Max Levchin’s financial technology startup Affirm Inc. has raised a $100 million in Series D, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Senior Editor Jack Hough looks at the latest issue. About 90% of market volume is money pouring into index funds and formula-driven funds. What that means for ordinary investors. Oil could be headed to $60. We have stock picks for energy investors. And how to invest electric cars while avoiding risk? Consider shares of Borg Warner.

A citizens' committee in Karnataka decides that the people can aid the Election Commission's efforts at reducing the presence of criminals in politics.

The current situation of impotence that the Government finds itself in should prompt some soul searching about the reliance on market mechanisms to take care of India's food security, writes Kannan Kasturi.

Can the small-time retail shop's employee or the truck operator's handyman claim more job protection than his wage labour counterpart? In this sixth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that the labour law framework is no more a friend of the small establishment's employee than it is of the casual labourer.

Even though caste barriers are far less visible in the Chingrajpara slum than in the villages its residents came from, how far one goes is still a function of where in the hierarchy one starts. Yet for many migrants, arrival in this Bilaspur, Chhatisgarh slum is the first rung on the ladder of upward mobility. Ashima Sood concludes SLUM DIARIES.

New developments in India's nuclear posture vis-a-vis China inevitably impact the Pakistani nuclear program as well. We must recognise this implicit risk in our attempts at military parity with China, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

India needs a China policy that cannot stampede it into a premature confrontation with that putative superpower. The military too needs to be brought on board, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Outsourcing the policy-making function is bad enough, but the government should certainly not have allowed trespass on its domain by the Naresh Chandra Task Force, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The Indian army’s evolving China strategy, leading to its preparedness for an offensive on that front, seems to have undergone a bit of dilution, as evident in North Block posturing. Is it merely a run-up to Modi’s China visit or is there more to it? Firdaus Ahmed explores.

India’s forest staff operate in appalling conditions: open toed footwear, lack of simple facilities like torches, jeeps, wireless sets or guns. How is the fight against poaching to be won? Malini Shankar has more.

Wildlife experts across India stress the need for more stronger cases backed by scientific evidence and administrative efficiency, speedy trials and effective prosecution of the guilty. Bosky Khanna reports.

Swati Narayan surveys the landscape of thought and action behind free trade, even as the WTO faces imminent collapse in the aftermath of Cancún.

While single-minded pursuit of exports has helped China touch record growth figures, millions have been left behind, besides incurring huge environmental costs. And without even the limited dose of welfare that China offers its poor farmers, India must wary of copying China's SEZ-approach, writes Bhaskar Goswami.

Internet monitoring, surveillance and censorship by the Government has become a norm in the country today, even while users are kept completely in the dark about it. Snehashish Ghosh argues why more transparency is critical to upholding the very basic tenets of democracy.

The senior citizens of Chingrajpara slum in Bilaspur are unable to benefit from the largesse of the many government departments in New Delhi. In this fifth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that they go begging in the alleys of the slum, depending instead on their more reliable humble neighbours.

The budget reflects our continued affliction for numbers and the GDP growth rate. It also follows the Prime Minister's insistence that planners shoot for higher growth rates, especially on the back of an economy that has surprised everyone. But, asks Sudhirendar Sharma, will the juggling of numbers do it?

If our media can provide regular updates on the stock markets, foreign exchange and bullion rates, weather, pollution, etc., surely they can add a poverty watch? The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty passed on 17 October, and Ammu Joseph scanned the national press from Bangalore.

Pallavi Aiyar's five years in China have produced a good read for those who are intrigued by the enigma of China. Why, for instance, does its authoritarian government enjoy so much legitimacy? Kannan Kasturi reviews Smoke and Mirrors.

This IIT Kharagpur professor's vision is to remove the digital divide between the visually impaired and the sighted world. Rasika Dhavse profiles Anupam Basu and his innovation, Sparsha.

The failure in India is the major reason why the UN cannot meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the 2.6 billion in the world without sanitation by 2015. South Asian countries resolve to try harder. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Efforts to make learning more interactive and more fun for students appear promising, but it may be too soon to judge if they are positively impacting children's performance in standard tests and surveys. Meanwhile, teachers complain that these efforts have added to their already heavy burden. Padmalatha Ravi reports.

Akanksha began as an idea to give slum children time and space to simply be kids, to laugh and play. It has evolved into a unique learning environment that not only provides opportunities for them to gain employment but also in the process teaches tolerance and a broader view of the world. Jemma Purdey reports.

India's senior hockey players, who are unable to train because of the coronavirus-forced lockdown, will undergo a basic coaching course online starting Monday, continuing the national federation's efforts to ensure that their time is put to productive use.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan spoke about the first time he interacted with batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. Kishan had joined Mumbai Indians in 2018 from Gujarat Lions. He said that he met Tendulkar -- who captained the side in its early years in the Indian Premier League and has since stayed a part of the set-up after his retirement in 2013 -- during a practice session.

Sachin A Billion Dreams: Official Marathi Trailer

Watching my old boxing videos to prepare for Olympics: Manish Kaushik

Golfer Jyoti Randhawa arrested for poaching

Happy Birthday Sachin: God of cricket turns 47

चीन (China) के यांग्त्जी नदी (Yangtze River) में अजीब दिखने वाला काले रंग का क्रिएचर दिखाई दे रहा है, जिसका वीडियों सोशल मीडिया पर हो रहा है वायरल.

भारतीय शटलर पीवी सिंधु (PV Sindhu) पहले ही चाइना ओपन (China Open) से बाहर हो चुकी हैं

The incident took place when Meera Solanka (29) from England's Solihull town was out with her friends, including her Chinese friend Mandy Huang (28) from London, celebrating her 29th birthday in Midlands region. Solanka was knocked unconscious and hospitalised after she stepped in when Mandy was told: "Take your f****** coronavirus back home!", Birmingham Mail newspaper reported.

Single 12% GST for both hand-made and machine-made matchsticks: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Tesla Inc. suspended production at its plant on the outskirts of Shanghai, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing to a halt all of the company’s vehicle manufacturing globally.

Those working at offices in Gurugram will have their first encounter with the post-Covid workplace on Monday. The new normal will have mandatory health checks, spaced out seating plans and markings in front of the coffee machine to tell you how far apart you should be.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered “very widespread” damage after rising sea temperatures caused the third mass coral bleaching events in five years. Its northern reaches suffered an unprecedented two successive years of severe bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Some previously untouched areas had now suffered "moderate or severe bleaching".

Australia has called for an inquiry into the origin of the coronavirus. Germany and Britain are hesitating anew about inviting in Chinese tech giant Huawei. President Trump has blamed China for the contagion and is seeking to punish it. Some govts want to sue Beijing. Across the globe, a backlash is building against China for its initial mishandling of the crisis.

Chinese authorities are clamping down as grieving relatives, along with activists, press the ruling Communist Party for an accounting of what went wrong in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus killed thousands before spreading to the rest of China and the world. Lawyers have been warned not to file suit against the government.

China reported one new case of coronavirus on Tuesday and no deaths, marking three weeks since it recorded a Covid-19 fatality. The National Health Commission said 395 people remained under treatment in the hospital, while 949 were under isolation and observation for suspected cases or after testing positive despite showing no symptoms.

As China limps back to normalcy after COVID-19 outbreak, job prospects in the country seem to be truly bleak especially for the nine million students or so who are due to graduate in June.

China's Hong Kong affairs office on Wednesday condemned Hong Kong protesters as a "political virus" who seek independence, warning that the city will never be calm unless what it said were violent black-clad protesters were all removed.

Senior school students in 121 institutions were back in front of chalk boards and digital displays for the first time since their city -- the ground zero of the coronavirus pandemic -- shut down in January.

China on Wednesday dared US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to show "enormous evidence" he claimed to have to prove Covid-19 originated from a lab in Wuhan. "Pompeo cannot present any evidence because he does not have any," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. "This matter should be handled by scientists..instead of politicians," Hua said.

Taiwan will fail in its bid to take part in a key meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) as its efforts are not based on concern for the health of Taiwan's people but are "political manipulation", China said on Friday.