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(Reuters) — Unity Software shares sank 15% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the videogame software provider's 2024 forecasts came in below Wall Street estimates, a sign that its turnaround was taking longer than expected.

I got what looked like a nice email from Amazon last week. There were no spelling mistakes, so I figured it wasn’t a Russian bot and I could click on it. I was right. It was Amazon announcing a new initiative promoting Quebec products: “Les produits du Québec.” How the titans of globalization cower before the power of local interests!

By Katherine Masters and Savyata Mishra

Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) have surged to over two times during the current fiscal. During the same time, mobilisation through the Monthly Income Scheme has risen up by four times, reported Business Line. “As of early February, collection through SCSS was around ₹90,000 crore.

Ajit Pawar announced that a new MSME policy is being prepared for the state. "Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the government intends to give tap water connections to nearly 1.47 crore households. The government plans to provide 34,400 homes for Divyang people under the Housing for All Scheme," he said.

SGB premature redemption Although the bond has an 8-year tenor, early redemption is permitted after the fifth year from the date of issue on coupon payment days. If kept in demat form, the bond will be tradable on the exchange.

IG Drones, India’s leading drone tech company has announced that it has bagged a procurement order from the Defence Ministry to supply drones, for surveillance purposes. This is a landmark deal the drone manufacturer has secured, to assist the defence ministry in its operations. The order entails supplying drones and essential accessories to the Ministry of Defence. The selected drones have industry-first features and are enabled with 5G capability and have advanced features and exceptional performance, functioning effectively in extreme temperatures and high altitudes. The drone is capable of vertical take-off and landing and can be effectively used in defence and medical applications. By providing enhanced surveillance capabilities, these drones act as a crucial asset for defence forces, strengthening operational efficiency at the borders. With the advent of 5G services from Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), these drones now boast enhanced precision control capabilities, allowing them to be remotely operated from a command centre, eliminating the need for on-site presence.

Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said there is an urgent need to give a boost to small businesses in the textile sector to help them realise their true potential. Speaking at Bharat Tex-2024 in Delhi, Goyal talked about helping SMEs in the textile sector by providing them with modern machines and other allied infrastructure. He said that the textile sector would not just be benefited through any one government scheme but by their convergence. “No one government scheme would help the textile industry, but a convergence of all schemes in a streamlined manner could help in this regard.” The minister called for intelligently using the budget for handloom and handicraft, and making the budgetary spending transparent. He also said that industry and government officials should work together to help artisans earn more. “Let’s take our industry to other countries where we know the market.”

Siddharth Srivastava, ETF Products & Fund Manager, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), says “from a macroeconomic indicators point of view, there are no red flags. Things look robust. But I think investor expectations this year or for next year or so should be muted. Somewhere around low teens is what investors should be okay with unless and until there is a next good set of news which will provide the next momentum to the market.” Let us begin by discussing the market setup itself. We are very poised at an inflection point where there are no major triggers for the markets because elections are priced in, earnings are behind us, and there is no other major event ready to watch out for. What do you then think is the right expectation in terms of returns from the Indian markets this year? Siddharth Srivastava: From a valuation point of view, investors should remain cautious, especially in the microcap, smallcap category. There are pockets of opportunities, especially in the largecap and the midcap side. But markets will consolidate. Earnings need to come out at a reasonably good level to justify the valuations where we are currently on. I think that will drive the next possible support in the markets.

By Stefano Rebaudo

Investing.com — Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and detailed plans to acquire human resources group HiredScore in a bid to boost to its artificial intelligence capabilities. 

Investing.com — Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) has reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates thanks to solid demand for its products during a time of increased hybrid working habits.  

Anirudh Kejriwal, a vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co, took to social media to narrate his experience of buying a flat in a society at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He alleged caste discrimination, saying that the society is barring his entry due to his caste. He also alleged that he was threatened by a gathering of around 30 people who warned him against buying the flat. In a series of tweets, the JP Morgan executive, who works in GIFT City, said: «Shocked to face blatant caste discrimination in Sant Vihar 1 Society, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. My attempt to buy a flat turned into a nightmare as society's management is barring my entry due to caste. After paying a significant advance, planning was underway to finalize the sale deed. But the seller’s evasion on providing the NOC from the society was the first red flag. Little did I know, the real issue lay deeper.» «My concerns were confirmed when the society’s chairman and management openly stated their refusal to allow people from ‘other’ castes to move in. In the heart of Gujarat, this open discrimination left me in disbelief.»

substitutes instead of real cheese in burgers and nuggets at a McDonald's outlet last week, the state of Maharashtra will be inspecting outlets of all global fast-food chains for food regulation violations, Reuters reported citing an official. The Indian state will run a check for misleading promotion of non-cheese items as containing cheese after mcdonald's crackdown and also inspect all McDonald's outlets in Maharashtra for the same, widening its scrutiny post crackdown by the state's Food and Drug Administration (FDA). «We are planning to check all outlets of McDonald's,» Abhimanyu Kale, the FDA chief told Reuters. «We will also take action on other well-known and frequently visited global fast-food chain outlets,» he added, but declined to identify the brands being targeted.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he believes provinces voicing plans to opt out of a national pharmacare plan will likely opt in eventually, noting similar sentiments were seen when universal health care became law in Canada.

BSNL Revamp: In an attempt to provide an impetus to the state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to compete effectively with private players, the government is exploring various measures, including network upgrades and employee cost rationalisation, according to a report by Economic Times. Also Read | Is it too late to revive BSNL? The recommended initiatives also include improving sales and distribution channels along with introducing more value-added services (VAS), sources said, as per the report.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) represents a noteworthy development. The draft regulations it has introduced carry potential implications that could be advantageous for policyholders. The document, named “Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Protection of Policyholders’ Interests and Allied Matters of Insurers) Regulations, 2024", brings together eight separate regulations into a unified and comprehensive framework.

LinkedIn's new AI feature will make it easier to draft your first message According to the LinkedIn's latest ‘Workplace Learning Report’, companies in India are focussing on enhancing employees’ skills for greater confidence and job security by offering online training and development programmes. As many as 54% of the firms are providing opportunities for hands-on experimentation with Gen AI tools.

SIDBI ET MSME Conclave held in Rajkot saw a stellar turnout. From conversations around building financially resilient and competitive MSMEs to the challenges that need immediate solutions, the Rajkot edition aimed to understand the role of Gujarat in shaping a viable ecosystem for the MSME sector. Small and medium industries in the city are dominated by foundries, engineering & automobile works, and units that manufacture textiles, gold & silver jewellery, handicrafts, spices, medicines and wall clocks. Gujarat has the fourth-highest number of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country, after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, according to data provided by the Union government in Parliament last year.

Pranav Gundlapalle, Senior Research Analyst, Sanford C Bernstein, says from the bottom that we saw, what is driving the Paytm stock up is incremental news flow confirming that all the problems are restricted to Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) and One 97 Communications will continue its UPI payments which is anyway 70% of the payment volumes. As long as that gets resolved and remains unimpacted, there is a significant upside from here. What is it that you make of this last salvo by Vijay Shekhar Sharma stepping down? Pranav Gundlapalle: I think it is again an attempt to distance the 197 entity from the PPBL entity. So in the spirit of maybe being late is better than never, there is an attempt to set that up as an independent entity with limited linkages to One 197 Communications. I think that is the objective.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Tuesday. During his visit, he will inaugurate three projects aimed at providing world-class technical facilities for the space sector. These projects have been developed at a combined cost of approximately ₹1800 crore.