BENGALURU: Bengaluru-based electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette has raised $45 million in fresh growth capital from Zoho Corporation and European investment firm Lingotto as part of its ongoing Series E round.The company said the funding will be used to scale production and sales of its flagship F77 electric sportbike and the new X‑47 crossover, and to develop upcoming platforms codenamed Shockwave and Tesseract.The investment from Zoho was led by Sridhar Vembu along with Mani and Kumar Vembu, underscoring growing domestic tech‑founder backing for India’s EV ecosystem, while Lingotto adds to a global investor list that already includes TVS Motor, Qualcomm Ventures and TDK Ventures.Ultraviolette has expanded from zero to 30 cities in India in 12 months and plans to reach 100 cities by mid‑2026. It also recently launched the F77 in the UK, taking its European footprint to 12 countries. Co‑founder and CEO Narayan Subramaniam said the Series E momentum will help “build category‑defining electric mobility solutions for India and global markets,” while co‑founder and CTO Niraj Rajmohan said the company is doubling down on battery technology and performance as it scales.
Tamil Cinema Icon, AVM Saravanan, Passes Away At 86
CHENNAI: M Saravanan, the soft-spoken steward of AVM Productions who nurtured Tamil cinema through more than half a century of changes while helping shape careers of its greatest stars like Kamal Haasan, Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala and Sivakumar, died Thursday in Chennai of age-related ailments. He was 86.Widely known as the “gentleman producer” of Kollywood, M Saravanan, along with his brothers Kumaran, Murugan, and Balasubramanian, oversaw AVM Productions — India’s oldest film studio — for more than 60 years, producing a string of box-office hits in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. The studio was founded by his father AV Meiyappan in 1945.Saravanan’s name first appeared in the credits of Mamiyar Mechina Marumagal (1959), a remake of a Marathi film. The movie didn’t do well, but his next, Deiva Piravi, starring Sivaji Ganesan, became a success and was later remade in Hindi as Bindya (starring Balraj Sahni).Over the decades, Saravanan supervised a scintillating catalogue that came to define Tamil cinema. These included Kalathur Kannamma (which introduced Kamal Haasan in 1960), Shivaji Ganesan’s Pava Mannippu (1961), MGR’s Anbe Vaa (1966), Rajinikanth’s Paayum Puli (1983).Tributes poured in on Thursday. Chief minister MK Stalin said Saravanan’s AVM Production had a long bond with the Dravidian movement’s cinematic journey. “The bond grew into a relationship of familial affection…. When I visited the AVM Heritage Museum in May 2023, he warmly reminisced about those cherished memories,” Stalin recalled.Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi described Saravanan’s death as a “significant loss to the cultural and creative landscape” of the state.Saravanan is survived by his son MS Guhan, daughter Usha and his brothers.
President Vladimir Putin has warned again that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.
“Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories,” he told India Today. Moscow controls some 85% of Donbas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory.
Putin’s comments come after President Donald Trump said his negotiators discussing a US peace plan believed Russia’s leader “would like to end the war” after Tuesday’s talks in Moscow.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in Moscow, is due to meet Ukraine’s team in Florida.
Trump said Tuesday’s talks in the Kremlin were “reasonably good”, adding it was too soon to say what would happen as “it does take two to tango.”
The original iteration of the US peace plan proposed to hand over areas of the Donbas still under Ukrainian control to the de facto control of Putin – but the Witkoff team presented a modified version in Moscow.
In his India Today interview ahead of a state visit to Delhi, Putin said he had not seen the new version before his talks with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
“That’s why we had to go over every point, that’s why it took so long,” the Kremlin leader said.
He also said Moscow disagreed with parts of the US plan.
“At times we said that yes, we can discuss this, but to that we can’t agree,” Putin said.
He did not name the sticking points. At least two significant points of contention remain – the fate of Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Putin’s senior foreign policy adviser and key negotiator Yuri Ushakov earlier said straight after the talks that they produced “no compromise” on ending the war.
Ushakov also implied that the Russian negotiating position had been strengthened thanks to what Moscow said were its recent successes on the battlefield.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of stalling any ceasefire agreements, saying Moscow is seeking to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Commenting on the Kremlin talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybhia said Putin was “wasting the world’s time”.
Ukraine has long insisted on firm security guarantees for Ukraine in any deal.
On Wednesday, Zelensky said “the world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity to end the war” – but negotiations must be “backed by pressure on Russia”, which Kyiv and its European allies accuse of deliberately stalling any ceasefire agreements.
The Ukrainian president said last week his top negotiators had managed to make some key changes in the original US peace plan – seen as strongly favouring Moscow – during talks with an American delegation in Geneva on 23 November.
Top negotiators from Europe – who had voiced concern over the original US plan – were also in the Swiss city last week, meeting separately with the Ukrainian and the US teams.
In a separate development on Thursday, Germany’s Der Spiegel news website said it had obtained a confidential transcript of a conference call in which European leaders expressed concern over the US negotiations.
“There is a possibility that the US will betray Ukraine on the issue of territory without clarity on security guarantees,” French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly said, according to an English transcript of Monday’s conference call.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was quoted as warning that Zelensky had to be “extremely careful in the coming days”.
“They are playing games, both with you and with us,” Merz reportedly said.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb was also quoted as saying: “We mustn’t leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys.”
The BBC has not seen the reported transcript.
In response to a Der Spiegel inquiry, France’s Élysée Palace stated that “the president did not express himself in those terms”. The presidential office declined to provide details on how Macron expressed himself, citing confidentiality.
Stubb declined to comment to Der Spiegel, and Merz has not commented on the issue.
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have been slowly advancing in south-east Ukraine, despite reported heavy combat casualties.
A DOG the size of a small polar bear is hoping for a new owner.
Brody, a six-year-old Pyrenean mountain dog, is 6ft tall on his hind legs — and munches through a kilogram of dog biscuits every day.
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Brody, a six-year-old Pyrenean mountain dog, is hoping for a new ownerCredit: SWNSBrody is 6ft tall on his hind legs and eats a kilogram of dog biscuits every dayCredit: SWNS
Rehoming staff say he loves a head scratch and enjoys sitting on people, despite weighing 66kg.
Brody, also described as “calm, relaxed and friendly”, has had a full de-matting so he can show off his “glorious mountain fluff.”
His last owners handed him in as they were unable to care for him.
Lauren Pickthall, 32, from Animal Concern Cumbria, said: “Stay tuned for updates as he prepares for homing . . . preferably with someone who doesn’t mind being occasionally sat on by a small polar bear.”
She added: “Brody is so calm, relaxed, friendly, gentle.
“He is a senior boy now so he only requires a couple of 30-minute walks a dog.
“He loves a tennis ball and being in the company of other people.
“At the moment he is currently being tested around other dogs, people, children, and different environments so we can safely allow him to be adopted by the best new owner when the time comes.”
Brody loves a head scratch and enjoys sitting on people, despite weighing 66kgCredit: SWNSBrody’s last owners handed him in as they were unable to care for himCredit: SWNSBrody is described as calm, relaxed, friendly and gentleCredit: SWNS
He will be available for adoption in a couple of weeks.
The new owner should have big dog breed experience, a large outdoor area for him — and a sofa big enough for him to sit on.
RAIPUR: Maoist casualties in Wednesday’s operation by security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region rose to 18 after six more bodies, including wanted PLGA commander Vella Modiyam, were retrieved Thursday from the gunfight site along the Dantewada-Bijapur border.Nine of the slain guerrillas, who had a combined bounty of Rs 1.3 crore on their heads, were women. Three security personnel were killed in the fighting. The operation dealt what police said was a decisive blow to the Maoist citadel in Gangaloor. “Vella, aka Mangu Modiyam, was the Maoists’ operational and intelligence commander in Gangaloor and involved in multiple crimes, including the killing of a minor, a student and a villager in Peddakorma,” Bastar IGP Sundarraj said.CM Vishnu Deo Sai lauded the personnel involved in the operation, saying the bravery of the trio killed in action “won’t go in vain”. His deputy Vijay Sharma said Naxalism in Chhattisgarh was now on its “last legs”, with forces engaged in a mop-up across Bastar.
The controversial streamer RaKai has finally spoken out after a viral moment at a Walmart reportedly led to his suspension from Twitch. In the clip that circulated widely online, RaKai was seen picking up a bouquet of flowers and handing it to a woman, apparently without paying. The footage triggered a wave of outrage and speculation, with many calling it shoplifting filmed live. RaKai claimed he instructed an assistant to tell the woman to put the flowers back before she left the store, suggesting the bouquet was not a gift but a mistaken, unpaid item.The incident prompted Twitch to suspend his channel under the “illegal activities” clause, with an initial notice of a two-year ban. The message shown on his dashboard cited a 730-day suspension, which stunned many of his followers and set off debates over streamer ethics and platform enforcement.
What happened with the Walmart clip and Twitch’s response
Twitch’s decision to suspend RaKai followed a string of controversial incidents, but the bouquet incident became the flashpoint. According to reports, the clip showed RaKai putting flowers in a woman’s hands and then appearing to leave without paying. Viewers challenge his intent, arguing that handing over unpaid items already pushes beyond acceptable content boundaries for a live-streaming platform. The ban notice on RaKai’s Twitch account listed “Illegal Activities” as the cause, with the suspension set to expire in December 2027. The decision sparked backlash from fellow streamers and parts of the online community, some questioned whether the punishment fit the act, while others defended Twitch’s move as a necessary stance against public shoplifting. As public pressure mounted, Twitch later clarified that the “two-year” label was a mistake caused by a “visual bug” in the appeals portal. The platform said the error affected only RaKai’s display and no other users; the actual suspension length, conveyed via email, was reportedly shorter. Twitch also confirmed the issue was isolated and has since been corrected. Despite the correction, RaKai’s reputation has taken a hit. Fans remain divided: some accept his explanation and hope for a return, others believe the stunt crossed a moral line and expect lasting consequences.RaKai’s explanation may shed light on his intentions, that the flowers weren’t meant to be a stolen gift, but rather a misjudged moment quickly reversed. Still, the viral clip exposed how live streaming in public spaces can backfire, especially when real-life actions blur into content. Twitch’s swift enforcement, and subsequent correction, underscores the challenges platforms face balancing creator freedom, community standards, and real-world consequences. Regardless of whether the ban’s duration was a bug or not, the incident has reshaped RaKai’s public image and serves as a cautionary tale for streamers about the risks of “IRL content.”Also Read: MrBeast becomes the top US YouTuber for the sixth year in a row
The Prime Minister tore into the Reform UK leader who had spoken of the “cultural smashing of Glasgow.”
19:31, 04 Dec 2025Updated 19:35, 04 Dec 2025
Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer has branded Nigel Farage a “toxic disgrace” after he criticised the number of Glasgow pupils who do not speak English as a first language. The Prime Minister also accused the Reform UK leader of backing a “racist” policy of wanting to deport migrants who have lived in Britain for years.
Starmer’s attacks on Farage were made during a trip to a community centre in Glasgow. It was the PM’s first foray to Scotland after a Budget that scrapped the two child benefit cap and cut £150 off energy bills. He tore into Farage who had highlighted how nearly one in three pupils in the city speak English as a second language.
Farage also said: “This is not diversity, as the left always preach, this actually is the cultural smashing of Glasgow.” Starmer replied: “It’s a disgrace. He’s a toxic, divisive disgrace. All he wants to do is tear communities apart. In Glasgow, the diversity, the compassion, is celebrated. It’s part of, not just Glasgow, but Scotland.
“I am proud that that is part of what Scotland is, and I as prime minister of the United Kingdom want to serve every community in Scotland.
“I don’t go round picking and choosing and trying to divide. I think it’s particularly poor that he’s reached right into children now to start that divide. All he’s interested in is the politics of grievance and the politics of division.”
Asked if Farage is a racist, the Prime Minister referred to the Reform policy of scrapping indefinite leave to remain for migrants.
He said: “If you look at his approach, particularly when it comes to what he said about reaching in and removing people who’ve been here for a very long time, lawfully in this country, and deporting them, that to me is a racist policy.
“These are people who work in our health service, in our schools, who run businesses, who are our neighbours. I, for one, am proud to serve a diverse Britain, a diverse Scotland. I’m proud to serve every single person in the whole of Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom. He only wants to serve some of them.”
He added: “Everywhere they’ve [Reform] won power, it’s been a complete chaotic disgrace. They’ve shown they can’t govern, and they’ve shown their colours in Glasgow by saying the first thing we want to do is tear communities apart.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also criticised Farage: “As a son of Glasgow, how dare he use Glasgow’s kids to spread his own poison? The people of Glasgow have seen the likes of Nigel Farage before and utterly rejected him and they’ll do the same again.”
Scottish Labour are seventeen points behind the SNP in the polls for the Holyrood election and are trailing in third place behind Reform UK.
Senior party figures are blaming the poll slump on Starmer’s poor start as Prime Minister.
Asked if would resign in May if Labour loses in Scotland and Wales, he said:
“We were elected in July of 2024 with a landslide victory to bring about change. And the change that we are absolutely focussed on is dealing with the cost of living crisis, which is why we’ve done the measures in the budget that we’ve done with an absolute focus on them, making sure that we’re working with Scotland on the issues that matter.”
He added: “I will be judged at the next election on whether we’ve made progress on the cost of living, whether public services are better.”
On Glasgow’s refugee homelessness crisis, Starmer said he agreed with Sarwar who has said the abolition of ‘local connection’ rules should be suspended.
During a trip earlier in the day to Lossiemouth, Starmer spoke of the measures the UK Government is taking to combat the threat posed by Russia.
He said: “What goes on from this place, you don’t need me to tell you, is hugely important for the security of the UK, of Europe and of the US.
“It is always important. It is particularly important at the moment with the situation going on in Ukraine.
“We know Russia’s intent is always there. It’s a constant threat.”
On the presence of Russian submarines in the North Atlantic, he said the threat was “absolutely clear”.
He also said the Government will be offering 35,000 service personnel “return warrant money to go home at Christmas”.
He added: “It’s just a way of saying thank-you to you for what you do.”
Tory MSP Craig Hoy said: “Keir Starmer should be apologising to Scots for the damage last week’s budget inflicted.
“Keir Starmer is disgracefully attempting to defend this budget when he should be sacking Rachel Reeves for misleading the public and the markets.
“Scotland has two left-wing governments imposing ever higher taxes to fund unsustainable and reckless welfare programmes that will cost taxpayers billions.
“Those policies urgently need to be reversed if we are to get the economic growth essential to fund frontline services.”
Foreign investors have pulled out Rs 13,121 crore (USD 1.46 billion) from Indian equities in the first four days of December, taking the total outflow for 2025 to Rs 1.56 lakh crore (USD 17.8 billion), data from NSDL showed on Thursday.
This sharp withdrawal follows a net outflow of Rs 3,765 crore in November, continuing the pressure on the markets.
These outflows come after a brief pause in October, when FPIs invested Rs 14,610 crore, breaking a three-month streak of massive withdrawals — Rs 23,885 crore in September, Rs 34,990 crore in August, and Rs 17,700 crore in July.
According to the data, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) withdrew a net amount of Rs 13,121 crore from Indian equities in this month during December 1-4.
The renewed selling this month is largely due to year-end portfolio repositioning by global investors, a common trend in December before the holiday season, Vaqarjaved Khan, Senior Fundamental Analyst at Angel One, said.
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Adding to the pressure, the weak performance of the Indian rupee, one of the poorest-performing currencies globally in 2025, has further discouraged foreign investors, he added.According to him, the ongoing delay in the India-US trade deal has also dampened global sentiment.Despite the outflows, domestic markets showed some relief. The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended their four-day losing streak on Thursday, supported by buying in technology and IT stocks.
At the same time, the Indian rupee broke its six-day decline, appreciating 22 paise to close at Rs 89.97 per US dollar, a move attributed to suspected central bank intervention and the unwinding of speculative dollar positions.
Looking ahead, markets are awaiting the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on interest rate decision, due on Thursday, with the economists divided over the likely outcome of whether the central bank will hold or change interest rates, Nandish Shah, Deputy Vice President at HDFC Securities, said.
