The World Opinion

Category: Economy

  • Google Introduces Lightweight Gemini AI Model, Video Generation AI And More | Technology News

    New Delhi: Google on Tuesday introduced several updates across the Gemini family of artificial intelligence (AI) models, including the new 1.5 Flash which is a lightweight AI model for speed and efficiency.

    Both Gemini 1.5 Pro and 1.5 Flash AI models are available in public preview with a 1 million token context window on Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.

    “Today, more than 1.5 million developers use Gemini models across our tools. You’re using it to debug code, get new insights, and build the next generation of AI applications,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.

    “Still, we are in the early days of the AI platform shift. We see so much opportunity ahead, for creators, for developers, for startups, for everyone,” he added.

    The company also said that it is integrating Gemini 1.5 Pro into Google products, including Gemini Advanced and in Workspace apps.

    “We’re also announcing our next generation of open models, ‘Gemma 2’, and sharing a glimpse of ‘Project Astra’, a look at the future of universal AI agents,” said the company.

    These AI agents are designed to process information faster by continuously encoding video frames, combining the video and speech input into a timeline of events, and caching this information for efficient recall.

    “These agents can better understand the context they’re being used in, and respond quickly, in conversation,” said Google.

    Meanwhile, the Gemini 1.5 Flash is optimised for high-volume, high-frequency tasks at scale and is more cost-efficient to serve.

    Hassabis said that Gemini 1.5 Flash excels at summarisation, chat applications, image and video captioning, data extraction from long documents and tables, and more.

    Google also launched Veo, its latest and most advanced video generation model, and Imagen 3, its highest quality text-to-image model yet.

    “Veo is our most capable video generation model to date. It generates high-quality 1080p resolution videos that can go beyond a minute, in a wide range of cinematic and visual styles,” informed Eli Collins, Vice President, Product Management.

    The model also understands cinematic terms like “timelapse” or “aerial shots of a landscape”, providing an unprecedented level of creative control.

    The company also brought Gemini 1.5 Pro to Gemini Advanced subscribers in over 35 languages, along with a 1 million token context window, a new conversational experience and tools that “let Gemini take action on your behalf”.

    To make Google Search even better, the company announced a new Gemini model customised for Google Search.

    “It brings together Gemini’s advanced capabilities — including multi-step reasoning, planning and multimodality — with our best-in-class Search systems,” said the tech giant.

    Starting today, “we’re making ‘AI Overviews’ available to everyone in the U.S., with more countries coming soon,” said Liz Reid, VP, Head of Google Search.

    People have already used ‘AI Overviews’ billions of times through Google’s experiment in Search Labs.

  • Indian Air Force Conducts Airdrop Test For BHISHM Portable Hospital Cubes In Agra | Aviation News

    The Indian Air Force on Tuesday tested BHISHM portable cubes at Agra for airdrops from the aircraft. This is the first time the Indian Air Force tested this portable hospital. This test was performed so that the portable hospital can be deployed to cater to emergencies anywhere.
    As per the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, BHISHM portable cubes are a part of the broader initiative named “Project BHISHM” – Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog, Hita and Maitri, which is tailored to treat up to 200 casualties, emphasising rapid response and comprehensive care.

    Notably, the Aid Cube is equipped with several innovative tools designed to enhance disaster response and medical support during emergencies. It also integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics to facilitate effective coordination, real-time monitoring, and efficient management of medical services in the field.

    The whole unit contains 72 easily transportable components that can be conveniently carried by hand, cycle, or even drone, providing unmatched flexibility. In the face of mass casualty incidents (MCIs), where requirements range from basic aid to advanced medical and surgical care, the Aid Cube stands out with its ability to be deployed within an astonishing 12 minutes.
    These cubes are robust, waterproof, and light, designed for various configurations, making them ideal for diverse emergency scenarios. From airdrops to ground transportation, the cube can be rapidly deployed anywhere, ensuring immediate response capability.
    During the Pran Pratishtha ceremony held earlier this year on January 22 in Ayodhya, two Arogya Maitri Disaster Management Cube-BHISHM units were strategically deployed to enhance medical preparedness and response capabilities. 

  • Zomato Stock Slumps After ESOP Announcement | Markets News

    Mumbai: Online food delivery company Zomato’s shares extended its morning session loss on Tuesday up to 5-6 percent, as the company is expecting an increase in cost due to the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

    Zomato announced results of the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024 on Monday.

    In the post-result commentary, the management said that in the current financial year (FY25), the costs may increase due to the grant of ESOPs to senior employees and the leadership team of Blinkit.

    The food delivery giant said they had sought permission from the shareholders to issue 18.2 crore shares to the employees as ESOP.

    According to the current market value, ESOPs’ value is around Rs 3,500 crore.

    Zomato registered a profit of Rs 175 crore in Q4 of FY24. The company reported a loss of Rs 188 crore in the same period last year.

    After the result, brokerage firm Emkay Global maintained a buy rating on Zomato with a target price of Rs 230 per share.

    “Zomato posted steady operational results, with revenue ahead of our estimates whereas the margin miss was on account of higher than expected ESOP costs (for the Blinkit leadership team),” said the brokerage firm.

    “Food delivery gross order value (GOV) grew 28.5 per cent YoY to Rs 84.4 billion (-0.6 per cent QoQ), with Blinkit GOV up 13.7 per cent QoQ/96.8 per cent YoY to Rs 40.3 billion. Blinkit achieved operational EBITDA break-even in March 2024,” it added.

     

  • Five States Including Karnataka Show Interest In Implementing Aadhaar-Based Authentication For GST Registration | Economy News

    New Delhi: Five states, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, have shown interest in rolling out Aadhaar-based authentication for GST registration, an official said on Monday. The biometric-based authentication was discussed at the third National Co-ordination Meeting of senior Central and State GST officers earlier this month.

    Currently, two states, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry have launched the Aadhaar authentication of taxpayers on a pilot basis. “Around five states, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, have shown interest in implementing Aadhaar-based authentication for GST registration,” an official told PTI.

    The official further said that these states wanted to assess the cost involved, the infrastructure and manpower requirement for implementing the requirement of biometric authentication for registration. The data has been provided to them and based on the assessment, these states will have to put the proposal up before the state Cabinets for approval. (Also Read: Tata Motors Shares Tank Over 8%; Mcap Declines By Rs 29,016 Crore)

    Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities have so far been using OTP-based Aadhaar authentication to establish the identity of the applicants, seeking registration. However, with instances coming to light wherein other people’s identity was misused to create bogus firms for claiming input tax credit (ITC), the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had decided to move towards biometric authentication under which in certain suspicious cases, the person seeking registration will be asked to go to an Aadhaar centre to have his biometrics verified.

    As per the analysis of April GST revenues, Karnataka is the second biggest contributor, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra garnered the largest chunk of revenue during the month. (Also Read: Paytm Focuses On UPI Lite Wallet For Low-Value Daily Payments)

    The GST collections, which include central and state mop-up, breached the Rs 2 lakh crore milestone in a month in April since the rollout of the unified tax system. Goods and Services Tax collections grew 12.4 per cent to a record high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April. The revenue growth was aided by strong economic momentum and increased domestic transactions and imports.

  • Mumbai Airport Resumes Operations After One Hour Suspension Due To Dust Storm

    According to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), due to the inclement weather and dust storms in the city, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) temporarily suspended flight operations for around 66 min due to low visibility and gusty winds.
     

  • Tamil Nadu Grape Farmers In Big Crisis Due To Sweltering Heat | Economy News

    Chennai: Tamil Nadu is home to two main varieties of grapes: panneer thiratchai (Muscat Hamburg) and Odaipatti seedless grapes. Grape farmers in the region are dejected as high temperatures in the last few weeks will lead to a huge fall in the yield of grapes.

    K. Muniayndi, a farmer in Theni who has cultivated panneer thiratchai on around 10 acres of land, told IANS that due to high temperatures, there would be a drastic fall in the crop’s yield.

    He said: “Generally, we get 10-12 tonnes of grapes from an acre of the farm, but due to temperatures touching more than 39 degrees Celsius, the yield will be less than three tonnes per acre.”

    The grape farmer also said that for one acre of grape cultivation, a farmer has to spend around Rs 1.25 lakh, and if the yield falls to three tonnes per acre, then the situation of the farmers would be pathetic.

    Panneer Thiratchai Farmers Association leader Karuppanan Raju, while speaking to IANS, said: “Almost 90 per cent of our farmers are cultivating the fruit in the Cumbum area. The heatwaves have destroyed our lives. Around 300 farmers are cultivating on 5,000 acres of land, and we are looking forward to huge losses.”

    He also said that the yield would be less than 80 per cent of what they usually get, and called upon the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Department to provide compensation for their losses.

    The Odaipatti seedless grape farmers have a similar story to narrate. Odaipatti is a region in Theni district which cultivates seedless grapes on around 1,000 acres of land, involving 200 farmers.

    Krishnan Thevar, a grape farmer, while speaking to IANS, said: “We are facing a bleak future. We will only get two to three tonnes of grapes from an acre, which is very low. Generally, we harvest around 12 tonnes from an acre of land.”

    He demanded that the state government fix a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Odaipatti grapes at Rs 50 per kg, just like the state government sanctioned for sugarcane and paddy when there was crop loss.

    It is worth noting that the Tamil Nadu government has already proposed a GI tag for Odaipatti seedless grapes, which would help felicitate the export of these grapes. However, presently, the farmers said that they are concerned about how to overcome the huge losses.

    K. M. Murugesan, an Odaipatti seedless grape farmer, told IANS that the farmers want the state government’s intervention in the matter to provide them with an MSP as they were expecting losses of 80 per cent of the yield in September, when they will harvest the crop.

  • India's Coal Imports Surge 8% To 268 Million Tonnes In FY24

    Coking coal import in March 2024 was 5.34 MT against 3.96 MT a year ago.

  • Maruti Suzuki Expects Over 30 Per Cent Jump In CNG Vehicle Sales At 6 Lakh Units In FY25 | Companies News

    New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India expects its CNG car sales to rise over 30 per cent to around 6 lakh units this fiscal, according to a senior company official.

    The country’s largest carmaker also aims to export around 3 lakh units in the ongoing financial year. “So CNG, this year, we did about 4,50,000 (units) in passenger vehicles. We are hoping to do something like 6,00,000 vehicles in FY24-25,” Maruti Suzuki India Executive Director Corporate Affairs Rahul Bharti said in an analyst call.

    The company sells CNG trims across various models like WagonR, Brezza, Dzire, and Ertiga, among others in the domestic market. Bharti said the company’s capacity expansion by around 1 lakh units per annum at its Manesar plant, in Haryana largely addresses the Ertiga supply issues.

    Ertiga CNG demand is huge in the market leading to supply issues, he noted. On overseas shipments, Bharti said the company aims to export about 3 lakh units.

    “We did about 2,83,000 units in FY24. Despite the fact that we’ve increased substantially over the usual 1,00,000 units per year that we used to do just about 4 years ago. We wish to take it further in the future years. “And this year, we should be doing about 3,00,000 units fairly diversified across markets, across products,” he noted.

    Replying to a separate query on the company’s upcoming plant at Kharkhoda in Haryana, Bharti said the project is part of the automaker’s ambitious growth plan. “Construction is already in progress at Kharkhoda and the first plant with an annual production capacity of 2,50,000 units is on course to be operational in 2025,” he said.

    The company has space to set up four such plants with a total capacity of 10 lakh units in Kharkhoda, he added. Maruti Suzuki aims to produce 40 lakh vehicles per year by FY2030-31, almost double from current levels.

  • Market Outlook For Next Week, Key Events To Watch

    Globally, the upcoming US PPI, retail sales, jobless claims, Fed Chairman’s speech, and core inflation data will be a key event to watch.

  • SEBI Bans Varanium Cloud And Promoter Harshwardhan Sabale From Securities Market Participation | Markets News

    New Delhi: Varanium Cloud Limited, a technology company, and its promoter and managing director Harshawardhan Hanmant Sabale have been banned from the securities market with immediate effect, by the financial market regulator SEBI. The company was listed on NSE’s SME Platform or NSE Emerge on September 27, 2022.

    As per the company’s disclosures, it was incorporated on December 21, 2017, and was formerly known as Streamcast Cloud Private Limited. Varanium is a technology company and, as per its website, is focused on providing services surrounding digital audio, video, and financial blockchain (for PayFac) based streaming services. (Also Read: Meet Woman Who Left Her Home At Young Age Of 15 With Just 300 Rs Now Owns Rs 104 Crore Company)

    As per a SEBI order, the company allegedly misutilised its initial public offer (IPO) proceeds and used dubious transactions to paint a false picture of good financial health and promising growth prospects to the general public. This, according to the SEBI’s order issued May 10, helped its promoter entities to exit the company “at the cost of gullible investors”. (Also Read: RBI Appoints R Lakshmi Kanth Rao As New Executive Director)

    The investigations into the company by the financial market regulator SEBI were initiated after the publication of certain newspaper articles and social media posts and receipt of certain complaints raising concerns regarding, its financial statements published and corporate announcements made by it.

    “…prima-facie observations and findings clearly indicate that Varanium has mis-utilized the IPO proceeds and has manipulated its financial statements by recording fictitious sales and purchases. The misstated financial statements had presented a rosy picture about the financial health of the Company, leading to increase in investors’ interest in the stock,” the SEBI order read.

    The order noted that the same is evident from the increase in number of public shareholders from around 1,000 in September 2022 to more than 10,000 in December 2023. The share price of Varanium also witnessed a significant increase during the said period. “The promoter, taking advantage of such price rise, off-loaded shares and made huge gains…”

    It has prima facie emerged that the money raised through the IPO and subsequent Rights Issue was not used for the intended purpose mentioned in the offer documents, SEBI order said. It is also alleged the Promoter shifted part of IPO funds to an entity, BM Traders, and the end use of such funds is not known.

    “What has emerged clearly from the examination done by SEBI and NSE is the fact that Varanium through its Promoter, Harshawardhan Hanmant Sabale, spun an intricate web of apparently dubious transactions and tried to paint a picture that did not represent the fundamentals of the Company. The Company made public announcements meant to give an impression to unsuspecting investors that Varanium was a top-notch IT service provider that was entering greenfield areas.”

    “In its effort to present such a picture, Varanium and its Promoter entered into transactions that appeared only on paper. Nothing was actually happening on ground and no economic activity was evident in any manner. No employment was generated as claimed by the Company.” In the entire sequence of events and the narrative built by the Promoter through public announcements, a positive sentiment was created which induced a large number of retail investors into purchasing the stock, the order stated.

    Also, Harshawardhan Hanmant Sabale is restrained from acting as a Director or Key Managerial Personnel of any listed company or its subsidiary or any company which intends to raise money from the public or any SEBI registered intermediary, until further orders.