Company feels automation is a big tool to drive down costs and improve efficiency
Reliance Industries Ltd, the nation's most valuable company, on Thursday said it has raised $4 billion (around Rs 30,000 crore) in debt through the largest ever foreign currency bond issuance by an Indian entity. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate plans to use the proceeds of the three tranche issues to retire existing borrowings. The issue was "nearly 3 times oversubscribed with a peak order book aggregating around $11.5 billion," the company said in a statement. This is the largest ever foreign currency bond transaction in India, eclipsing ONGC Videsh Ltd's $2.2 billion US dollar bonds issue of 2014.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the liberalisation of policies governing the acquisition and production of geospatial data is a "massive step in government's vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat". The reform will benefit country's farmers, start-ups, private sector, public sector and research institutions to drive innovations and build scalable solutions, he said.
It further said India is facilitating external commercial borrowings by startups in order to encourage innovation and promote ease of doing business.
IT services major Infosys on Wednesday announced a new programme, wherein it will offer 500 job seekers the opportunity to complete a fully digital, online diploma course certified by Salesforce. The programme aims to prepare Americans for 21st century careers in the technology sector. Leveraging Trailhead, Salesforce's free online learning platform, the program will train these 500 American workers, free of cost, for roles at Infosys as Salesforce Certified Administrators and Salesforce Industries Developers, a statement said. The programme, targeting recent graduates from major universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges, will help Infosys to create a workforce prepared for the future, it added.
'We spent considerable time re-skilling all the employees, and then we created a new focus called the 'One Infosys'.'
PEs and VCs are taking a closer look at their bouquet of investments. Leading voices in the sector are categorical that cash-burn rates -- that's blowing up equity to acquire market share -- as a business model can't continue to be the polestar.
The reopening of schools and colleges has sparked a crisis in the edtech sector with falling valuations, slowing funding rounds and faltering investor sentiment. In a totally altered, post-pandemic landscape where students are back at school and colleges, companies are scrambling to revert to bricks-and-mortar tuition centres and adopting a hybrid model of offline and online education. Demand for online tuition has fallen, affecting the revenue of edtech companies in recent months. After two years of booming revenues, some experts say the sector is looking at a possible meltdown.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
In the midst of third wave of COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has come up with an impactful Budget which is balanced, fiscally prudent and growth-oriented, the USA India Chamber of Commerce has said. President of the Boston-based USA India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC) Karun Rishi, however, said it is a matter of concern that the budget lacks tangible measures to increase revenue generation. "Opting to keep the fiscal deficit at 6.9 per cent and increase capital expenditure by 35 per cent is a masterstroke. "The annual budget estimates the effective capital expenditure of Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, making up about 4.1 per cent of the GDP," he said. "A phenomenal increase in the government's capital expenditure is likely to facilitate the expenditures on infrastructure and create jobs.
US tech giant IBM is betting big on the India growth story and plans to open more software development centres in the country as it looks to partner with the government in its digitisation journey, its chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna said on Friday. On a visit to India, Krishna met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar to discuss deeper collaboration including skilling and workforce development. The firm that originally designed the technology and system behind ATMs, barcodes and the US social security net, is greatly enthused with the speed at which the Indian government is willing to make decisions and where it is moving, he told a select media briefing.
The company is already supplying coffee beans to cafes, instant coffee to Hotels, restaurants and catering segment, vending and various other establishments. Going forward, it plans to look at vending solutions on its own.
Some of them include Spider G, NeuroTags, Genrobotic Innovations, AI Aeronautics, Synersense, Dealshare and NanoHealth. 'Highway to a Hundred Unicorns,' the Microsoft for startups initiative, works closely with local governments to strengthen the startup ecosystem in each state.
India's largest software services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday it has seen a surge in demand for its services and expects to recruit 10,000 individuals in the US by 2022. The Mumbai-based company has hired over 21,500 employees in the past five years in the US.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
IT spending in India is projected to rise 6 per cent to $81.9 billion in 2021 compared to this year on the back of growth across segments like enterprise software and IT services, research firm Gartner said on Monday. IT spending in 2020 is expected to total $79.3 billion, down 8.4 per cent from 2019. "The COVID-19 pandemic stalled many digital transformation projects for Indian enterprises, mainly because of the market uncertainties and reduced cash flows," Gartner research vice president Arup Roy said.
'As the demand for transferable skills that can be remotely applied increases, the need for tech-based courses is on the rise/'
Unsubstantiated and illogical opinions, delivered freely from within or abroad, could not destroy the democratic nature of the country, he added.
He also said it may be adopted for use in every stage of a rocket. He was speaking at the 16th convocation of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, near Chennai.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Tech giant Apple on Wednesday said it has slashed its App Store commission by half to 15 per cent for small businesses earning up to $1 million (about Rs 7.4 crore) per year on the platform. In the past, tech majors Apple and Google have been criticised for the high commissions charged from app developers. Apple, in a statement, said the new developer programme will accelerate innovation and help small businesses and independent developers propel their businesses forward with the next generation of groundbreaking apps on the App Store.
We are adapting to the situation by innovating new delivery modelss, launching brand campaigns that are impactful in the current context and closely monitoring changes in consumer buying behaviour, he said.
The new round values the company at $2.5 billion, more than double the over $1 billion valuation Dream 11 enjoyed in April 2019 when it was declared the country's first gaming unicorn.
Uber Technologies said it is doing a fresh round of recruitment for its India tech centres and is planning to hire 500 more tech employees by December. The app-based mobility and delivery company has a 1,000-member tech team across its centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The firm said the hiring plan is a testament to Uber's commitment to India, and its recognition of the engineering talent in the country. Uber hired 250 engineers to its India teams in 2021.
Trifacta's investors include Accel, Greylock Partners, Ignition and Cathay Innovation
SpiceJet on Tuesday said shareholders have approved the transfer of its cargo and logistics services business to a subsidiary, on a slump sale basis, through an all-share deal worth over Rs 2,555 crore, a move that will help the airline to significantly reduce its negative networth. Besides, the shareholders have cleared the proposal to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore through the Qualified institutional placement (QIP) route. These developments also come at a time when the airline industry is slowly recovering after being battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
If an entire business is constructed on the platform of one brand ambassador, there is inherent risk of life-after.
New Delhi had proposed during the 2+2 dialogue in April that the US navy could avail of the services and expertise of Indian shipyards.
Prosus-backed fintech firm PayU is set to acquire India's earliest payment gateway BillDesk in an all-cash transaction of $4.7 billion. This will be the largest acquisition in India's digital payments space. The deal will also give exit to investors General Atlantic, TA Associates, Temasek, Clearstone Ventures, and Visa. The proposed acquisition will help PayU, the payments and fintech business of Prosus which operates in more than 20 markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV).
As Indians start travelling in the new normal, strong recovery in smaller towns underscores success for ride-hailing giant's 'India to Bharat' strategy, which offers new products in regional markets.
'There is no such thing as ultimate survivability.'
'It's all comparative -- who outperforms, who uses tactics, who optimises technology to the best is what makes the difference.'
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) will revamp its banking application (app) YONO and position it as a complete digital bank (DB) under a new rubric 'Only YONO' for enhancing customer experience and ease of use. The bank plans to bring in a consultant to help draw up the project plan, keeping in mind business goals for the next five years. With 54 million monthly active users (MAUs), SBI YONO has seen growth of over 35 per cent in MAUs in 2021.
India's real estate industry staged a rebound from 2020's downturn, with housing sales seen rising by over 50 per cent. The performance, though short of pre-COVID levels, has property developers hoping for stronger gains in the New Year and the beginning of a long upcycle. A strong foundation has been laid this year for revival in the Indian real estate sector, which is projected to reach $1 trillion mark by 2030 from $200 billion in the pre-pandemic year.
Postman, a leading application programming interface platform, has secured $225 million in a Series D round, placing its valuation at $5.6 billion. With this, Postman has emerged as the most-valued software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm started by Indian founders, overtaking web and mobile testing firm BrowserStack, which was valued at $4 billion in June. The valuation of the San Francisco-headquartered firm with offices in Bengaluru, where it was founded, has almost trebled in just about one year and risen multi-fold since 2019. Postman, with team members spread across four continents, had secured $150 million in a Series C investment round led by Insight Partners at a $2-billion valuation last summer.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
China remains a "formidable challenge" that has increased its presence not only along India's land borders but also in the maritime domain, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Tuesday and asserted that the naval force keeps a regular watch in the Indian Ocean Region.
Tech start-ups will continue to take the lead in bolstering the regional economy, says Murali Talasila.
'United Health Interface is in line with UPI. UPI is a language of money transfer, similarly, UHI is a set of protocols, which is going to create a language of health service delivery'
'Then select those that are well-aligned with your risk-return profile and investment time horizon.'
Nasscom recommended that there should be 'no double dipping'.
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