< Back Home Ministry blocks 805 apps, 3,266 websites 12 Feb 2025 The action was taken by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). During the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Home Affairs on ‘Cyber Security and Cybercrime’, Home Minister Amit Shah announced the actions taken by the I4C.The I4C is the Ministry of Home Affairs initiative to combat cybercrime. I4C blocked 805 apps and 3,266 websites, caught 19 lakh mule accounts and suspended dubious transactions worth over ₹2,038 crore. It plans to deploy AI to identify mule accounts in a coordinated effort with RBI and banks. Cybercriminals use mule accounts to hide swindled money. I4C’s efforts will ensure mule accounts are closed even before becoming operational. 48% of the world’s digital transactions in 2024 happened in India. 95% of Indian villages are digitally connected, and 1 lakh gram panchayats now have Wi-Fi hotspots. In similar news, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry blocked 18 OTT platforms and associated 19 websites, 57 social media handles, and 10 apps for publishing inappropriate and obscene content. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Amul set to expand to the US 28 Mar 2024 Branded milk products like Amul Taaza, Amul Shakti, Amul Slim n Trim, and Amul Gold will hit the shelves within a week. Amul partnered with the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) in the US for collection and processing as per Amul’s recipe. Meanwhile, it will brand and market its products in New York, New Jersey, Dallas, Chicago, and Washington. Amul will market the products under the name Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, the cooperative society that owns the Amul brand. MMPA is America’s 10th biggest farmer-owned dairy cooperative society and a 108-year-old brand that owns Country Fresh. Amul’s fresh milk will be premium priced, and the company will also supply butter, cheese, and buttermilk to the American market. In the first quarter of its launch, the brand will distribute fresh milk through Indian grocery stores and a few mainstream channels. The man who led India’s milk revolution, Verghese Kurien, set up Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, which later became Amul. He is also a Michigan State University alumnus. Previous Next

< Back Japanese Shiseido to start manufacturing in India 27 Oct 2025 It opened its first outlet in India in 2023 and planned to launch its beauty brand NARS in partnership with Shoppers Stop. Shiseido first launched in India in 2001 with its fragrances and expanded through partnerships with Shoppers Stop and Sephora. It recently announced its decision to begin manufacturing in the country. They started manufacturing two lip colour products and foundation in India and offered 25% discounts on their imported products during Diwali, ET reported. India’s luxury beauty products market is expected to expand from $800 million in 2023 to nearly $4 billion by 2035. Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, Anomaly by Priyanka Chopra, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Dubai’s Huda Beauty, and H&M Beauty have entered the Indian market in the past year. The British brand The Body Shop sells imported products in India through Quest Retail and American Estée Lauder brands like Mac, Clinique, and Bobbi Brown Global brands are showing keen interest in local manufacturing partnerships in India. Lower duties help them price their products at a mid-range. 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 Agni Prime Missile fired from a rail-based mobile launcher 25 Sept 2025 The missile features a range of up to 2,000 km, advanced communication systems, and independent launch capability. India successfully test-fired the Agni Prime Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile on Wednesday from a train. This puts India among the select group of nations, including Russia, China, and the US, that own such advanced mobile, canisterized missile launchers. The missile can be launched from anywhere on the rail network, offering a short reaction time despite reduced visibility and cross-country mobility. It is a two-stage, solid propellant missile – the sixth in the Agni series. It was being transported via truck and launched via canister until now. It also has nuclear capabilities. Keeping missiles on fixed launchers makes them more vulnerable to strikes. Moving launchers gives them the added advantage. In the 1950s, the US began studying the feasibility of a rail-based launch mode for its Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) but abandoned it in 1961. In the 1980s, the US planned to deploy Peacekeeper ICBMs on railway mobile launchers. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES , on Amazon Kindle. A gripping, high-stakes novel. Previous Next

< Back Epic Games wins antitrust lawsuit against Google in the US 15 Dec 2023 The jury agreed with the video game maker, calling out Google’s Play Store practices monopolistic. On Tuesday, San Francisco-based video games maker and software developer Epic Games won a lawsuit against Google in the US. The gaming startup claimed that Google’s 30% commission on Play Store promotes monopoly, affects competition, and reduces innovation. Epic Games alleged that in 2021, Google made a $12 billion operating profit on the Play Store by enforcing dominating policies in the app market. The jury agreed with the startup, thus making it a momentous win against the digital giant. However, Google plans to challenge Epic Games in the US Federal Court. The win has encouraged startups worldwide and in India to fight against the hefty commission they call the ‘Google Tax’. The Competition Commission of India identified these issues in October 2020. It fined Google ₹936 crore for Competition Act violation, including making its in-house payment and billing system mandatory for paid apps and within-app purchases on the Play Store. Previous Next

< Back PayPal, Cashfree to apply for RBI license for cross-border transactions Ishita Nigam 6 Nov 2023 These payment aggregators must inform RBI of their cross border transactions within 60 days of applying for the license to continue their services. In a related move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that foreign payment aggregators like PayPal, Paymate, and Cashfree will need a license from the central bank. Such companies awaiting the permit will have to keep RBI informed of all Payment Aggregator-Cross Border (PA-CB) guidelines. These guidelines rule the cross-border payments in and out of India. Till now, an authorised dealer or a sponsor bank facilitated these cross-border payments on foreign platforms. But as per RBI’s latest guidelines, a PA-CB can face penalties if they fail to abide. UPI payment channels like Google Pay and PhonePe may face similar regulations in the future. UPI transactions are at an all-time high. The overall transaction volume crossed 11 billion worth ₹17.16 lakh crores in October compared to 10.56 billion in September. Peer-to-merchant transactions comprised 25% of the total value and 60% of the total volume. Previous Next

< Back Jio launches open AI telecom platform 5 Mar 2025 Jio collaborated with Nokia, Cisco, and AMD to create the platform. During the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelon Jio Platforms launched an Open Telecom AI Platform. This platform will have Jio as the first customer and serve global telecom operators. Its enhanced network efficiency, operational capabilities, and security features will facilitate collaborations and enable telecom providers to improve revenue streams. Jio’s platform integrates AI and network automation, employing the advanced Radio Access Net (RAN), routing, security, and AI data centres. It’s a multi-domain intelligence framework that aims to optimise performance and streamline operations. It’s a multimodal orchestrated workflow model that leverages open APIs and supports large and small language models for flexible applications. Cisco’s AI Defense and Agile Services, Ericsson’s AI-Powered Network Solutions, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Platform, and Nokia’s AI-Driven Network Optimization are open AI platforms to enhance network capabilities. Jio Platforms offers telecom, digital payments, broadband, ecommerce, entertainment, IoT and Blockchain solutions, AI and ML platforms, and cloud services. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back New Unified Pension Scheme to co-exist with National Pension Scheme 27 Aug 2024 The new scheme will come into effect from April 1st, 2025. Responding to the demand to reinstate the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) before assembly polls, the Union Cabinet announced on August 24th a refined Union Pension Scheme (UPS) that will co-exist with the National Pension Scheme (NPS). This means all NPS-enrolled government employees will be able to switch to UPS from the financial year 2025. Employees must serve at least 25 years in central or state government to be eligible for the pension under UPS. The monthly disbursement under UPS will begin at the age of 60, calculated as 50% of the average monthly salary earned in the twelve months leading to retirement. For service tenure between 10 and 25 years, eligible employees will receive a minimum monthly pension of ₹10,000. Employees retiring before March 31, 2025, choosing UPS will receive arrears. The pension will be adjusted for inflation. Private employees cannot use UPS, but their employers can opt for NPS. Previous Next

< Back Reliance planning to buy a 29.8% stake in Tata Play 15 Feb 2024 If all goes well, it will be the first deal between Tata Group and Reliance Industries. It will allow Reliance to offer all JioCinema content on Tata Play. Reliance Industries plans to buy Walt Disney’s 29.8% stake in the subscription-based television and video streaming platform Tata Play. Besides Walt Disney, Tata Sons owns 50.2% of Tata Play, and Temasek, a Singapore-based fund, owns 20%. The Mukesh Ambani-led group is also about to merge its India business with Walt Disney, with the deal expected to be finalised this month. Reliance will acquire a 51% stake in the merged entity, and Walt Disney will hold around 40%. The remaining 9% will be owned by Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and former Disney top boss Uday Shankar. Walt Disney plans to sell its TV content and OTT to Reliance for around $3.9 billion. Its valuation dipped after Zee Entertainment withdrew from a cricket rights deal worth $1.4 billion. With this, Reliance aims to strengthen its share in the $28 billion Indian media industry and TV distribution market. Previous Next

< Back Yoga to be included in Asian Games as demonstrative sport 2 Jul 2024 Yoga will be a demonstration sport with no medals on offer in the Asian Games 2026, to be held in Nagoya, Japan. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha wrote a letter on June 26th to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) acting President Randhir Singh, requesting him to include Yoga in the Asian Games. This ancient Indian sport will not offer any medals in the Asian Games 2026; it will be added as a competitive sport in Doha Asiad 2030. India has also been trying to get Yoga included as a competitive sport for the Olympic Games 2036 if it secures the right to host the games. Yoga has been witnessing worldwide acceptance. The Louvre Museum in Paris plans to offer visitors Yoga sessions with instructors ahead of the Olympics, which start this month. The Sports Ministry-run Mission Olympics Cell intends to recommend six games for the Olympics, including Yoga, Kabaddi, T20 Cricket, Chess, Kho Kho, and Squash. Yoga is also a part of the Khelo India Games. Previous Next

< Back UAE to build world’s biggest AI campus outside of the US 19 May 2025 As a part of the US-UAE agreement signed during President Trump’s visit, the UAE will build the largest AI campus in the world. Government-backed firm G42 will build an AI campus in Abu Dhabi, with support from several American companies, like OpenAI. The campus will span 10 square miles with a 5-gigawatt power capacity that can support up to 2.5 million Nvidia B200 chips. The agreement will allow the UAE to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced chips, which will be used to power the AI campus. The agreement opens the doors for Microsoft and Oracle to establish data centres in the UAE. G42 had several investments in Chinese companies, including ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) and Huawei. After the US expressed concerns, G42 divested from all. A 100% subsidiary of Kaynes Technology India, Kaynes Semicon has opened its chip design centre in Oman, in collaboration with and fully funded by the Omani government. It’s a very large-scale integration (VLSI) design centre that will work on front-end and back-end chip design processes. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back India to start locally manufacturing all mobile phones in this fiscal year 10 Oct 2024 Apple started making iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max phones in India last week. Google began manufacturing Pixel smartphones. Until the last fiscal year FY24, India’s smartphone imports comprised 2.5% of the mobiles sold by value and less than 1% by volume, especially Pro models of high-end phones, like Pixel and iPhone. With smartphone-oriented production-linked schemes (PLI), brands found new motivation to make their devices in India. Local manufacturing is further expected to reduce the iPhone Pro's price by ₹15,000 per unit. India now produces 99% of all smartphones locally. The domestic suppliers will soon cover the remaining 1%. Foreign brands like Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, and Transsion Holdings now produce all devices here. Local smartphone manufacturing has risen from ₹18,900 crore in FY15 to ₹410,000 crore in FY25, around 30% of which is for exports. In the FY25 budget, the Indian government reduced import customs duty to curb the high-end mobile grey market. This motivated Apple to reduce iPhone prices by up to 4%. Previous Next