VODAFONE Group Plc today (8) announced the appointment of Vinod Kumar as chief executive officer of Vodafone Business with effect from September 2.
Kumar will join the executive committee on September 2 and report to Vodafone Group chief executive Nick Read.
He succeeds Vodafone Group CEO rest of the world, Vivek Badrinath, who has been acting as Interim CEO of Vodafone Business since March 2019.
Kumar has been the managing director and chief executive of Tata Communications Ltd since 2011, after joining the company as chief operating officer in 2004.
Vodafone Group chief executive Nick Read said: “Vinod is a very experienced business leader with a breadth of experience from across the globe. He is a great addition to Vodafone and the executive committee.”
Kumar said, “I am very excited to join the vibrant team at Vodafone Business. The global reach, the pervasive network and the brand loyalty that Vodafone has created makes it an ideal partner for any organisation's digital transformation, regardless of size or industry.”
The newly appointed Vodafone business chief executive has a long career in the telecommunications industry, including roles at Asia Netcom, WorldCom, Global One and Sprint International.
ELON MUSK’S Starlink has received a licence to launch commercial operations in India from the telecoms ministry, two sources told Reuters last Friday (6), clearing a major hurdle for the satellite provider that has long wanted to enter the south Asian country.
The approval is good news for Musk, whose public spat with president Donald Trump threatens $22 billion (£16.3bn) of SpaceX’s contracts and space programmes with the US government. Starlink is the third company to get a licence from India’s Department of Telecommunications, which has approved similar applications by Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio to provide services in the country.
Starlink and the Department of Telecommunications did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Musk met prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit in February to the United States, where the two discussed Starlink’s launch plans and India’s concerns over meeting certain security conditions.
Starlink has been waiting since 2022 for licences to operate commercially in India, and although it has cleared a major hurdle, it is a long way from launching commercial services.
It still needs a separate licence from India’s space regulator, which Starlink is close to securing, said a third source with direct knowledge of the process without giving details.
Starlink will then need to secure spectrum from the government, set up ground infrastructure and also demonstrate, through testing and trials, that it meets the security rules it has signed up for, one of the two sources said.
“This will take a couple of months at least and will be a rigorous process,” said the person, adding that it can only begin selling its equipment and services to customers once it gets an all clear from Indian security officials.
Indian telecom providers Jio and Bharti Airtel, in a surprise move in March, announced a partnership with Musk to stock Starlink equipment in their retail stores, but they will still compete on offering broadband services.
Musk and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio clashed for months over how India should grant spectrum for satellite services. India’s government sided with Musk that spectrum should be assigned and not auctioned.
India’s telecom regulator in May proposed satellite service providers pay four per cent of their annual revenue to the government for offering services, which domestic players have said is unjustifiably low and will hurt their businesses.
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Bestway began its anniversary year in January with its annual ‘Thank You’ campaign, offering deals on products in-store and online.
BESTWAY Wholesale is marking its 50th anniversary in 2025. Founded in 1975, the company opened its first warehouse in Acton, West London, and has since grown into one of the UK’s largest independent wholesalers.
The business was started by Sir Anwar Pervez. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999 for his contributions to the food wholesale sector. Under his leadership, Bestway achieved £12 million in turnover within its first 18 months, launched the best-one symbol group in 2002, acquired Batley’s in 2005, Costcutter Supermarkets Group in 2020, and Adams Foodservice in 2024.
Managing Director Dawood Pervez said: “It’s incredible to reflect on how far we’ve come – from modest beginnings to becoming one of the UK’s leading wholesalers. This milestone – celebrating half a century in business – is a testament to the hard work, integrity, and entrepreneurial spirit that runs through the business.
“My father’s vision was simple but powerful: to offer greater value through lower prices and better availability – a mission that remains at the core of everything we do today.
“He created a business that is an engine for social mobility and an opportunity for migrant communities seeking to build a life in the UK – offering them purpose, a path to prosperity, and the chance to add lasting value to British society.”
The business was started by Sir Anwar Pervez.getty images
Pervez added: “Thanks to the vision of my father and his family partners, the business rapidly grew through both organic development and strategic acquisitions. Today, we are proud to be the 7th largest family-owned business in the UK and the 13th largest privately owned company.”
Bestway began its anniversary year in January with its annual ‘Thank You’ campaign, offering deals on products in-store and online. It includes 50 weekly trade campaigns with offers, discounts, competitions and promotions. These will conclude in December with a Christmas-themed promotion featuring 50 one-day festive deals.
A celebration event is scheduled for July at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Sir Anwar Pervez and Lord Choudrey. Supplier partners supporting the campaign include Coca-Cola Euro Pacific, Cadbury’s, Red Bull, Carlsberg, Heineken, Mars Wrigley, Walkers, Budweiser Brewing Group, and others.
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Arora’s plan could involve a shorter runway, potentially avoiding the need to divert the M25 motorway and significantly reducing costs and time. (Photo: LinkedIn/Surinder Arora)
BILLIONAIRE hotel entrepreneur Surinder Arora has announced plans for a cheaper alternative to Heathrow Airport’s third runway, claiming he can deliver it for a third less than the airport’s own estimate.
Arora, one of Heathrow’s largest landowners, is partnering with US engineering company Bechtel to submit a proposal after aviation minister Mike Kane said the Government was open to alternative bids.
“The Government has asked for submissions this summer and we will be there,” Arora told The Telegraph. He said, “We can deliver the whole thing, and without a shadow of a doubt, we’d build it cheaper than Heathrow Airport Limited.”
Heathrow’s official proposal, based on the 2018 Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), would include a full-length 3,500m runway, with costs reported to have increased from £14 billion to between £42bn and £63bn.
Arora’s plan could involve a shorter runway, potentially avoiding the need to divert the M25 motorway and significantly reducing costs and time.
Airline executives have voiced concerns about the full-scale plan. A UK airline boss said the cost could raise ticket prices by £75 to £100.
Sir Tim Clark of Emirates supported the idea of a shorter runway and said he was against diverting the M25.
Heathrow Reimagined, a campaign including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, welcomed competition and alternative proposals.
The Department for Transport confirmed that no live planning application exists but stated it remains open-minded and will assess any new plans fairly.
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This event has also raised concerns about the reliability of AI tools like Grok
Elon Musk was forced to step in on Sunday after his artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, falsely claimed he had “taken” the wife of former Trump adviser Stephen Miller. The misleading statement came after a doctored screenshot circulated on X, formerly Twitter, appearing to show a personal exchange between Musk and Miller.
The fabricated post, supposedly from Miller, read: “We will take back America,” to which Musk allegedly replied, “Just like I took your wife.” The image was shared by a user on X, prompting them to ask Grok whether the exchange was real.
Grok misidentifies fake content
In response, Grok stated the post likely did exist but was deleted. It explained, “The engagement metrics and context align with Musk’s behaviour, but its deletion means direct verification is unavailable.” The chatbot concluded that while a fabricated screenshot was possible, “the evidence leans toward the post being real but removed, consistent with Musk’s pattern of deleting controversial posts.”
— (@)
Musk quickly responded to the thread to clarify the situation. “No, it’s fake ffs. I never posted this,” he wrote, dismissing Grok’s assessment.
Background on Katie Miller and DOGE
Katie Miller, who is married to Stephen Miller, previously served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security and worked as an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence. She also briefly held a position in Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a now-defunct political advisory unit.
While in DOGE, Katie Miller was said to have played a significant role in shaping Musk’s political messaging and media strategy. Her appointment marked a rare overlap between the worlds of Silicon Valley and Washington politics. Reports suggest that the Millers and Musk had a close working relationship during that time and socialised outside of work as well.
However, the relationship appears to have cooled, particularly after Musk’s public rift with former US president Donald Trump.
Tensions between Musk and Trump
The feud between Musk and Trump began when Trump criticised Musk for opposing his legislative proposal, referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill”, which aimed to cut subsidies for electric vehicles. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said he was “disappointed in Elon” and accused him of acting out due to the financial impact the bill would have on Tesla.
Musk retaliated by posting on X that Trump would have lost the last election without his support, claiming Democrats would control the House and Republicans would only have a 51–49 margin in the Senate. In a further post, Musk referenced the Epstein files, suggesting that Trump’s connections might be one reason why those documents have not been released publicly.
Musk unfollows Miller amid ongoing fallout
Amid the ongoing tension, Musk has reportedly unfollowed Stephen Miller on X. The incident involving Grok and the fabricated screenshot has only added fuel to the speculation that political alliances between Musk and former Trump allies are weakening.
This event has also raised concerns about the reliability of AI tools like Grok in verifying online information, especially when used by the public to assess political or personal claims involving high-profile individuals.
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Apple researchers evaluated several prominent generative AI systems
A new research paper from Apple has exposed serious shortcomings in the reasoning abilities of some of today’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Despite being marketed as powerful tools capable of solving complex problems, the study shows that these models still struggle with basic logical tasks, raising questions about the real capabilities of large language and reasoning models.
AI models fail child-level logic tests
Apple researchers evaluated several prominent generative AI systems, including ChatGPT, Claude, and DeepSeek, using classic problem-solving tasks. One of the tests was the well-known Tower of Hanoi puzzle, which requires moving discs across pegs while following specific rules.
While the puzzle is simple enough for a bright child to solve, most AI models failed when asked to handle scenarios involving more than seven discs. Accuracy fell below 80% with seven discs, and performance dropped even further with eight. According to co-lead author Iman Mirzadeh, the issue wasn't just solving the puzzle — it was that the models couldn’t follow a logical thought process even when given the solution algorithm.
“They fail to reason in a step-by-step, structured way,” he said, noting that the models’ approach was neither logical nor intelligent.
The myth of scaling exposed
The results challenge one of the AI industry’s most commonly held beliefs: that simply scaling models — making them larger and feeding them more data — will lead to better performance. Apple’s research provides strong evidence that this is not always true.
Gary Marcus, a well-known AI researcher and commentator, called the findings a reality check. Venture capitalist Josh Wolfe even coined a new verb, “to GaryMarcus”, meaning to critically debunk exaggerated claims about AI. The Apple study, Wolfe argued, had done exactly that by revealing the real limits of model reasoning.
Marcus has long argued that AI systems, particularly those based on neural networks, can only generalise within the data they’ve seen before. Once asked to work beyond that training distribution, they often break down — a pattern clearly confirmed in Apple’s tests.
AI is not yet a substitute for human logic
To be clear, even humans make errors on the more complex versions of the Tower of Hanoi. However, AI systems were supposed to improve on this, not replicate human flaws. As Marcus points out, artificial general intelligence (AGI) should combine human creativity with machine-level precision. But instead of outperforming people in logic and reliability, today’s large models still make basic errors.
Most AI models failed when asked to handle scenarios involving more than seven discsiStock
Apple’s results also support concerns raised by Arizona State University’s Subbarao Kambhampati, who has cautioned against assuming AI models reason like humans. In reality, they often skip steps or fail to understand the underlying principles of a problem, despite producing convincing-sounding answers.
Caution urged for businesses and society
The implications are significant for businesses looking to integrate AI into their operations. While models such as GPT-4, Claude, and others perform well in areas like writing, coding, and brainstorming, they remain unreliable for high-stakes decision-making. As Marcus points out, these systems can’t yet outperform classical algorithms in areas like database management, protein folding, or strategic games like chess.
This unpredictability limits how much society can rely on generative AI. While the technology will continue to be useful in supporting human tasks, it is far from being a replacement for human judgement or traditional rule-based systems in critical contexts.
The illusion of intelligence
Perhaps most concerning is how easily these models can appear more capable than they are. If an AI performs well on an easy test, users may assume it can handle more complex problems too. But Apple’s study shows this confidence can be misplaced. The same model that solves a four-disc puzzle may completely fail when asked to solve one with eight.
This illusion of intelligence could lead to overtrust in AI systems — something experts warn must be avoided if the technology is to be used responsibly.
Rethinking the future of AI
Despite the findings, Marcus remains optimistic about AI’s future, just not in its current form. He believes that hybrid approaches, combining classical logic with modern computing power, could eventually produce more reliable systems. But he is sceptical that current LLM-based systems are the answer.
The Apple paper shows that hype around generative AI has outpaced its real-world abilities. Until AI can reason in a consistent, logical manner — not just produce convincing text — it will remain limited in scope.
As researchers and developers reflect on these findings, one thing is clear: the path to truly intelligent machines will require more than just scaling up. It will demand smarter, better-designed models that prioritise reliability over illusion.