Whether gouging deserves the blame for inflation, some have also criticized Harris' plan as an ineffective government overreach.Pundits have alluded to the price controls under President Richard Nixon. The Republican executive froze prices and wages over fifty years ago to clamp down on inflation, but it eventually jumped much higher, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cato.org/blog/unhappy-40th-anniversary-nixons-wage-price-controls">Cato Institute</a>, a libertarian think tank. "I think all of us would agree that price controls have never worked," Stephen Moore, visiting senior fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/08/19/harris-price-gouging-proposal-is-a-common-sense-set-of-policies-groundworkas-lindsay-owens.html">CNBC</a>. "They certainly were a complete failure in the 1970s when we had major inflation that hit 11%-12% and the government couldn't get rid of it."Broader <a target="_blank" href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/2022/mar/why-price-controls-should-stay-history-books">examples through history</a> show that price ceilings can distort the allocation of goods and supply, as prices no longer serve to signal a surplus or scarcity. This can eventually lead to shortages and higher pricing.However, supporters of the plan argue that such comparisons are an overreaction to Harris's proposal, as the details thus far say nothing about fixing costs."This is not 'price controls.' 40 states have price gouging laws on the books. These are red states. These are blue states," Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens said, noting that Donald Trump also cracked down medical supply price gouging during the pandemic. "This is a common-sense set of policies."The federal ban would help patch up legal inconsistencies between each state's approach, experts <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-lower-grocery-prices-inflation-harris-price-gouging-proposal-2024-8?as">told Business Insider</a>. Harris would likely find success by empowering the Federal Trade Commission to pursue bad actors, though the challenge would lie in carefully defining price gouging.While the plan's advocates have cheered this on, anonymous campaign sources that spoke with The New York Times noted that even <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/business/economy/harris-price-gouging-ban-groceries.html">allies may have the wrong idea about what it can do</a>.Given that it would be modeled on state laws, the ban would really only come into effect in emergencies, officials said, stating that just as price-control critiques are misguided, so are expectations that the ban will immediately cut down on grocery costs.For that to happen, a campaign official cited Harris' other policy ideas, such as efforts to spur competition and support small businesses in the food sector.While economists are divided, voters seem supportive of the proposal. Summer polling from the Democratic firm Blueprint found that four out of five voters are in favor of price-gouging prosecution, as well as price fixing.

A necessary step or government overreach? Economists are divided over Kamala Harris' plan to clamp down on food inflation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US government has been auctioning Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic's wine collections.</li><li>The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has seized many unusual assets from failed banks over the years.</li></ul>A federal agency has been auctioning off <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-bank-failure-what-happened-bank-run-explained-2023-3#:~:text=And%20that's%20why%20SVB%20failed&amp;text=In%20the%20end%2C%20it%20was,that%20made%20it%20especially%20vulnerable.">Silicon Valley Bank</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-first-republic-failed-what-means-rest-banking-industry-2023-5">First Republic Bank</a>'s wine collections, after seizing control of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-banking-crisis-is-unfolding-worldwide-how-bad-is-it-2023-3">failed lenders</a> and their assets this spring. The bottles are far from the strangest assets to end up in government hands as a result of bank collapses.Heritage Auctions shelled out about $150,000 including fees for about 1,900 bottles of wine previously owned by SVB, and close to $20,000 for more than 400 bottles from First Republic's cellar, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/who-wins-when-a-bank-fails-wine-guy-frank-martell-41d446c3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal reported</a>.The auctioneer secured the wines at a roughly 40% discount to their market value, the newspaper said.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guarantees deposits of up to $250,000 in a single FDIC-insured bank. It covers the cost of providing that protection in part by collecting dues from banks and selling assets it seizes.The FDIC has found itself in possession of many weird and wonderful "specialty assets" previously owned by banks. The list includes 25,000 pounds of frozen rabbit, a 12% stake in the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s, and even a cooler containing a human skull, an agency representative told the Journal.The FDIC also seized company planes, pianos, aquariums, and derelict churches and synagogues. Once it wound up with a coal mine that was apparently on fire the same day its owner shut down, the newspaper reported."I guess you could say that the failed-bank side of the FDIC's work reflects the diversity of the banking business, from earth to the heavens above," Jay Rosenstein, an agency employee who highlighted the strangest seizures in an internal newsletter, wrote in 2006, per the Journal.The government's haul from First Republic also included a 13-seater corporate jet, and a pair of nine-pound eagle figurines that were handmade in France from Baccarat crystal, according to the report.

The US government's been selling SVB and First Republic's wine collections. Past bank failures have put far weirder assets in federal hands.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russian and Wagner troops opened fire on each other in Luhansk over an argument, Ukraine says.</li><li>The soldiers and mercenaries had been blaming each other for their mistakes in the war, per Ukraine.</li></ul>Ukraine said on Sunday that a group of Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries opened fire on each other over a dispute about their wartime mistakes.Soldiers from both forces were killed in the shootout in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region occupied by Russia and Kremlin-backed rebels, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02hErF5mSAop6cRPrGPV2BaTdE9QEBu3W9WuvvPwePikZK5c3snQjwmbYP2vEEyTAml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in its daily briefing on Sunday.</a>The Wagner Group is not officially part of the Russian army, but has been enlisted by the Kremlin to fight alongside Moscow's troops in Ukraine.Both sides clashed as they blamed each other for defeats in Ukraine, the update claimed."They shift the responsibility for their own tactical miscalculations and losses suffered onto each other," the briefing said. "As a result, a fight between Russian Armed Forces and PMC Wagner mercenaries broke out in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska recently."Russia has not confirmed Ukraine's Sunday report. Insider could not independently verify Ukraine's claim about the shootout. The report also comes as Wagner's relationship with the Kremlin appears to be deteriorating <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wagner-group-2-months-human-wave-troops-left-bakhmut-ukraine-2023-4">while the mercenary group takes heavy losses.</a>Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary group's founder who's thought to be a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wagner-boss-yevgeny-prigozhin-vladimir-putin-cut-him-off-2023-3">in March complained that Russia's top military brass was ignoring his requests for more ammunition.</a>"To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to office, to departments, etc., have been cut off from me," Prigozhin said.But Wagner <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-military-helping-wagner-group-mercenaries-more-than-prigozhin-says-2023-4">has still been working closely with Russia's regular forces</a>, with its ground forces deployed in tandem with Russian air support and artillery, Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses think tank, told Insider's Michael Peck.It's thus unclear whether the alleged firefight represents wider conflict or discipline issues among Russian forces on the frontline. Wagner has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-pardons-russia-convicts-fight-ukraine-kremlin-admits-2023-1">deploying poorly trained Russian convicts in Ukraine</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/30000-wagner-group-fighters-killed-or-injured-ukraine-white-house-2023-2">almost 30,000 of whom have died</a>, per US officials.However, multiple reports have documented Russian troops <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-appears-show-russian-wagner-soldier-shoot-comrade-bakhmut-trenches-2023-3">being plagued</a> by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-shot-down-own-warplanes-pilots-didnt-want-fly-report-2023-2">friendly fire in Ukraine</a>, though the Kremlin rarely acknowledges any of these incidents.Russia's combat formations and systems also made it difficult for its forces to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-spy-chief-russian-soldiers-accidentally-shot-their-own-aircraft-2022-3">identify friend from foe</a> in the early months of the war, the <a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal United Services Institute, a </a><a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UK think tank,</a><a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> found in November.</a>But accounts of Russian friendly fire continued to emerge later in the war, including instances that appeared intentional.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-spy-chief-russian-soldiers-accidentally-shot-their-own-aircraft-2022-3">British intelligence</a> reported in November that Russia was deploying "blocking units" behind its soldiers to prevent them from retreating. "These units threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives and have been used in previous conflicts by Russian forces," the UK Ministry of Defense said.And in December, Ukrainian intelligence said it intercepted a call from a Russian soldier to his mother, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-have-more-losses-own-side-than-from-ukrainians-reports-2022-12">in which he said his comrades were taking more losses "from their own side" than from Ukrainian fire.</a>In a rare admission on Friday, Russia's defense ministry said one of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-warplane-bombs-russian-city-belgorod-by-mistake-2023-4">Su-34 jets accidentally bombed the Russian city of Belgorod</a>. Local authorities said the blast injured two women and damaged four apartments.Russia's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries killed each other in a shootout after blaming each other for their war failures, Ukrainian government says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>UK aircraft carriers keep breaking down, with one pulling out of NATO exercises Sunday.</li><li>Years of underfunding have left the UK's navy in a threadbare state, a report said.</li></ul>The high-profile failure of the UK's flagship aircraft carrier over the weekend has shown how Britain is struggling to keep up with first-rate navies around the world.The $3.7 billion HMS Queen Elizabeth had to pull out of the largest NATO naval exercises since <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uks-flagship-carrier-embarrassing-setback-pulls-out-big-nato-exercise-2024-2?mrfhud=true&amp;r=US&amp;IR=T">the Cold War on Sunday</a> when a problem was discovered with its propeller.<a target="_blank" class="sc-c9299ecf-0 bZUiKB" href="https://twitter.com/RoyalNavy/status/1753889301157282215">In a message on X</a>, the Royal Navy said there was an issue with a coupling on the carrier's starboard propeller shaft.The setback came 18 months after its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, broke down after a similar problem, causing it to pull out of exercises with the US Navy.This stuff matters — the problems are being exposed at a time when the UK is stretching its naval capabilities by providing protection <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-missiles-shoot-down-houthi-threats-major-boost-new-warheads-2024-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">to vessels in the Red Sea targeted by Houthi rebels</a>.It's also poised to defend against China's aggression in East Asia and Russian aggression in the Black Sea amid the war between Russia and Ukraine.Tom Sharpe, a former navy commander, said that the malfunction would mean that Britain no longer sends a carrier to the Red Sea, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/royal-navy-flagship-pulls-out-of-nato-exercise-due-to-propeller-issue-6k9rdgmlc">The Times</a>.On the same day that the carrier broke down, the House of Commons defense committee said the military was "consistently overstretched," with "unrelenting pressure" on personnel.The report questioned its readiness for some wars and said the outlet heard that the "hollowing out" of the armed forces had undermined the UK's military capabilities."Gen. Lord Houghton pointed to the shortage of available vessels and further noted that he found the high proportion of naval equipment which was inoperable to be 'quite disturbing,'" the report said, citing a top UK defense official.The Defense Ministry said in response to the report that the military was meeting its commitments."Our Armed Forces are always ready to protect and defend the UK, and we continue to meet all operational commitments, including participating in every single NATO mission, supporting Ukraine, and tackling Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea," a spokesperson said.The Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth have been in service for only about three years. In <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53186611">2020</a>, the UK's government-spending watchdog said that it was unclear whether enough money had been budgeted to meet ambitious plans for the vessels given the lack of frigates and support vessels.It's not just the flagship vessels but also smaller ships that seem to be encountering problems. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-uk-navy-warship-involved-in-a-second-collision-since-2021-2024-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">In January</a>, two UK warships collided off the coast of Bahrain.The Defense Ministry told BI that technical problems were inevitable on state-of-the-art ships."It's not uncommon to have maintenance issues with state-of-the-art ships which contain complex engineering and technology. Having two aircraft carriers means that HMS Prince of Wales can quickly prepare to deploy in place of HMS Queen Elizabeth," a spokesperson said.The spokesperson added: "HMS Prince of Wales will deploy soon on NATO exercise Steadfast Defender, carrying out her duties to keep the nation and our allies safe."Experts were sounding the alarm about the state of the British navy even before HMS Queen Elizabeth's participation in the exercises was canceled, saying in comments to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/ac26be66-7b85-40a3-b2b6-900256866fd9">the Financial Times last week</a> that it would've been dependent on allies for support vessels."There is a dissonance between the UK's military ambitions and its capabilities," Richard Barrons, a former head of the UK's armed forces, told the publication. "The risk is that we get drawn into a conflict and can't sustain our presence, and this exposes a strategic weakness."

The high-profile failure of a $3.7B aircraft carrier shows how Britain is struggling to keep up with first-rate militaries

Tuesday, April 2: Exaggerated claims of unbelievable results with the use of consumer products are not new in the Indian advertisement industry. But, the law of the land does explicitly prohibit and punish misleading advertisements from time to time. One such case is grabbing headlines of late. <keyword id="20083249" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="baba-ramdev" source="keywords">Baba Ramdev</keyword> and <keyword id="20752072" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="acharya-balkrishna" source="keywords">Acharya Balkrishna</keyword>, co-founder and managing director of <keyword id="19980518" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="patanjali" source="keywords">Patanjali</keyword>, respectively, appeared before the <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> today for a hearing regarding a case involving misleading advertisements. So, what exactly happened? <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A case of false and misleading advertisements" comment="subhead" text="A case of false and misleading advertisements">A case of false and misleading advertisements</cmsannotation> The case began in November last year when the Supreme Court, responding to a petition by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), cautioned <keyword id="6406649" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="patanjali-ayurved" source="Orion">Patanjali Ayurved</keyword> against airing "false" and "misleading" claims in its advertisements about medicinal products. The IMA cited several ads that allegedly portrayed allopathic medicine and doctors negatively, claiming that companies producing ayurvedic medicines made disparaging remarks to deceive the public. Despite the Supreme Court's cautionary stance and prohibition on advertising products claiming to treat specific ailments under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, Ramdev and Balkrishna reportedly conducted a press conference, once again making misleading claims about Patanjali's ability to cure various conditions permanently. Subsequently, on February 27, the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with Patanjali's continuous dissemination of false advertisements regarding medicinal cures and issued notices to the company, questioning why contempt proceedings should not be initiated. It also chastised the government for not taking action and “sitting with their eyes shut”. On March 21, the Court summoned Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna to personally appear before it on April 2 to address their failure to respond to the contempt notice regarding misleading advertisements about medicinal cures. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What’s the latest update?" comment="subhead" text="What’s the latest update?">What’s the latest update?</cmsannotation> In today's hearing, the Supreme Court criticised Ramdev and Balkrishna for their "absolute defiance" in failing to submit proper affidavits of compliance and for disregarding legal directives. The Court also rebuked Patanjali's MD for describing the Drugs and Cosmetics (Magic Remedies) Act as "archaic". Noting that Patanjali's advertisements are in the "teeth of law" of the land, the Court warned Ramdev to prepare for potential consequences. Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, presiding over the bench, declined to acknowledge the apology extended by Patanjali last month. Subsequently, Ramdev's attorney, reportedly with folded hands, reiterated that both Ramdev and Balakrishna were extending a personal and unconditional apology before the court. Finally, the Court has granted Ramdev and Balkrishna a final opportunity to file affidavits in one week and mandated their presence at the next hearing on April 10.

Government ‘sitting with its eyes shut’, says Supreme Court as Patanjali’s misleading advertisement case drags on

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by regulators on Friday.</li><li>The closure of the bank, a favorite in the tech community, sent shockwaves across markets.</li></ul>In times of crisis on Wall Street, one must ask: Who is winning, and who is losing?Depending on where you stand, the unfortunate/fortunate reality of finance is that it is a zero-sum game. When one persons loses, another typically wins. Which brings us to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/svb-failure-what-the-hell-happened-2023-3">the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank</a>. Federal regulators stepped in Sunday night <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-government-bails-out-silicon-valley-bank-depositors-fdic-2023-3">with a bailout plan to protect depositors of the bank</a> and quell wider market fears. However, as of Monday afternoon, there was still plenty of panic across the markets about the knock-off effects.<h2>Here's a rundown of who stands to gain, and lose, the most as a result of the fall of Silicon Valley Bank. </h2><h2>Winners</h2><div type="image" title="jp morgan citibank" height="1000" width="1333" msid="98615133" hostid="261"></div>JPMorgan: Big banks will likely see their deposit base grow as customers of regional banks pull their money over fears their bank will experience a run next. However, the largest bank in the country by assets is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-big-banks-benefit-from-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-2023-3">positioned to capture the most new market share</a>, marking yet another win for CEO Jamie Dimon. Short sellers: If you <a href="https://citywire.com/pro-buyer/news/how-one-pm-saw-trouble-brewing-at-silicon-valley-bank/a2411590?re=106905&amp;refea=1819037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bet big against SVB or Signature Bank</a>, you are sitting pretty. Same goes for any short positions you opened up <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/silicon-valley-bank-run-collapse-contagion-failure-bailout-financial-crisis-2023-3?_ga=2.4077168.1718460740.1678628441-410193916.1666127244&amp;_gl=1*1p55d9b*_ga*NDEwMTkzOTE2LjE2NjYxMjcyNDQ.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3ODcyNTIyNC40ODMuMS4xNjc4NzMyNTQxLjAuMC4w">against other regional banks.</a>Fintechs offering treasury services and corporate accounts: SVB banked nearly half of all US tech startups, which means there are a lot of companies looking for help managing their cash. And while the big banks, as mentioned, will certainly be a landing spot, so too will fintechs offering similar services. Brex already reportedly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/fintech-brex-got-billions-of-dollars-in-silicon-valley-bank-deposits-thursday.html">received billions of dollars in deposits from SVB customers</a>. Senator Elizabeth Warren: Love or hate her, the Massachusetts senator has been one of the most vocal critics of Wall Street and (what she deems to be) a lack of regulation on the industry. The failure of SVB will be viewed as confirmation of what she has been preaching. She's already taken a bit of a victory lap in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/svb-bailout-elizabeth-warren-student-loan-borrowers-limbo-banks-2023-3">New York Times opinion piece that criticizes the bailout.</a>Private-credit managers: These so-called shadow banks could fill the gap left behind by SVB's failure, offering to lend to tech startups. It's the latest boost for an industry <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/private-debt-credit-market-risks-outlook-2023-2022-11">that had swollen to $1.2 trillion in late 2022.</a> Here's a rundown of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/private-credit-power-players-debt-executives-blackstone-kkr-ares-2022">the key people shaping the private-credit market.</a>Wall Street traders who bought SBV clients' deposits for pennies on the dollar: Has an easier buck ever been made? Silicon Valley Bank's obituary had barely been written before firms were offering to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/some-svb-customers-taking-big-haircuts-deposits-raise-funds-fast-2023-3">buy up customers' uninsured deposits for as little as 55 cents on the dollar.</a> That deal turned out to be a windfall for anyone who was able to pull it off, as federal regulators soon guaranteed all deposits. Tech startups that didn't use SVB or Signature Bank: The middle- and back-office staff must be absolutely buzzing! What a win for the behind-the-scenes folks. It's tough to see so much of the industry in pain, but I am sure the treasury and risk management folks at companies that avoid the fray are celebrating.Anyone that had bad news to share over the weekend: You could have gotten away with announcing A LOT of bad things this weekend without anyone noticing. Down round? Layoffs? Lawsuits? None of it stood a chance of stopping the SVB news train. <h2>Losers</h2><div type="image" title="stock market crash" height="3425" width="4567" msid="98615134" hostid="261"></div>Bank shareholders: Sunday night's bailout announcement from federal regulators made one thing clear: SVB shareholders are on their own. The rest of the market took note, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/svb-collapse-first-republic-western-alliance-zions-pacwest-biden-investors-2023-3?_gl=1*1wklxr*_ga*NDEwMTkzOTE2LjE2NjYxMjcyNDQ.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3ODcyNTIyNC40ODMuMS4xNjc4NzMzNTUzLjAuMC4w">as shares in other regional banks have tanked on Monday.</a>Venture capitalists: Let's set aside the argument of whether or not VCs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capitalists-tech-founders-turned-on-silicon-valley-bank-2023-3">deserve some of the blame</a> for causing a bank run at SVB. The bank's failure, and its subsequent bailout, has now caught the attention of the general public. Regulators made clear taxpayers won't be on the hook for any losses, but that nuance might be lost on most. Instead, some will simply see <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-bank-fdic-bailout-regulations-2023-3">a community that has long eschewed more regulation</a> getting bailed out by the government. It's easy to see how VCs get painted as the new bogeymen of finance.Startups: The short-term <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/startups-silicon-valley-bank-worried-wont-pay-employees-next-week-2023-3">concern for startups over making payroll</a> this week seems to have been largely averted. But it's one thing to have all your cash back. It's another to not know where to put it. SVB was a key ally to tech startups, offering services and structuring deals in ways most other banks wouldn't. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-big-banks-benefit-from-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-2023-3">Who will fill that gap for the industry?</a>Regional banks: SVB's bailout was meant to provide assurances that bank deposits are secure and quell fears over additional bank runs. However, the opposite seems to have occurred, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/silicon-valley-bank-run-collapse-contagion-failure-bailout-financial-crisis-2023-3?_ga=2.28652028.1718460740.1678628441-410193916.1666127244&amp;_gl=1*ifat9y*_ga*NDEwMTkzOTE2LjE2NjYxMjcyNDQ.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3ODcyNTIyNC40ODMuMS4xNjc4NzMzNTM0LjAuMC4w">at least among smaller regionals.</a> Shares in First Republic Bank and First Horizon, among others, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/svb-collapse-first-republic-western-alliance-zions-pacwest-biden-investors-2023-3?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">have been brutalized.</a>Goldman Sachs: The involvement of one of Wall Street's most powerful investment banks in the SVB saga can't go unnoticed. The bank <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-svb-silicon-valley-bank-failure-2023-3">advised SVB on its failed plan for a stock offering</a>. Perhaps SVB was already too far gone at that point. SXSW: The annual conference draws thousands of attendees, especially those in the tech community. But the death of SVB <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/at-sxsw-tech-employees-react-to-silicon-valley-bank-failure-2023-3">has cast a pall over the traditional lively event.</a> To be honest, it's probably nothing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sxsw-events-austin-work-trip-2023-3#hop-on-a-fun-float-with-frontera-tube-tours-1">a few Tex-Mex tacos and a float down the San Marcos River can't wash away.</a>Crypto: I know the crypto market has had a tough go of it, but this feels like a massive miss. Can you imagine the Twitter threads and LinkedIn posts if SVB failed in the midst of the crypto boom in 2021? Thought pieces about how crypto could have avoided this problem and why you can't trust traditional finance. The price of bitcoin might have surpassed $100,000.

The winners and losers of the Silicon Valley Bank failure

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Moscow's ambitions for a quick, sweeping victory in Ukraine were foiled soon after it invaded.</li><li>In the 19 months since Russia attacked, its forces have faced logistical and leadership challenges.</li></ul>As Russian troops massed along Ukraine's borders in late 2021 and early 2022, some Western experts warned that Vladimir Putin's army was not the army of Josef Stalin.The bulky Red Army divisions of World War II and the Cold War, each of which numbered <a href="https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/schilling/mil_org/milorgan_99.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 10,000</a> troops, had been replaced in the 2000s by smaller, more agile battalion-size formations of between 500 and 1,000 troops — an effort to create a force <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/galeotti-putins-wars-how-russia-rebuilt-and-destroyed-its-military-2023-4">more like that of the US and other Western armies</a>. Or so the theory went.The performance of those units in Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, where they faced outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian defenders, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-holding-out-as-russia-makes-a-mess-of-invasion-2022-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was a fiasco</a>. The feared <a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/getting-know-russian-battalion-tactical-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Battalion Tactical Groups</a>, or BTGs, proved as unwieldy as Russia's divisions were rigid.<div type="image" title="Russian troops soldiers" height="1334" width="2000" msid="104354034" hostid="261" sizebytes="367824"></div>Now Russia is returning to division-size formations to create more resilient formations that can sustain intense attritional warfare like that in Ukraine — at the cost of agility, according to Olesya Tkacheva, an expert on the Russian military at the Brussels School of Governance."Mobility is being sacrificed in exchange for resilience," Tkacheva said during <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/how-does-kremlin-man-war-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an online event</a> hosted by the Wilson Center in Washington DC.Despite the hype, the BTG was hardly a revolutionary concept. The German Army in World War II routinely formed combined-arms battlegroups ("kampfgruppen"), as did the US Army's task forces. Sometimes it was deliberate, and other times it was out of desperation as commanders scraped together whatever was available for a given mission.The Red Army in World War II tended to fight as separate branches — infantry, armor, and artillery — that were only combined just before a battle, two analysts with the US Army's Foreign Military Studies Office noted in an April 2022 <a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/getting-know-russian-battalion-tactical-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> for Britain's Royal United Services Institute think tank.<div type="image" title="Russian army soldiers troops exercise" height="1334" width="2000" msid="104354036" hostid="261" sizebytes="354940"></div>The Soviet Army experimented with various combinations of units, which formed the basis for the BTG in the post-Soviet era."The most common BTG variant is based on a motorized rifle battalion with an attached tank company, self-propelled howitzer battalion, air defense platoon, engineer squad, and logistic support," the RUSI report said. BTGs were composed of professional contract soldiers, who are generally more capable, competent, and motivated than the sullen conscripts that still hamper Russia's army today.BTGs were intended for the new — at least for Russia — concept of expeditionary warfare. This required small units that could remain at a higher state of readiness, be deployed quickly, and be somewhat self-sufficient all-arms formations. The Russian military's failure to deploy and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-intelligence-couldnt-find-russian-army-during-2008-georgia-invasion-2022-3">operate effectively in Georgia</a> in 2008 had <a href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/getting-know-russian-battalion-tactical-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener">driven home</a> for Moscow the need for such a force, which it has been able to put to use, most notably in Syria in the mid-2010s."Mobility and deployability outside of Russia's territory was one of the key strategic objectives," Tkacheva said of the thinking behind the embrace of BTGs.<div type="image" title="Russian special forces infantry armored vehicle" height="1333" width="2000" msid="104354038" hostid="261" sizebytes="247532"></div>Before World War II, the British Army was configured as an expeditionary force for <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-63038-20&amp;h=c5f52b5fc25cb25dadfc0ec68315283513964ccdc191a709d368a771ce7fd9ac&amp;postID=6526bded8cf71b3065dd884d&amp;postSlug=ukraine-failures-force-russia-to-end-putin-era-military-reforms-2023-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FRaising-Churchills-Army-British-1919-1945%2Fdp%2F0199246300" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policing its empire</a>, but when it encountered heavily armed German forces, its equipment proved inadequate. Russia had the same problem when its BTGs had to engage in large-scale conventional warfare in Ukraine."Those battalion battle groups turned out to be highly unstable," Tkacheva said. "They were not resilient. They lost a lot of equipment and [had a] high casualty rate. As a result, the Ministry of Defense announced that they're switching back to the Soviet-style organization of the Russian Armed Forces, which is based on divisions."Other experts point to issues with the entire Russian force structure. A few high-readiness battalions can't compensate for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-generals-killed-in-ukraine-have-more-tactical-battlefield-role-2022-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the low-readiness conscripts</a> that make up about one-third of Russia's army.Lack of manpower also resulted in BTGs being smaller than designed and having fewer infantry than needed, even though they had plenty of armored vehicles. It also meant there were insufficient forces to rotate tired and depleted units out of the line.<div type="image" title="Russian army troops tanks armored vehicles" height="1310" width="2000" msid="104354040" hostid="261" sizebytes="357376"></div>"The Russian military is well-suited to short, high-intensity campaigns defined by a heavy use of artillery," Michael Kofman and Rob Lee, both experts on Russia's military, <a href="https://warontherocks.com/2022/06/not-built-for-purpose-the-russian-militarys-ill-fated-force-design/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in June 2022.By contrast, that military is poorly designed for a sustained occupation or for a grinding war of attrition, either of which would require a large share of Russia's ground forces — exactly the conflict the Kremlin now finds itself in.Switching from battalions to divisions as primary units may be a sensible move, depending on how static the Ukraine conflict becomes. As trench warfare froze the Western Front during World War I, armies emphasized resilience over mobility to endure grinding losses, but when Germany launched a devastating last-ditch <a href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/german_spring_offensives_1918" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offensive</a> in 1918 — a sort of pre-blitzkrieg — their forces lacked the mobility to exploit breakthroughs.If Russia can repel Ukraine's counteroffensive and the conflict becomes one of trench warfare and limited battles fought over small chunks of ground, then resilient but low-mobility forces will be useful. But if Ukraine achieves a breakthrough, and Russian troops have to maneuver quickly, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/poor-russian-morale-could-make-retreat-in-ukraine-more-costly-2023-9">they may struggle to keep up</a>.Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/@mipeck1" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=biauto-63038-20&amp;h=031b2d50cbdac0fa31e91243bf4d02324deef0918da59c6d06089ce83c069930&amp;postID=6526bded8cf71b3065dd884d&amp;postSlug=ukraine-failures-force-russia-to-end-putin-era-military-reforms-2023-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fmipeck%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>.

Russian failures in Ukraine are forcing Moscow to give up on one of the biggest Putin-era military reforms

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-powerful-air-forces-in-the-world-in-2023-ranked-2023-6">Germany's Air Force</a> is selling its former VIP Airbus A340-300 plane in mid-Janaury 2024.</li><li>The move comes after the jet experienced several mechanical failures with German officials onboard.</li></ul>After a more than 10-year run flying government officials around the world, Germany is selling off its last VIP Airbus A340-300.Dubbed "Merkel One," the quad-jet is the country's version of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeings-losses-air-force-one-project-two-billion-donald-trump-2023-10">US Air Force One</a> and has been flying for Germany since 2011 after serving as a passenger aircraft for Lufthansa.The state-owned trust company Vebeg will auction off the jet starting in mid-January 2024, at which time it "will be happy to accept expressions of interest," Vebeg said on its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vebeg.de/de/aktuelles/news.htm?item_showid=1988">website</a>.It is uncertain who will bid for the aging plane, but given its history of mechanical problems, the buyer list will likely be short, <a target="_blank" href="https://simpleflying.com/germany-government-airbus-a340-sale-january-2024/">Simple Flying</a> noted.The A340, registered <a target="_blank" href="https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/airbus-a340-300-16-01-luftwaffe-german-air-force/rqpmye">16+01</a> and built in 1999, is the second ex-VIP jet that Germany has put up for sale.The first, registered 16+02 and built one year later in 2000, was sold in September to an unknown buyer in the US, Dutch aviation news outlet <a target="_blank" href="https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/final-departure-of-luftwaffe-a340-16-02-to-the-usa">Scramble</a> reported.<div type="image" title="Germany's VIP Airbus A340 16+02 on the tarmac at night." height="3545" width="5377" msid="105962014" hostid="261" sizebytes="1970620"></div>According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.planespotters.net/airframe/airbus-a340-300-n577ta-sky-west-aviation/348v9e">Planespotters</a> and the Federal Aviation Administration, 16+02 is currently registered with the tail number <a target="_blank" href="https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberResult">N577TA</a> to a company called Sky West Aviation Inc Trustee.Both of Germany's old A340 planes left the Air Force fleet early after serious maintenance issues arose during flights with German officials onboard. And 16+01, in particular, had its fair share.In June 2018, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was temporarily held up on his way to Belarus when 16+01 experienced a hydraulic failure and couldn't take off, the German media outlet <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-buys-three-new-aircraft-after-fiascos/a-48294178">Deutsche Welle</a> reported.A few months later in November 2018, 16+01 delayed then-Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip to the G20 summit in Argentina due to a mid-air electrical fault on board the A340, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46394989">BBC</a> reported. Merkel was forced to take a commercial Iberia Airlines flight instead.The quad-engine jet then had a tire blow during landing in New York in April 2019, per the DW.But the latest event proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.In August 2023, the same A340 plane had another issue over Abu Dhabi when "the wing flaps could not be retracted correctly," and the jet had to return to the airport, according to an <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Team_Luftwaffe/status/1690927696832806912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1690927696832806912%7Ctwgr%5E74580cc72703901ca6e46b2b494525661eb4d197%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fgermany-cans-its-a340-air-force-one-jets-after-two-failures-in-24-hours">X</a> (formerly Twitter) post by the German Air Force.The plane eventually <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Team_Luftwaffe/status/1691202758152527872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1691202758152527872%7Ctwgr%5E95e21df51da000444eca88896d75ea23afe29df0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fgermany-cans-its-a340-air-force-one-jets-after-two-failures-in-24-hours">aborted</a> its mission after a second failed attempt, leaving German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stuck in Abu Dhabi."We tried everything: unfortunately it is not logistically possible to continue my Indo-Pacific trip without the broken plane," Baerbock posted on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ABaerbock/status/1691312170808573952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1691312170808573952%7Ctwgr%5E95e21df51da000444eca88896d75ea23afe29df0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fgermany-cans-its-a340-air-force-one-jets-after-two-failures-in-24-hours">X</a>. She was supposed to fly to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.The August failure prompted Germany's Air Force to retire the A340 fleet early, saying on <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Team_Luftwaffe/status/1691360798134722560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1691360798134722560%7Ctwgr%5E95e21df51da000444eca88896d75ea23afe29df0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fgermany-cans-its-a340-air-force-one-jets-after-two-failures-in-24-hours">X</a> that it initially planned to retire 16+01 at the end of September 2023 and 16+02 at the end of 2024.Both planes were withdrawn from use by mid-August, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.planespotters.net/airforce/German-Air-Force?refresh=1">Planespotters</a>.Although the A340s are gone, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/germanys-new-air-force-one-airbus-a350-900-xwb-photos-2020-8">Germany has a shiny new fleet of Airbus A350s</a> that it began acquiring in 2020 and currently uses to fly its high-ranking officials.The purchase was prompted after Merkel's 2018 fiasco.

Germany is selling its Airbus A340 'Merkel One' aircraft after a series of mechanical failures forced it out of service

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China's Xi Jinping and Russia's PM Mikhail Mishustin met in Beijing on Wednesday. </li><li>They boasted that Russia-China trade was at an "all-time high."</li></ul>China's President Xi Jinping met with Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing on Wednesday in a gentle reminder to the West of its failure to economically isolate Russia.At the meeting, which was part of a two-day visit by the Russian PM, Xi pledged to further strengthen the nations' ties as trade between them surged past <a target="_blank" href="http://ca.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/lcbt/wjbfyr/202312/t20231220_11208073.htm">$200 billion in 11 months</a>.The two sides should "give full play to the advantages of political mutual trust" and "deepen cooperation on economy, trade, energy and connectivity," Xi said during the meeting, <a target="_blank" href="https://english.news.cn/20231220/af0806ae217c41238645f1bae7039a07/c.html">the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.</a>Mishustin said Tuesday that relations between Moscow and Beijing had reached an "all-time high" during a discussion with his Chinese Premier Li Qiang, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231220-china-s-xi-says-strong-russia-ties-a-strategic-choice">French news agency Agence France-Presse reported.</a>It's the latest in a series of meetings between top Chinese officials and their Kremlin counterparts, with Russia's President Vladimir Putin lavishing praise on Xi at the Beijing Belt and Road Forum in October.In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the West has tried to economically isolate Russia, with governments imposing sweeping economic sanctions and corporations leaving the country.But China, the world's second-biggest economy, has played a vital role in keeping the Russian economy afloat, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-russia-trade-ukraine-war-vladimir-putin-xi-jinping-imports-2023-9?r=US&amp;IR=T">buying up Russian oil and gas</a> and selling Russia consumer goods such as cars and tech components.Russia has also enjoyed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-gas-budget-revenues-up-15-september-mm-official-data-2023-10-04/#:~:text=MOSCOW%2C%20Oct%204%20(Reuters),from%20the%20mineral%20extraction%20tax.">rising oil and gas revenues</a> due to nations like China showing no qualms in continuing to trade with it and high global oil prices.The profits are enabling Russia to massively <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-preparing-multiple-years-putin-fighting-ukraine-uk-mod-2023-10">boost its military spending</a> as it seeks to wear down Ukraine's defenses.China and Russia share a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-china-trip-exposes-russia-dependence-on-xi-jinping-2023-8?r=US&amp;IR=T">key global aim — to reduce US power and influence.</a> Though China says it's a neutral party in the Ukraine war, analysts say it sees the conflict as a way of damaging US might and that it likely favors a Russian victory.To that end, it's provided Russia not just with economic but with diplomatic backing, refusing to condemn Russia's invasion.It's not all good news for Russia economically though, with sanctions causing soaring inflation and a shortage of workers leading to a labor market crisis.<div type="image" title="Xi/Putin" height="701" width="1024" msid="106187127" hostid="261" sizebytes="37592"></div>Analysts previously told Business Insider that there appeared to be cracks in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rift-grows-between-xi-putin-russia-refusal-ukraine-peace-deal-2023-8">Putin and Xi's relationship</a>, with Russia wary of China's new dominance over its economy and Beijing anxious about aggravating Western European nations opposed to Russian aggression whose economies it depends on.But for now, its relationship with China is helping Russia weather the economic storm.

You Searched For "Government failures" and got 11 results

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Germany is selling its Airbus A340 'Merkel One' aircraft after a series of mechanical failures forced it out of service

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Xi Jinping and Russia's PM took a victory lap over the US's failure to economically isolate Russia since its invasion of Ukraine

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