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Meesho on Tuesday announced the launch of its GenAI-powered voice bot to improve user experience and ensure round-the-clock customer support. The voice bot, which started operating about a month back, is currently available in English and Hindi, and is likely to expand to six additional regional languages — Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil. Designed to autonomously handle a wide range of customer interactions, the voice bot currently handles about 60,000 calls daily, providing fast and efficient resolutions. With an impressive 95% resolution rate, it significantly reduces the need for human intervention, streamlining support and minimising escalations. «This efficiency has also contributed to a nearly 50% improvement in Average Handle Time (AHT), resulting in quicker and more effective customer service,» a company statement said.

K M Subramanian, president of Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) said new apparel buyers from the UK are seeking samples in anticipation that a much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be signed soon between India and the UK. Last week, the Union commerce ministry said talks on the FTA will resume early next year. “The units are getting orders from the US for the upcoming Spring season. A few months ago, the units were operating at 60-65% capacity. But that has changed now,” said Subramanian.

Merkel served alongside four US presidents, four French presidents and five British prime ministers. But it is perhaps her dealings with Russian President Putin that have drawn the most scrutiny since she left office in late 2021.

Applicants are required to put forward research proposals which cover areas the FCA could have an influence on, such as growth and productivity of the UK financial services sector, its international competitiveness, as well as ways to support the country's economy and consider regulatory impacts. Financial services firms rush to AI despite lack of understanding of its functions «We recently reviewed what research had been done into the role regulation can play in supporting growth and competitiveness, and we found the pool was a mile wide and an inch deep,» Kate Collyer, chief economi...

In a letter seen by Investment Week, Summersgill wrote to the chancellor and said «applying IHT to pensions creates delays for beneficiaries, will be costly and will prove unworkable in many situations». Should the government decide to press ahead with its proposals, this will «risk fundamentally undermining the UK pensions system», Summersgill claimed.  «I am raising this issue not to disagree with the premise that unused pension funds should be taxed on death, but to ensure the method used to achieve this aim is workable and does not have unforeseen consequences,» he added.  Unde...

In a speech given by BoE's deputy governor for monetary policy Clare Lombardelli today (25 November), the Bank will undertake a reform targeting the «whole nose to tail process of monetary policy making and communication». Back in April, Bernanke published an 86-page report outlining a set of deficiencies in the Bank's forecasting infrastructure, which are the tools staff use to produce its quarterly forecast and support analyses, with the review also including 12 recommendations. The changes come in response to «a sequence of supply shocks» which have impacted the UK economy in recen...

Galaxy S24 Ultra. For now, Gauss 2 appears to have a different use case altogether, including internal applications to facilitate various tasks and assist employees.“Samsung Electronics is committed to developing cutting-edge software, including AI and data analytics, to enhance user experiences," said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, President, CTO of the Device eXperience (DX) Division and Head of Samsung Research.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL) is in talks with global airlines including British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic, among others, to secure deals for supplying sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The cleaner aviation fuel will be supplied from NGEL's green hydrogen hub in Andhra Pradesh, which is yet to begin production, said a person familiar with the developments.

At Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) annual conference today, the chief executive Rain Newton-Smith is set to heed risks the Autumn Budget poses to hitting profits and investment, arguing that more must be done to pursue the chancellor's growth ambitions.  In a speech at the conference, Newton-Smith will say «margins are being squeezed and profits are being hit» and when you «hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth».  This will be the CEO's first major speech since Reeves announced her fiscal plans for the country on 30 October. Newton-Smith...

According to research conducted by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority on AI in UK financial services, three quarters of firms are already using AI, with scope for a further 10% to implement the technology over the next three years.  This marks a significant uptick in the figures from the 2022 joint BoE and FCA Machine learning in UK financial services survey, where the responses stood at 58% and 14%, respectively.  But despite the rush to implement this technology, almost half (46%) of respondent firms admitted to only having ‘partial understanding' of the AI tech...

While investors have gained clarity on many political leadership questions that loomed a year ago, new uncertainties have emerged. According to Karen Ward, EMEA chief market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management, the focus has shifted to the policies that will shape and steer markets in the years ahead. Speaking at the firm's 2025 Outlook roundtable, Ward said that while investors now know who is residing in the various political offices in the US, the UK and other countries, the picture about what the fiscal agenda will be is greyer than it was a year ago. JP Morgan AM's Karen ...

A spate of iconic rebrands in recent weeks have left some people reeling in a consumerist society where what we buy says a lot about who we are

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. This year, India celebrates the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India. It is an occasion to reflect on its importance and role in the evolution of Indian democracy.

Oil prices hovered near two-week highs on Monday following 6% gains last week, as geopolitical tensions heightened between western powers and major oil producers Russia and Iran, raising risks of supply disruption. Brent crude futures climbed 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $75.30 a barrel by 0115 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $71.38 a barrel, up 14 cents, or 0.2%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. America’s gross national debt is $36trn, or $107,000 per person. It is rising fast and will probably soon be rising even faster.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are likely to get a boost in 2025 on the back of increased political clarity after a year of key national elections globally and a cooling initial public offering (IPO) market, top executives at Investec Bank Plc said in an interview with the Mint. “2024 was clearly a year of significant uncertainty.

Keir Starmer said his government would be setting out «radical reforms» in soon to tackle the UK's rising outlays on benefits. «Make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society,» the prime minister said in an op-ed in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. Starmer's Labour is under pressure to balance the country's spending and boost growth after returning from over a decade out of power. The first set of indicators following its inaugural budget saw private enterprise stagnate and consumer retail spending fall.

Iran will hold talks about its disputed nuclear programme with three European powers on November 29, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Sunday, days after the U.N. atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran, as per a report. Iran reacted to the resolution — proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States — with what government officials called various measures such as activating numerous new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, Reuters reported. Japan's Kyodo news agency, which first reported that the meeting would take place on Friday in Geneva, said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's government was seeking a solution to the nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration in January of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, France, Germany and the United Kingdom would take place on Friday, without specifying a venue. «A range of regional and international issues and topics, including the issues of Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the nuclear issue, will be discussed,» the spokesman said in a foreign ministry statement.

Netflix's wildly-popular historical drama series The Empress finally returned for its second season in 2024. But fans are curious to know whether the much-loved series get renewed for Season 3? The story of 'The Empress' is based loosely on the real historical figure of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the show captures the rebellious spirit of the unorthodox monarch as she challenges the strict social norms of her repressive royal life, and all the challenges she faced as a ruler and as a person. The series was a surprise smash for the streamer, and is still one of Netflix's biggest hits in a language other than English.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. I have always enjoyed making booklists once a year, scanning award lists for old favourites as much as new authors . Nowadays the end of the year has me making a similar list for tea.