< Back IMF’s 2024 report cited several challenges with Pakistani economy 14 May 2025 The report, released in October 2024, cited investment and productivity declines, as well as governance issues. The IMF bailed out Pakistan for the 29th time since 1989. It offered an immediate disbursement of USD1 billion under the Extended Fund Facility and approved USD1.4 billion under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangement. It praised Pakistan’s fiscal progress and steps towards restoring macroeconomic stability and reducing interest rates and inflation. Contrarily, its October 2024 report highlights: Long-term decline in domestic investment and economic productivity Stagnant growth compared to peers Deteriorating capital accumulation Insufficient investment in human capital and social services, like health, infrastructure, and education Over 40% of the population lives under the poverty line Inadequate funding for climate and environmental protection State domination through State-Owned Enterprises (SOES) and State-led market interventions is undermining the performance of the private sector and worsening inefficiencies in several sectors. The IMF commended its progress in this report but noted that Pakistan’s recovery remains fragile. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back India to launch AI chatbot in 10 months 1 Feb 2025 Ashwini Vaishnav, Union Minister of Electronics and IT, announced at the Utkarsh Odisha Conclave. India's AI platform will host DeepSeek, the Chinese LLM platform, on local servers. The framework is ready and was launched during the India AI Mission event on Thursday. The India AI Compute Facility, a common user computing setup, procured 18,693 GPUs to develop an LLM designed especially for Indian startups, developers, and researchers. Of those, 10,000 GPUs are operational. Tata Communications, Jio Platforms, NextGen Data Centre, and Yotta provided the GPUs. ChatGPT was trained on 25,000 GPUs, while DeepSeek used 2,000. The government sought proposals from AI startups, and six developers are working on models, which are expected to be ready within 6-10 months. 18 apps for the learning disability, agriculture sector, and climate change will be a part of this model. With a 40% government subsidy, the Indian AI Model computation will cost less than ₹100 per hour compared to other global models that cost $2.5-3 per hour. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Previous Next

< Back India no longer the cheapest mobile tariff nation 4 Nov 2025 An ICICI Securities report stated that Bangladesh and Egypt now offer cheaper tariff plans. In recent years, India has improved its affordability rankings for mobile tariffs. However, it still offers one of the most generous allowances, especially for voice services. According to the report, Indian telecom companies offer up to 26 GB of extra data at a rate of ₹4 per GB, making it one of the most affordable data offerings globally. Besides India, Indonesia is the only other nation with such low rates. Compared to China, India offers base plans that are 21% cheaper, with higher service allowances for voice and data usage. The average revenue per user (ARPU) based on consumer spending for Indian telecom companies has increased by 13.5% from 2019 to 2025. The report suggested that this hike is faster than inflation and, therefore, not sustainable in the long term. In the past decade, the ARPU grew at a CAGR of 3.4%, much below the inflation rate. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES , on Amazon Kindle. A gripping, high-stakes novel. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.6 stars on Amazon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Goodreads Previous Next

< Back Merchant Shipping Bill, Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill passed 8 Aug 2025 The Lok Sabha on August 6th passed the Merchant Shipping Bill. On August 7th, the Rajya Sabha passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill. The Merchant Shipping Bill 2024 was introduced by the Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Provisions: Aligns Indian laws with global conventions like the Wreck Removal Convention and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Widens ownership eligibility rules so more entities can own vessels and participate in maritime trade. Replaces the old Merchant Shipping Act of 1958. Establishes transparent procedures for investigating marine accidents. The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill swaps the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925. Provisions: Modernises the maritime law governing domestic and international cargo movement from Indian ports. Aligns Indian maritime laws with the global conventions, especially the Hague-Visby Rules, followed by the UK and other countries. Redefines the duties, liabilities, rights, and immunities of carriers and shippers. Empowers the central government to govern its implementation. Amends Bills of Lading schedules. Never miss another post from SalestorsNews150. Follow Salestors on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Chinese tariff war benefits Indian aviation, semiconductor sectors 23 Apr 2025 Air India plans to buy Boeing planes rejected by China due to its ongoing tariff war with the US. China asked airlines to reject American-made Boeing aircraft and equipment deliveries. It plans to assist Chinese carriers who lease Boeing aircraft and incur higher costs. Air India needs more aircraft fitting its revival plans and may take the rejected aircraft from Boeing. Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd is also vying for the rejected planes. Air India bought 47 Boeing 737 Max planes in 2019, the last time the US engaged in a tariff war with China during Donald Trump’s first term. Tesla is discussing procurement with semiconductor facilities in India, like CG Semi and Tata Electronics, and the Gujarat-based American conglomerate Micron. Tata AutoComp, Tata Technologies, and Tata Consultancy Services are Tesla’s existing global suppliers. China is a global semiconductor manufacturing and packaging leader. Tesla is trying to shift its focus to other suppliers for diversification. International laptop makers like Dixon, Syrma SGS, and Asus are setting up bases in India. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back The rise of social engineering attacks 19 Aug 2025 M&S, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Clorox have faced social engineering cyberattacks. In social engineering cyberattacks, hackers impersonate employees and call their IT helpdesks seeking help in case of lost credentials. Easily accessible personal information of employees or weak authentication practices allow hackers inside the system. Recently, Marks & Spencer faced such an attack on April 23 rd 2025, which led to a ransomware demand from DragonForce. They had used a TCS employee’s email ID. The attack caused M&S a loss of £300 million in operating profit. Clorox also had its system hacked similarly. A call routed through Cognizant’s IT helpdesk went without proper authentication. Clorox sued Cognizant for $380 million. In the case of the cyberattack on MGM Resorts, hackers used publicly listed employee information to impersonate staff. However, MGM refused to pay the $100 million ransom. Corporations are investing in behavioural training, real-time breach detection, and better descriptions of vendor responsibilities, especially in the case of social engineering cyberattacks. Check out my DEBUT BOOK, The Black Flames, on Amazon Kindle. Previous Next

< Back India, Nvidia in talks to develop AI semiconductor chip 22 Oct 2024 Nvidia aims to create a chip specifically designed for the Indian market, and the Indian government is assessing its potential. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang started discussing a potential alliance during their meeting in the US this year. The discussions are in a preliminary stage, while the government is analysing the cost implications and potential benefits of the AI chip for Indians. Arm or AMD, Nvidia’s partners, are expected to design the core, and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), a government-owned entity or private firms will develop the top layer. This chip could be used for the Indian Railways security system, Kavach, and other startups and enterprises if the government makes it accessible as a part of India’s AI mission. Nvidia, the world’s second most valuable company after Apple, aspires to leverage India’s massive semiconductor chip designing talent to make a chip specifically for the Indian market. As per a Boston Consultancy Group study, India accounts for 19% of the world’s chip designers. Previous Next

< Back Apple unveils free password manager for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users 11 Jun 2024 On June 10 at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference 2024, Apple released the new app ‘Passwords’. Apple’s Password manager app is an extension of the iCloud Keychain. It can facilitate logging into websites and devices, generating and storing, and importing passwords from third-party services. All passwords will be stored in iCloud Passwords. The well organised menu may help the user access passwords easily. The app allows users to share, sync, and save passwords across devices. It stores user logins into categories like banking, social media, and online streaming. Face ID, Touch ID, and autofill replace manual password input wherever necessary. The app is free for iOS18, MacOS 15, and iPad OS18 users and works with Vision Pro and Windows laptops. iOS18 also introduces the Lock an App feature, which allows users to lock and hide apps from unauthorised users. After Samsung’s foray into AI-enabled Gemini in S24, Apple followed suit with AI-enabled Siri, to be launched soon. It plans to integrate GPT 4 into Siri, too. Previous Next

< Back Jio Financial Services becomes Core Investment Company after RBI nod 17 Jul 2024 Jio received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition from a Non-Banking Financial Corporation (NBFC) to a Core Investment Company (CIC). After its demerger from Reliance Industries’ financial division and a change in its shareholder pattern, RBI directed Jio Financial Services (JFS) to convert into a CIC. JFS then filed an application with RBI to become an independent investment entity. A Core Investment Company (CIC) owns assets exceeding ₹100 crore, and at least 90% of them must be invested in debentures, bonds, debt, or loans extended to group firms, equity and preference shares. A CIC deals mainly in the acquisition of shares and securities. This transition will change JFS’s operational structure. As a CIC, it will become more compliant with regulatory frameworks and have a streamlined organisational structure. JFS can now act as a diversified financial services arm and support Reliance Industries’ business ventures. This will allow JFS to allocate capital to its subsidiaries efficiently. JFS currently offers investment and lending, payment gateway, and banking services. Previous Next

< Back Lyzr.AI’s Agent Sam to help startups prepare for fundraising 5 Dec 2025 Agent Sam, named after Sam Altman, is an agentic AI capable of handling usual investor queries. During the funding season, startup founders spend up to 60% of their time answering repetitive questions for venture capitalists. This usually consumes up to 15 hours a week for around three months for them. Agent Sam has been trained on Lyzr’s financials, team background, and product information. Lyzr embedded Agent Sam on the fundraising page, and within three weeks, they received an expression of interest from 100 investors. Over 30 qualified investors engaged with Agent Sam, and 10 reached the due diligence stage. Investors’ questions were mainly expected: the company’s competitive advantage, funding raised so far, current revenue and growth, key customers, GTM strategy, and USP. Agent Sam successfully handled 60-70% of the queries, except for final negotiations and what-if questions. Lyzr.AI is a New Jersey-based startup founded in 2023 by Siva Surendira and Anirudh Narayan. Nvidia, Accenture, and Rocketship.vc are some of its notable investors. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES , on Amazon Kindle. A gripping, high-stakes mystery. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.6 stars on Amazon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Goodreads Previous Next

< Back Most deletions from Tamil Nadu in Election Commission’s SIR 2 6 Jan 2026 The Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a major nationwide clean-up of electoral rolls, following large-scale discrepancies detected in Bihar and West Bengal. The ongoing SIR drive marks the most extensive voter‑roll verification exercises undertaken by the ECI. In Phase 2, the SIR drive is underway across 12 States/UTs, including Tamil Nadu, Goa, Puducherry, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and West Bengal. Tamil Nadu leads with ~97 lakh absolute deletions, while Gujarat and Andaman & Nicobar Islands show the highest percentage reductions at 14.5% and ~21%, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala. So far, around 3.68 crore names have been deleted in phase 2. States have reported significant deletions due to absent, shifted, deceased, and duplicate voters. Several states required deadline extensions after irregularities surfaced—such as forms submitted by ineligible persons, misuse of BLO credentials, and entries for deceased electors. Draft rolls were published in December, and final rolls are scheduled for February 2026. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES , on Amazon Kindle. A gripping, high-stakes mystery. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.6 stars on Amazon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Goodreads Previous Next

< Back New law to impact Indian firms offering AI products to the European Union 31 May 2024 Last week, the Council of the European Union approved the world’s first law regulating AI development, the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. The EU’s new AI Act, expected to come into effect by June end, will raise compliance expectations and associated costs for Indian firms selling AI systems in Europe. Companies will have six months to conduct a risk assessment to ascertain the category of their AI systems and prepare for compliance. While the generic AI applications will get a year to comply, the high-risk systems must fully comply within three years. The Act will ban any AI applications posing unacceptable threats within six months of implementation. Indian SMEs offering AI products to the EU market at reasonable rates are worried about losing their competitive edge. Becoming and staying compliant will demand excessive costs and administrative resources. Non-compliance can attract penalties of up to €1,50,00,000 or 3% of the turnover. The new Indian government may pass the Digital India Act, replacing the twenty-five-year-old IT Act. It may also regulate AI. Previous Next