Business Bureau

SMFG India Credit, a leading NBFC, has successfully concluded the 8th edition of its flagship rural outreach programme, Pashu Vikas Day (PVD), impacting over 1.55 lakh lives across India. Held on February 14 under the theme ‘Sarvottam Seva: Pashu, Parivar aur Pragati’, the initiative focused on strengthening livestock health, family wellbeing and sustainable rural progress. Launched in 2014, Pashu Vikas Day provides free veterinary services and expert guidance to cattle owners. This year, the programme facilitated treatment for nearly 1.4 lakh cattle and extended healthcare support to over 14,000 individuals, benefitting more than 30,000 rural households. The initiative was conducted…

TATA AIG General Insurance Company Limited on Tuesday announced the launch of ‘Accident Super Guard Plus’, a flexible personal accident insurance policy aimed at strengthening financial protection against accidental risks in India. The launch comes against the backdrop of rising road mishaps. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ Road Accidents in India – 2023 report, the country recorded 4.8 lakh road accidents and 1.73 lakh fatalities in 2023, marking a 4.18% rise in accidents and a 2.61% increase in deaths year-on-year. Nearly 68% of fatalities involved pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders. The new policy covers accidental death,…

IndusInd Bank has gone live with its next-generation UPI processing platform, marking a significant step in India’s evolving real-time payments ecosystem. The bank announced on Tuesday that its digital banking channels are now operating on the new system, branded as UPI 6.0, aimed at delivering faster transactions and near-zero technical glitches. Built by Mindgate Solutions, the sixth-generation upgrade runs on a hyper-scalable, cloud-ready and resilient architecture. The bank said it is the first private lender in the country to go live on the next-gen platform for both issuer and acquirer services on the cloud. The upgrade offers 30 per cent…

As consumers increasingly choose beverages with purpose, functional teas are emerging as a preferred addition to daily routines. Industry observers note that green tea, valued for its natural antioxidants and light, refreshing profile, is becoming a familiar base in this shift towards balanced lifestyles without drastic dietary changes. Amid this growing trend, Tetley Green Tea Slim Care has positioned itself as an everyday wellness beverage. The product combines premium green tea with added L-Carnitine, designed to help reduce body fat when paired with a balanced diet and regular physical activity. Rather than projecting itself as a quick-fix solution, the brand…

Ai+ Smartphone has  forayed deeper into the AIoT segment with the launch of NovaPods and NovaWatch, while announcing that its next smartphone, Pulse 2, will be unveiled on March 2, followed by the Nova 2 Series. The expansion comes less than a year after the brand’s debut in July 2025, during which it claims to have built nearly one million users. Pulse 2 will feature a 50MP AI dual rear camera, 8MP front camera, the slimmest 6000mAh battery, and Android 16 on NxtQuantum OS. The company said the device is designed to deliver a simpler and smoother user experience at…

BHIM Payments App has introduced a new feature called UPI Circle, aimed at making authorised UPI payments simple, structured and secure for shared household use. The feature allows a primary user to extend controlled payment access to trusted individuals such as children, elderly parents or staff, without sharing UPI PINs, passwords or device access. UPI Circle enables a primary user to add up to five secondary users and authorise them to transact from the primary user’s UPI-linked bank account within preset limits. A monthly spending cap of up to ₹15,000 can be set, with validity ranging from one month to…

India’s upcoming cricket season has triggered a sharp spike in domestic travel, with new data from Airbnb showing a 46% rise in searches across key match-hosting cities. The surge is being led by Gen Z travellers, nearly 60% of whom plan to travel to attend live cricket matches in 2026. Searches between February 5 and June 2 recorded steep year-on-year growth in emerging cricket hubs. New Chandigarh topped the list with a 318% jump, followed by Raipur (232%), Ranchi (118%) and Thiruvananthapuram (114%). Jaipur and Lucknow also reported strong double-digit gains, signalling a shift beyond traditional metro centres. During the…

In Kolkata, food has always followed rhythm and ritual. Sunday afternoons mean mangsho and bhaat shared with family, office mornings begin with neatly packed tiffin carriers, and evenings are often spent at para joints over rolls and cutlets. Chicken, in many forms, has long been part of these familiar meals, whether cooked slowly at home or picked up on the way back from work. People never stopped to think about what these meals provided beyond taste and comfort. But that is beginning to change. Across households and younger consumers, there is a growing awareness of protein and its role in…

As rapid technological change reshapes hiring trends, LinkedIn’s Skills on the Rise 2026 report has identified five fast-growing skill stacks to help professionals stay competitive — AI & Automation, Data & Analytics, IT & Cybersecurity, Business & Growth, and People & Leadership. According to LinkedIn data, 38% of Indian job seekers feel unprepared for how quickly technology is changing required skills. While 46% of recruiters globally rely on skills data to fill roles, 74% of recruiters in India say finding qualified talent is harder than ever. The report highlights rising demand for skills such as Prompt Engineering, Workflow Automation, LLMOps…

Veeam Software convened government officials, academia and industry leaders at the Bharat Cyber Suraksha – North-East Cyber Resilience & AI Transformation Summit in Guwahati, aiming to strengthen cyber resilience and AI readiness across the region. At the event, the company released the “Bharat Cyber Suraksha – North-East Cyber Resilience & Digital Readiness Report 2025,” developed with the Northeast India Public Policy Forum. The report outlines measures to protect citizen data, enhance cloud infrastructure, and comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and CERT-In norms. The company cited Ministry of Home Affairs data showing over 47,000 cyber incidents reported across…