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< Back Reader’s Digest UK closes after 86 years 18 May 2024 The iconic magazine succumbed to the financial pressures of the competition in today’s ruthless publication scenario. Reader’s Digest was first published in the US in 1922 and in the UK in 1938. During its peak, the magazine circulated two million copies in the UK. In 2000, it was selling over a million copies per month. By the second half of 2013, its sales had plummeted to less than 187,000 copies per month, 89.3% of which were paid copies. Better Capital acquired Reader’s Digest UK in April 2010 for £13-14 million and further invested £9 million. However, the magazine struggled financially and was saved by Mike Luckwell, an entrepreneur known for creating the hit kids’ TV show Bob The Builder . He bought the magazine for just one pound! Reader’s Digest set the benchmarks of direct marketing strategies in the publishing industry. It carved a niche in targeted mail campaigns and sweepstakes. However, the magazine failed to adapt to changing consumer preferences and the dynamism of the media industry. Previous Next

< Back 1,238 Bank of Baroda branches issued fake gold loans to meet targets 7 Feb 2024 BoB branches with Gold Loan Shoppes issued disbursed the fake loans. Some friendly customers were in on it. In another case of bank fraud, some Bank of Baroda employees in the South India carried on the scheme in an alliance with friendly customers. The branches with Gold Loan Shoppes would sanction the fake loan without collateral and disburse the money to customer's account. A lien (a block on a sum of money) was created on it so the customer couldn't use the money. After some time, the money would be returned to the bank to show a regular loan repayment. The branch would pay processing fees from its internal expense account. Interest payments were avoided by back-dating the loan repayments. So the system would show that the loans were repaid the same day as they were disbursed, which reversed any interest charges. An offside audit identified anomalies in some gold loan accounts closed within three-month periods between April and September. 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

< Back SEBI invites financial influencers to register, stick to guidelines Ishita Nigam 22 Sept 2023 SEBI limited the number of interactions between its regulated entities and unregistered finfluencers. It plans to ban unregistered finfluencers from partnering with mutual funds and stockbrokers from promotional activities. Striking a whiplash on financial influencers, or finfluencers, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposed new guidelines on August 25th.. It invited all finfluencers to register before partnering with SEBI-registered financial businesses for marketing or knowledge-sharing through social media posts. It asked registered entities not to share confidential information with unregistered finfluencers and companies. It intends to disrupt the referral-based commission system that forms a significant revenue model for the finfluencers. However, it will allow registered entities a limited number of referrals. So, only those certified by SEBI can become financial gurus. It is bound to curb the mushrooming of financial advisors offering misleading or biased financial advice to lure customers. SEBI has already banned finfluencers like P.R. Sundar, with a million followers, from the securities market for providing investment advisory without proper registration and asked him to pay back over ₹ 6 crore fees and interest. Previous Next

< Back 22 years later, Veer Savarkar Airport welcomes 1st int’l flight 19 Nov 2024 Air Asia’s inaugural international flight from Malaysia landed at Veer Savarkar International Airport, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The airport, just 2 kilometres from Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, was given international status in 2002. Twenty-two years later, it welcomed its first international flight from Malaysia, Air Asia’s inaugural AK 55. Starting November 16th until October 25th, 2025, Air Asia kicked off three flights weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The Airports Authority of India upgraded the Veer Savarkar Airport to grade II from III earlier this year, thus granting it more autonomy and administrative prowess for development. The airport inaugurated a new state-of-the-art terminal on July 18, 2023, well-equipped to handle 5 million passengers every year. It has three levels for arrivals, departures, and waiting lounges. With 28 check-in counters, three aerobridges, and four conveyor belts, the terminal can accommodate 1200 passengers during peak hours. Seashells inspire the new terminal design, and it is among the largest clear-span enclosure airports in the country. Previous Next

La loi américaine considère la mauvaise manipulation ou la divulgation non autorisée d’informations classifiées comme une infraction pénale. < Back En quoi la communication militaire américaine est-elle différente de celle du reste du monde ? La loi américaine considère la mauvaise manipulation ou la divulgation non autorisée d’informations classifiées comme une infraction pénale. Le conseiller à la sécurité nationale américain a accidentellement inclus une journaliste dans leur groupe de discussion Signal où il planifiait son action militaire contre le group houthi du Yémen qui bloqué la mer Rouge. Les démocrates et les républicains ont demandé l'ouverture d'une enquête. L’armée américaine déploie la communication par satellite avancées, d’IA et la blockchain pour la transmission de données en temps réel et en toute sécurité. Elle utilise des protocoles de communication standard tels que Zulu Time et Military Alphabet pour plus de clarté et de précision. Elle se targue d’un cryptage de sécurité inégalé et de mesures de cybersécurité. Le partage d’informations confidentielles sur des plateformes non sécurisées ou avec des personnels non autorisés constitue une infraction criminelle au regard du droit américaine. Le code uniforme de justice militaire régit l’espionnage et les communications non autorisées. Les peines encourues sont celles de la cour martiale. Ne manquez pas un autre article de SalestorrsNouvelles150. Suivez Salestorrs sur WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , et Instagram . 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 Tata Group takes over Wistron’s iPhone assembly line in Tamil Nadu 9 Nov 2023 The deal is worth $750 million, including debt. It will make Tata Group the first Indian company to assemble iPhones in India. Tata Group took over the iPhone assembling facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, from Wistron for $750 million, including debt. Tata Electronics signed the deal on Wednesday. Wistron is among India's top three Apple vendors, besides Pegatron and Foxconn. Since 2018, Wistron had four iPhone assembly lines in the country and was about to open another manufacturing facility in Kolar by November-end, with production commencing in January 2024. Tata was initially focused on making iPhone cases in the Hosur facility, with around 20% locally sourced consumables. But now it will be able to scale up. Wistron’s facility was vandalized by workers in December 2020 on the grounds of poor working conditions and non-payment of dues. Apple had put Wistron on probation in December 2022 until it sorted out worker issues. This deal comes in light of Apple’s plans to shift 25% of iPhone manufacture to India from China by 2025. Previous Next

< Back Credit card unicorn Slice merges with North East Small Finance Bank Ishita Nigam 6 Oct 2023 The alliance of the fintech unicorn with the Guwahati-based small finance bank received a surprise RBI approval. Slice had earlier acquired a 10% stake in the bank. In a first of its kind deal, credit card offering fintech unicorn Slice is merging with Guwahati-based North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB). The alliance received RBI's nod and announced the merger on Wednesday. Slice owns a 10% stake in the NESFB and has held the Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC) license for five years. The approval is unprecedented since RBI rarely allows fintech startups to acquire banks and NBFCs to obtain banking licenses. It recently rejected the application of Flipkart Cofounder Sachin Bansal’s Navi to obtain the permit. It was later sold to Svatantra Microfin in August this year for $178.5 million. On October 31st, 2022, the latest RBI guidelines stopped Slice from selling credit cards, thus pushing the company to crash to zero from the earlier feat of 400,000 credit card sales in a month . As a bank, Slice can now accept customer deposits at lower interest rates. Previous Next

< Back Nokia wins Airtel extension deal to deploy 4G. 5G gear 26 Nov 2024 Nokia will deploy equipment to boost Airtel’s network and coverage with 5G capacity and upgrade its existing 4G network. Airtel had finalised Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung to buy 4G and 5G gear worth $1.2 billion over the next three years but sealed the deal with Nokia. The Finnish telecom company will provide its 5G AirScale portfolio along with base stations, baseband units, and the Massive MIMO radios (latest generation) powered by ReefShark System-on-Chip. Its equipment will enhance Airtel’s existing network with 5G capacity and upgrade the 4G network with multiband radios and baseband equipment capable of supporting 5G, too. This partnership will enable the highest quality connectivity for Airtel subscribers, and the Green 5G Initiative will boost the network’s energy efficiency. Airtel will use Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management for intelligent network monitoring and management. This software uses AI-based tools for digital deployment, technical support, and optimisation. Vodafone Idea (Vi) recently closed a $3.6 billion deal with Samsung and two European vendors to upgrade its 4G and launch 5G. Previous Next

< Back IndiGo to launch business class seats this year 24 May 2024 The low-cost carrier announced this plan along with its record profit figure of ₹8,172.50 crore in FY2024. IndiGo announced on Thursday its plans to introduce business class on the busiest routes in India before the end of 2024. Thirty-five of IndiGo’s planes will be fitted with eight rows of business-class seats. The company will release further product details around its 18th anniversary in August. Its low-cost model and charging for all extra services and food on board catapulted the airline to the top position in the country with a 60% market share. The airline management wants to leverage this position to scale up in the international market. Currently, only Air India, Vistara, and Air India Express’ 737 MAX8 operate business-class seats in India. Previously, Jet Airways alone offered over 10,000 business class seats per week before its closure in April 2019. This number has plummeted to around 7,000 now. Last month, IndiGo surpassed American Southwest Airlines to become the world's third-largest airline by market capital. Previous Next

< Back The secret behind IndiGo's choice of int'l destinations Ishita Nigam 28 Aug 2023 IndiGo's interesting choice of first international destinations in its portfolio - Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kenya, Georgia, and Indonesia - makes one wonder why these? IndiGo currently owns 15% of the market share of flights to and from India and 60% share domestically. But it makes us wonder why it chose Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kenya, Georgia, and Indonesia as the first direct international destinations. The company will add 174 more weekly flights to these routes until September 2023. While international routes offer airlines better fares and revenue margins, they face stiff competition. These less popular routes are witnessing a growing demand, and targeting these destinations will help IndiGo raise its 15% market share. It will then dive into the popular Middle East and Southeast Asia routes. It currently uses a codeshare arrangement with Turkish Airlines to serve Europe. It plans to expand soon to North America using this agreement. IndiGo’s parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, reported its highest ever profit of ₹3,089 crores in Q1 FY24. It achieved a 30% higher year-on-year revenue of ₹17,160 crores. Previous Next