British Airways boss not to resign, denies IT failure due to outsourcing to India
LONDON: The embattled chief executive of the British Airways Alex Cruz on Monday ruled out resigning over the crippling flight disruption and maintained that the computer glitch had nothing to do with cutting costs or outsourcing IT services to India. Cruz said a power surge, had “only lasted a few minutes”, but the back-up system of […]
10 standout start-ups taking an AI leap in India
The rise of a technology has Bill Gates issuing warnings of an apocalypse. Elon Musk, too. Even Stephen Hawking. What’s worrying these technologists? It’s Artificial Intelligence or AI, an idea whose time has come—it is incubating in science labs and being deployed by start-ups and industrial units alike. Click here to read more… Credit: www.livemint.com
GST rollout may turn Nagpur into India’s warehouse
TORONTO/MUMBAI: The city known as zero mile in India is finally in the right place at the right time. Nagpur is in the dead centre of the country, at the crossroads of busy road and rail corridors that bisect India east to west and north to south. Now, India is on the cusp of a […]
Pakistan signs nearly $500 million in China deals at Silk Road summit
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan signed new deals with China on Saturday worth nearly $500 million ahead of Beijing’s international forum on its “Silk Road” trade and infrastructure initiative for Asia, Africa and Europe, the Pakistani government said. The memorandums of understanding add to $57 billion already pledged for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), a network of rail, road […]
Top 7 IT firms including Infosys, Wipro to lay off at least 56,000 employees this year
Information technology (IT) companies in India are in the midst of the industry’s largest retrenchment drive, with seven of the biggest IT firms planning to ask at least 56,000 engineers to leave this year. The number is at least twice the employees laid off by the companies last year, reflecting their under-preparedness in adapting to […]
Norway wealth fund drops BHEL from its portfolio over environmental concerns
Oslo: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has taken Indian industrial giant Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) out of its investment portfolio due to environmental concerns, the Norwegian central bank said on Friday. BHEL has been targeted because it is building a coal-fired thermal power plant in the Sundarbans, one of the world’s largest […]
Emaar India to invest Rs2,000 crore in 2 years to complete projects: CEO
New Delhi: Realty major Emaar India will invest Rs2,000 crore over the next two years to complete all its ongoing 50 projects across the country, a top company official said. Dubai-based Emaar Properties entered the Indian real estate market in 2005 in partnership with India’s MGF Development and invested Rs8,500 crore through the joint venture […]
US will factor in Indian IT firms’ value when revising H1B visa policy: official
New Delhi: The government on Saturday exuded confidence that the US administration will take into account the benefits Indian IT firms brought in for American companies when it goes for the H1B visa policy review. “We fully believe when they do the review, they will take into account the benefits that have gone to the […]
9 lakh firms not filing tax returns being monitored, says revenue secretary
About 900,000 registered companies do not file annual returns and are potential sources of money laundering, a top government official said on Saturday, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pitched for the country’s top anti-financial crime agency to be used “expeditiously” against tax cheats. Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia said the Prime Minister’s Office had set up […]
Flight risk: 2016 most unsafe year for Indian aviation, 40% spike in near-miss cases
On August 22 last year, an air traffic controller saw Indigo flight IGO258 and Air India’s AIC995 approaching the same altitude over New Delhi. Flight AIC995 was asked to turn left to avoid a collision, but that put the plane on the path of another Indigo aircraft, IGO528. It was a close shave, and in […]
Tamil Nadu’s farmers are the most distress-ridden in India
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement of farm loan waiver has given credence to similar demands from across the country. Those making these demands include political parties, protesting farmers and even the judiciary. An earlier Plainfacts column had pointed out how farm loan waivers can be counter-productive in the long run, a fact which […]
TCS misses both revenue and profit estimates in March quarter
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) missed analysts’ estimates for both revenue and profit in the fourth fiscal quarter, even as India’s largest software services firm’s full-year sales rose 6.2% to $17.58 billion. The company reported revenue of $4.45 billion in the three months ended 31 March, a 1.5% increase from the preceding quarter and 5.8% […]
India climbs to 8th spot on FDI confidence index
India has climbed one spot to the eighth rank in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index as investors turned bullish on the Asia-Pacific. The index, released on Tuesday, shows that investor confidence in India has been growing steadily over the last two years, making it one of the top two emerging […]
Consumption in India to nearly triple to $4 trillion by 2025: BCG
India is set to become the third largest consumer economy by 2025, trailing only the US and China, fuelled by an increase in consumption levels, changes in consumer behaviour and spending patterns, according to a report released by consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group. Consumption across the country is expected to almost triple over the […]
Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project clears major land hurdle
The railways have crossed a major hurdle in rolling out the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project as the Maharashtra government has agreed to give land at the Bandra-Kurla complex (BKC). The starting point of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed corridor at BKC was a bone of contention between the railways and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development […]
Infosys to ramp up local hiring in US amid H-1B visa concerns
Information Technology major Infosys plans to focus more on local hiring in the US and is also looking at setting up development and training centres in the country as part of its efforts to tide over visa-related issues. Infosys has been in favour of a healthy mix of local and global personnel even though hiring […]
Mylan gets FDA warning on drug quality at factory in India
Drugmaker Mylan NV failed to investigate why medications made at a factory in India didn’t meet quality standards and frequently didn’t report the substandard results from its tests, the US drug regulator said. The quality system at Mylan’s facility in Maharashtra, India, “does not adequately ensure the accuracy and integrity of data to support the […]
AI Express likely to start Surat-Dubai flight from May 15
NEW DELHI: Air India Expressis likely to launch direct flight from Surat to Dubai on May 15 amid demands for services on this route. The carrier, the international budget arm of Air India, will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft having 189 seats on this route, sources said. Click here to read more… Credit: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Mumbai police arrest alleged kingpin of U.S. tax scam
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Mumbai police said on Saturday they had arrested the alleged mastermind behind a call centre scam that targeted thousands of Americans in the United States, netting more than $300 million. Sagar Thakkar, also known as Shaggy, was arrested at the Mumbai international airport, Mukund Hatote, a police officer on the case, told […]
Japan sanctions Rs8,600 crore loan for Mumbai trans-harbour link
MUMBAI: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) on Friday signed an agreement with the MMRDA to provide ¥144,795 million, or around Rs8,600 crore, official development assistance (ODA) loan for the ambitious trans-harbour link project in the city (MTHL). “The financial assistance would be utilised to develop an expressway link comprising a dual three-lane main- carriageway […]
