Business - The Purbottar

24 Aug

India set to ban sugar exports for first time in 7 years: Reports

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

India may ban sugar exports for the next season, which starts in October, due to reduced sugarcane yields due to insufficient rains, Reuters news agency reported, citing three government sources. The expected move follows a lack of rains affecting the top sugarcane-producing regions, with monsoon rainfall in Maharashtra and Karnataka 50 percent below average. The ban on Indian sugar exports, which has not happened in seven years, could push up global benchmark prices, raising potential inflation in global food markets. The prospect of such a decision comes as India faces concerns over food inflation, with retail inflation hitting a 15-month…

23 Aug

“India is the centre of universe…”: US Ambassador Eric Garcetti

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsIndia, InternationalBusiness, international

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Tuesday highlighted the close cooperation between his country and India in various fields including technology, trade, environment and space. He said President Joe Biden told him that India was the most important country in the world to him. Delivering the keynote address at the Indiaspora G20 forum, Garcetti said that Indian Americans constitute six percent of the taxpayers in the United States. "He (President Biden) told me, when he asked me to come here to serve, he said, this is the most important country in the world to me, something that I think…

22 Aug

Meta likely to launch web version of Threads next week

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

It's been over a month now since Instagram's reply on Twitter (at least that's what it said then). Called Threads, the app got off to a flying start but has now slowed somewhat in terms of daily users and time spent on the app. However, it looks like a web version of the app is coming soon, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a web app for Threads could be coming as early as this week. Instagram head Adam Mosseri pointed out last week that the web version is a bit of a gamble. "It's a bit…

21 Aug

German embassy shares footage of minister using UPI in India

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, India, TechnologyBusiness, INDIA

Germany's Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Volker Weising, was able to feel the simplicity of UPI (Unified Payment Interface) payments at firsthand and was very "impressed" by the experience. On Sunday, the German Embassy in India took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to praise India's digital infrastructure, hailing it as one of the country's success stories. https://twitter.com/GermanyinIndia/status/1693162556918210966?s=20 The German Embassy in India shared videos and photos of Mr Wissing buying groceries and using UPI for payment. The accompanying caption read, "One of India’s success story is digital infrastructure. UPI enables everybody to make transactions in seconds. Millions of…

21 Aug

Influencer Revant Himatsingka reviews Tang, video goes viral

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

After Bournvita, influencer Revant Himatsingka claimed that the 'Tang' drink was not healthy as it contained 'unreasonable amounts of sugar'. Himatsingka, also known as Foodpharmer, earlier this year made a video on Bournvita, produced by Cadbury, a subsidiary of Mondelez International. He has, however, received legal notice for his claim on Bournvita. The Tang brand is owned by Mondelez International. Now, in a new video posted on Saturday, the influencer claims that Tang is nothing more than 'flavored sugar powder' and that '93 percent of the product is sugar.' He also highlights the 'marketing ploy' that promotes the drink as…

19 Aug

Elon Musk announces removal of block feature on X

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, InternationalBusiness, international

Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has announced that the platform will remove the blocking feature for its users, saying it "doesn't make sense." However, users will still have the ability to block others from sending direct messages. Musk's move is just one of many changes since the site was acquired in a $44 billion deal last year. Currently, when a user blocks an account, it prevents that account's posts from appearing in the blocker's timeline, and vice versa. In addition, a blocked account loses the ability to send messages to the blocker and view their…

18 Aug

Wipro launches center of excellence on generative AI at IIT Delhi

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

IT giant Wipro has inaugurated a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) focusing on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. This partnership aligns with Wipro's commitment to investing $1 billion to drive AI-led innovation as part of the AI360 ecosystem. Housed within IIT Delhi's Yardi School of Artificial Intelligence, the Wipro CoE in GenAI will strengthen fundamental and applied research, nurture talent and advance the state-of-the-art field. "We are thrilled to partner with IIT Delhi for accelerated innovation in some of the most promising emerging areas of technology," said Subha Tatavarti, Chief Technology…

17 Aug

Burger King removes tomatoes from food, says they ‘need a vacation’

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

Burger without tomatoes! can anyone imagine it? Yes, Burger King, the major fast-food chain recently decided to temporarily stop tomato and burgers from its wraps across its Indian outlets due to a sharp price hike. The move clearly indicates that the growing food inflation crisis is significantly impacting consumers in the world's most populous country. The chain, grappling with tomato shortages, humorously posted notices in its outlets, "Even tomatoes need a holiday… We can't add tomatoes to our food." Quality concerns have been cited as the primary reason for this move. It's important to note that, prior to Burger King,…

17 Aug

Govt planning to sell IRFC shares via OFS: official

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) plunged on Thursday, a day after the government planned to sell a portion of its holdings to the state-owned company through an offer for sale (OFS) in the current fiscal (FY24). IRFC shares opened at Rs 50 on NSE. The counter saw profit bookings and slipped nearly 6 percent to touch the day-low of Rs 48.25 on the NSE. The counter was trading at Rs 2.05 or 4 percent lower at Rs 49.2 on the NSE. Commenting on the counter, Sumeet Bagadia of Choice Broking said the stock could witness profit booking and…

14 Aug

Operating ChatGPT costs ₹5.8 crore daily, maker OpenAI may go bankrupt in 2024

Priyanka Bhowmick0 CommentsBusiness, IndiaBusiness, INDIA

OpenAI, the AI studio led by Sam Altman, may be on the brink of a potential financial crisis, as noted in a report by Analytics India magazine. According to the report, the company may go bankrupt by the end of 2024. Reports say OpenAI costs around $700,000 (Rs 5.80 crore) per day to run just one AI service – ChatGPT. Mr. Altman's OpenAI is burning through cash right now. Despite efforts to monetize GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, the company was not able to generate enough revenue to break even this time around. After launching in November 2022, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing…