Page 6 - Business

Digital consulting firm KaarTech raises $30 mn in funding from A91 Partners

Chennai-based B2B company says it will use money to expand business in international markets

Welspun India to see over two-fold rise in domestic business by 2026

During the last financial year, the company's income dipped by around 12 per cent to Rs 8,215 crore from Rs 9,377 crore in 2021-22

Meta, CAIT to upskill 1 mn traders on use of WhatsApp Business application

Meta on Monday announced it has partnered with the Confederation of All India Traders to upskill 10 lakh traders on how to use the WhatsApp Business App over the next three years in a bid to reach more customers and scale up their businesses. The owner of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook also announced the launch of Meta Small Business Academy, a new programme to enable emerging entrepreneurs to learn digital marketing skills and earn a certification. "A certification by Meta Small Business Academy will especially help new entrepreneurs and marketers gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps. To enable the programme to reach MSMEs across India, the course module and the examination are available in seven languages - English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu," a release stated. Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Praveen Khandelwal said with businesses of all sizes using WhatsApp to communicate, coordinate, and .

Twitter to focus on video and commerce in business revamp, deets inside

Twitter has some major plans to revitalize the company's business beyond digital advertising.According to an investor presentation by owner Elon Musk and new Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino, Twitter is likely to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships, New York Post reported, citing Reuters.Yaccarino, who became the company's new CEO on June 5, recently told Twitter investors that the company is in early conversations with political and entertainment figures, payments services and news and media publishers, said a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private investor call.The presentation marks Yaccarino's first meeting with the company's investors.After Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.Some ad-buying ...

FROM A COVID START-UP TO AN UNSTOPPABLE SUCCESS

EMPOWERING THE WORKFORCE AND DRIVING INNOVATION

Traditional AI deployment of 70% companies has failed: BCG X executives

AI and GAI are beyond providing just efficiencies in data management, etc. It is about the transformation of business operations, said Sylvain Duranton, MD and senior partner, BCGX

Goyal appeals freight forwarder industry to be honest, transparent in biz

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday appealed to the freight forwarder industry to be transparent and honest in their work as it would help in promoting trade. He also suggested them to advise their clients to follow honest practices and become whistle-blowers if somebody is doing any wrong. "In our effort to clean up the system, we need your support...we wish to have a system where we can trust you blindly...Become transparent and honest in your business," he said at the event of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI). Goyal also said that the government is taking steps to boost economic growth. He added that huge forex reserves are there to bridge the current account deficit for the next 5-6 years. The minister said that the country's exports touched an all-time high in 2022-23 despite global uncertainties. Speaking at the event, CBIC Chairman Vivek Johri also asked the industry to do the KYC of their clients properly as they should

New wave of generative AI transforming businesses at rapid pace: Survey

From ChatGPT to Dall-E and all the technologies in between, the new wave of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming businesses at a rapid pace, and 60 per cent of Indian executives are optimistic about its impact on workplace, as per a survey. However, opinions vary by seniority and by country, according to the survey by Boston Consulting Group. The survey is based on inputs from 12,800 employees from the executive suites to the frontline employees across industries in 18 countries. As per the survey, Brazil (71 per cent) is the most optimistic country about the impact of GenAI on workplace followed by India (60 per cent) and the Middle East (58 per cent). The least optimistic are the US (46 per cent), the Netherlands (44 per cent) and Japan (40 per cent). Geographies most concerned about AI are the Netherlands (42 per cent), France (41 per cent), and Japan (38 per cent), while the least concerned are the Middle East (25 per cent), Brazil (19 per cent), and Ind

Need to correct compliance burdens for business, reduce litigations: Kamath

Veteran banker K V Kamath on Friday said there is a need to correct "compliance burdens" for businesses in the country and also reduce litigations. Kamath, who now chairs the government-promoted National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID), said that the government needs to reduce the litigation and concerns on tax laws at a greater speed. "...the level of compliances and compliance burden that needs to be corrected," he said addressing an event organised by industry body Ficci here. He later elaborated that the government itself has identified issues on the compliances front when it spoke about simplification of various procedures for businesses. When asked if it is impacting investor confidence, Kamath replied in negative, reasoning that the investor class will come wherever it sees value. Kamath said the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have been impacted by the overall global sentiment where volatilities are leading to a deferment of decisions, and

HDFC Bank aims to double semi-urban, rural biz in four years, says official

HDFC Bank is targeting to double its semi-urban and rural (SURU) business in the next three to four years, a senior official said on Thursday. The country's largest private sector lender, however, did not share the present size of the SURU business on both assets and deposits front. The bank said already 52 per cent of its overall 7,821 branches are in SURU locations, and it will be adding another 675 branches over the next 12-14 months to take the SURU branches close to 5,000. Its country head for retail branch banking Arvind Vohra told reporters that SURU locations support over 70 per cent of the population, and the bank feels that it presents a big business opportunity. Vohra said the bank will be increasing its business in the SURU locations by expanding reach and also introducing stronger product propositions in the market, which are tailor-made keeping in mind the needs of the local population. The bank is also examining the possibility of adopting different loan underwritin

48% of businesses in India at low levels of digital maturity: Report

About 97 per cent of CIOs in India plan to accelerate their data-innovation journey in the next two years

JPMorgan profit surges 52% in Q1 on back of robust consumer business

The bank's profit increased 52% to $12.62 billion, or $4.10 per share, in the three months ended Mar. 31

New age young developers like Meet Puri of Puri Creators are transforming the Real Estate Sector in Mumbai by bringing in best global practices to create value for the customers

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Punjab govt to give all help to youth in setting up business ventures: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said his government will provide full support to the youth in starting new business ventures, stressing that they should become job providers instead of job seekers. In a video message, the chief minister said his government will also hold 'naujawan sabha' (youth meeting) twice a month during which youths will be able to share their business ideas and seek necessary help. Mann also pointed out the low enrolment in technical institutes. "(I) don't know why we are going away from studies," he said. The enrolment in Punjab Technical University is just 34-35 per cent. There are over 40,000 students in Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar but only 5,200-5,500 of them are from Punjab, he said. "Today's time is for technical education and we are not taking admissions," he added. Mann said youths of Punjab have the talent and potential to excel in their lives but somehow they do not get enough opportunities. "The Punjab government

Bank survey shows Japan's businesses turning pessimistic in first quater

Business sentiment among big Japanese manufacturers worsened in the first quarter of this year in the fifth straight decline, according to a central bank survey released Monday. The headline measure in the Bank of Japan quarterly survey called tankan found such sentiments stood at plus 1, down from plus 7 in December. It's the worst quarterly result since December 2020. Sentiments among major non-manufacturers rose one point to plus 20, its the fourth straight quarter of improvement. The Japanese economy has tended to stagnate in recent years, with slow wage increases, and has recently been hit by inflationary pressures, even as some parts of the nation's economy continue to experience deflation, the opposite trend in which prices continually decrease. Uncertainty about global growth is weighing on the export-reliant country. The recent turmoil over the US banking sector is adding to such woes, just at a time when Russia's war in Ukraine has sent energy prices soaring. Japan import

Spandana Sphoorty Financial raises $20 mn via ECB to fund business growth

Micro finance firm Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited on Thursday said it raised USD 20 million from External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) to fund business growth. The company has raised External Commercial Borrowings of USD 20 million with a tenure of 36 months, Spandana Sphoorty Financial said in a regulatory filing. Last year, RBI had imposed a monetary penalty on Spandana Sphoorty for the company's failure to adhere to pricing of credit guidelines for Non-Banking Financial Company-Micro Finance Institutions. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the company advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the RBI directions, the RBI had said.

Small business NPAs decline in Q2FY23 despite high credit growth: Report

The Non-performing assets (NPAs) from the small businesses segment have witnessed a decline in the September quarter of this fiscal despite high credit growth, a report said on Thursday. The micro, small and medium enterprises' (MSME) NPAs declined to 12.5 per cent as of September 2022, as against 13.9 per cent in September 2021, after the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the report by Transunion Cibil said. The overall disbursements, which excludes loan renewals, grew 24 per cent during the quarter, led by an over 54 per cent in the micro industries segment which have a credit exposure of up to Rs 1 crore, the credit information company said. The average loan size for the micro segment increased by 34 per cent, and to the small segment by 4 per cent, Cibil said, adding that the same was down 1 per cent in the case of businesses classified as medium primarily because of the emergency credit-linked guarantee scheme loans made during the pandemic. When it comes to ..

Silicon Valley Bank conducting business as usual, says new CEO amid crisis

Earlier in the day, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had tapped former Fannie Mae head Mayopoulos as CEO of the newly created entity, named Silicon Valley Bank N.A

Inflation and business pressure weigh on India Inc growth, says S&P

Along with Brazil and Japan, the S&P Global India business activity net balance slipped to 21 per cent in January

Business leaders must focus on sustainability, respect nature: Piyush Goyal

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged business leaders to focus on sustainability and ensure all their actions respect nature. He said that India is committed to ensuring that sustainability and inclusive growth are going to be the defining features of its growth story. "I urge all business leaders to focus on sustainability and ensure all our actions respect nature," he said while addressing the CII's India Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave. The minister said that India's partnership with the UK and the European Union are two significant elements in the global effort to make the world a better place to live in. "Technology and finance are going to play an important role in a sustainable lifestyle. I urge the world leaders to recognise that we all have to contribute our fair share to energy efficiency to make the world a better place to live in," Goyal said. He added that developed and developing countries need to have different goals and ...