Impact of Donald Trump's win as 45th President of United States

Samsung's decision to come closer to the customer by offering them such unique experiences comes at a time when the South Korean electronic giant is facing intense competition in the country After launching the world's largest mobile phone-manufacturing factory in Noida in July, Samsung has now opened its biggest experience centre in Bengaluru. Samsung Bengaluru Store  : Opera House, the 33,000 sq ft iconic building in the city’s central business district, has been given a facelift to showcase Samsung's mobile devices and other consumer electronic products. It has a service centre for phones and is equipped with high-speed public Wi-Fi. “Today’s consumers, especially millennials, seek unique experiences. They want to interact with the brand. This is what Samsung Opera House is about. We have curated never seen before experiences that will excite people,” said H C Hong, president and chief executive officer at Samsung southwest Asia. These experiences revol...

The contract follows the two companies' strategic alliance announced in July. As part of that, Wipro had announced investing $117 million in Alight and acquiring its captive India unit Information technology (IT) services company  Wipro  has won its largest contract to date from US-based human resources (HR) and financial solutions company Alight Solutions LLC. The deal will fetch it around $1.6 billion in revenue over 10 years. The contract follows the two companies’ strategic alliance announced in July. As part of that, Wipro had announced investing $117 million in Alight and acquiring its captive India unit. Wipro was mandated to digitally transform the Illinois-headquartered company’s business as part of this strategic arrangement. Alight Solutions, which used to be the technology outsourcing business of HR and management consulting company Aon Hewitt, was acquired by private equity major Blackstone in 2017 and was rebranded an independent company...

The acquisition will also propel PVR to becoming the 7th largest cinema exhibitor in the world in terms of annual admissions at its theatres Multiplex chain PVR Ltd on Sunday announced the acquisition of South India-based SPI Cinemas Private Ltd, which has a presence in the key markets of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Mumbai. In a cash-cum-stock deal, PVR will acquire 222,711 equity shares of SPI Cinemas, constituting 71.7 per cent of SPI, from existing shareholders for a total consideration of Rs 6.33 billion, and issue 1.6 million equity shares of PVR Limited, constituting 3.3 per cent of the diluted paid up equity share capital of PVR. At Rs 1,317.2 per share, this translates to Rs 2.1 billion, taking the deal value to just short of Rs 8.5 billion. EY India was the exclusive financial advisor on the transaction. PVR will be funding the cash transaction through a combination of internal accruals, new debt issuance, and a deferred cons...

New mobile versions of PUBG and Fortnite, both distributed by Tencent Holdings, raised the spectre of gamers spending more time on smartphone rather than more luxurious but less convenient consoles A key takeaway from Sony’s and Nintendo’s earnings is that console games are alive and well. While both companies reported softness in sales and shipments of console hardware – the PS4 and Switch, respectively – revenue and unit sales from software remained strong. That means consumers who bought the devices over the past year or so aren’t bored and weren’t lured to smartphone platforms to the extent many feared. New mobile versions of PUBG and Fortnite, both distributed by Tencent Holdings, raised the spectre of gamers spending more time on the ubiquitous smartphone rather than more luxurious but less convenient consoles. ALSO READ:  Sony records 24% rise in Q1 profit over surge in game software sale Both titles can be thought of as gaming versions of the Hun...

The payments bank ran into a controversy after it allegedly opened savings accounts for existing customers without their express permissions Airtel Payments Bank  , which was stopped by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from getting new customers on board, received approvals from the central bank to add new accounts, the company said on Thursday. Also, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has allowed it to use the 12-digit Aadhaar-based e-KYC, the company said. The payments bank ran into a controversy after it allegedly opened savings accounts for existing customers without their express permissions. These accounts allegedly led to government LPG subsidies worth Rs 1.68 billion being transferred to Airtel Payments Bank accounts even as many of the customers weren’t aware of that. “We thank the authorities for the approvals. We remain committed to the Government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking for all,” a spokesperson said. Artic...

The company also spent at historic levels, nearly tripling capital expenditure for the quarter to $7.7 billion Alphabet Inc .’s first-quarter results came with a clear message to Wall Street: The company is embarking on a new spending binge to chase its biggest rivals. Google ’s parent posted the strongest sales growth in almost four years on Monday, indicating marketers kept flocking to its services amid rising scrutiny of digital ads. But the company also spent at historic levels, nearly tripling capital expenditure for the quarter to $7.7 billion. Almost all of that spending went to buttress newer cloud and consumer-device businesses that lag behind leaders Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more Inc. and Apple Inc. After neglecting these markets for years in favour of its main ad businesses and riskier moonshot bets, Alphabet is now splurging to catch up. "The big story from the results was the significant rise in expen...

Mohan, chairman of Mohan Meakin, the maker of Old Monk rum, passed away on Saturday following a cardiac arrest at Mohan Nagar, near Ghaziabad Kapil Mohan  hardly ever downed a peg. Yet, the dark rum in a fat bottle his company brewed was the favourite evening companion for millions cutting across age, class and continents. Mohan, chairman of Mohan Meakin, the maker of Old Monk rum, passed away on Saturday following a cardiac arrest at Mohan Nagar, near Ghaziabad. He was 88. He was the man behind famous brands like Old Monk, Solan No.1, and Golden Eagle, before age and competition caught up. The teetotaller, who drew strength primarily from other spirits — of the holy kind — ran the company under his watch for over four decades. Only a year ago, he passed on the executive control to his nephews Hemant and Vinay, though he continued to be the chairman. Pushed to the helm, following the death of his elder brother V R Mohan in the early 1970s, Kapil saw the emerge...

Firm to prune domestic costs through initiatives such as voluntary separation Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to sharply increase local hiring in the US this year with increased demand for co-innovation and on-site presence from clients. The Nasdaq-listed technology services major said it would look at talent across local community colleges to big management universities to man different projects in the US. Last month, when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services opened the window for applications,  Cognizant  applied for "less than half" H1B visas compared with last year. "We are evolving our workforce and delivery in the United States. Cognizant hired 4,000 US citizens in 2016, and in 2017 and beyond, we expect to significantly ramp up our US based workforce by hiring experienced professionals in the open market and by making more use of university programmes. We are shifting our workforce largely in response to clients' increasing nee...

Samsung revealed Bixby, a smart voice assistant to rival Apple's Siri at the US event. Almost three weeks after its initial launch in the US, South Korean giant Samsung will launch its flagship device  Samsung Galaxy S8  in India on April 19. Samsung launched S8 and S8 Plus on March 29 in the US. The devices come in two variants with different screen sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus. On Monday, the company said in an invitation: "Samsung India cordially invites you to the launch of its next Galaxy series". Also Read :  Update details to link PAN and Aadhaar, mismatch leads to failure Samsung revealed Bixby, a smart voice assistant to rival Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant at the US event. The device has a bezel-less curved edge "infinity display" covered with pristine glass and a 12MP rear camera with multi-frame processing and optical image stabilisation. It has an 8MP auto-focus front shooter. The device ...

It comes preloaded with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Games, Airtel Movies Airtel Digital TV, the direct-to-home arm of Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday launched 'Internet TV -- powered by Android TV, which brings online content to the TV screen along with a bouquet of over 500 plus satellite TV channels, the company said. Airtel 'Internet TV' transforms any TV into a Smart TV and enables users to switch seamlessly between online and linear TV content with a single device. It is priced at Rs 4,999 with three month Digital TV subscription. Also, for a limited period, customers can pay Rs 7,999 and get the  Airtel Internet TV  with one year subscription. Airtel 'Internet TV' will be available exclusively on Amazon India starting on Wednesday. It will be available through Airtel Digital TV touch points -- retail stores/website/contact centres soon after online launch, a company statement said. "Customers can stream and cast their favo...

Enfield enjoys almost the entire 250-350 cc motorcycle market in country Royal Enfield, well known for its bullets, said it is not going to be easy for any new entrant to unseat the company. Bajaj Auto, which entered the 350-500cc motorcycle segment in December, claimed to have overtaken  Royal Enfield  in February in volumes. “If you look at the 250 cc plus motorcycle market in India, every 19 of 20 products are sold by us…that is a reality. It is not that easy to unseat someone who is doing this,” Siddhartha Lal, managing director and chief executive officer of Eicher (which owns Enfield) told  Business Standard . Bajaj’s claim was based on one month’s performance of the Dominar, its new 373cc premium sports motorcycle. Also Read:   Not worried about Bajaj, says Royal Enfield chief Japanese two-wheeler major Honda is also reported to be working on a motorcycle to cater to this segment. “It is very clear. There will be people entering. There is no doubt ...

Flipkart has been and will continue to make acquisitions to increase scale India's top e-commerce firm  Flipkart  has raised $1.4 billion in its biggest fundraising to date as it takes on US tech giant  Amazon.com  Inc for a larger share of the country's burgeoning online retail market. Chinese social media and entertainment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd, the world's biggest software company Microsoft Corp and online marketplace eBay Inc participated in the funding round, Flipkart said in a statement on Monday, which will value the Indian company at $11.6 billion. That is lower than the $15 billion valuation achieved at its last fundraising in 2015, reflecting how competition has intensified in the e-commerce sector as companies vie for a slice of the world's fastest-growing internet services market. Amazon last year said it would invest over $5 billion in India, and has recently expanded into online video and grocery shopping, seeking to expand aggressively ...

Upping the ante in the crowded compact sedan category, Tata Motors on Wednesday launched  Tata Tigor , its third product in the tax-efficient sub-four metre sedan segment. The biggest selling point for Tigor is its aggressive pricing. At Rs 4.7 lakh for the base petrol variant, Tigor is now the cheapest compact sedan in the country and even undercuts Tata’s existing models. For example, the largest-selling car in the segment - Swift Dzire - starts at Rs 5.27 lakh, while the base petrol version of Indigo CS, from the Tata stable, is priced at Rs 5.03 lakh. Besides Indigo CS, Tata Motors also sells the Zest in the segment, but has not been able to break the dominance of Maruti Suzuki’s Swift Dzire in the category. The compact sedan and hatchback category, accounted for over 40% of car sales in January 2017, at over 114,000 units. Maruti accounted for 56,000 cars in the category, with Swift Dzire selling over 18,000 units in January 2017. The Tata Tigor 1.2-litre petrol mo...

Contract manufacturer Wistron will manufacture iPhones at its Bangalore plants Apple Inc.   will soon start assembling iPhones in India for the first time, say government officials familiar with its plans, boosting the company’s chances of gaining a foothold in the fast-growing market. Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron Corp. will likely start making iPhone 6 and 6S models here in the next four-to-six weeks at its plant in Bangalore, said an official of the southern state of Karnataka where the tech hub is located. It will add Apple’s cheapest iPhone model, the SE, to its assembly line in about three months, the official said. “Almost all preparations have been done for launching Apple’s first phase project in Bangalore through Wistron,” the official told The Wall Street Journal. “We’ve been working hard to develop our operations in India,” an Apple spokeswoman said. “We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we’ve had with government about further expanding...

The iPad Air 2 is replaced by a new model simply called the iPad costing $329 Apple is refreshing and cutting prices on two of its iPads, but held back on updating its higher-end tablets. A much-speculated 10.5-inch  iPad  didn't materialise, nor did new versions of iPad Pros aimed at businesses and creative professionals. Apple unveiled the new iPads through a press release rather than a staged event, the opposite of the process reserved for bigger product releases, which typically are unveiled in September or October, in time for the holiday shopping season. The tablet market is in an extended decline after a few years of rapid growth. According to IDC, tablet shipments fell 20 percent, to 53 million in the final three months of 2016, compared with the same period in 2015. The iPad Air 2 is replaced by a new model simply called the iPad. It retains a 9.7-inch screen, but the display is brighter and the processor faster. Its price starts at $329 for 32 gigabytes...

Even if there were no Brexit or US Elections, hiring by IT firms would have been the same Fresh graduates out of engineering colleges may find getting a job tougher at large IT services firms this year as India's IT industry struggles with new business models. Technology services firms have traditionally hired thousands of fresh engineering graduates and trained them to build capacity to handle projects of their global clients. Now most of these entry level jobs can be automated, forcing  IT firms  to reduce their campus hiring. So Indian information technology (IT) services firms are likely to hire 40 per cent fewer engineering graduates this year. Tech firms have been witnessing a dip in traditional software services and maintenance business, which earns them a major chunk of revenue, as clients are demanding services on digital technology and cloud. This is freeing up people from repetitive tasks such as testing and low-end maintenance. Infotech companies such a...

So far, less than 500 executives have been offered VRS, which roughly includes one year's salary Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile maker, has started rolling out a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its employees as part of its organisational restructuring exercise. This is part of a human resources (HR) restructuring drive that is expected to transform the organisation into a much leaner company with a flat hierarchical structure. The new structure will be in place from April 1. So far, less than 500 executives have been offered VRS, which roughly includes one year’s salary, among other benefits, sources said. The company, however, did not confirm the details of the VRS package or how many were offered VRS. A company spokesperson said: “ Tata Motors  confirms that as part of the ongoing organisation effectiveness project, where we have already finalised the top two levels of our management structure, a proposal on VRS package has been presented and approved by...

Firm denies charges, says will find anonymous author, bring her to justice In an anonymous post on  Medium , a person calling herself an ex-employee of  The Viral Fever  accused TVF founder and chief executive Arunabh Kumar of molesting her. TVF is backed by Tiger Global. She accused Kumar of multiple sexual advances, and said she was asked to walk out when she complained to her bosses at TVF. She added that complaints made to co-workers got cold answers and, in one instance, someone laughed off the matter. In a Facebook post, independent contractor Reema Sengupta said she, too, was a victim of Kumar’s inappropriate overtures during a shoot. In a comment on the  Medium  post, “ex-TVF employee” Aayushi Agarwal said she too had a similar experience. The post titled 'The Indian Uber - That is TVF' looks to be modelled on ex-Uber employee Susan Fowler's post alleging sexual harassment at the US-based company. Fowler's claims are now being investigated by b...