Mustafa Suleyman, the new face of Microsoft AI

Bonds linked to project clearances by BRS govt.

The purchase of electoral bonds and subsequent encashment by the then ruling party in Telangana, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), seemed to be closely linked to the award of contracts and opening of new units by donor companies, if the report submitted to the Election Commission (EC) is to be believed.

In Telangana, the BRS encashed the bonds donated by IRB Infra, purchased a few weeks after the Outer Ring Road contract was awarded to the company. The BRS government gave a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) to the IRB Infra on April 27, 2023, leasing it for 30 years for maintenance. The firm bought bonds for ₹25 crore on July 4, 2023, and the BRS encashed them on July 13. The bond purchase came just a few weeks after the LoA was given, leading to suspicion that the bonds were a gift.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that authorities have detained 11 people in the attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

In an address to the nation, Mr. Putin called it “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said all four people who were directly involved had been taken into custody.

The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A U.S. intelligence official said U.S. agencies had confirmed that the group was responsible for the attack. Videos posted online showed gunmen in the venue shooting civilians at pointblank range.

The attack, which was the deadliest in Russia in years, came just days after Mr. Putin cemented his grip on power in an electoral landslide.

REUTERS Smoke billows from the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow following a shooting incident on Friday.