Judge declines to block Elon Musk $1 million voter giveaway as billionaire seeks to move case

A Pennsylvania state judge delays a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk's $1 million voter giveaway, which supports Donald Trump. District Attorney Larry Krasner seeks to halt the giveaway, alleging it is an illegal lottery scheme. Musk faces criticism for potentially influencing the upcoming election.

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Silver lining amid funding winter: IT firms acquiring Indian startups, smaller firms

Most of them are making acquisitions to strengthen their capabilities so that they do not miss out when technology spending, especially in discretionary spends, returns, say analysts.

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Cognizant Q3 profit up 2.8% sequentially; full year guidance revised up

The Nasdaq-listed technology major saw its third quarter revenue growing by 4% sequentially at $5 billion. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the revenue was up 3%.

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Payments firms slash cashbacks, incentives on funding drought

Consumer payment companies like PhonePe, Paytm, Amazon Pay, and Cred have significantly reduced their marketing expenditures and customer incentives, reflecting a maturing digital payments market in India. This trend indicates a shift from aggressive customer acquisition strategies to a more sustainable approach focused on profitability.

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Country Delight raises Rs 200 crore in debt from Alteria Capital

Earlier this year, it raised around Rs 164 crore in equity funding from Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, giving it a valuation of $804 million as of July 31. The direct-to-consumer fresh foods brand will use the fresh funds to drive its expansion, brand marketing efforts and capacity addition.

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New rules on data protection likely to be notified soon

During a meeting earlier this month with various industry stakeholders, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) made efforts to iron out concerns about potential business disruptions once the rules are issued, a senior official told ET.

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Catwalk goes canine in this festival season pet gala

The evolving pet parenting culture in India is driving a surge in the pet fashion market. This festive season, sales of pet fashion items like sherwanis, kurtas, lehengas, and accessories have doubled. Brands are competing for a share of this growing market, which is expected to reach Rs 500 crore in the next five years.

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Edu-wealth startup Zinc raises $25.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, others

The Singapore-headquartered company founded by the former PayU Credit chief Prashanth Ranganathan plans to use the funds for product innovation, expand its offerings and obtain financial licences to help families save and invest for their children's global education.

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Tatas to enter red-hot quick commerce space with ‘Neu Flash’

Joining Flipkart and Reliance Industries, salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is set to enter the ever-growing quick commerce sector as customer demand rages in metros. People in the know said Tata’s ecommerce venture Neu will enter the fast delivery segment branded as Neu Flash. It will be rolled out to select users offering grocery, electronics and fashion.

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AI companies need to be worried about cyber threats, model pollution

Artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta, are increasingly concerned about protecting their large language models (LLMs) from cyber threats. The focus is on protection, recovery, data portability, and data intelligence and working with other security companies to provide comprehensive solutions.

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TSMC suspended shipments to China firm after chip found on Huawei processor, sources say

This move comes amid ongoing U.S. restrictions on Huawei, which is prohibited from accessing U.S. technology. TSMC, as a major supplier to Huawei, is under scrutiny to ensure compliance with these restrictions.

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Indian IT must hitch an AI ride to front office: Nvidia's Jensen Huang

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, urged the Indian IT industry to leverage its strengths in AI to transform into a leading global innovation hub. He advocated for regulatory measures for AI and highlighted its potential to boost productivity, particularly in agriculture, without replacing human jobs.

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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 this week. Let’s take a look.

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Apple's Q3 China smartphone sales slip, Huawei's soar

Apple's iPhone sales in China fell slightly by 0.3% in Q3 2024, while Huawei surged by 42%, capturing a 15.3% market share. Apple's market share dropped to 15.6%, as Vivo led with 18.6%. Huawei's Mate 60 series and Pura 70 model intensified competition. Overall, China’s smartphone sales rose 3.2%.

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Apple supplier Jabil eyes expansion; Ixigo, Go Digit financials

Apple supplier Jabil plans to expand operations in India, one of the world's fastest-growing markets for iPhones. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

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Healthify raises $20 million in round led by Khosla Ventures, LeapFrog Investments

Claypond Capital, Manipal Group chairman Ranjan Pai’s family office, also participated in funding for the health and wellness startup, formerly known as Healthifyme. To date, the company has raised $125 million in primary equity.

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NPCI curbs on unauthorised use of UPI IDs by fintech companies

NPCI has shot off a letter to banks and fintechs asking them to refrain from using the UPI system for any form of service other than payment settlements and account validation. Fintech startups use the UPI ID to find out the name of the customer, the status of the bank account, alternate UPI IDs, and also verify the mobile number of the customer.

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AI adoption hinges on cultural shift, says Google Cloud exec

Caroline Yap, managing director, global AI business, Google Cloud, said the company has been working with C-level leaders to understand their business value journeys and help map out how to apply the technology.

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Even Healthcare raises $30 million in funding led by Khosla Ventures

The round saw participation from other US-based investors such as Founders Fund, 8VC and Lachy Groom. The company plans to use the funds to launch hospitals in Bengaluru and scale up patient care to become a fully integrated healthcare provider.

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Avaana logs final close of $135-million climate fund

This fund aims to invest in 20-25 early-stage companies working on solutions for energy transition, supply chain, resources, industrial decarbonization, and food systems.

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Paytm receives approval from NPCI to onboard new UPI users

Paytm parent firm One 97 Communications said on October 22 that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has given approval to the company to onboard new UPI users.

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India turning a C-suite magnet with quality talent: Snowflake CEO

Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of cloud data analytics company, Snowflake, says India is rapidly emerging as the hub of top business decision makers.

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AI startup Neysa raises $30 million in funding round led by NTTVC, others

The company's founder Sharad Sanghi, said the funds will be used for scaling up infrastructure and fuel research and development to democratise access to scalable AI solutions. The startup expects a growth of 200-300% next year, aiming to almost treble its revenue.

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Logistics firm Shadowfax eyes $50 million, doubling value to $700 million

Shadowfax is finalising a Rs 350-400 crore funding round, likely to value the company at Rs 5,500-6,000 crore, with this round being its last private funding before an initial public offering (IPO), according to sources. In February, Shadowfax secured $100 million in funding, comprising primary and secondary investments led by TPG NewQuest, valuing the company at $350 million.

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Dairy tech firm Stellapps raises $26 million in a mix of equity and debt

Stellapps, a dairy technology solutions startup, will use the funds for expanding Stellapps' mooMark business, which focuses on contract manufacturing and private-label dairy operations. Founded in 2011, the Bengaluru-based firm is a farm-to-consumer dairy digitisation service provider.

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Bits & Bytes: Meta’s oversight board seeks public comments on hate speech moderation

Meta is seeking public input on its handling of immigration-related content that might harm immigrants while Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed concerns to Donald Trump about EU-imposed financial penalties on the company. Additionally, the US has relaxed export restrictions for certain satellite and spacecraft-related items to allies. Finally, Britain's media regulator will outline specific actions social media companies must take to address illegal content.

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Boom time for spiritual apps: Diwali set for surge in user activity

Online devotional platforms see business booming this month amid burgeoning demand for new offerings launched during Navratri.

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Meta releases AI model that can check other AI models' work

The release follows Meta's introduction of the tool in an August paper, which detailed how it relies upon the same "chain of thought" technique used by OpenAI's recently released o1 models to get it to make reliable judgments about models' responses.

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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 this week. Let’s take a look.

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Quick commerce’s burning brighter as players add more fuel

Zomato's decision to raise additional funds via QIP, despite holding $1.5 billion in cash, has sparked intrigue in the quick commerce sector, with some viewing it as a strategic move to overshadow Swiggy's impending IPO. The slug of capital that will be needed to sustain growth in the high-burn quick commerce sector is resembling the trajectory of ecommerce a decade ago.

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P2P startups look to overhaul biz, processes amidst RBI crackdown

Peer-to-peer lending startups are still coming to terms with the latest observations on the sector released by the RBI on August 16. At the same time, they are also dealing with regulatory action against violations. Many P2P platforms are working on restricting withdrawals and also overhauling their entire product journey to abide by stringent RBI rules on the sector.

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Tata Electronics served show cause notice over fire mishap

The Directorate of Industrial Health and Safety (DISH) has demanded an explanation from the company’s occupier and factory manager regarding the incident. Tata Electronics has one week to respond, unless an extension is requested.

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MeitY extends deadline for Rs 10,000 crore GPU tender to Nov 12 amid industry concerns

The tender aims to establish public AI cloud infrastructure with more than 10,000 GPUs through a public-private partnership. Some companies raised concerns about energy efficiency requirements, but the tender remains unchanged for now.

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Eldercare startup Primus Senior Living raises $20 million from General Catalyst, others

General Catalyst brought in $7 million, while Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath and investment firm Gruhas invested the remaining $13 million. Primus delivers healthcare, wellness, lifestyle, and social engagement services to elders at their homes.

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Samsung workers call off strike: TN labour dept

Under the agreements among the parties, workers would not be victimised for participating in the strike, the department said. Workers said they would cooperate with the management fully and would not do any such acts "prejudicial to the interest of the management".

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Footwear startup Yoho bags Rs 27 crore, eyes offline and international expansion

The funds will be used to support growth initiatives, research and development, marketing efforts, recruitment, and offline expansion. It last raised Rs 20 crore in October 2022. “Our core target audience is 28 to 40 years old, who like colour and style, value comfort, and don't just go for fashion,” cofounder Prateek Singhal told ET.

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TCS second quarter results signal deal growth impact only by FY26

The Tata subsidiary missed market estimates for the July to September quarter net profit after reporting a 1.08% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline at Rs 11,909 crore.

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Furniture rental startup Rentomojo nears Rs 200 crore FY24 operating revenue

Rentomojo reported a 60% rise in operating revenue to Rs 193 crore in FY24. Controlled rise in expenses during the year saw net profit surge more than threefold to Rs 22 crore last fiscal from Rs 6 crore in FY23.

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MCC NEET UG 2024 Round 3 counselling result out for MBBS, BDS, BSc Nursing courses: Direct link, next steps to follow

The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has published the NEET UG 2024 round three seat allotment results on its official website. Candidates must report to their assigned institutes between October 14 and 19 to secure their seats. Unplaced candidates will advance to the stray vacancy round.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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From Sophos to Arctic Wolf: Bengaluru becomes hub for global cybersecurity ops

Jeff Green of Arctic Wolf explains how they built a bootstrapped GCC business in India and the lessons learnt along the way.

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Cost, integration and scalability: Hurdles for Open RAN in India

While the technology could reshape the telecom landscape in the country, challenges related to cost, integration and scalability continue to present significant near-term hurdles.

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Maharashtra opens Rs 800 crore centre to fight cybercrime

The Rs 800 crore facility, located in Navi Mumbai, will house over 150 experts to protect the state's residents. The center will leverage advanced technologies like AI and blockchain to address various types of cyber threats, including malware, deepfakes, and cryptocurrency scams.

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India drives TCS growth buzz

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a 5% increase in net profit for the second quarter, driven by a large deal with BSNL. Despite cautious spending from clients in key markets, TCS saw signs of improvement in financial services in North America. CEO Krithivasan expressed optimism about the future, suggesting that the second quarter of FY25 could be better as macroeconomic uncertainty eases.

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Good Glamm Group completes buyout of feminine hygiene brand Sirona for Rs 450 crore

In 2022, Good Glamm announced the purchase of a partial stake in Sirona for Rs 100 crore. The all-cash deal had faced legal scrutiny after founders and investors of Sirona issued notices to Good Glamm for not finalising the acquisition as per their original agreement.

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India leads AI app downloads with 21% share globally

Chatbot apps such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini are the most downloaded AI apps along with image/video editing and play apps. However, most Indian users use these apps for free.

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Payments firm Tonetag looks to bag $50 million from Iron Pillar, others

Tonetag is in talks with growth-stage investment firm Iron Pillar for a fresh equity round of around $50 million. Other investors are expected to join the round as well. The round will be a mix of primary and secondary capital, where some of Tonetag’s early investors will partially or fully exit the company.

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AI tech shift leading to remarkable transformation: Worldwide Amazon Stores CEO

Speaking at the 'Delivering the Future 2024' event where Amazon announced a major AI push into multiple areas of ecommerce for the US markets, Doug Herrington said AI infusion and enhancement is not just enabling lower costs and improved quality, but also leading to innovative experiences.

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Data centres are wary of sustainability push in govt’s AI mission GPU tender

As per the new clause introduced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in a corrigendum to the bid issued in the last week of September, a bidder must confirm that the PUE for the data centres from which AI services on cloud would be delivered is not more than 1.35.

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Fraud check: Infosys candidates need to check system for info

Infosys, India’s second-largest software services company, has stopped sending job offer letters and attachments via email. Instead, new recruits will access their job application details by logging into the company’s internal system.

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Ola Electric slapped with show cause notice over consumer complaints and service deficiencies

The central government has issued a showc ause notice to Ola Electric for multiple consumer complaints. These complaints involve service delays, misleading ads, and unfair practices. Ola Electric has been asked to respond within 15 days. The company's stock fell nearly 9 per cent today. The company reported a significant net loss despite revenue growth.

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Samsung signs MoA with some workers at Chennai facility; agrees to a slew of demands

The company has also agreed to expanding the operation of air conditioned buses by next year from only five routes currently to all 108 routes.

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Soon, you will be able to travel from Bengaluru airport to Cantt Station in 40 min: minister

Vaishnaw, who is minister for railways, information broadcasting and information technology, took the train ride from the airport to the Cantt station, where he reviewed the progress of ongoing projects and some planned ones. V Somanna, minister of state (railways) and Lok Sabha member from Tumakuru, will be leading the project that will take the railway line into the sprawling airport.

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RUHS BSc Nursing Result 2024 declared for Semester I Main exam, direct link to download here

RUHS announced the B.Sc. Nursing I Semester (Main) exam results for 2024 on October 5. Students can check their scores on ruhsraj.org or bscnursing2024.com. The exam took place on August 11, and the application process ran from June 25 to July 19. Follow the given steps to access the result online.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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Marriott to open tech accelerator in Hyderabad next year

Marriott International is setting up a tech accelerator in Hyderabad, opening in early 2025. This will be its first overseas global capability centre. The centre aims to leverage Hyderabad's technology talent, focusing on software engineering, infrastructure, operations, and cybersecurity. Marriott's expansion in India includes 153 hotels with 84 more in the pipeline.

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UP Police Constable Result 2024 to be released by October end: CM Yogi Adityanath

The UP Police Constable Exam 2024 results will be declared by the end of October, as announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on X. Candidates can check their results on the official website. Along with the results, the final answer key will also be released. The recruitment process will be expedited.

from Latest Education news - Board Exam Results, Admit Cards, Exam Paper Analysis and Question Papers | Times of India
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Brazil's top court says X paid pending fines to wrong bank

Brazil's Supreme Court postponed its decision to allow social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, to resume services in the country, as the company did not transfer pending fines to the correct bank. X has been suspended since August for failing to comply with court orders related to hate speech moderation and proper legal representation.

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Winners of The ET Startup Awards 2024 to be feted today, and other top stories this week

It’s D-day! Top entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors will come together in Bengaluru today to honour the stars of Indian entrepreneurship at the tenth edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) 2024.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: The stars of startup world to shine today

​​Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for railways, information and broadcasting, electronics and IT, will be the guest of honour at the glittering ceremony. Winners and nominees, past and present, will be among the elite speakers. Watch out for full coverage of the event in ET's pages.

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Consumer-lending fintechs steal show with surging numbers

Fintech firms in consumer lending such as Navi, Kreditbee, Moneyview, and Fibe reported strong profits and revenue growth in the last financial year, recovering from Covid-related challenges.

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ET Startup Awards 2024: it’s an all-star cast of speakers in milestone year for ETSA

Nandan Nilekani, a digital public infrastructure (DPI) evangelist, will delve into the past decade of India's tech and startup ecosystem and look ahead at what’s in store for the new economy amid groundbreaking technological innovations and the maturing of the country’s startup ecosystem.

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Away from spotlight, healthcare throws big lifeline to IT sector

India's IT companies have found a resilient growth engine in healthcare. This contrasts with the sluggish performance of financial services, retail, and hi-tech, which have faced headwinds for nearly two years.

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