Business

The central bank said it took this decision at the monetary board meeting conducted on Wednesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of the current and expected developments, including the faster-than-envisaged disinflation process and benign inflation expectations in the domestic economy, with the aim of enabling the economy to reach its potential and stabilizing inflation at mid-single-digit levels in the medium term, while easing pressures in the financial markets, the statement said.

The board expects that with this reduction of policy interest rates by 200 basis points, and the reduction of policy interest rates by 250 basis points in early June 2023, along with the significant reduction of risk premia on government securities witnessed recently, the market interest rates, particularly lending rates, will adjust downwards adequately and swiftly, said the central bank.

Therefore, the banking and financial sector is urged to pass on the benefits of this significant easing of monetary policy by the central bank to individuals and businesses, thereby supporting economic activity to rebound in the period.

Sri Lanka increased its interest rates significantly in 2022 to deal with rising inflation.

--IANS

ksk

The investment amount however rose 7 per cent compared to the immediate previous quarter which saw $5.7 billion being invested across 181 deals, shows data from Venture Intelligence.

“Clearly, Big Ticket Private Equity investors have far more confidence in investing behind basic sectors like Healthcare, Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Financial Services at this point," noted Arun Natarajan, Founder, Venture Intelligence.

"From the perspective of Internet & Mobile companies, the new investments in Unicorns like Infra.Market and Lenskart and also the significant build of 'Dry Powder' (un-invested capital) with India-dedicated VC firms, provides scope for optimism that the funding winter will begin to thaw in the second half of the year.," he added.

The $2 billion investment by the Singapore government owned Temasek Holdings in Manipal Hospitals accounted for 20 per cent of the overall PE-VC investment pie in Q2'23.

The acquisition of Mumbai-based education loans provider HDFC Credila by Baring Asia and ChrysCapital for $1.1 billion and Canadian investment firm Brookfield’s $1 billion investment in energy platform Avaada Ventures were the other top PE-VC deals of Q2'23.

These were followed by a $630 million investment in Cube Highways Trust and a $450 million investment in travel and logistics SaaS company IBS Software.

The PE-VC investment figures for the first 6 months of 2023 - at $15.5 billion (across 363 deals) - was 50% lower compared to the same period in 2022 (which saw $31 billion being invested across 800 deals).

The Q2’23 witnessed 19 mega deals ($100 M+rounds) worth $8 billion, compared to 37 such investments (worth $10.3 billion) in Q2’22 and 17 such deals (worth $3.6 billion) in the immediate previous quarter.

--IANS

san/sha

They suggested that the government provide essential training and support in branding, marketing, and financial knowledge to help housewives embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.

They also expressed how challenging it has become for women to sustain their households amid increasing inflation.

Atishi drew parallels with the Business Blasters programme, which instilled confidence in Delhigovernment school children, and expressed her commitment to “instill similar confidence in thousands of women inDelhi, transforming their lives by fostering financial independence".

Atishi also acknowledged the effectiveness of the research conducted by experts and the field experience of Anganwadi workers, stating that they would play a crucial role in designing programmes and policies related to women'sentrepreneurship.

--IANSatk/arm

He gave these directions during a meeting called recently to discuss the issue of increasing the availability of export credit to the MSME exporters. The meeting was attended by top officials of 21 banks including the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Central Bank of India among others.

A presentation on ‘Export Credit and Export Credit Insurance for Banks (ECIB)’ was made by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd (ECGC) Chairman M. Senthilnathan.

Based on its experience under the scheme of enhanced cover, the ECGC has now proposed further modifications to make available adequate and affordable credit to a larger section of MSME exporters.

The product facilitates the borrower accounts to be treated equivalent to ‘AA’ rated account with reduced cost of export credit to the exporters.

In the meeting, Goyal said that the ECGC can examine the extension of the scheme, proposed for nine banks, to all the banks so that the export credit offtake for the MSME exporters can be increased.

Bankers, on their part, suggested that the ECGC should adopt claim processing method similar to the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for which the Commerce Minister advised the ECGC to follow a pattern on similar lines to compensate their loss.

Goyal further advised banks to take advantage of the proposed scheme and extend adequate and affordable export credit to MSME exporters. This would enable the country to achieve its target of $1 trillion merchandise exports by 2030.

He also advised the ECGC to examine 75 per cent claim payment to banks under the ECIB scheme, within 45 days of receiving the claim. It was further informed by the minister that in the next four months, all the ECGC services would be digitised, so that physical interaction can be minimised.

--IANS

ans/vd

Coromandel International, part of the industrial conglomerate Murugappa Group, will acquire the stakes through its wholly owned subsidiary Coromandel Technology Ltd in a two part transaction.

According to Coromandel International, its subsidiary Coromandel Technology will acquire a 32.68 per cent stake in the Rs 1.31 lakh equity based Dhaksha and another 18.34 per cent stake from Dare Ventures Ltd, another wholly owned subsidiary.

The turnover of Dhaksha for FY 2021-22 was Rs 4.52 crore.

The acquisition is likely to be completed during the second quarter of FY 2023-24.

According to Coromandel International, the stake acquisition will facilitate the company’s presence in the fast-growing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) segment where drones and its applications are expectedto exponentially grow and reach a global market size of $90 billion by 2030.

“This investment follows the company’s recent announcement ofits entry into Specialty Chemicals and Contract Manufacturing (CDMO) businesses,” Coromandel International said.

Arun Alagappan, Executive Vice Chairman, Coromandel International Limited said, “We are delighted to partner with Dhaksha having been associated from the early start up stage and accelerate its growth journey to become a player ofscale. Our investment in Dhaksha marks a significant foray into next generation cutting edge UAStechnology applications."

"In addition to driving resource efficiency and sustainable practices in agriculture, Dhaksha drones have high potential in defence and enterprise applications. The recent decision by Government of India towards liberalising the policy for export of drones meant for civilian use will help in further tapping the export potential for Dhaksha’s drones. We are committed to drive Atmanirbhar Bharat vision in drones manufacturing and intend to improve domestic value creation opportunities and build frontier technologies in this space.”

The Coromandel International said Dhaksha provides UAS technology solutions across agriculture, defence, surveillance and enterprise applications. It also offers remote pilot training services and has trained over 950 pilots till date.

“Currently, it is the only player in the country to receive type certificates from DGCA for 3 drone models in medium and small categories for agriculture and surveillance applications. Besides operating in the electric drone segment, it is the only player in India to offer type certified petrol engine based Hybrid Agri Drones,” Coromandel International said.

--IANS

vj/uk

Launched in collaboration with Nasscom and Startup India, the 8th edition of Qualcomm Design in India Challenge received around 145 applications representing a variety of sectors and applications.

The finalists are -- Augrade Private Limited, Auklr Technologies Private Limited, Ayati Devices Private Limited, Flo Mobility Private Limited, Livnsense Technologies Private Limited, Marcn Technologies Private Limited, Rymo Technologies Private Limited, Savemom Private Limited, Siamaf Healthcare, Thryv Mobility Private Limited, Trebirth Private Limited, and Zebu Intelligent Systems Private Limited.

"We stand in awe of the visionary startups revolutionising sectors such as healthcare, training, EV transportation, wireless broadband, consumer electronics, and notably, agriculture. With masterful integration of 5G, hybrid-AI, robotics, drones, and extended reality, they have become catalysts for India's impressive digital transformation," Sudeepto Roy, Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm Incorporated, said in a statement.

The finalists will receive a grant of up to Rs 3.2 lakh along with mentorship and access to Qualcomm Innovation Labs, enabling them to build out their prototypes for various commercial use cases and applications.

Finalists will also qualify to receive an incentive for patent-filing and business development opportunities from Qualcomm Technologies’ global sales and business teams, according to the company.

"Qualcomm Design in India Challenge is our commitment to nurturing the enormous tech talent in India with our expertise and established technologies. We’ve been empowering India with the latest tech innovations and solutions, and we continue to encourage budding entrepreneurs and businesses to build revolutionary solutions that reshape our country," Rajen Vagadia, Vice President, Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd. and President of

Qualcomm India & SAARC, said in a statement.

The company said that applicants submitted unique product demonstrations across a variety of product categories such as IoT, Automotive, Smart Infrastructure, Edge Compute, Health Tech, Robotics and Drones and Agri Tech, among others.

--IANS

shs/prw

A Texas family became fed up with gravesite robbers and installed a hidden AirTag to capture them in the act, reports AppleInsider.

The family didn't anticipate that their smart use of AirTag would help authorities find stolen bronze memorial vases valued at more than $62,000.

According to Tony Velazquez, his uncle's gravesite at the Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas, had been frequently robbed.

"Each time, thieves had absconded with a bronze memorial vase -- which retails for $600 -- that had adorned the grave," the report said.

Velazquez dropped an AirTag into the vase as a safety measure in case the thieves struck again.

He provided the authorities with the AirTag data, which they then used to locate the vase and dozens more at a house 45 minutes away.

Local authorities then arrested the suspects, accused of stealing 102 vases over the last two months.

Clute Police Chief James Fitch said that the thieves intended to sell the vases for a quick profit at a nearby scrap yard.

"They had actually tried to take the entire vases to a scrap yard," Fitch said, "They turned them down luckily."

--IANS

aj/prw

Indian-American Banga, who became the 14th president of the top bank this year, was among 35 honorees from diverse backgrounds and fields whose contributions and actions enriched and strengthened American society and democracy.

From India, he is the only honouree in the prestigious Carnegie list, which has named more than 700 "Great Immigrants" since 2006.

With over 30 years of experience in key positions, Banga is expected to usher in transformative policies at the World Bank to combat poverty and address climate change, opening opportunities for people around the globe, a Carnegie statement said on Wednesday.

“We need to find ways to embrace the value and talent immigrants have to offer -- not the least of which is their diversity. Their diverse perspectives and experiences make us stronger,” Banga was quoted as saying in the statement.

Earlier this month,Banga became the new president of the World Bank, the first-ever Indian American to lead the institution.

He started his career in India, spending 13 years at Nestle India and two at PepsiCo, and in 1996, he joined Citigroup, eventually leading the Asia-Pacific region as CEO.

Later moving to the US, he served as President and CEO of Mastercard for 12 years before being named executive chairman.

Among numerous honors, he was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal, Padma Shri and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

The Class of 2023 Great Immigrants has individuals from 33 countries, who, according to the Corporation, "have fostered opportunities for others through their work as educators, mentors, philanthropists, job creators, public servants, storytellers, and advocates".

“The 35 naturalized citizens honored today embody that tradition, reminding us that the contributions of immigrants make our country more vibrant and our democracy more resilient,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and a naturalized citizen who first came to the US from Ireland as a graduate student.

Other honorees in the list are esteemed leaders in their fields, including two Nobel Prize laureates, an Olympian, a member of Congress, a university president, a public theologian and immigration advocate.

It also includes celebrities such Elle magazine editor-in-chief and TV personality Nina Garcia, bestselling novelist Min Jin Lee, seven-time Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette, Hollywood star Pedro Pascal, and Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan.

--IANS

mi/ksk