News in Short

• Republic Day event this year will have no foreign dignitary as chief guest.India had invited the leaderships of the five Central Asian nations (CA-5) to be chief guests.
• The invitation was extended to the leaders during the third meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterparts representing the CA-5.
• This is the second year in a row that high-level visits during the Republic Day celebrations had to be cancelled.
• Last year, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had accepted the invitation to participate in the Republic Day celebrations but cancelled at the last minute.

• Oil prices rose more than $1 to a more than seven-year high on worries about possible supply disruptions after Yemen’s Houthi group attacked the United Arab Emirates.
• Brent crude futures rose $1.37, or 1.6%, to $87.85 a barrel by 0738 GMT.The benchmark climbed to its highest level since October 2014.
• After launching drone and missile strikes which set off explosions in fuel trucks and killed three people, the Houthi movement warned it could target more facilities.

• Skoda Auto Volkswagen India has appointed Piyush Arora as Managing Director. Arora will be responsible for expanding the Volkswagen Group’s business in India.
• Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) oversees the India operations of five Volkswagen Group brands Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini.
• Arora joins SAVWIPL from Mercedes-Benz India where he worked as Executive Director and Head of Operations.

• Saturnino de la Fuente, a Spaniard described by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest man, died at the age of 112.
• Guinness World Records named De la Fuente as the world’s oldest man last September and confirmed his death. He was born in the Puente Castro neighborhood of Len in 1909.
• The retired shoemaker was due to celebrate his birthday with his family on February 8, the date he claimed to have been born although official records record his birth three days later.

• Three naval personnel have lost their lives in an explosion on the warship INS Ranvir at the naval dockyard in Mumbai.
• The explosion occurred in an internal compartment on the ship. The ship’s crew brought the situation under control, preventing any major material damage.
• INS Ranvir had been on cross-coast operational deployment from the Eastern Naval Command since November 2021 and was due to return to the base port shortly.