Microsoft surpasses Alphabet to become 3rd most valuable firm
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San Francisco, May 30: Microsoft has surpassed Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in the market capitalisation for the first time in three years, becoming the third most valuable firm after Apple and Amazon globally.
According to a report in Investor's Business Daily late Tuesday, Microsoft had a market cap of $753 billion at the close of trading, almost $14 billion ahead of Alphabet.
Apple leads with a market cap of nearly $924 billion and Amazon is at distant second, with nearly $783 billion.
The credit for Microsoft's rise goes to its CEO Satya Nadella who has been strategically restructuring the company towards Cloud and Office offerings.
Driven by consistent growth in its Office and Cloud solutions, Microsoft posted a revenue of $26.8 billion and net income of $7.4 billion in its third quarter that ended on March 31.
"We are innovating across key growth categories of infrastructure, AI, productivity and business applications to deliver differentiated value to customers," Nadella said.
Office commercial products and Cloud services revenue increased 14 per cent -- driven by Office 365 commercial revenue growth of 42 per cent.
The Azure cloud offering had 93 per cent revenue growth. Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $9 billion and increased 17 per cent in the quarter.
Microsoft now has over 135 million active Office 365 business users, with 30.6 million Office 365 consumer users.
Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $7.9 billion and increased 17 per cent.
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AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan moves SC against Waqf Bill
New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI): Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
In his plea, Khan sought that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill be declared as "unconstitutional and being violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution" and sought direction for striking it down.
"The Bill violates fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, and 300-A of the Constitution. It curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions," Khan's plea said.
On Friday, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi moved the apex court, challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, saying it violated the constitutional provisions.
Jawed's plea alleged the Bill imposed "arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, said the proposed law discriminated against the Muslim community by "imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments".
The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early April 3 with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Jawed, a Lok Sabha MP from Kishanganj in Bihar, was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Bill and has alleged in his plea that the Bill "introduces restrictions on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice".
"Such a limitation is unfounded in Islamic law, custom or precedent and infringes upon the fundamental right to profess and practice religion under Article 25," it said.
In his separate plea, Owaisi said the Bill takes away from Waqfs various protections which were accorded to Waqfs and Hindu, Jain, and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.
Owaisi's plea, filed by advocate Lzafeer Ahmad, said, "This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion."
The plea argued the amendments "irreversibly dilute" the statutory protections afforded to Waqfs and their regulatory framework while giving "undue advantage" to other stakeholders and interest groups, undermining years of progress and pushing back Waqf management by several decades.
"Appointing non-Muslims on the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Boards disturbs this delicate constitutional balance and tilts it to the detriment of the right of Muslims as a religious group to remain in control of their Waqf properties," Owaisi said.
