Page 17 - Companies

Devastating floods affect flower business during Onam in Kerala

Kochi (Kerala), Aug 24 (ANI): The flower business in flood-hit Kerala during Onam celebrations got affected as people are not buying flowers in this festive season. On the auspicious occasion of Onam, people usually decorate their houses with colourful flowers and also use them in rituals. Flower business in Kerala blooms during Onam festival and flower merchants earn good amount but this year flowers are lying unsold. Markets in the state seem to be less crowded this year. Vegetable and grocery merchants echoed the same pain. Many electronics and mobile companies usually launch their new brands during the Onam season. But this year they have been forced to withdraw their advertisements due to floods. Onam is celebrated with fervor across the southern part of the country. All castes and communities who believe in the legend of King Mahabali celebrate Onam with full zest. The festival usually falls in August-September. It is a harvest festival, one of three major festivals celebrated b

Alibaba 'ready' for trade war with US

New Delhi, Aug 24 (ANI): Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant is all set for a possible trade war with the United States. The company said that it will not only survive the fight but will also thrive. The company announced its total earnings for the year a day before making the statement. Alibaba (BABA) Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai said, "If US goods become too expensive due to tariffs, Chinese consumers can shift to domestic producers or imports from other parts of the world". Jack Ma Founder and executive chairman of Alibaba said that the company is interested in doing business with big US brands.

Arun Jaitley resumes charge as the Union Finance Minister

New Delhi, Aug 23 (ANI): Arun Jaitley has resumed charge as the Union Finance Minister on Thursday. He also held a meeting with officials, including Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, at the Ministry of Finance. The Finance Ministry, in Jaitley's absence, was being looked after by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal as Jaitley was undergoing a kidney transplant surgery.

Watch: Massive fire breaks out at building in Paharganj, police rescue couple

New Delhi, Aug 22 (ANI): A massive fire broke out in a building in Delhi's Paharganj area on Wednesday. After receiving the information about the incident, the police immediately rushed to the spot and saved the life of a couple who were trapped in the building. The fire had started at the first floor, trapping people who were on upper floors as they were sleeping at the time.

Rupee hits fresh record low of 70.22 against US Dollar

Mumbai, Aug 16 (ANI): Hitting a fresh record low, the Indian Rupee on Thursday opened at 70.22 versus the US dollar. Amid the Turkey crisis, the Indian currency started off the session on a weak note, hitting a fresh record low of 70.25 against the dollar. On Tuesday, after opening at a marginal high of 69.85 against the US Dollar, the Indian rupee touched an all-time low of 70 per US dollar. The currency touched an all-time low of 70.08 against the US dollar, while marking depreciation of around 10 percent in 2018. The fall in rupee was mainly impacted by drop in Turkish Lira, which helped the US dollar to gained strength on the back of fears that economic crisis in Turkey could spread to other global economies.

Rupee hits record low of 69.62 to dollar on Turkey crisis

Mumbai, New Delhi, Aug 13 (ANI): The rupee on Monday touched an all-time low of 69.62 per dollar in early trade, tracking broader weakness in other emerging market currencies on concerns of a spill-over from a crisis-hit Turkey. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was seen intervening to stem a sharp fall in the rupee, two dealers said. The rupee reversed marginally from its record lows to trade at 69.53 to the dollar. It had ended at 68.84 to the dollar on August 10. The 10-year benchmark bond yield rose to 7.80 percent from its previous close of 7.75 percent, tracking the weakness in rupee. Investors preferred safe-havens such as the U.S. dollar and the yen after a plunge in the Turkish Lira sent all emerging market currencies sharply lower. The lira has fallen about 45 percent against the greenback this year on worries over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's increasing control of the economy and a deepening diplomatic rift with the United States.

Sensex drop on global sell-off, Nifty down by 72.80 pts

Mumbai, Aug 13 (ANI): The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened lower at 37,626.95 on Monday morning. It has come down by 242.28 points. While NSE's Nifty 50 hovered around 11,356.70, down by 72.80 points. In such situation, the Indian rupee opened at a low today of 69.47 against the US dollar. Sunil Shah, Market Expert said, "The ripple effects of the political crisis between USA and Turkey were seen on the world's financial, currency and capital markets. USA and Asian markets are also low."

GoWork eyes USD 200 Mn fund-raising from PE investors

New Delhi, Aug 11 (ANI): World's largest co-working ecosystem, GoWork has come out with plans for its next funding. It has announced to raise USD 200 million from PE investors. Planning for expanding itself, GoWork has aimed to utilize its funds. In this regard, the company is planning to launch at least 50 campuses country wide within next five years. It has built a strong clientele with companies like Paytm, Zomato, Lifelong.

PayPal, HDFC Bank partner to offer seamless payment experiences to consumers

New Delhi, Aug 09 (ANI): PayPal, a global technology platform and digital payments leader, has announced its strategic partnership with HDFC Bank to offer safer, faster and convenient payment experiences for the bank's card holders. To initiate incremental digital spend, the HDFC cards will be presented as a payment option during enrollment and subsequent payments, with the ability for consumers to easily open PayPal accounts and set it as their preferred payment method. The partnership will create a number of joint growth opportunities that will advance PayPal and HDFC Bank's shared vision of offering consumers greater choice and flexibility in managing their money. This agreement will take effect immediately, with new experiences available to customers that are designed to drive incremental digital spend.

S Gurumurthy, Satish Marathe appointed to RBI board

New Delhi, Aug 08 (ANI): The Centre has appointed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch co-convenor Swaminathan Gurumurthy and businessman Satish Kashinath Marathe to the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The names were approved on Tuesday as per provisions of Section 8 1C of the RBI Act, 1934 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. They have been appointed as a part-time, non-official director for the period of four-year. With the two new appointments, the total number of government-appointed directors on the RBI board has reached 10.

GST Council decides to form sub committee headed by MoS Finance and States Finance Ministers

New Delhi, Aug 04 (ANI): The 29th Goods and Services Tax (GS) Council meet was chaired by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal at Vigyan Bhavan on Saturday. "Law Committee will take decisions related to law. Fitment Committee will take decisions related to rates", said Piyush Goyal after the meeting. "GST council has decided to form a sub committee under the leadership of Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance. Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, Finance Minister of Punjab and Finance Minister of Kerala will be a part of this committee", he added.

Piyush Goyal holds 29th GST Council meet at Vigyan Bhawan

New Delhi, Aug 04 (ANI): The 29th Goods and Services Tax (GST) council meeting headed by Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal was held at Vigyan Bhawan on Saturday. After slashing rates of around 88 items in the last meeting, the 29th meeting of the GST council is expected to focus on the ailing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. The country's MSMEs are encountering certain taxation-related challenges and have not been able to come to terms with the new GST regime.

Goibibo now enables users to login via WhatsApp

New Delhi, Aug 04 (ANI): Online travel booking platform Goibibo launched a new WhatsApp integrated solution which allows its users to sign-in to Goibibo on mobile web via WhatsApp. Through WhatsApp, login authentication will help mobile web users to log in without needing to remember password, keying in OTP or mobile number- rendering a convenient, seamless experience. "We are a mobile-first company and we want to leverage the mobile ecosystem to its fullest to make online travel booking experience even more convenient. Given the ubiquitous usage of WhatsApp among Indians, it was a natural choice for us to build this feature to help people access the platform without the fuss of remembering complex passwords and punching in OTPs," said Chief Product Officer, Goibibo, Anshuman Bapna. This new feature will help Goibibo further enhance qualitative services for its consumers who have come to expect ease and superior user experience. Goibibo currently offers features like seat and meal sele

Sensex, Nifty open positive in morning trade

Mumbai, Jul 30 (ANI): The market on Monday saw a significant high as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex crossed the 37,000 mark. The Sensex soared by 270.62 points, while Nifty reclaimed the 11,000 mark to trade at 11,304.15. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee opened at Rs.68.70 per dollar, against its previous close of Rs.68.77.

Black money deposit in Swiss banks down by 80%: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Jul 24 (ANI): Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday told Rajya Sabha that ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, the black money deposited in Swiss National Bank has reduced by 80 per cent. He added that in his letter to the Indian government, the Swiss Ambassador Andreas Baum mentioned that in India it is frequently assumed that any assets held by Indian residents in Switzerland are undeclared (black money).

Snapchat to discontinue its digital payment service 'Snapcash'

New Delhi, Jul 24 (ANI): Multimedia messaging app is discontinuing its digital payment service app 'Snapcash'. Snapcash started as a way of splitting bills among friends, ended up being used as a way of exchanging private content. As a result the parent company will now be shutting down 'Snapcash' to avoid misuse and legal problems. 'Four years after launching the peer-to-peer payment service, Snapcash will be shutting down on August 30' as per a source. Snapcash was the first product Snapchat built in partnership with another company called Square.

Budding woman entrepreneur goes green with eco-friendly products

New Delhi, Jul 22 (ANI): 29-year-old Ngangom Monalisa Chanu from Manipur has brought in a new era of eco-friendly products in the form of environment-friendly pen and pencils. The budding woman entrepreneur deals with products ranging from environmental pens with seeds, pencils, direct filling ball pens, paper bags, non-woven bags and more, under the brand name of 'Envi'. Her business venture, Chanu Associates concern for environment and her personal love for nature compelled her to come up with the innovative idea of making pens and pencils with biodegradable products. Chanu said, "I got some knowledge about the environment like bag making, tree plantation and more such measures when I was studying in Punjab University. Pen can be made without any machinery and without any investment, so I got inspired and prepared a handmade pen. Though I had set up a firm in 2007, all the processes like GST compliance finished in March this year. After that, I started producing eco-friendly products

Eatigo secures investment from TripAdvisor; total funding reaches $25mn

New Delhi, July 18 (ANI): Eatigo, a restaurant reservation platform in Southeast Asia, has received a follow-on investment from its existing strategic investor, TripAdvisor, bringing its total raise across all its investors to date to over USD 25 million. The pre-series C investment for Eatigo comes as TripAdvisor's restaurants business unit and its subsidiary, TheFork, look to help expand Eatigo's presence and services across the Asia Pacific region. Eatigo operates in 6 countries, and has over 4 million users. It offers the largest inventory of discounted restaurants offers in the region with over 4,000 restaurant partners.

These apps help students grow

New Delhi, Jul 14 (ANI): A recent study found that 12 percent of youth between the ages of 13 and 17 check their phone every few seconds. Here are a few apps that help students grow. Toppr.com is a personalised learning app for students studying for boards, Olympiads and various engineering, commerce and medical competitive exams. Merriam-Webster Dictionary is helping students in various ways like students can hear a correct pronunciation, see variety of examples, and learn about the history of the word's origin. Google Fit is a health-tracking platform developed by Google, it can be easily integrated with their fitness gears. Wynk Music is the one-stop music app for the latest to the greatest songs that students will love.

Afghanistan targeting to increase trade with India to $2 billion by 2020: Afghan envoy to India

New Delhi, Jul 13 (ANI): Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan's Ambassador to India said that trade between India and Afghanistan is on a high trajectory. "It is on high trajectory. The level of trade has increased to almost $900 million between India and Afghanistan and goal is to improve it further", said Shaida Abdali. "Our target for trade by 2020 is US$ 2 billion and Projects like Chabahar Port is giving hope that the trade between the countries will be much bigger in future", he added.