India Sets ₹25,000 Crore Export Engine in Motion as Goyal Launches Plan
India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal launched the ₹25,060‑crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM), a six‑year programme designed to boost outbound shipments and simplify export processes. The initiative consolidates multiple support schemes into a single, digitally driven framework aimed at micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). By targeting labour‑intensive sectors and regions beyond traditional hubs, the mission seeks to broaden participation in global trade. It also aligns export growth with emerging technologies such as AI, data centres, and quantum computing to attract investment.
Wells Fargo Elevates Padmavathi AV to VP-HRBP
Wells Fargo has promoted Padmavathi AV to Vice President‑Human Resource Business Partner, elevating her from senior HR consultant role she assumed in 2023. She brings an MBA in Human Resources and a track record that includes leadership positions at Ashok...
KNOREX Launches Agentic AI-Ready Ads API to Power Cross-Channel Advertising Automation
KNOREX announced the launch of its agentic AI‑ready Ads API, a unified infrastructure layer designed to automate cross‑channel advertising workflows. The API, compatible with Amazon Ads MCP and the open Advertising Common Protocol, enables AI agents to manage campaigns on...
South Africa’s Dynamic Spectrum Breakthrough
Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) was demonstrated in South Africa’s KwaZulu‑Natal region, delivering 5G speeds up to 200 Mbit/s over more than 4 km in both Ntuzuma and Ixopo. The trials, led by regulator Icasa, CSIR and local Wisps, proved that the 3.8‑4.2 GHz...
Navios Lines up $134m Capesize Duo
Navios Maritime Partners announced two long‑term bareboat‑in contracts for Japanese‑built capesize vessels, with purchase options valued at roughly $134.3 million and an effective 6% interest rate. The ships, fitted with scrubbers, are slated to join the fleet in late 2028 and...
Applying Green Energy Tax Policies to Improve Cybersecurity
Governments are proposing to mirror green‑energy tax incentives to boost cybersecurity, pairing financial rewards with a digital trust label similar to ENERGY STAR. The model would grant tax credits or rebates to firms that achieve the label, encouraging security‑by‑design across...
Federal Government Slips $12.7 Million to 8 Quantum Projects Tackling Energy, Minerals and Health
The Australian federal government allocated an additional $12.7 million to eight collaborative quantum‑technology demonstrators, expanding the $35.9 million National Quantum Strategy. Funding ranges from $1.1 million for a data‑centre cooling solution to $2.4 million for rare‑earth detection in mines. Projects span energy optimisation, medical...
SavvyWise Raises $600,000 Seed Round Just Seven Months After Founding
Western Australia’s innovation landscape is receiving a multi‑pronged boost. Meshpoints has launched a challenge‑led funding model that replaces traditional open grants with targeted problem‑solving competitions. The state government has doubled its innovation grant pool to $2 million, offering up to $300,000...
Five Things to Know to Start Your Day
Nigeria's federal government ordered ministries to defer 70% of the 2025 capital budget to 2026, limiting new projects to prioritize existing ones amid weak revenues. The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission raided former Kaduna governor Nasir El‑Rufai’s Abuja home as he remains...
Quick Fire 🔥 with Feranmi Ajetomobi
Feranmi Ajetomobi has spent a decade driving growth across Nigerian fintech, consumer goods, and web3 ventures, from Cowrywise’s savings habits to Flutterwave’s rapid scaling. He leverages behavioral psychology, community‑led tactics, and data‑driven nudges to turn dormant users into active transactors....
Ali Partovi’s Neo Looks to Upend the Accelerator Model with Low-Dilution Terms
Ali Partovi's Neo launches Neo Residency, an accelerator that provides $750k via an uncapped SAFE, letting dilution vary with future valuation instead of a fixed equity stake. For the summer cohort of 12‑15 startups, the equity could be as low...
Strong Manufacturing Growth Lifts Flash PMI to Three-Month High of 59.3 in Feb
India’s flash Composite PMI rose to 59.3 in February, its strongest level in three months, driven by a surge in manufacturing activity. Total new orders grew at the fastest pace since November, pushing output to a four‑month high, while services...
Bell Cyber and Radware Expand AI-Driven, Cloud-Delivered Security Services
Bell Cyber and Radware have launched an AI‑driven, cloud‑delivered security service that merges Radware’s machine‑learning application protection with Bell Cyber’s fully managed SOC operations. The offering safeguards web applications, APIs, bots and DDoS attacks for ERP and SaaS environments while...
Progcap Nearly Doubles Revenue to Rs 268 Cr in FY25; Nears Breakeven
Progcap, the Tiger Global‑backed fintech, nearly doubled its FY25 revenue to Rs 268 crore, a 93% jump from the prior year. The firm slashed its net loss by 87% to Rs 6 crore and posted a positive EBITDA of Rs 75 crore, delivering a 28% margin....
Africa Needs Patient Capital for the Long Term
Africa’s growth potential is hampered by a $350 billion SME financing gap and annual infrastructure needs of $130‑170 billion, far exceeding current investment. While the continent’s population tops 1.5 billion and GDP surpasses $3 trillion, capital flows remain fragmented and short‑term. The article argues...
AWS Responds After Report Claims Cloud Services Outages Sparked by Use of Internal AI Tools—What the Company Said
Amazon Web Services experienced two recent service interruptions that were initially linked to its in‑house AI coding assistant, Kiro. AWS clarified that both events stemmed from user‑error—specifically misconfigured access controls—rather than autonomous AI actions. The outages were confined to the...
KPMG UK Shares Insights on Cooling Wages and Stabilizing Jobs Market Potentially Leading to March Rate Cut
KPMG UK analysts say the latest labour market data show wage growth slowing to 4.2% and unemployment edging up to 5.2%, signalling a cooling jobs market. The firm forecasts pay growth will dip to around 3% by year‑end and expects...
Banking’s Crisis of Meaning: When Purpose Disappears
Dharmesh Mistry warns that AI‑driven automation is stripping banking jobs of their intrinsic purpose, turning roles into mere button‑pressing tasks. He argues that a superficial brand slogan like “better banking” won’t survive when machines already deliver superior products. Instead, banks...
Podcast: Ford MENA’s Andrew Gregory on What It Takes for Automative Brands to Win
Ford MENA’s Marketing Director Andrew Gregory explained how the "Ready. Set. Ford" platform unites OEM strategy with distributor execution to make complex buying decisions easier for customers. He emphasized that modern car shoppers gather 80‑90% of information online, demanding confidence, trust, and...
Painting the Path: How Maku Fenaroli Turned Wearable Art Into Maku the Label
Maku Fenaroli, a self‑taught New Zealand artist, painted a Melbourne laneway in 2013 and later leveraged Instagram to showcase her work. After a $200 influencer‑driven T‑shirt sparked demand, she left a corporate superannuation job in 2024 to launch Maku the...
Google Bigger than India GDP? Sanjeev Bikhchandani Exposes the Flaw in that Viral Claim
A viral post claimed Google’s $4 trillion market capitalisation exceeds India’s GDP, prompting entrepreneur Sanjeev Bikhchandani to debunk the analogy. He explained that market cap is a stock measure reflecting investor expectations, while GDP is a flow metric tracking annual economic...
Unfair Dismissal Ruling Stands, Despite "Profoundly Troubling" Evidence
The Fair Work Commission’s full bench refused to overturn an unfair dismissal finding against a University of Melbourne professor, despite evidence of inappropriate conduct with a student. The professor was terminated in December 2024 for alleged “wilful and deliberate contraventions”...
Glossy Pop Newsletter: Inside Hello’s Plan to Make Toothpaste Part of Gen Z’s Beauty Routine
Hello, the Colgate‑Palmolive‑owned oral‑care brand, unveiled its Whipped Toothpaste—a velvety, foam‑dispensing product aimed at Gen Z—via TikTok Shop in December. The texture‑first formula, offered in Mellow Mint Dream and Peppermint Stick, combines aesthetic appeal with cavity‑fighting efficacy. Hello leverages Gen...
Could Medical Care Help Cure China’s Services Trade Deficit?
China’s medical tourism is gaining traction as foreign patients praise rapid, affordable care in megacities like Shanghai and Beijing. While the absolute number of inbound patients remains modest, industry insiders see a growing pipeline driven by visa‑free entry, expanding international...
A Better Way to Handle Immigrants’ Occupational Licensing
Universal license recognition (ULR) lets professionals keep their state licenses when they move, eliminating redundant testing and paperwork. The article argues that the same competence‑based model should be extended to foreign‑trained workers, whose credentials are often stalled by rigid “substantial...
Service Is Everyone’s Problem Now – Why the Atlassian Service Collection Matters
South African tech leaders are grappling with rising service expectations while keeping teams lean, and the problem now spans IT, HR, facilities and customer service. Fragmented onboarding and ticket handoffs create visibility gaps that slow resolution. Atlassian’s Service Collection bundles...
Hakuhodo Bangkok Brings Humour to Utilities with PEA “Quick Click. Life Slick.” Campaign
Hakuhodo Bangkok unveiled the “Quick Click. Life Slick.” campaign to promote the Provincial Electricity Authority’s new digital hub, PEA Sabuy Service, which bundles five electricity‑related functions into a single online portal. The effort uses humor and the Thai notion of...
Why Global Capital Is Looking at India Differently This Year
India’s economy is gaining traction through robust digital public infrastructure and maturing regulatory frameworks, positioning it as a distinct asset class for global investors. The latest Union Budget underscores this shift by offering a 20‑year tax holiday and a flat...
Telefónica Accelerates Its Transformation to Autonomous Networks
Telefónica announced that its Autonomous Network Journey (ANJ) programme has far exceeded its original expectations, delivering twelve Level 4 use cases that are now fully operational. The company measures autonomy across six network domains and aims for an average maturity of...
The Mandarin Live: Future Ready Public Service Queensland
The Mandarin Live: Future Ready Public Service – Queensland convenes senior leaders on 27‑28 May 2026 in Brisbane and online. The two‑day strategic forum will explore resilient systems, modern governance, and delivery at scale as Queensland prepares for the 2032 Olympics and...
GIGIL Turns Manila’s Party District Into Hawkins for Netflix’s Stranger Things 5
GIGIL Philippines transformed Manila’s Poblacion nightlife into a full‑scale Hawkins, recreating five iconic bars to mirror each season of Netflix’s Stranger Things 5. Fans toured the immersive bar crawl, sampling themed drinks and encountering the series’ villain Vecna. The activation drove over...
US Market | Credit Concerns Mount: Blue Owl Shake-Up Weighs on US Financial Stocks
Blue Owl Capital announced the sale of $1.4 billion of assets across three credit funds and permanently halted redemptions in one fund to return capital and reduce leverage. The announcement triggered a broad sell‑off in listed alternative‑asset managers such as Apollo,...
RSBT ETF: It's A Directional Bet, Not A Diversification Vehicle
The Return Stacked Bonds & Managed Futures ETF (RSBT) posted a 12.25% year‑over‑year price gain after a tough 2022‑23 inflation cycle. The fund allocates capital between the AGG bond ETF and a suite of trend‑following managed‑futures strategies, positioning it as...
Rupee Declines 27 Paise to 90.95 Against US Dollar in Early Trade
The Indian rupee slipped to 90.95 per U.S. dollar in early Friday trade, down 27 paise from its previous close. The decline was driven by a firmer dollar, higher Brent crude at $71.77 a barrel, and escalating U.S.-Iran tensions. Domestic...
B Contact Center WFM Maturity Assessment Framework
The B Contact Center WFM Maturity Assessment Framework provides a structured, evidence‑based method to gauge workforce management capabilities across ten weighted domains. It combines a multi‑rater scoring model, configurable domain and assessor weights, and a five‑point rubric to generate a...
Pakistani PM Holds Talks with Rubio After Washington Summit
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Feb 19, focusing on cooperation in critical minerals, energy, counter‑terrorism and potential American investment. The discussion also highlighted Pakistan’s backing of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan...
Global Market | Japan’s Tightening Cycle Could Redraw the Map of Global Market Liquidity
The Bank of Japan has ended its ultra‑easy stance, pushing policy rates to the highest level in decades and pricing in another hike. Higher domestic yields are likely to trigger repatriation of Japanese savings, cutting the flow of low‑cost funding...
First Citizens, Buyer Of Collapsed SVB, Weighs Another Target
Indonesian Tycoon Mochtar Riady’s OUE REIT Seeks Buyers For Prime Singapore CBD Tower
OUE Commercial REIT, controlled by Indonesian tycoon Mochtar Riady, is seeking buyers for its flagship One Raffles Place tower in Singapore’s CBD. The sale, handled by CBRE and JLL, targets a reserve price of up to S$2.4 billion, roughly 24% above...
Prashant Patankar to Head HR for JioBlackRock
Prashant Patankar has left his role as HR Lead at Colgate‑Palmolive to become head of human resources at JioBlackRock Investment Advisers. Patankar brings more than 15 years of experience across banking, consumer goods, and consulting, most recently overseeing the GCC/GBS...
Infra Sector Outlook Cautious as Weak Q3 Performance Leads to 4% YoY Contraction: Nuvama Research
India's infrastructure sector posted a 4% year‑on‑year revenue contraction in Q3 FY26, driven by eroding order books, payment delays, prolonged monsoons and construction bans. Average EBITDA margin slipped 40 basis points to 10.1%, while adjusted PAT margin fell to 5.2%....
At India AI Summit, Sam Altman Says Superintelligence Could Be Here by 2028
At the IndiaAI Summit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that artificial superintelligence could emerge by the end of 2028, suggesting datacenters may soon house more intellectual capacity than humans. He highlighted India’s rapid adoption of ChatGPT and Codex, positioning the...
Defence Drone and Robotics Startup Breaker Pilots $9 Million Seed Round
Australian defence tech startup Breaker has secured a $9 million seed round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from existing backer Main Sequence. The funding will accelerate its AI‑driven voice interface that lets a single operator command up to 100...
Xerox Holdings Corporation Declares Dividend on Common and Preferred Stock
Xerox Holdings Corp. announced its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.025 per common share, payable April 30, 2026 to shareholders of record March 31, 2026. The company also set a $20 per share quarterly dividend on its Series A...
Employer Liable for Psych Injury Caused by "Misperceived" Work Events
A NSW Personal Injury Commission member ruled that a security guard’s bipolar disorder, worsened by ongoing workplace stress and perceived personal attacks, qualifies for workers' compensation. The employer’s defense—that the employee’s condition stemmed from prior drug use and a non‑work‑related...
White House Maritime Action Plan Shows OMSA Leadership on Regulatory Reform
The White House released America’s Maritime Action Plan, a sweeping strategy to strengthen the U.S. maritime sector through regulatory reform, infrastructure investment, and workforce development. A central pillar targets the elimination of redundant, obsolete, or overly burdensome regulations, echoing Offshore...
The Lean AI Marketing Stack Every Startup Should Build First
Early‑stage startups often drown in fragmented marketing tools, wasting precious runway on dashboard management instead of growth. The article outlines a lean AI‑powered stack built around five core jobs: customer research, content creation, search/AI visibility, distribution, and measurement. By mapping...
Goldman: Gold to Grind Higher to $5,400/Oz by End-2026 on Strong Demand
Goldman Sachs projects gold prices to climb to $5,400 per ounce by the end of 2026, driven primarily by renewed central‑bank buying and modest private‑investor inflows linked to Federal Reserve rate cuts. The forecast assumes a conservative base case with...
Netflix Nabs Former Google Comms Director for APAC Role
Netflix has appointed Joy Albert, former Google Asia Pacific communications director, as Vice President of Communications for the region, effective March 9 in Singapore. Albert, who spent over a decade at Google, joins alongside Flávia Vígio, who will lead Latin America...
FXR: Sophisticated Strategy With A High Fee Lagging XLI, A Hold
The First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX® Fund (FXR) has underperformed the sector benchmark XLI since its 2007 launch, delivering a CAGR 1.38 % lower while exhibiting higher volatility and deeper drawdowns. Despite a sophisticated AlphaDEX screening process and a modest value...