Tag: tweet

‘Never tweet anything controversial’, Elon Musk quips as he posts this

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Sarcasm is billionaire Elon Musk’s forte and he has proved it yet again with his latest tweet. On Monday, Musk shared an image saying, “Get fired from your job in five to ten years. Join Twitter today”. The post further read, “Say anything you want. Wait for 5-10 years. Surprise! You’re fired!”

While the image takes a swipe at the incidents of people losing jobs over their “controversial” tweet(s) in the past, Musk’s caption was the icing on the cake. The SpaceX and Tesla chief’s cheeky caption said, “Good thing I never tweet anything controversial”.

Musk also posted another goofy tweet that “described” a grape. He shared a clipping of the “Wikipedia” page of the fruit grape. The doctored Wikipedia page he shared said, “Everyone knows what a grape is”. Musk captioned with the picture saying, “So informative”.

However, Musk’s “grape” tweet triggered speculation and many wondered if it was a cryptic announcement for “Grapecoin”. Netizens pointed out that Musk’s “grape” tweet came just a day after he announced Tesla Inc merchandise can be bought with Dogecoin.

Musk’s five-word tweet saying — Tesla merch buyable with Dogecoin — led to a massive jump in the value of Dogecoin. He has tweeted in support of Dogecoin time and again and this has earned him the title of “Dogefather” on the internet.

Meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin was created as a “joke” by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, making fun of the wild speculation in cryptocurrencies at the time.

Read Also | India will not be pressured on a duty cut: Govt officials to Tesla

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Harsh Goenka’s dig at Zomato IPO’s success triggers Twitter debate

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After Zomato’s initial public offering (IPO) ended on Friday with a record-breaking subscription, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka took a dig at the online food delivery service’s grand success.

When it lists next week, Zomato will be the first of the Indian unicorns to become a publicly-listed business on the stock exchanges.

In the Zomato IPO, the non-anchor portion of 71.92 crore shares (amounting to around Rs 5,466 crore) was subscribed close to 40 times on July 16 (closing day of bidding). Reports said that the demand of over Rs 2.1 lakh crore was the third-highest ever in the history of such public offers. And 186 anchor investors had invested around Rs 4,196 crore on July 13.

But Goenka was not impressed. He tweeted that he intends to start his newest corporate venture, an app similar to Zomato or Swiggy, offer more discounts and post fewer losses relatively. And he hoped to list it subsequently at Rs 1 lakh crore and claimed to look for “suckers to invest”.

My newest corporate venture:
I am starting a Swiggy/Zomato like app. I will provide food at 40% discount with a loss of only Rs 3000 cr. If you think the loss is less, I will give 60% discount. I will then list it at Rs 1 lakh cr.
Looking for suckers to invest!

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 17, 2021

And Twitterati responded to Goenka’s tweet and joined the debate on whether a loss-making unicorn should get such high valuations.

Animesh Lodha challenged Goenka to replicate Zomato’s business model.

My newest corporate venture:
I am starting a Swiggy/Zomato like app. I will provide food at 40% discount with a loss of only Rs 3000 cr. If you think the loss is less, I will give 60% discount. I will then list it at Rs 1 lakh cr.
Looking for suckers to invest!

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 17, 2021

Twitter user Puneet Bhatnagar agreed with Goenka that this (subscribing to Zomato’s IPO) defied logic.

My newest corporate venture:
I am starting a Swiggy/Zomato like app. I will provide food at 40% discount with a loss of only Rs 3000 cr. If you think the loss is less, I will give 60% discount. I will then list it at Rs 1 lakh cr.
Looking for suckers to invest!

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 17, 2021

CA Vivek R. Kasat pointed out that Zomato’s employees (direct stakeholders) did not subscribe to their quote fully.

Pawan Kumar Nathani tweeted that once the model matures, Zomato might make more money from other avenues like how e-commerce giant Amazon does.

My newest corporate venture:
I am starting a Swiggy/Zomato like app. I will provide food at 40% discount with a loss of only Rs 3000 cr. If you think the loss is less, I will give 60% discount. I will then list it at Rs 1 lakh cr.
Looking for suckers to invest!

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 17, 2021

Twitter user Ashok Ramachandran agreed with Goenka and tweeted that he was sharing with his friend that people are investing in something, which is not even tangible.

My newest corporate venture:
I am starting a Swiggy/Zomato like app. I will provide food at 40% discount with a loss of only Rs 3000 cr. If you think the loss is less, I will give 60% discount. I will then list it at Rs 1 lakh cr.
Looking for suckers to invest!

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) July 17, 2021

Most of the brokerage house analysts in their reports had recommended that investors should apply for listing gains to Zomato’s IPO (which had a price band of Rs 72-76 per share).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Shiba inu, a dogecoin spinoff, spikes 16% after Elon Musk tweet

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk has tweeted and his post yet again led to the price of a cryptocurrency soaring.  Musk tweeted Friday, “My Shiba Inu will be named Floki”, after which the dogecoin spinoff peaked to its highest in six weeks.

As per Business Insider, shiba inu witnessed a 16 percent rise in its price when it reached $0.00000790 on CoinMarketCap at 7.23 am ET, just minutes after the Tesla CEO’s tweet.

It was last seen at $0.00000724 around 9.10 am ET.

As per its website, shiba inu is an experiment in decentralized spontaneous community building. Founded in August 2020, it also goes by the nickname “DOGECOIN KILLER”, taking inspiration from a more established meme currency, Dogecoin.

Shiba inu is the 28th most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The new cryptocurrency found fame when Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donated 50 trillion shiba inu tokens worth around $1 billion at one point to a crypto-based COVID-19 relief fund for India in May – and burned 90% of his holdings just days later.

The same day Musk tweeted about shiba inu, he also took a jibe at Bitcoin and its supporters in another tweet.

“How many Bitcoin maxis does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Musk tweeted. A short while later, he replied to his own tweet saying, “That’s not funny! – Bitcoin maxis.”

With this Musk once again raised concerns about the high energy consumption associated with mining and trading Bitcoin.

In May this year, Tesla suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin.

“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” tweeted Musk.

This invited massive criticism from Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Hillary Clinton retweets her own message originally posted after her defeat in 2016

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Hillary Clinton, who was defeated by Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections, reposted some of her own tweets, with messages she originally shared after her loss to the Republican leader four years ago. ”Do not lose heart (Vote.),” the 73-year-old Democrat leader tweeted while sharing her four-year-old tweet which said, Scripture tells us: Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in the due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

The message carried a smiling photo of Clinton which she tweeted on November 9, 2016, after losing to then-Republican candidate Trump. Clinton pinned another November 9, 2016, tweet to the top of her Twitter handle: ”To all the little girls watching…never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world.”

The former secretary of state has been supportive of Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden, at fundraisers, in interviews, and on Twitter. But she’s been notably absent from the campaign trail, Fox News reported.

The former first lady announced last week that she would serve as one of New York’s 29 electors to the Electoral College if Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris win the state.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Twitter flags Trump tweet questioning Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Twitter Inc late on Monday flagged a tweet by US President Donald Trump in which he called a Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania ”very dangerous.” The social media platform added a disclaimer to the tweet saying that its content was ”disputed” and ”might be misleading.”

”The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one. It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” Trump said in the tweet.

The US Supreme Court last week allowed extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Also, catch the latest updates on US Presidential Elections 2020

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM Narendra Modi extends greetings to soldiers on Infantry Day

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday greeted all ranks of the Indian infantry on the occasion of Infantry Day, saying India is proud of the role played by them in protecting the nation.

Infantry Day is observed on October 27 to mark the landing of first Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 to push back Pakistan supported intruders.

”Greetings to all ranks of our courageous infantry on the special occasion of Infantry Day,” Modi tweeted. ”India is proud of the role played by the infantry in protecting our nation. Their bravery continues to motivate millions,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Twitter flags Trump tweet for violating its rules on COVID-19 information

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Twitter on Sunday flagged a tweet by Donald Trump in which the US President claimed he was immune to the coronavirus, saying it violated the social media platform’s rules about misleading information related to COVID-19. ”A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know,” Trump said in the tweet.

The post was flagged by Twitter with a disclaimer. ”This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,” Twitter’s disclaimer read, adding that it had determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.

A Twitter spokeswoman told Reuters that the tweet made ”misleading health claims” about COVID-19 and that engagements with the post would be ”significantly limited,” as is standard in such cases.

Trump said on Sunday he had fully recovered from COVID-19 and would not be a transmission risk to others, freeing him to return to holding big campaign rallies during the final weeks of the race for the White House. The president first announced that he had had a positive coronavirus test on Oct. 2. Trump’s physician said on Saturday the president had taken a test showing he was no longer infectious.

The scientific evidence is unclear on how long people who have recovered from COVID-19 have antibodies and are protected from a second infection. Trump, who is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, is eager to get back on the campaign trail after an absence of more than a week.

He plans to travel to the key battleground state of Florida on Monday, followed by rallies in Pennsylvania and Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Kapil Sibal says he withdraws tweet after Rahul ‘personally’ clarifies BJP remark

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday withdrew his tweet hitting out at Rahul Gandhi and said the former party chief had informed him personally that he had never made the “colluding with the BJP” remark.

Sibal is among the 23 party leaders who have written to Sonia Gandhi seeking “full-time” leadership that is active in the field and “visible” in party offices, dissolution of powers to state units and revamping the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in line with the party constitution among other changes.

As the CWC meeting was underway on Monday and it was reported that Rahul Gandhi had lashed out at the letter writers, Sibal tweeted, “Rahul says ‘we are colluding with BJP’. Succeeded in Rajasthan High Court defending the Congress Party. Defending party in Manipur to bring down BJP government. “Last 30 years have never made a statement in favour of BJP on any issue. Yet ‘we are colluding with the BJP’!”

Sibal said a little later that he was withdrawing the tweet. “Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I therefore withdraw my tweet.” He then deleted his earlier tweet hitting out at Gandhi.

Tagging Sibal’s earlier tweet, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also tweeted, saying Rahul Gandhi hasn’t said a word of this nature nor alluded to it.

“Please don’t be mislead by false media discourse or misinformation being spread. But yes, we all need to work together in fighting the draconian Modi rule rather then fighting & hurting each other and the Congress,” Surjewala said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, convicted by Supreme Court over tweets, faces deadline

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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One of India’s most prominent lawyers faces a Monday deadline to apologise to the Supreme Court or risk jail in a case testing the judiciary’s openness to criticism and sparking a debate on freedom of speech in the world’s largest democracy.

Prashant Bhushan, 63, was found guilty of criminal contempt for attempting “to scandalize the entire institution” with Twitter posts depicting the chief justice on a motorcycle while the court’s work was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and criticising previous top judges.

The top court on Thursday ordered Bhushan, who has championed public interest litigation, to issue an “unconditional apology” by Monday. He faces up to six months in jail or a fine of Rs 2,000  (USD 27) or both. “Any apology would be insincere,” Bhushan told Reuters, declining to comment further as the matter is before the court.

He told the court in a statement on Thursday that he would “cheerfully submit to any penalty” over the two June tweets, which he said “represented my bonafide beliefs, the expression of which must be permissible in any democracy.”

If Bhushan apologises, the court has said it would hold a hearing on Tuesday. It was not clear when or how the court would respond if he does not apologise. Regardless of the outcome, Bhushan’s case is putting the Supreme Court, one of India’s most respected institutions, on trial, testing how much judges may be openly criticised in a society known for free-wheeling debate.

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right in India and highly contentious. The top court often hears cases where litigants argue their right to express themselves is being infringed. Some lawyers and media editorials support Bhushan, saying the court is being too harsh, arguing that his tweets amounted to legally protected criticism.

“A bar silenced under the threat of contempt will undermine the independence and ultimately the strength of the court,” more than 2,400 Indian lawyers wrote in an online petition. Others criticised Bhushan, who has 1.7 million Twitter followers.

“A lawyer is not above the law, nobody is,” said Satyadarshi Sanjay, a lawyer who signed an open letter by more than 100 people, including former judges, who support the court’s decision.

TWO TWEETS

Judges too sometimes chastise the judiciary. In 2018, four sitting Supreme Court justices held a rare press conference criticising the court’s distribution of cases to judges and raising concerns about judicial appointments.

The Supreme Court, in its 108-page order in Bhushan’s case, noted it is “required to be magnanimous” to criticism – though it said “such magnanimity cannot be stretched”.

In his first tweet, Bhushan posted a viral photo of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde astride a Harley-Davidson. He wrote Bobde was sitting on a 5 million rupee ($67,000) bike without a mask or a helmet when citizens were being denied justice as the court was in lockdown.

The Supreme Court ruled the tweet was “patently false” and had the “tendency to shake the confidence of the public”, as the court was hearing matters even during the coronavirus shutdown.

In the other tweet, Bhushan wrote that when historians look at how democracy has been destroyed in India in the past six years, they will mark the role of the court and the past four top justices.

That tweet “has the effect of destabilising the very foundation of this important pillar of the Indian democracy” and “directly affronts the majesty of law”, the court said. Both of Bhushan’s tweets have been suspended by Twitter.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump tweets video with ‘white power’ chant, then deletes it

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted approvingly of a video showing one of his supporters chanting “white power,” a racist slogan associated with white supremacists. He later deleted the tweet and the White House said the president had not heard “the one statement” on the video.

The video appeared to have been taken at The Villages, a Florida retirement community, and showed dueling demonstrations between Trump supporters and opponents.

“Thank you to the great people of The Villages,” Trump tweeted. Moments into the video clip he shared, a man driving a golf cart displaying pro-Trump signs and flags shouts ‘white power.” The video also shows anti-Trump protesters shouting “Nazi,” “racist,” and profanities at the Trump backers.

“There’s no question” that Trump should not have retweeted the video and “he should just take it down,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Scott is the only Black Republican in the Senate.

“I think it’s indefensible,” he added.

Shortly afterward, Trump deleted the tweet that shared the video. White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that “President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”

The White House did not respond when asked whether Trump condemned the supporter’s comment.

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, condemned Trump. “We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation — and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win,” the former vice president tweeted.

Trump’s decision to highlight a video featuring a racist slogan comes amid a national reckoning over race following the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans. Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man, died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.

Protests against police brutality and bias in law enforcement have occurred across the country following Floyd’s death. There also has also been a push to remove Confederate monuments and to rename military bases that honor figures who fought in the Civil War against the Union. Trump has opposed these efforts.

Trump has been directing his reelection message at the same group of disaffected, largely white voters who backed him four years ago. In doing so, he has stoked racial divisions in the country at a time when tensions are already high. He also has played into anti-immigrant anxieties by falsely claiming that people who have settled in this country commit crimes at greater rates than those who were born in the U.S.

Trump’s tenure in office has appeared to have emboldened white supremacist and nationalist groups, some of whom have embraced his presidency. In 2017, Trump responded to clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white nationalists and counter-protesters by saying there were “very fine people on both sides.”

Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that ”This really is not about the president taking it down. This is about the judgment of the president in putting it up.”

She added, “It’s about what the president believes and it’s time for this country to really face that.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow