OTT Platforms

Filmmakers guardedly optimistic and cautiously happy, say getting a theatrical release remains a challenge

OTTs and film festivals are breathing new life into documentaries

Business Standard

Anushka+Virat

Hero MotoCorp is the latest in the power couple's endorsement list; Alia-Ranbir come a distant second

Decoding Brand Anushka+Virat: A formidable force in a package deal

IT employees

Job search and gig work platforms say these are mostly low-paid assignments

Moonlighting: People continue to seek side gigs amid demand for tech skills

Matrimony.com

LGBTQIA+ - To register, govt ID a must; app also verifies user pictures to weed out fake profiles

Matrimony.com's app for LGBTQIA+ hopes to offer safe, serious matchmaking

Afghans in Delhi echo this fear and are unwilling to accept overtures from the Taliban who are promising a softer rule than the first ironfisted regime during 1996-2001. (Photo: Reuters)

Afghani population in Delhi

chart

In Delhi's Little Kabul, room rents have gone up with the current turmoil triggering a fresh exodus

After turmoil at home, Afghans in Delhi grapple with safety and despair

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 19: Firstsource Solutions Limited (NSE: FSL) (BSE: 532809), a leading global provider of specialist domain-led Business Process Services (BPS) and an RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company, has been recognized as a 'Leader' in Avasant'sMortgage Business Process Transformation 2024 RadarView™. Companies classified as 'Leaders' demonstrate consistent excellence across all key dimensions of the RadarView assessment--practice maturity, domain ecosystem, and investments in innovation--while driving superior marketplace impact, setting industry standards through creativity, thought leadership, and best practices, and showcasing exceptional execution with depth and breadth across verticals.

Firstsource recognized as a \'Leader\' in Avasant\'s Mortgage Business Process Transformation 2024 RadarView™

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 19: Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI) in collaboration with Pluxee India released a report on "Redefining Total Rewards: Fueling Business Ambitions  &amp;  Employee Aspirations" at an event in Mumbai that brought together HR leaders, industry experts, and thought leaders to explore innovative Total Rewards strategies that bridge employee expectations and organizational goals.

IFCCI and Pluxee India Release Comprehensive Total Rewards Study Report

Penang [Malaysia], December 19: SignOff Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Bengaluru, India, and a leading provider of VLSI and Embedded Design services, is thrilled to announce the opening of its new office in Penang, Malaysia. This expansion enables the company to meet the growing demand for semiconductor chip design services from Fortune 500 companies operating in and expanding within Penang. It also aligns perfectly with the Malaysian government's vision of establishing the country as a global hub for semiconductor innovation.

SignOff Semiconductors Unveils Expansion Plans Opening a New Office in Penang, Malaysia

The Federation of All India Farmer Association (FAIFA) released a comprehensive agricultural roadmap on Thursday, calling for enhanced digital infrastructure and sustainable farming practices to boost India's agricultural sector through 2040.
The white paper, titled "Indian Agriculture Outlook 2025," was unveiled by parliamentarians Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy and Putta Mahesh Kumar to mark Kisan Divas 2024, highlighting persistent challenges, including low productivity, weather vulnerabilities, and fragmented landholdings.
"Despite government initiatives across crop, livestock, and fisheries sectors, significant hurdles remain in realising Indian agriculture's full potential," FAIFA said in the report.
FAIFA projected that Indian agriculture will likely grow at a CAGR of 5.5 per cent from 2025 to 2030, reaching a total value of Rs 42 lakh crore. Foodgrain production is projected to increase by 25 per cent by 2030, from the current 330 million metric tonnes.
"On the National Farmers

Amid low growth elsewhere, gross value added (GVA) growth in agriculture and allied activities recovered during the second quarter of the current financial year (Q2FY25) to 3.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) due to strong monsoon. Experts feel that th

ChatGPT is now available on WhatsApp. OnePlus 13r launching in India on Jan 7. Vivo X200 series sale starts. Sennheiser Profile Wireless microphones launched. Nothing OS 3.0 roll out

Tech Wrap December 19

Markets Today LIVE: Markets in India are likely to come under heavy pressure on Thursday, following the significant decline on Wall Street after the US Fed's hawkish commentary about future rate cuts

market

The key benchmarks - Sensex, Nifty faced another bear attack on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex crashing 1,162 points or 1.44 per cent to its intraday low of 79020

Bear market, markets, bse, nse, sensex, nifty

Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya questions excess recovery claims, seeks relief from authorities

Indian businessman Vijay Mallya leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain February 11, 2020. (REUTERS/File Photo)

Analysts believe the largely expected adjustment is a bid by the Fed to nudge cash out of a facility that's widely viewed as a proxy for excessive liquidity in the financial system

US Federal Reserve, Fed

Dhaka has been behind on payments to Adani Power since supply started in July 2023

Adani group

Patra highlighted that digitalisation can be regarded as a long-term technology shock impacting economic growth, productivity, labour markets, older technologies, and inflation

Michael Debabrata Patra.

The country's gold imports in November reached a record high of USD 14.86 billion, registering a four-fold increase, mainly on account of festival and wedding demands, according to commerce ministry data.
Gold imports stood at USD 3.44 billion in November 2023.
Cumulatively, imports during April-November this fiscal year rose 49 per cent to USD 49 billion as against USD 32.93 billion in the same period last fiscal year.
According to the ministry, gold, with about 25 per cent average annual return, is one of the best-performing assets in 2024 (till November) and high imports indicate strong investor confidence in the precious metal as a safe asset.
The other reasons include asset diversification towards gold due to global uncertainties, increasing demand from banks, cut in customs duties.
Prices of the yellow metal have increased 23 per cent so far this year to Rs 78,350 per 10 gm in the national capital.
In the Budget, the government slashed the duty from 15 per cent to 6 per ...

Gold, Gold price, Gold rate

Lower import orders from Europe, reduced exports by China behind the shift

India shifts motor fuel exports towards Asia amid reduced European demand

A member of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society Monday said he has asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to make widely accessible a collection of private papers belonging to former PM Jawaharlal Nehru which were withdrawn from the erstwhile NMML on the request by the then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in 2008.
Rizwan Kadri, who teaches history at a local college in Ahmedabad, in September had also written to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to allow physical or digital access to private papers related to Nehru that are in her possession.
These papers contain records related to exchanges between Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan, Edwina Mountbatten and Albert Einstein, among other personalities, he said.
Nehru lived at Teen Murti Bhawan in central Delhi, which after his death became the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), housing a rich collection of books and rare records.
The NMML Society, in its special meeting in June 2023, had resolved to change its name to Prime Ministers' 

Narendra Modi Gallery,PM Museum

While mid- and smallcap funds have outperformed, experts recommend maintaining a substantial allocation to largecap funds

Market, BSE, NSE, NIfty, Stock Market, investment

On Vijay Diwas, PM Modi honoured Indian soldiers whose sacrifices secured victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war, leading to the liberation of Bangladesh

1971 Surrender pic India Pakistan

Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who purportedly gave controversial statements at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad function, appeared before the Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday, sources said.
According to the sources, Yadav appeared before the collegium headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and was asked to put forth his version on the statements made.
The top court on December 10 took note of news reports over the statements and sought a report from the Allahabad High Court on the issue.
"The Supreme Court has taken note of newspaper reports of a speech given by Mr Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a sitting judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. The details and particulars have been called from the high court and the matter is under consideration," an official statement had said.
According to the established norm, a judge, against whom a report is sought by the apex court collegium on any controversial issue from the high court concerned, is given opportunity to 

Supreme Court, SC

The shift will comprise women employees for all the mining activities of the shift, including heavy earth-moving machinery

Tata Steel, Tata

To counter China's trade dominance and boost US manufacturing and jobs, a strategy beyond high tariffs is essential

trade, containers, trade deal

In our earlier piece in these pages, we highlighted the unwelcome consequences of the exchange rate policy adopted under the outgoing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regime