Olympic high jump champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the event with a radically different jumping technique that was eventually named after him, died on Sunday aged 76.
Udai Tambar, an Indian-origin CEO involved in youth development services in the US, is among 15 experts appointed as members of the newly-formed racial justice advisory board in New York City.
The fast-growing, high-margin branded spices business is turning out to be an interesting growth opportunity, which to an extent was reflected in the Sunrise-ITC deal, with multiple parties from PE to strategic players joining the fray.
However, NFTs and Metaverse are in their first-generation (Gen 1) or initial phase and the market is filtering the assets from the point of view of their worthiness. NFTs having real artistic value have not participated as much in the fall. Some innovations are also happening or expected going ahead, which will take this asset class to the next phase.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Thursday came out with the Indian Space Policy 2023 to promote greater private sector participation in the entire value chain of the space economy. According to the policy, Isro will encourage new-generation entities to participate in space exploration and human presence in outer space, including collaboration with domestic and international stakeholders. The policy also sets a road map for Isro to transition from manufacturing operational space systems to focus energies on research and development in advanced technologies.
The Adani stock price saga will pass into public memory as one of those matters that simply escaped being nailed down, perhaps because too many vested interests were involved, notes Debashis Basu.
A young couple sharing a laugh - in the living room over a Polish joke book, on the beach, in the rain - with the tagline, "Made for each other", hung from billboards at prominent street corners from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was a campaign for one of the largest selling cigarette brands in India, Wills (Navy Cut) from the ITC stable, that resonated with a generation of smokers and non-smokers alike till the curtains came down on tobacco advertising in 2004. As we prepare to welcome 2024, ITC has metamorphosed from a tobacco giant into a conglomerate straddling multiple large-sized businesses. In the mind space of Gen Z or millennials, the company represents a gamut of branded products - from frozen food (ITC Master Chef), noodles (YiPPee!), and cookies (Sunfeast) to snacks (Bingo!) and notebooks (Classmate), and so on and so forth.
While the four largest listed paint companies have seen marginal negative returns, the S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and the National Stock Exchange Nifty FMCG indices have delivered a solid 16 per cent return during the same period. Initially, volume growth and reduced costs bolstered the sector's sentiment, but brokerages have grown cautious due to increased competitive pressures.
WhatsApp on Wednesday announced the expansion of its payments service in India to make it easier for people transacting with businesses to pay for purchases directly in the chat, with a choice of UPI apps, including rival digital payment options, as well as credit and debit cards. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg asserted that India is leading the world in people and businesses embracing messaging. WhatsApp said it is working with partners Razorpay and PayU "to make paying for something as simple as sending a message", as the Meta-owned platform unveiled a host of new features to woo businesses in India's booming commerce market.
Mytrah generates a higher internal rate of return than most wind energy cos.
India added over 1,300 active tech start-ups to its ecosystem in calendar year 2022, taking the total tally to between 25,000-27,000, according to a recent report. The country continues to be the world's third largest tech start-up ecosystem. The Nasscom-Zinnov Indian Tech Start-up Landscape Report 2022 found that India added the second highest number of Unicorns - companies with a valuation of at least $1 billion - in the world, with over 23 added in CY2022.
The race to the uncharted south pole of the Moon is quickening with India's Chandrayaan-3 and Russia's Luna-25 gearing up for lunar landings next week, each mission holding significant implications beyond the thrilling competition in the skies.
The proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to be issued by the Reserve Bank will play a critical role in improving the speed of transactions and reducing the cost of cash, a Deloitte report said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India is planning to come out with a central bank-backed digital currency, using blockchain technology in 2022-23. As a financial services innovation, CBDCs are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping the 'future of value transfer', the report said, adding that most central banks worldwide are now in various stages of their evaluation of launching their national digital currencies.
'It's vital that over the next 10 years, that India, the US and the Artemis Accords family of nations come together to ensure that we not only return humanity to the moon, but that we build the technology that will allow us stay there permanently.' 'And then go on to Mars.'
The 'angel tax' provision in the Finance Bill will not impact startups in India, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Startups which are registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade do not come under the purview, Anurag Jain, the secretary in the department said while speaking at the IVCA Conclave. "Let me put one thing very clearly. It doesn't affect startups in the least," he said, addressing the audience at the event organized by the venture capital industry lobby grouping.
Should we not be creating roles in India for the talented, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
Although it has not announced the price bookings, sources say it could be in thousands.
While the market for satellite broadband currently is small, the potential is large as an estimated 30 per cent of the country does not have reliable terrestrial broadband services.
The rules, the first ever for software applications in the country, were recently issued by the patent office and mandate each new software to be 'machine-specific' and packaged with 'new hardware' to qualify for a licence.
The summit is being attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations.
India and the US on Friday said they have started talks to put in place a strategic framework for human space flight by year-end as they plan to send an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station in 2024.
Except for Westlife Foodworld (Westlife), a weak 2022-23 (FY23) January-March (fourth quarter, or Q4) quarter performance and a muted near-term outlook led to a downward revision of earnings estimates for quick-service restaurant (QSR) players. Brokerages have slashed estimates by as much as 10 per cent for 2023-24 (FY24) and 2024-25 (FY25). The downward revisions have weighed on the performance of listed players, who have underperformed the market with low single-digit returns over the past month.
Infosys has emerged as the fastest growing IT services brand following 52 per cent brand value growth since last year and 80 per cent since 2020 to $12.8 billion, earning it third spot, the brand valuation consultancy said in its latest Global 500 IT Services Ranking report. TCS and Infosys have pushed IBM to fourth spot from second. IBM's brand value now stands at $10.6 billion, a decline of 34 per cent from last year and 50 per cent since 2020.
Reliance Industries Ltd, whose offering of rock-bottom tariffs shook up the telecom industry, is looking to repeat the feat in the green energy business, where its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani sees promise to outshine all existing growth engines in 5-7 years. Having pledged Rs 6 lakh crore on green energy, Ambani says RIL will scale up investments in this business which will start going live in the next 12 months. "Over the next 12 months our investments across the Green Energy value chain will gradually start going live, scaling up over the next couple of years," Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL, said in the company's latest annual report.
The BRICS nations on Friday underlined the need for using local currencies in international trade and financial transactions besides committing themselves to supporting rule-based open and transparent global trade. A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, also pressed for a robust Global Financial Safety Net with a quota-based and adequately resourced International Monetary Fund (IMF) at its centre. It further said the process of IMF governance reform under the 16th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula as a guide, should be completed by December 15, 2023.
Prime Minister Modi also made a veiled reference to China, saying the global order is based on the respect for the principles of the UN Charter, peaceful resolution of disputes, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Lakme, India's first make-up and beauty brand, turned 70 this year and is also present in Hindustan Unilever's club of brands with a turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore. Over the past seven decades, the brand has evolved and is no longer just a beauty brand, but has also transformed into a skincare brand. Lakme has increased its digital presence as well as innovations and now sees a third of its growth come from new innovations.
HUL believes that post Covid, the awareness about health and wellbeing and selfcare, has exploded and there is a mindset change from health as absence of disease, to health as a part of lifestyle.
India's sprawling digital public infrastructure received a glowing endorsement from billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday as he praised the country's "great" digital network, reliable and low-cost connectivity, and said this will be the cheapest 5G market. Under the G20 presidency of India, a session on 'Building resilient and inclusive economies- the Promise of Digital Public Infrastructure' was held on Wednesday in New Delhi, where the Microsoft co-founder spoke of India's digital identity Aadhaar, its payment infrastructure, and rapid strides that the country has taken in bringing more people into formal banking system. "India in particular, by laying the groundwork for digital public infrastucture starting with identity system, allows people to build on top of that.
The current operating environment remains highly volatile and persistent inflation will likely impact demand across categories, Tata Consumer Products Ltd chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Monday. To navigate through these "short-term bumps" in this uncertain environment, the company will focus on strong execution, maintaining agility and nimbleness," he said while addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM). "Geo-Political tensions, supply chain challenges, and demand-supply mismatches in crude and several other commodities are driving persistent inflation, which will likely impact demand across categories.
'Every time a new tech comes in, there are a set of people who will predict that this will be the end of Indian IT and every time the Indian IT industry and overall technology providers have proven to be resilient.'
Stocks of new-age companies have seen a mixed performance thus far in calendar year 2023 (CY23). While those of One97 Communications (parent company of Paytm), PB Fintech and Zomato have surged up to 63 per cent year-to-date (YTD), FSN e-commerce, the parent company of Nykaa, however, has dropped 14 per cent YTD. By comparison, Nifty50 and Nifty 500 indices have advanced 7 per cent and 8.7 per cent, respectively, during the period, ACE Equity data show.
Tata Group on Wednesday announced an investment of 4 billion pounds (about Rs 42,500 crore) in setting up a flagship factory to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover as well as other manufacturers. Tata Sons, owner of JLR, chose Bridgwater in Somerset in southwest England for the gigafactory over a rival location in Spain. The gigafactory, at 40GWh, will be one of the largest in Europe and Tata's first outside of India, the conglomerate said in a statement.
'If you want it to grow well and serve the true needs of the economy, it needs a lot of freedom and flexibility, which comes in terms of the reform objective set by the regulator.'
The India-Japan global partnership is based on shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law and promotes peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding wide-ranging talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
The FMCG sector is generally considered to be a safe haven during difficult times as people never stop buying soap and toothpaste. However, weak rural and semi-urban demand has been a factor since the lockdowns of 2020-21 while rising inflation has also impacted margins. While the FMCG majors have survived on the basis of price hikes and good management practices, they have seen growth slowdowns and experienced margins being squeezed as raw materials and transport costs rose. The FMCG sector witnessed positive volume growth in the fourth quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) after five consecutive quarters of decline, and the rebound in demand was led by urban markets.
China's Vivo said on Thursday it will export more than one million 'Made in India' smartphones in 2023 to achieve a target announced last year when it sent out its first indigenous shipment to Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Vivo India, known for its economical phones, has proposed investing Rs 7,500 crore in the country and it is set to spend Rs 3,500 crore of that amount by end of this year. According to the firm's India Impact Report 2022, it will start production at a new 'state of the art' manufacturing facility by early 2024 after regulatory clearance.
IT major Wipro Limited has appointed Satya Easwaran, a former senior executive at consultancy KPMG, as its India head. Easwaran will be in charge of strengthening Wipro's business in India across key industry sectors through strategic consulting, transformation and modernisation engagements, it said in a statement on Monday. "India is a strategic market for Wipro and I am excited to welcome Satya to champion our bold ambition for growth and leadership here.