Author: Newsdesk

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Sport

Barca extends player contracts

Barcelona's Gerard Pique

FC Barcelona has extended the contracts of Gerard Pique, Marc ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong and Clement Lenglet.

Pique has extended his contract until June 20, 2024 and his buy-out clause stands at 500 million euros, the club confirmed in a statement. The extension is subject to the player making a certain number of appearances from the 2021-22 season. He is in his 13th season with the first team having made a total of 548 appearances.

ter Stegen has extended his contract until June 30, 2025 and his buy-out clause is set at 500 million euros. As such German goalkeeper will spend more than a decade as a Barca player. The international has made 236 appearances for the club so far in is career.

de Jong has extended his contract until June 30, 2026 and his buy-out clause stands at 400 million euros. The 23 year old Dutch midfielder has played 47 games for Barca and this season.

Lenglet has extended his contract until June 30, 2026 and his buy-out clause stands at 300 million euros. The 25 year old French defender has made 89 official appearances in Barca shirt.

“These agreements have been reached following weeks of negotiations and include a temporary salary adjustment due to the current circumstances brought about the Covid-19 induced crisis,” the club statement read.

Also Read: Messi no-show at Barca training camp

Also Read: Xavi a Future Coach: Barca Chief

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Business

FDI inflows to India witness 13% growth

FDI inflows into India have increased by 13 per cent during April to August 2020 on a year-on-year basis, official data showed on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, $35.73 billion has been received during the period under review.

“It is the highest ever for first 5 months of a financial year and 13 per cent higher as compared to first five months of 2019-20 ($31.60 billion),” the ministry said in a statement.

“FDI equity inflow received during F.Y. 2020-21 (April to August, 2020) is $27.10 billion. It is also the highest ever for first 5 months of a financial year and 16 per cent more compared to first five months of 2019-20 ($23.35 billion).”

Besides, the ministry’s data showed that FDI inflows have risen by 55 per cent during the last 6 years.

“Total FDI inflow grew by 55 per cent, i.e. from $231.37 billion in 2008-14 to $358.29 billion in 2014-20,” the statement said.

“FDI equity inflow also increased by 57 per cent from $160.46 billion during 2008-14 to $252.42 billion (2014-20).”

“Continuing on the path of FDI liberalisation and simplification, Government has carried out FDI reforms across various sectors,” the statement added.

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

Also Read: IMF Foresees Steep Fall And Rise For India’s GDP

Categories
Business

Snapchat registers 52% growth in revenues

Snapchat saw its daily active user base jump to touch 249 million, from 238 million in last quarter, as the company registered a 52 per cent increase in revenue at $679 million in its third quarter.

The stock of its parent company Snap rose 17.1 per cent after bumper quarter results. Operating cash flow improved by $21 million to $55 million in Q3 compared to the prior year.

“Our focus on delivering value for our community and advertising partners is yielding positive results during this challenging time. We’re excited about the growth of our business in Q3 as we continue to make long-term investments in our future,” CEO Evan Spiegel said in a statement late on Tuesday.

“The adoption of augmented reality (AR) is happening faster than we had previously anticipated, and we are working together as a team to execute on the many opportunities in front of us,” he added.

The average number of Snaps created every day grew 25 per cent year-over-year.

Total daily time spent by Snapchatters watching Shows increased by over 50 per cent year-over-year in its third quarter.

“The daily average number of Snapchatters in India watching Discover content increased by nearly 50 per cent sequentially in Q3 2020,” the company announced.

As of the end of Q3, over 1.5 million Lenses have been created through Lens Studio.

“Our ‘Anime Style’ Lens powered by real time machine learning was engaged with 3 billion times in its first week,” the company informed.

Snap said it helped over one million Snapchatters with voter registration for the 2020 US election through its ‘Register to Vote’ Mini, developed in partnership with Democracy Works.

Also Read: IBM revenues decline for the 3rd quarter in a row

Also Read: Apple expected to grow 15% riding on 5G wave

Read More: Semi Urban, Tier 2 Markets Driving Growth: Honor India Head

Categories
UAE News

Emirates Post Launches Stamps on Hope Probe

Emirates Post, in collaboration with Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and the UAE Space Agency, issued on Tuesday the distinctive commemorative stamp ‘Emirates Mars Mission – Hope Probe’ to celebrate the UAE’s historic first mission to the Mars and its broader space ambitions.

The commemorative stamps feature four different images, two of which illustrate the design of the satellite and other two the historic moment of its launch into space.

The initial run of the commemorative stamps comprises of 1,00,000 stamps along with 1,000 First Day Cover Sheets, available for sale from 20th October at the Emirates Post Central Customer Happiness Centres and on Emirates Post’s dedicated webshop emiratespostshop.ae.

The Hope Probe is designed to orbit Mars and study the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere on a global scale, and on both diurnal and seasonal timescales. The Probe is anticipated to enter the Mars orbit in February 2021, coinciding with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations to mark the historic union of the Emirates.

Also Read: Hope Probe completes 100 Mn Kilo Metres

Categories
-Top News UK News

Asian Lite Daily Digital – October 21, 2020 – No 10 Vs North as Boris puts MCR into Tier 3

No 10 Vs North as Boris puts MCR into Tier 3; Thousands support local businesses through Pay It Forward London; UNICEF Prepares For Efficient Delivery of Covid Vaccine; Pakistan, Turkey Meddling Disrupts Armenia-Azerbaijan Ceasefire; COVID-19: Modi Alerts Nation To Remain Vigilant – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital – please click here to read.

Categories
-Top News Arab News

Asian Lite Daily Digital – October 21, 2020 – Dubai Reopens Top Attractions

Dubai Reopens Top Attractions; UAE among top global commodity trading hubs; UNICEF Prepares For Efficient Delivery of Covid Vaccine; Pakistan, Turkey Meddling Disrupts Armenia-Azerbaijan Ceasefire; COVID-19: Modi Alerts Nation To Remain Vigilant – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital – please click here to read.

Categories
Business

India’s hiring activity down by 30%

The hiring activity in India saw a 30 per cent decrease in the June quarter compared to the same period last year as the country saw a rise in contractual jobs, a new report said on Tuesday.

However, the June quarter witnessed a 13 per cent increase in the number of work-from-home jobs as compared to Q2 2019.

Furthermore, the demand for contract workforce increased by 11 per cent in Q2 from the same period last year, while the demand for full-time employees decreased by 13.8 per cent, according to data from SCIKEY talent commerce platform, a talent marketplace.

IT and IT Services sectors indicated recovery in contractual jobs in the June quarter.

“Cloud businesses and digital transformation is the need of the hour and one of the top most requirements for all industries to adapt to the new normal,” said Karunjit Kumar Dhir, Co-Founder SCIKEY.

“This will definitely have a positive impact on the hiring sentiments among techies who will now look for jobs in India especially due to the strain in H-1B visas”.

The pandemic has given rise to a huge number of contract workers for a plug and play model allowing companies to reduce their hiring costs.

In the packaging, IT, telecom and ecommerce industry, some of the top job roles companies are looking for are developer, analyst, management profiles, tester, engineer, senior and consultants.

An earlier study from the company found that there was an uptick in hiring senior executives in India compared to freshers and mid-level executives in the pandemic period (April to July) as the enterprises looked to invest in talent at the very top levels.

Indian companies hired 72 per cent of top executives as compared to 28 per cent of freshers and mid-level executives in the reported period.

Also Read: Indian e-com to garner $6.5bn in festive sales: Report

Also Read: IMF Foresees Steep Fall And Rise For India’s GDP

Read More: Demand in China boosts Indian steel industry

Categories
Cricket

Virgil van Dijk’s injury a big blow: Henderson

Virgil van Dijk. (Photo: Twitter/@VirgilvDijk)

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has admitted that the loss of Virgil van Dijk is a big blow for the Reds.

The Reds’ No.4 requires surgery on the knee injury he sustained during last Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and has stated in a post on social media that he is now focused fully on returning to fitness as soon as possible.

“Yeah, it’s a tough one. It’s a big blow for us. For him personally, obviously. But for us as a team, a massive blow,” Henderson told Liverpoolfc.com.

“I’m just gutted for him. So, it’s been a tough couple of days, I spoke to him yesterday. And yeah, it’s a difficult moment, but that’s when you need to be there for each other. I’ll be there as much as I possibly can for him, I’m sure the lads will do the same and his family certainly will, to help him through the journey he’ll go on,” he added.

Jordan Henderson (L) with Virgil van Dijk

Meanwhile, manager Jurgen Klopp has said they will do everything possible to support van Dijk throughout his rehabilitation period. Klopp has been in touch with van Dijk and reported that the Dutchman is feeling ‘OK’.

“It’s always the same, players love to be rather on their own in the moment and to deal in the first moment with it. I am long enough in the business to know that. I was injured myself, I had exactly the same injury if I’m right and it’s not then that you are then pretty chatty,” Klopp said.

“It all will start but we are in contact, of course, we are in contact. We are there for him, he knows that and we will wait for him like a good wife is waiting when the husband is in jail and will do, meanwhile, all what we can do to make it as easy for him as possible,” he added.

Also Read: Virgil van Dijk needs surgery: Liverpool

Categories
Business

IBM revenues decline for the 3rd quarter in a row

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.

Reporting sales declines for three straight quarters, IBM has posted $17.6 billion in revenue in the third quarter of this year, compared to $18 billion for the same period last year.

The company’s shares fell 2.7 per cent in extended trading on Monday after third quarter results were announced.

However, its Cloud and cognitive software revenue rose seven per cent in the quarter.

For the third quarter, total cloud revenue reached $6 billion, an increase of 19 per cent.

“The strong performance of our cloud business, led by Red Hat, underscores the growing client adoption of our open hybrid cloud platform,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

IBM acquired enterprise software company Red Hat last year for $34 billion.

Red Hat revenue for the quarter increased 17 per cent, said IBM which earlier this month announced that it will separate its managed infrastructure services unit of its global technology services division into a new public company.

“Separating the managed infrastructure services business creates a market-leading standalone company and further sharpens our focus on IBM’s open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities,” the IBM CEO said.

“This will accelerate our growth strategy and better position IBM to seize the $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity,” he added.

The company’s third quarter results showed that global business services which include consulting, application management and global process services posted revenues of $4 billion, down five per cent driven by declines in application management and consulting.

Its global technology services revenues hit $6.5 billion, down four per cent, the company said.

“In the third quarter we continued to deliver strong gross profit margin expansion, generated solid free cash flow and maintained a sound capital structure with ample liquidity,” said James Kavanaugh, IBM Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

“We have the necessary financial flexibility to increase our investments in hybrid cloud and AI technology innovation and skills, while remaining committed to our long-standing dividend policy.”

Also Read: ‘Accenture Cloud First’ gets $3 Billion Investment

Also Read: Wipro, IBM Partner To Offer Cloud Solutions

Categories
Cricket Sport

‘This season we weren’t really there’

CSK Skipper MS Dhoni

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday seemed resigned to his fate after a seven-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) that pushed his team to the brink of ouster, even as he admitted that “this season we weren’t really there”.

“It’s not always supposed to go your way. That’s why what we try is going back to the process and see if the process is wrong or maybe we weren’t able to execute. Result is always a by-product of the process. What it does is it helps you think in a positive way,” Dhoni said after the match.

“We play in front of millions of people so there is nothing to hide. The fact remains that if you’re busy with the process then the undue pressure of results doesn’t get into the dressing room. We’ve tried a few things. That’s one thing you don’t want to do; you don’t want to chop and change a lot, because what happens is after three-four-five games you’re not sure of anything,” he said.

Dhoni hinted that in the four matches left in the league phase, youngsters in the squad would get to play.

“You want to give guys a fair go then if they’re not performing then you switch and go to someone else and give them a run. Insecurity is something you don’t want to prevail in the dressing room. Fair enough, this season we weren’t really there,” he said.

“Also there were few chances to the youngsters. Maybe we didn’t see the kind of spark that they could’ve given us to say ‘okay, you know, push the experienced guys and make space for them’. But what this result has done is give those youngsters whatever is left in our league stages. They will get a chance and have no real pressure on them so they can go out and express themselves. And give us the option of looking at the other options in the batting line-up or where they’d like to bat.”

Also Read: ‘Couldn’t Do Ordinary Stuff With MS Dhoni Around’

Also Read: Dhoni among cricket’s greatest captains: Greg Chappel