IT’s fresher hiring may double in FY25 on demand rebound

After a sluggish period, the IT sector is set for a significant recovery in fresher hiring, with projections indicating a nearly 100% increase in entry-level hires this year compared to the last. Several big IT firms have already announced plans to resume campus hiring and expand their workforce.

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ESTA 2024: ClaimBuddy wins by easing insurance claims pain for all

ClaimBuddy won this year’s Best on Campus category at The Economic Times Startup Awards, for aiming to solve the major issue of making the health insurance claim process more transparent and efficient. “ClaimBuddy is a commitment to ensure that patients receive the care they need without the added stress of navigating complex insurance processes," said Khet Singh Rajpurohit, cofounder of the company.

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Ayodhya schools closed amid heavy rains, check official notice here

The Ayodhya education officer announced that all schools (classes 1 to 12) will remain closed on September 28, 2024, due to heavy rainfall. If conditions improve, schools will reopen on October 30, 2024. The decision was made to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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Bits and Bytes: Meta unveils glasses pitched as smartphone rival and more

According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the bulky, black-framed prototype called ‘Orion’ is able to overlay holographic images on a wearer’s field of vision and is ultimately intended to rival the smartphone. “The right way to look at Orion is as a time machine,” Zuckerberg said.

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Small companies can now chase India's giant AI dreams

Sunil Gupta, chief executive of Yotta Data Services, which has placed a purchase order of 16,000 H100 GPUs from Nvidia and went live with 4,000 H100 GPUs a few months ago, concurred. “By lowering turnover thresholds and introducing greater flexibility in AI compute infrastructure requirements, the government has made it easier for a diverse range of players including and especially the startups in the AI services space to contribute to this mission.”

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Cisco opens manufacturing facility in Chennai

Cisco has partnered with Flex for building the Chennai factory to produce advanced telecom technologies. The facility will initially focus on Cisco’s Network Convergence System (NCS) 540 Series of routers, representing the first phase of the company’s multi-year investment plan.

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New owners of Ebix suspend chairman Robin Raina; kick off investigation into financial irregularities

Eraaya Lifespaces, which acquired Ebix for $151 million through a successful bidding process in August this year, also asked Raina and some of his top executives to refrain from contacting, writing to or intimidating any of the employees of Ebix.

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WeWork’s Rs 1,200-crore deal collapses; ETSA Bootstrap Champ winner Boult

Happy Friday! Bankruptcy-hit coworking firm WeWork Inc.’s plan to exit the India unit via a secondary stake sale has fallen through. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

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ETSA 2024 | ‘Bootstrap Champ’ Boult is marching to beat of its own drum

Boult, a brand known for wearables and electronic devices, prioritizes profitability over market share. Founded by brothers Varun and Tarun Gupta, Boult has grown rapidly without external capital. The company plans to diversify its product range and expand its offline presence while maintaining strong financial health.

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India can be intelligence capital of the world: Nvidia's Vishal Dhupar

Dhupar believes India is witnessing a growing adoption of accelerated computing infrastructure but needs more investments. To compete effectively in the AI race and become an AI powerhouse, India must invest heavily in building its computing capabilities, including servers, storage, and networking, he says.

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X releases its first transparency report since Elon Musk's takeover

Social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has published its first transparency report since Elon Musk's acquisition. The report reveals that nearly 5.3 million accounts were suspended and over 10.6 million posts were removed or labeled for violating platform rules in the first half of the year.

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Mumbai schools and colleges shut tomorrow amid IMD's heavy rain alert, BMC issues notice

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in Mumbai on Thursday, 26 September 2024, as a precautionary measure due to severe weather conditions. The India Meteorological Department has issued a Red Alert until tomorrow morning. Residents are advised to avoid leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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ETSA 2024: Haqdarshak takes government schemes to the needy via consultants

Haqdarshak was picked by the elite jury of The ET Startup Awards as the winner of the Social Enterprise category, which recognises a startup that best embodies the ‘double bottom-line’ model of combining profit and public good.

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Mukesh Bansal’s new startup Nurix AI raises $27.5 million from Accel, General Catalyst

The new company, Nurix AI, which builds custom AI agents for enterprise services like sales and customer support in initial use cases, was incubated in Bansal’s startup incubator Meraki Labs and now has about 20 people in the team.

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Operational tech roles log 20% surge in demand

Infrastructure projects, particularly the government's smart city initiative, have spurred an 11% rise in OT hiring, Sharma said. The focus on process automation and regulatory compliance in the chemical and pharmaceuticals sector resulted in an 8-10% growth in OT positions. Smart manufacturing and autonomous vehicle technologies in the automotive sector led to a 12% increase.

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ETSA 2024: Need stronger collaboration between private investors and govt to support deeptech startups: BrainSight AI founder Laina Emmanuel

As part of a series of interviews with the winners of The Economic Times Startup Awards 2024, ‘Top Innovator’ award winner BrainSight AI’s founder Laina Emmanuel talks about the firm’s journey so far.

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KEA VAO 2024 hall ticket out at cetonline.karnataka.gov.in: Direct link to download here

The Karnataka Examination Authority has released admit cards for the Village Administrative Officer recruitment exam. Candidates can download their hall tickets from the official website. The mandatory Kannada Language Exam is set for September 29, 2024, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. This recruitment drive aims to fill 1,000 VAO positions in Karnataka's administrative framework.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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Bits & Bytes: Meta beats lawsuit over Apple privacy

In a decision, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers also rejected claims that Meta concealed former COO Sheryl Sandberg’s use of company resources on personal matters, including her wedding and her book Lean In.

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X names Brazil legal representative as it fights ban in the country

Andre Zonaro and Sergio Rosenthal, who were recently appointed as X's lawyers in Brazil, told Reuters that colleague Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao was chosen as the firm's legal representative, and that they had submitted her name to the Supreme Court.

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Top startup and tech stories this week

Welcome to a new edition of ETtech Unwrapped – our weekend newsletter packed with the most important stories from this week. Let’s take a look.

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Michelin to lay foundation stone for passenger car tyre facility at TN plant

"India is a very big market and (there are) many Indias within India," Gaganjot Singh, president and managing director - Africa, India and Middle East at Michelin, said. "We cater to the premium segment (and) we believe that we are achieving a critical mass in the premium segment, which is now going to grow significantly in the years to come."

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Aye Finance set to secure Rs 250 crore in a fresh round

Once the deal is closed, Aye Finance’s net worth would reach Rs 1,250 crore, on the basis of which it can raise further debt from its lending partners. Founded in 2014, the lender focused on small and medium enterprises is backed by Alphabet’s growth fund Capital G, Elevation Capital and others. Its initial investors are not participating in this round.

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Cognizant CMO quits, Thea Hayden to take interim position

Thea Hayden, senior vice president of Global Marketing, a 25-year marketing veteran and seasoned Cognizant executive, will serve as the interim Chief Marketing Officer.

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While doubling India headcount, Salesforce also facilitated 65,000 internships: Arundhati Bhattacharya

Bhattacharya said, “We have an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with AICTE for providing 200,000 internships, of which we have already done 65,000. So these internships are for three months - one and a half months virtual, one and a half months on the ground, in location.”

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Recruitment platform Vahan raises $10 million in funding led by Khosla Ventures

The round also saw participation from Y Combinator, US-based VC firm Gaingels, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of Paytm, among others. Vahan's ‘AI Recruiter’ conducts interviews in English and Hindi and will be expanded to eight major Indian languages and several hundred dialects within the next year.

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Banks step up vigil on fraudulent account opening via digital banking channels

“Some of the largest banks in the country could be processing around Rs 300-400 crore worth of fraudulent transactions through mule accounts on a monthly basis; for mid-tier banks, the amount could be around Rs 50-100 crore," a senior banker with a private sector bank said on the condition of anonymity.

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Livspace to file for domicile flip from Singapore for IPO in 2025-26

Ikea-backed Livspace is set to become the latest startup to file for flipping its domicile to India from Singapore and has secured the board’s in-principle approval for the same, founder Ramakant Sharma told ET. The home decor startup plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2025 or early 2026, but the timeline is subject to change.

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Snap unveils fifth Gen AR glasses Spectacles at Snap Partners Summit 2024

This comes days ahead of rival Meta set to showcase its AR glasses at the Meta Connect conference and Apple Inc having set the stage for its AR glasses that have reportedly been under development.

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Lightspeed may lead $50-60 million round in healthcare company Qure AI

Venture capital fund Lightspeed will lead a $50-60 million investment in Qure.ai through its growth fund. Sources said the VC fund will invest around $20-25 million in the AI company and is looking to buy some secondary shares as well.

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Infosys, Wipro to start fintech hubs in GIFT City’s IFSC under Techfin framework

Both companies have taken large office spaces within the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to set up their operations under the TechFin framework, through which they will focus on services aligned with financial technology catering to their global clients.

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Tally is at work on new accounting platform for small businesses

Bengaluru-based Tally Solutions, a software solutions provider for small businesses, is planning a larger financial services play, intending to get into financial reconciliation, credit offerings, and an integrated tax filing service.

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NIOS Hall Ticket for Secondary and Senior Secondary courses for Oct/Nov 2024 Public Exams out at sdmis.nios.ac.in: Direct link here

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has released admit cards for the October/November 2024 practical examinations. Students can download their hall tickets from sdmis.nios.ac.in. The practical exams for classes 10 and 12 will take place from September 20 to October 7, 2024. Admit cards are required for entry into the exam center.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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The missing layer of the India stack

Given our population and a proven track record of providing talent for global IT, why is India at risk of missing the AI bus? Most global travellers would vouch for the fact that no other country is as digitally savvy and inclusive as India. With hundreds of millions online, we also have the largest and most active user base for the biggest technology companies in the world.

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Bits & Bytes: Huawei shows the world its $2,800 ‘trifold’ phone

The technology giant unveiled its Mate XT, the first tri-foldable phone, just hours after Apple introduced its AI-enhanced iPhone 16.“Apple hasn’t fallen, but Huawei has truly risen again,” commented one user on Weibo, China’s equivalent to X. Another wrote: “Times are changing. US sanctions have been in vain.”

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Apple’s watch series 10: a powerhouse that goes beyond monitoring

Series 10 boasts of Apple’s largest and most advanced display. It has 30% more screen area, a 40% brighter display, which improves visibility and readability, and an OLED screen that’s very power-efficient. Series 10 is also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, at 9.7 millimeters. A metal back integrates the antenna into the housing, improving cellular performance and maintaining 50-metre water resistance.

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OpenAI's $150 billion valuation hinges on upending corporate structure

OpenAI is set to raise $6.5 billion through convertible notes, contingent on restructuring its corporate structure and removing a profit cap for investors. The funding round, valuing OpenAI at $150 billion, has strong investor interest from Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Sequoia Capital.

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Winners of ET Startup Awards 2024; and other top stories this week

We at ETtech were neck-deep preparing for the past few months to bring to you the tenth edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA). We reached out to more than 150 of the country’s top entrepreneurs, investors and other stakeholders to compile a list of the best entrepreneurial talent. Then we distilled it to arrive at the final nominees.

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‘Sachet’ covers now guard against cyber fraudsters using AI

A recent study by Deloitte said that India’s cyber insurance market worth $50–60 million in 2023 is expected to grow at an annual rate of 27–30% in the next five years.

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ET Startup Awards 2024 | Top Innovator: BrainSight AI forces a rethink

Founded in 2020, when the entire health sector was focused on fighting the pandemic, the startup had a tough time convincing hospitals to let it test its hypothesis and explaining the potential upsides of the software to top neurologists in the country.

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ET Startup Awards 2024 | Best on Campus: ClaimBuddy stays on pulse to take home campus star prize

The startup that provides digital infrastructure to hospitals for processing insurance claims and assists patients in getting faster pay-outs was praised for its mission to improve a massive pain point for users.

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Wealthtech startup Centricity raises $20 million in round led by Lightspeed India Partners

Returning investors Burman Family Office and Shantanu Agarwal, among others, participated. The startup, now valued at $125 million, had earlier raised $4 million in September 2022, in a round led by the Burman Family Office at a $20 million valuation. The fresh funds will be used to scale its platforms Invictus and One Digital.

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Ex-Google executive said goal was to 'crush' competition, trial evidence shows

The statements underscored the US Department of Justice's claim that Google has sought to monopolize markets for publisher ad servers and advertiser ad networks, and tried to dominate the market for ad exchanges which sit in the middle.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: Startups with impact and a sustainable vision to take the prize

For the ET Startup Awards 2024, jury members from across the globe will come together on September 11 to recognise the brightest and best entrepreneurial talent.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: Nominees for Midas Touch

The award will recognise the most lucrative exit in the year. The decision will be made based on the volume of deals as well as the size of the exit.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: Nominees for Startup of the Year

The ET Startup of the Year will be characterised by breakthrough innovation, top-class execution and fast-paced growth. The quality of the founding and management team was an important component in decision making.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: Nominees for Social Enterprise

With this category, we intend to recognise the startup that best embodies the ‘double bottomline’ model, one that combines profits with the public good.

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Country roads take top tech companies to labyrinths of GST notices

Tax experts say unlike Income Tax, IT companies have to do their GST registration for every state where they have opened their offices and branches. These orders are all related to cases of FY20, whose due date was on August 31, 2024, and thus the reasons for a flurry of notices before the due date. In some cases, IT firms also delayed their filings with BSE because of the coincidence of weekend falling on last month’s end.

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Not enough cabs to meet rising demand: Uber India president

While Uber and Ola continue to dominate app-based taxi service in India, they are facing increasing rivalry from newer players such as WestBridge Capital-backed Rapido, which recently closed a $200-million funding round, BluSmart, Namma Yatri and InDrive among others.Uber has more than 1.1 million active drivers on its platform in India and the number is growing continuously, Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia told ET.

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Apple unveils new iPhone built for AI

Apple on Monday announced a new iPhone built for generative artificial intelligence as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technology race. "Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced in June at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. "For years, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been essential in delivering so many of the features and experiences you love," Cook said.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: Nominees for Comeback Kid

This award celebrates failure and recognises those who have survived to tell the tale. It will be given to entrepreneurs who rebuilt or launched a more successful business.

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DU NCWEB admission 2024 third cut-off list released: Check details here

The Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board of Delhi University (DU NCWEB) has issued the 3rd cut-off list for the admissions to BA and BCom courses. Students can visit the official website of NCWEB or DU to check and third cut-off list 2024. As per the details, the admission process has already begun.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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NITTT September 2024 admit card released: Check direct link here

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released admit cards for the NITTT exam 2024. Candidates can download them from nittt.nta.ac.in. The exam will be held on September 14, 15, 28, and 29, 2024, in two shifts. Candidates can find the direct link to the admit card and other important details here.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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A vast majority of young professionals fear AI disruption: survey

With artificial intelligence becoming more pervasive, insecurities over job displacement have emerged as a major concern. A survey finds artificial intelligence and machine learning to be the most sought-after skills in FY25, as many seek to upskill to remain relevant.

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Hornbill Orchid in talks to lead PhysicsWallah's $150-million funding at $2.8 billion valuation

This will be the second funding round for PhysicsWallah, started by Alakh Pandey, a popular teacher, in 2016 as a YouTube channel providing coaching for engineering and medical entrance tests. In 2022, the profitable edtech firm raised $102 million at a $1.1-billion valuation from WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures in its maiden funding round.

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Zepto in talks with investment banks for potential IPO next year

The Mumbai-based startup is also talking to domestic investment banks for a potential listing of shares by August next year, one of the people said. Swiggy, the parent of Zepto’s rival Instamart, is also readying to hit the public market later this year with a $1.25 billion IPO. Its other bigger competitor, Blinkit, is owned by Zomato, a listed company since 2021.

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After a lull, industrial metaverse adoption picking up across industries: Experts

Industry executives and experts said the industrial metaverse--which refers to the digital world that mirrors the physical world, leveraging the technologies--has found the right price points to generate good returns on investment (RoI) with supporting technologies scaling up. “Industrial metaverse has gone through its waves,” said Sreenivasa Chakravarti, vice president, IOT and digital engineering, TCS.

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Maharashtra says Tower-Adani to set up $10 billion semiconductor unit

The Maharashtra cabinet has approved a $10-billion investment by a Tower Semiconductor-Adani Group joint venture to establish a semiconductor chip manufacturing unit in Taloja, Panvel. The project will have an initial capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month, expanding to 80,000 WSPM in the second phase.

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Newer systems being added to astronaut training facility in Bengaluru: VSSC director

Unnikrishnan Nair, director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) told ET, “The building near UR Rao Satellite Centre on Old Airport Road is in place and certain systems are already in place. But we are adding more simulators. The four astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan Mission received generic Space training in Russia. The training they receive at this facility is specific to Gaganyaan.”

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RecommerceX raises $3.6 million in round led by Accel, Kae Capital

The chemical recycling and sustainability startup will use the funds to expand the team, develop tech platform, push R&D for advanced material recovery, and scale its operations. RecommerceX targets medium to large manufacturing companies and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms as its primary customers.

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Margin focus pushes Indian IT firms away from subcontractors

In FY24, subcontracting costs hit their lowest levels in years: TCS at 6.20% of its revenue (the lowest since FY16), Infosys at 7.70% (lowest since FY21), Wipro at 11.50% (lowest since FY16), and Tech Mahindra at 12.60% (lowest since FY19), according to company data.

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WazirX parent looking for ‘white knights’ to rescue crypto exchange

“There are several ideas from ‘white knights’ to collaborate … there are creative ways to do this rather than acquiring the platform (by a third party), which is not possible in this case because the ownership is disputed,” WazirX cofounder and CEO Nischal Shetty said in a townhall on Monday.

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Harman's predictive analytics platform ForecastGPT is live

ForecastGPT, a predictive analytics platform allows organisations to forecast sales, supply chain and financial planning across industries such as retail. Being able to accurately predict future trends, allows businesses to optimise resource allocation, and enhance overall business performance. It is designed for businesses that operate in dynamic and uncertain markets, where demand and supply can vary significantly.

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BigEndian Semiconductors raised $3 million in a funding round led by Vertex Ventures SEA & India

Founded in 2024 by Kumar, Renuka Prasad, Harpreet Wadhawan, Dinesh Annayya, Kanagaraju Ponnusamy, and Jansen Cheng, the Bengaluru-based startup aims to develop homegrown semiconductor IP in India, with plans to launch its surveillance system-on-chip (SoC) solution. The company currently employs about 18 people.

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Studying Computer Science at Oxford University: All about course structure, eligibility criteria and fees

The University of Oxford offers a highly esteemed Computer Science program, ranked 4th globally by QS in 2025. This rigorous course provides a strong foundation in both theory and practice, with opportunities for specialization. Graduates are highly sought after by top employers like Google and Microsoft. The program also offers flexible course options, competitive admission requirements, and a diverse fee structure based on residency.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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HCLTech, Wipro see discretionary spends uptick in BFSI sector

In a pleasant surprise for the industry, two of the top four Indian IT companies, HCLTech and Wipro, are ramping up discretionary spends in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) segment. Experts, anticipating a rate cut in September, are hoping the revival of discretionary spending will be widespread in the next two quarters.

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PayU eyes full-stack consumer payments through its LazyPay

Digital payments company PayU is looking to expand its consumer fintech offerings through LazyPay, while maintaining its core focus on merchant payments. The Naspers-owned fintech firm plans to leverage LazyPay to develop a consumer payments and credit platform. CEO Anirban Mukherjee said PayU is anticipating regulations on allowing nonbank lenders on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for tapping credit opportunities.

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