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Business Tech Lite

Xiaomi leads as India’s smartphone shipments hit record high

Smartphone shipments in India hit an all-time high of 50 million units in the third quarter of this year, registering eight per cent year-over-year growth, said a Canalys report on Thursday.

Xiaomi remained the market leader, growing nine per cent to ship 13.1 million units and capturing 26.1 per cent market share in the July-September quarter.

Samsung took the second place from Vivo, with 10.2 million units, up seven per cent compared to the same quarter last year.

Samsung’s aggressive product portfolio and pricing strategy in the low-end paid off as the South Korean giant captured 20.4 per cent share in the India smartphone market.

Vivo stood third, growing 19 per cent to ship 8.8 million smartphones, while Realme grew 23 per cent to ship 8.7 million units.

OPPO completed the top five, shipping 6.1 million units.

“While almost all vendors have shown positive shipment growth, the true winners are the online channels, who have been buoyed with a huge influx of devices ahead of the festive season,” Canalys Analyst Adwait Mardikar, said in a statement.

“Ongoing sales at Amazon and Flipkart are a clear indication that despite the economic downturn, India’s penchant for a good smartphone, and a good bargain, remains intact.”

Apple regained momentum in India in Q3, with double-digit growth to reach nearly 8 lakh units. “Apple is finally paying attention to India,” said Canalys Research Director Rushabh Doshi.

The company has opened a direct online store, giving it several new angles in its go-to-market strategy, such as utilising device trade-ins to provide purchase incentives, or bundling AirPods with iPhones to make them more appealing.

Also Read: FDI inflows to India witness 13% growth

Also Read: India’s hiring activity down by 30%

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Business UK News

Pramod Mittal: Britain’s biggest bankrupt

Pramod Mittal

Steel tycoon Pramod Mittal has gone down into depths of unprecedented financial liabilities after a financial deal guaranteed by him collapsed. Pramod, who spent 50 million pounds on his daughter’s wedding in 2013, now claims that he owns only a small stretch of land in India.

The businessman says that the loans he originally took out have ballooned dozens of times over due to interest payments and the total liabilities now lie at 2.5 billion pounds, reports Daily Mail.

He says he now owes £170m to his 94-year-old father, £1.1m to his wife, Sangeeta, £2.4m to their 30-year-old son Divyesh and another £1.1m to his brother-in-law Amit Lohia, 45. 

Mr Mittal said: ‘I have no personal income. My wife is financially independent from me. We have separate bank accounts and I have very limited information regarding her income’. 

The roots of Pramod’s current troubles date back 14 years, when he agreed to act as a guarantor for the debts of a coke producer in Bosnia known as GIKIL, a partnership between his Isle of Man-registered Global Steel Holdings and the Bosnian state.

GIKIL subsequently failed to make repayments, trapping him in a predicament. That debt was then pursued by a company named Moorgate Industries, which obtained the bankruptcy order, according to the mail.

It is reported that Pramod’s brother and the promoter of Luxembourg-based Arcelor Mittal steel business, Lakshmi Mittal could easily bail him out even though the sums are huge. Lakshmi’s net worth is fixed somewhere around $10 billion.

Also Read: Cleveland-Cliffs takes over ArcelorMittal USA

Also Read: $599 Mn Q2 Loss for ArcelorMittal

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Sport World News

Athletes from hotspots will be allowed: IOC Chief

Thomas Bach, IOC President

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach says he doesn’t expect countries to pull out of next year’s Tokyo Olympics due to Covid pandemic and that athletes too won’t be barred if they test negative.

The Olympics are set to be held from July 23 to August 8 next year after being postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but leading health experts have, over the past few months, expressed doubts on whether the Games can be held without a vaccine for the virus.

Bach said that athletes who would be travelling to Tokyo from countries that have a high amount of infections won’t be barred from participating in the Games.

“Athletes do not bear responsibility for the virus,” said Bach in an Instagram chat with German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter.

“If they test negative and follow the safety regulations, they should have the opportunity to participate. I also do not expect countries to opt out. All 206 National Olympic Committees affiliated with the IOC are determined and full of anticipation.”

Bach also said that the organisers are planning testing centres at the athletes’ village, which will be treated as a bio-secure bubble.

“The athletes village is the beating heart of the Games, but this time it will not have the social function that we are used to,” said Bach.

Also Read: IOC lauds Abe’s role in Olympics’ preparedness

Also Read: Qatar to bid for Olympics 2032

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Cricket Sport

Sunrisers’ playoff hopes alive with the win over Royals

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

Game changing half-centuries from Manish Pandey (83 not out off 47 balls) and Vijay Shankar (52 not out off 51) helped SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) register a clinical eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR), and keep their hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs alive.

The win helped the David Warner-led SRH jump to the fifth spot on the points table with eight points while the Royals slipped to the seventh place, also with eight, due to the difference in the net run rate. Kings XI Punjab, too, have eight points are placed between the SRH and RR while Chennai Super Kings are at the bottom.

After restricting the Royals, who were asked to bat, to a moderate total, it was an unbeaten 140-run partnership between Pandey and Shankar that drove SRH home with 11 balls to spare. It was the first century partnership for the SRH involving two Indians.

Chasing the 155-run target, SRH were off to a shaky start, losing the services of skipper Warner (4) and opener Jonny Bairstow (10) cheaply, thanks to Jofra Archer (2/21) who struck twice.

Sunriser’s Vijay Shankar (L) and Manish Pandey during the match against Rajasthan Royals

However, the early hiccups didn’t bother Pandey and Shankar much as they put up a great display of grit and determination to help their side cross the line with ease.

Pandey’s unbeaten knock was laced with four boundaries and eight maximums while Shankar’s innings contained six fours.

Except Archer, the other Royals’ bowlers, especially Ben Stokes, Kartik Tyagi, and Ankit Rajpoot, not just leaked runs but also remained wicketless.

Earlier, some disciplined bowling by SRH bowlers, especially Jason Holder (3/33), restricted RR to a modest 154/6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Barring the 56-run stand for the second wicket between Ben Stokes (30) and Sanju Samson (36), the other SRH batsmen failed to convert the starts and as a result, the 2008 IPL champions were deprived of a bigger total on the board.

Brief scores: RR: 154/6 wkts in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 36, Ben Stokes 30; Jason Holder 3/33) lost to SRH 156/2 wkts in 18.1 overs (Manish Pandey 83 not out, Vijay Shankar 52 not out) by 8 wickets

Also Read: IPL First: Kohli plays 200 games for a single team

Also Read: Anrich Nortje Shatters IPL Pace Records

Categories
-Top News Arab News

Saad Hariri named Lebanon’s New PM

Saad Al-Hariri.

Three-time Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri was named to the post for a fourth time Thursday and immediately promised a government of technocrats committed to a French-backed reform plan, reports Arab News.

Hariri said he would “form a cabinet of non politically aligned experts with the mission of economic, financial and administrative reforms contained in the French initiative roadmap.”

“I will work on forming a government quickly because time is running out and this is the only and last chance facing our country,” he added.

President Michel Aoun named Hariri to form a new cabinet to lift the country out of crisis after most parliamentary blocs backed his nomination.

Hariri, who has previously led three governments in Lebanon, stepped down almost a year ago under pressure from unprecedented protests against the political class.

Also Read: Lebanon: Thousands gather to mark year of anti-govt protests

Also Read: Lebanon: Former PM Hariri calls to restore French plan

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Business Tech Lite

Cognizant takes over Industrial IoT player Bright Wolf

Information technology company Cognizant on Thursday announced to acquire Bright Wolf, a technology services provider specialising in custom Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions, for an undisclosed sum.

With the close of the acquisition, Cognizant will establish its new IoT innovation lab in North Carolina in the US, with the Bright Wolf team as its core.

“Combining Bright Wolf’s experience in production-class IIoT deployments with Cognizant’s expertise in foundational IIoT technologies will increase our clients’ resiliency, operational efficiency and competitive advantage,” said Malcolm Frank, President, Digital Business, Cognizant.

Bright Wolf will enrich Cognizant’s smart products offering and expertise in architecting and implementing IIoT solutions.

Bright Wolf recently introduced a solution for automation of cold chain transportation and refrigeration assets for one of the world’s largest logistics companies.

“Our unique capabilities, together with Cognizant’s deep vertical industry knowledge, scale, and expertise in predictive analytics, AI, cloud and IoT, will provide clients with an unparalleled partner on their IIoT journey,” said Peter Bourne, Chief Executive Officer, Bright Wolf.

Cognizant last month announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Chicago-based 10th Magnitude, a Cloud specialist focused exclusively on the Microsoft Azure platform. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Also Read: Microsoft and Telstra partner to harness next-gen Cloud, IoT

Also Read: Global spending on cloud set to cross $1 trillion: Report

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Business India News Tech Lite

Dr Reddy’s Labs hit by cyber attack as ‘Sputnik’ trials begin

One of Indias largest pharma companies, Dr Reddys Laboratories has been hit by a cyber-attack and has isolated its data services.

Dr Reddy’s said in a statement, “In the wake of a detected cyber-attack, we have isolated all data center services to take required preventive actions.”

The development comes days after the company received approvals for clinical trails of Sputnik vaccine for COVID-19 in India.

The Drug Controller General of India, DGCI, on October 17, had granted approval to Dr Reddy’s, to conduct phase 2 and 3 clinical human trials of the Sputnik V , a Covid-19 vaccine made by Russia.

Commenting on this development, Mukesh Rathi, CIO, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said, “We are anticipating all services to be up within 24 hours and we do not foresee any major impact on our operations due to this incident.”

In the morning, Dr Reddy’s Labs stock was trading down by more than 3 per cent after reports that its plants worldwide had been shut down due to a data breach.

Dr Reddy’s Labs website is also not functioning although the company is yet to give a clarification on the status of its plants and what exactly is the data breach.

As per reports, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ plants in India, Brazil, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States were impacted by the data breach. It has shut down all production units after a breach in the server.

The share price of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories fell on the report of the data breach. The stock was trading 2.94 percent lower at Rs 4,898.45.

Also Read: Russia Seeks India’s Help On Sputnik V

Also Read: Russia hopes for more equality with US: Lavrov

Categories
Cricket Sport

‘Keep supporting us’: Bravo to CSK fans

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has requested Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans to keep supporting the team in what has turned out to be a forgettable season for the three-time champion in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition.

CSK have won just three out of the 10 matches they have played so far and their chances of qualifying for the playoffs are quite bleak. In addition to that, Bravo has been ruled out of the remaining matches of IPL 2020 following a groin injury.

“It’s a sad news, it’s sad to be leaving my team CSK. To all our CSK fans, I want you all to keep encouraging the team, keep supporting, all the true die-hard CSK fans,” Bravo said in a video message uploaded by CSK on their Twitter handle.

“This wasn’t a season we expected or our fans wanted, but we gave it our best. Sometimes, despite giving our best, the results don’t show. Keep supporting us and I can guarantee you we’re going to come back stronger and better like champions. One of the most successful franchises, I feel we should be proud to be members and fans of CSK,” he added.

CSK chief executive officer Kasi Viswanathan on Wednesday informed that Bravo has suffered a Grade 1 tear to his right groin and will miss the remaining matches. The 37-year-old featured for CSK in just six matches this season, scoring seven runs and picking up six wickets.

Currently placed at the bottom of the table, the three-time champions will next take on Mumbai Indians on Friday in Sharjah.

Also Read: Batting is a worry for CSK: Dhoni

Also Read: Kings XI Punjab back in race after hiccups

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Business Economy

OPEC production cuts to go beyond December

Oil cartel OPEC may decide on extending the existing level of production cuts beyond December to keep the crude price stable next year. The chances are high as the extended run of Covid-19 pandemic threatens to keep demand under check over a longer period, though the global economy looks to reach closer normalcy next year.

Oil sector experts privy to the development said that an Ordinary Meeting of OPEC is scheduled in Vienna on November 30. This meeting, they said, may also discuss extension of production cuts beyond December and is likely to seal a deal in this regard after having few more parleys over next one month.

“Demand recovery reversal due to rising infections and/or Iran’s supply rise are risks to oil price but to counter these risks, OPEC+ can delay pruning of production cuts from 7.7 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd) to 5.8 mbpd to a later date or deepen cuts,” a research report by ICICI Securities has said.

Though oil is out of the woods with demand recovering from April 2020 lows and demand exceeding supply from June 2020, the fresh wave of the pandemic in Europe and increasing cases in US has thrown fresh concerns over normalcy returning to the market anytime soon.

Global crude oil price has moved between $40-42 per barrel range for last couple of months even through rising demand in recent months has created minor supply shortage of oil in the market.

According to US Energy Information Administration (EIA), global oil demand has exceeded supply since June 2020 with global supply deficit at 1.7-3.6 mbpd in June-September 2020 vs supply surplus of 19.5 mbpd in April 2020.

But concerns remain over continuation of demand rise into 2021 over the pandemic.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated global oil demand to rise by 5.5 mbpd YoY but supply rise is estimated at only 2 mbpd YoY in CY21E, assuming OPEC+ prunes cuts to 5.8 mbpd from January 2021 and Libyan output ramps up; thus, supply deficit of 1.2 mbpd is estimated in CY21E vs surplus of 2.2 mbpd in CY20E.

But according to ICICI Securities, these numbers may come under pressure if the pandemic run is extended. Therefore, experts said that OPEC decision will be closely watched as continuation production cuts would support oil prices if demand remains subdued.

Also Read: Challenges mar OPEC’s 60th anniversary

Also Read: OPEC Denotes Signs Of Improvement

Categories
Business

Global IT Spending Will Jump To $3.8 Tn In 2021: Gartner

Worldwide IT spending is projected to reach $3.8 trillion in 2021, an increase of four per cent from this year, according to a forecast by Gartner on Wednesday.

IT spending in 2020 is expected to total $3.6 trillion, down 5.4 per cent from 2019.

“In the 25 years that Gartner has been forecasting IT spending, never has there been a market with this much volatility,” said John-David Lovelock, Research Vice President at Gartner.

“While there have been unique stressors imposed on all industries as the ongoing pandemic unfolds, the enterprises that were already more digital going into the crisis are doing better and will continue to thrive going into 2021.”

Enterprise software is expected to have the strongest rebound in 2021 – 7.2 per cent due to the acceleration of digitalisation efforts by enterprises supporting a remote workforce, delivering virtual services such as distance learning or telehealth, and leveraging hyperautomation to ensure pandemic-driven demands are met.

Spending on data centre systems will experience the second highest of growth of 5.2 per cent in 2021 as hyperscalers accelerate global data center build out and regular organisations resume data centre expansion plans and allow staff to be physically back onsite.

Despite the increase in cloud activity in 2020 as organisations shifted to a remote-work-first environment, enterprise cloud spending – which falls into multiple categories – will not be reflected in vendors’ revenue until 2021.

“The spending slowdown that took place from roughly April through August of this year, coupled with cloud service providers’ ‘try before you buy’ programmes, is shifting cloud revenue out of 2020,” said Lovelock.

Also Read: FDI inflows to India witness 13% growth

Also Read: Global spending on cloud set to cross $1 trillion: Report