Search Results

< Back Wipro wins $500 mn contract from Nokia for five years 12 Jun 2024 Wipro will offer managed services for some Nokia products and industry solutions for five years. On June 6th, Wipro announced securing a $500 million contract from Nokia, a leading American communication services provider. As per the contract, Wipro will build a customised cloud-based AI-powered solution for Nokia’s 86,700 employees across 130 countries. The solution will provide faster, smoother, and real-time IT support and an improved service desk for Nokia’s employees. The software will be omni-channel, always on, and experience-driven. It will be powered by Designit, a Wipro company, and facilitate a hybrid work environment. In the last quarter of FY2024, Wipro won deals worth $3.6 billion while its order book for the whole year was $14.9 billion. Wipro closed 18 big deals in Q4 compared to 14 in Q3. The deal happened two months after Srinivas Pallia became the new CEO. Last December, the departure of Wipro’s Chief Growth Officer and Head of Large Deals, Stephanie Trautman, made it challenging for the company to secure big deals. Previous Next

< Back Maharashtra CM inaugurates Nifty WAVES Index 2 May 2025 Launched by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the WAVES Index will track the performance of the creative economy. The World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) Summit 2025 aimed at establishing India as the global epicentre for the creative streams. The new WAVES Index launched during the Summit includes 43 listed companies from the creative sector, including Zee Media, Hathway Cable, PVR Inox, Saregama, Network18, and TV Today. It has been set with a base value of 1000 beginning from April 1st, 2005. The new index will organise performance tracking of India’s creative industries. India’s creator economy employs 8% of the workforce and contributes $30 billion to the GDP. Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced MoUs worth ₹8,000 crore for the sector development aimed at positioning Maharashtra as a global hub in the storytelling domain. Godrej is developing a ₹2,000 crore studio in Panvel to attract global post-production work. The government also established the Indian Institute of Creative Technology in Mumbai to train professionals in creative fields. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Quick commerce apps to start delivering electronics, white goods by Diwali 18 Jun 2024 By Diwali, quick commerce apps like BBNow, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Zomato’s Blinkit plan to start selling electronics and appliances in 10-45 minutes. As companies experience up to 45% sales through quick commerce, electronics brands are also partnering with quick commerce apps. Tata’s Croma is partnering with BBNow to sell smartphones. If apps can offer exchanges and EMI buying options demanded by customers, this will be a significant revenue stream. These products are expected to bring in much more revenue and enhance customer stickiness than other products bought on these apps. However, for large appliances, these apps will sell only 4-5 top-selling models or the ones in high demand, as per customer reviews, and not as wide a range as Amazon or Flipkart. Big appliances will consume larger warehousing spaces and four-wheeler deliveries. Blinkit ran a pilot selling iPhone for a limited period last year. Havells sold air coolers and fans in a pilot program this year. Q-commerce apps also sell small products like Bluetooth speakers, smartwatches, fans, and steam irons. Previous Next

< Back Maruti, Audi to hike car prices from Jan 2024 28 Nov 2023 Spike in inflation, including commodity prices, are pushing Maruti Suzuki to raise prices across its range of cars. Spurred by the hike in inflation and raw material expenses, Maruti Suzuki and Audi plan to raise their car prices starting January 2024. Both car makers plan to increase the cost across their range of models. Maruti raised prices twice this year, in January and April. However, that did not impact its sales, which rose 11.4% between April and October this year. October 2023 turned out to be the best month for Maruti so far. It experienced a 20% hike in sales compared to the same period in 2022, and its market share increased to 43%. Citing rising operational costs and supply chain inputs, Audi announced plans to hike car prices by 2% next year. The German car maker had reported an 88% boost in sales from January to September this year. Previous Next

< Back Merchant fees on UPI, RuPay debit cards may return 12 Mar 2025 Banks submitted a formal proposal to the government to reintroduce the charges. UPI and RuPay transactions are controlled by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Merchants pay the MDRs to banks for real-time payment processing. Before 2022, merchants had to pay banks a discount rate below 1% of the transaction value. It was removed in the FY2022 budget to promote digital payments, and it worked as UPI became the most widely used payment mode. The government is considering introducing a tiered pricing mechanism to charge the fee only to large businesses with annual GST turnover over ₹40 lakhs. The fee will be lower for smaller merchants, and free for those with a yearly turnover of less than ₹40 lakhs. Big retail businesses mostly use credit and debit cards for over half of their payments and pay MDR for the transactions. A minor fee on UPI payments would not have any significant impact. MDR can help payment aggregators make their businesses profitable. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back US Department of Justice launches antitrust probes against NVIDIA 7 Aug 2024 In the first probe, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will scrutinise NVIDIA's buyout of Run:ai, and the second probe will evaluate if it abuses its dominant position in AI Chips. In July, US, UK, and EU regulators pledged to “safeguard against tactics that would undermine fair competition” in the AI world. Since then, international regulators have been closely monitoring significant tech acquisitions. That’s why NVIDIA’s $700 million acquisition of the Israeli GPU management startup Run:ai caught the attention of the US regulator. The DOJ is also evaluating NVIDIA’s global dominance in the AI chips market. After receiving several anti-competitive complaints, the regulator is assessing whether NVIDIA misuses its dominance to discourage customers from using its competitors’ products. There have been claims that the AI chip maker overcharges customers for networking equipment if they buy AI chips from its competitors, like AMD and Intel. It may also face French antitrust charges for anti-competitive practices. NVIDIA owns 70 to 95% of the market for chips used to train AI models. In June, it briefly overtook Microsoft as the world’s most valuable company. Previous Next

< Back Govt assessing 3D Scanners' utility for Indian airports 16 Dec 2024 It is evaluatin how useful the 3D computed tomography X-ray (CTX) and Full Body Scanners (FBS) will be for Indian airports. 3D CTX scanners, commonly used in the US and Europe, allow passengers to keep liquids and electronics in their cabin luggage while screening. While earlier these were expected at Indian airports by May 2024, an influential multi-agency committee set up by the government is evaluating whether 3D CTX and FBS scanners can address the nation’s specific security and cultural requirements. Indians often wear religious items like metallic bangles, which are sometimes difficult to remove. The agency is in discussions with the manufacturers about making India-specific scanners and guidelines. Their utility guidelines will also be customised to suit the Indian perspective. The committee is evaluating an FBS especially tailored for India that will promote less intrusive security checks and eliminate the need for physical pat-downs. Indian airports face long queues and a constant supply of plastic trays, which increases during winter when an additional tray is needed to keep the jackets. Previous Next

< Back Airtel in talks to buy Tata Play 8 Oct 2024 It acquired Tata’s consumer mobility business in 2017 and absorbed it after two years. Tier 1 and 2 customers are opting for OTT packs over DTH, and rural subscribers are choosing Doordarshan Free Dish. Hence, Airtel is ready to strike a second deal with the Tata Group to boost its presence in the OTT segment. Tata Play, formerly Tata Sky, is the market leader with 20.77 million users and a 32.7% share. Airtel ranks second with a 27.8% share. Tata Play removed some Sony channels to cut the losses, leading to a spat between the two. Tata Sons bought Temasek Holding’s 10% stake in Tata Play for ₹835 crore in April, thus bringing its ownership to 70% and company valuation to $1 billion. Airtel may buy Tata Play for a similar amount as the Temasek deal. After merging with 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney absorbed Sky’s 30% stake in Tata Play. Disney now plans to quit TV distribution after its merger with Reliance Jio. Previous Next

< Back Faster immigration for int’l passengers at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru 29 Jan 2024 The government plans to roll out biometric checks, DigiYatra for international passengers to speed up the process. International passengers travelling to and from India will soon be offered biometric immigration services at New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai airports. The government is also working on making DigiYatra available to international passengers for electronic passport-based enrolment. The biometric check-in will be first available for international passengers. Indians will receive it after the issuance of much-awaited e-passports, which are expected to begin this year. E-passports will combine paper and electronic passports, with an RFID chip and antenna installed in the back cover. The passport’s first page and the chip will store the individual’s complete data. Indian government officials and diplomats have been receiving such passports since 2021. First-time visitors will still need to enrol and clear immigration with facial, iris, and fingerprint scanners to be able to use the e-clearance during departure. It will reduce the touch points for passengers and lower their overall checking-in duration. Previous Next

< Back Vodafone Idea signs ₹13,500 cr deal with Nokia for equipment 30 Sept 2024 Vodafone Idea (Vi) will buy equipment over three years to expand its 4G network and roll out 5G in nine circles. As per the ₹13,500 crore equipment deal, Nokia will provide Vi with a 5G AirScale Network gear portfolio and upgrade the company’s existing 4G network with multiband radios and baseband equipment to support 5G. Vi recently announced its plans to buy ₹30,000 crore of 4G and 5G network gear from Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson over the next three years to boost its 4G operations and roll out 5G in major cities in 17 priority circles. As per the contract, Nokia will offer equipment for Vi in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Mumbai, Haryana, UP-East, UP-West, West Bengal, Kolkata and Tamil Nadu/Chennai markets. Ericsson and Nokia will supply 45% of Vi’s 4G and 5G gears, while Samsung will offer 10%. Ericsson may receive nine circles - Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Northeast, and Assam. Samsung may get Bihar and Odisha. However, Ericsson and Samsung are vying for Delhi. 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 India, UK, EU stop postal deliveries to the US 28 Aug 2025 The US is suspending the de minimis exemption as of August 29th. The American de minimis exemption allowed duty-free entry of packages worth less than $800. With this, the US government aims to curb cheap imports. However, the US postal services have not welcomed this sudden change, as it has left them unprepared for the drop in imports. India, the UK, and several European nations have refused to send small parcels to the US in the absence of proper clarity on import duties. Airlines from these nations have also declined to carry packages to the US. The de minimis exemption was introduced in 1938, when the US allowed free entry for goods valued at $1 or less. In the 1990s, Congress considered it a trade facilitation tool instead of an efficiency booster. In 2016, the limit was raised from $200 to $800. de minimis shipments to the US jumped from 153 million in 2015 to over one billion in 2023. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES, on Amazon Kindle. Previous Next