No policy yet in US to curb visas, we are talking: Govt
The government yesterday sought to allay the fears among Indian IT professionals, saying the US administration has not implemented any policy yet to curb jobs and efforts were underway to dissuade it from doing so. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha that the Indian government is talking to the Trump administration as well as the US Congressmen, giving proper data and reasoning to press home the point that the relationship between Indian IT companies with the US is mutually-beneficial.
Maruti to start selling Ciaz from Nexa outlets from April
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) will start selling mid-sized sedan Ciaz only from its premium retail chain Nexa from April 1. With the move, the company is looking to strengthen portfolio of products offered through the Nexa chain. At present four products -- Baleno, Baleno RS, S-Cross and Ignis -- are sold through the channel. Maruti Suzuki India is currently selling Ciaz through traditional outlets across the country.
'Home loan interest too high for Indian buyers'
High housing loan interests and reluctance to borrow are dissuading Indian buyers who have to dig into savings to own a house, a study has revealed. There is significant demand for affordable housing amongst the younger age (25-44 years) in smaller towns than in metros and mini-metros, the study conducted by India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC)-Kantar IMRB showed. "Housing sector is poised for a higher growth, especially in affordable housing segment by the Housing-for-all by 2022 Mission and infrastructure status accorded by government, apart from various other measures," Sriram Kalyanraman, MD&CEO, National Housing Bank said at the launch of the report.
SureWaves MediaTech launches ‘Skynet’
In a first for the global television industry, media convergence pioneer, SureWaves MediaTech yesterday announced the launch of its pathbreaking Programmatic Television Advertising Marketplace – ‘Skynet’. SureWaves’ new offering represents a paradigm shift in the world of television advertising. Programmatic advertising has been prominent in digital media and has proved to be highly efficient and accountable, but it has not been successfully implemented, end-to- end on television before. Skynet is a first-of- its-kind Programmatic Television Advertising Marketplace that enables marketers to intelligently plan and efficiently buy audiences on broadcast TV channels, akin to digital advertising today.
'iPhones assembly in Bengaluru by Apple in less than a month'
Apple Inc will be ready to start asembling high-end iPhones in the city in less than a month to boost its chances of gaining a foothold in the fast growing Indian market,Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge said yesterday. "In less than a month, we will have something out - Apple will start assembling and making its high-end iPhones at its plant in the city. Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron Corp will help Apple in doing so," he said.
Xrbia: Frontrunner in India’s affordable housing sector
The latest trends in housing demographics continue to increase demand for homes in the affordable housing sector. Xrbia, having supplied 3776 houses in 2016 alone has established a base in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune Region, the company is on its way to reach a target of US $1 billion in sales by the end of 2017. Having sold 8,776 houses in the last 3 months, Xrbia is aiming to launch 24 projects in this year, amounting to 50,000 houses worth Rs.10,000 crore. In a recent research report, Prop Equity said, “Xrbia has emerged as the leading Real Estate Developer in the Affordable Housing Segment across India in terms of units sold, selling approximately 2900 apartments between April 2016 to December 2016.”
Over 3,100 new FPIs registered with Sebi in 11 mths of FY'17
More than 3,100 fresh foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registered with capital markets regulator Sebi in the April-February period of the current fiscal, indicating that India remains an attractive destination. In comparison, about 2,900 FPIs had received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in the entire last financial year (2015-16). The number of FPIs with Sebi's approval rose to 7,428 at the end of February from 4,311 at the end of March 31, 2016 reflecting an addition of 3,117 such investors, according to the latest data from Sebi.
Govt, industry to chalk out roadmap for Indian textile sector
Several Union ministers, key policymakers and representatives of the global textile and apparel industry will try to thrash out the issues facing the sector at a 3-day international conference here from June 30. It will suggest a 10 year roadmap for the sector's growth. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra, senior bureaucrats and several top industrialists, especially from Gujarat, will be among those present in the conference, officials said.
Mad rush to grab Jio Prime membership
This March-end we are seeing the kind of queues serve as a reminder for a phenomenon that took place about seven months ago – people queuing up outside Jio centres all across India. With just one day to go before Jio Prime membership closes on March 31, people are rushing to become prime members of what is the world’s fastest growing network in terms of data usage as well as customers. Queues are being seen at Jio Centres across metros such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, as well as other cities and towns. The Jio Prime membership is available to Jio user at a one-time yearly charge of Rs.99.