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Gen Z consumers attach more value to brands with social causes, with 63 per cent of these consumers more likely to buy from such brands that talk about a purpose, said a new report by youth impact organisation Yuvaa, on Gen Z. According to the report released on Saturday, 71 per cent Gen Z consumers prioritise brands that are environment-friendly.

Delhi court has granted two-week interim bail to liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Special Judge M K Nagpal granted the relief to Mahendru, managing director of liquor distributor Indospirit on an application moved by him seeking relief due to his wife's health issues. The judge noted that during his earlier interim bail granted in the case, the accused did not try to influence any witness or tamper with the evidence in the case. «He cannot be considered to be a flight risk and there is also nothing on record to show or infer that he had ever tried to influence any witness or tamper with or destroy any evidence of this case,» the judge said in an order passed on January 5. According to the prosecution, Mahendru was one of the major beneficiaries of the violations of the excise policy as he was not only running an alcoholic beverage manufacturing unit but also given a wholesale licence along with some retail licences in the name of his relatives. Because of the alleged irregularities and violations, Mahendru earned around Rs 50 crore profit, the prosecution claimed. The ED had registered an enforcement case information report against Mahendru under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

This is your weekly digest of top crypto news from Cryptonews.com, followed by a collection of 20 hand-picked crypto jokes.

ChatGPT on Android, developers are gearing up to introduce innovative features that promise a more convenient and efficient experience. According to a recent report from Android Authority, the upcoming ChatGPT update will include a groundbreaking feature, 'com.openai.voice.assistant.AssistantActivity,' allowing users to set ChatGPT as their default virtual assistant. Upon manual activation of this new feature bu ChatGPT, a discreet overlay akin to the app's voice chat mode emerges, ensuring a seamless experience without taking over the entire screen.

Infosys is expected to report a 9.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its December quarter net profit at Rs 5,960.10 crore, according to estimates by brokerage Elara Capital. On a sequential basis, a 4.1% contraction in the company's profit after tax (PAT) is seen. This is a sharp decline from the 13.7% YoY growth reported by the company in Q3FY23 PAT at Rs 6,586 crore.

gold recovered in an extremely volatile session on Friday to close with a gain of 0.12% at $2,046. However, despite an impressive recovery from Friday's low of $2,024, the metal closed with a loss of around 0.80% on the week. The US data released on Friday were mixed as the non-farm payrolls rose 2,16,000 versus the forecast of 1,75,000, as the prior data stood at 1,73,000 jobs. Unusually warm winters boosted the job sector as health care, government, construction, leisure and hospitality sectors led the job gains.

The Election Commission said voting would start Sunday and last for eight hours across the country in over 42,000 ballot stations to receive the more than 119 million registered voters. Ballot boxes, among other election supplies, have been sent over in preparation for the vote, the commission said.

Red Sea crisis may impact trade as it is expected to push shipping costs by up to 60 per cent and insurance premium by 20 per cent, a report by economic think tank GTRI said on Saturday. This conflict could also result in increased shipping costs (40-60 per cent) and delays due to rerouting (up to 20 days more), higher insurance premiums (15-20 per cent), and potential cargo loss from piracy and attacks. The situation around the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping route connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean, has escalated due to recent attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants. Due to these attacks, the shippers are taking consignments through the Cape of Good Hope, resulting in delays of about 20 days. The Houthi conflict's disruption of the Red Sea shipping lanes significantly impacts Indian trade, especially with the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. It said that India, heavily reliant on the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait for crude oil and LNG imports and trade with key regions, faces substantial economic and security risks from any disruption in this area. For overall merchandise trade with Europe and North Africa, about 50 per cent of imports and 60 per cent of exports, totalling USD 113 billion, might have used this route, it said. It added that the conflict has necessitated India to consider alternative routes, such as the longer Cape of Good Hope, which could lead to increased energy costs. India might look to diversify its sources of crude oil and LNG, and explore alternative trade routes to reduce dependency on the conflict-prone Red Sea passage, it said. «This conflict could also result in increased shipping costs (40-60 per

DDA)'s new housing scheme, were successfully booked on Friday through the e-auction mode. According to a report by PTI, the registration process for these flats commenced on November 30, with the e-auction officially commencing on Friday. “In today's e-auction, a total 274 flats were booked, including 129 MIG flats, 138 super HIG flats and seven penthouses," a senior official said, PTI reported.

tourism sector after the Covid-19 pandemic has had a trigger effect on hospitality hiring with entry-level jobs seeing the sharpest surge in the last two years, TOI report said. Apprentice & trainee hires have seen a rise of 54 per cent CAGR in the last two years, as per TeamLease. Hiring in the hospitality sector rose by around 271 per cent in the same period, the report said.

Read more Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and Walt Disney (DIS.N) have engaged law firms and initiated antitrust due diligence for their proposed merger in the Indian media and entertainment sector, according to four individuals with knowledge of the situation. Read more Aided by sustained investment growth and robust output in manufacturing, construction and certain services, India’s economy may grow at 7.3% in FY24, the government’s first advance estimates showed, higher than the central bank’s upwardly revised estimate of 7%. Read more The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P, rose to 59 in December, up from 56.9 in the month prior.

start-ups had a relatively tougher time in the past year, yet over 950 tech start-ups saw the light of the day, taking the total tally to a whopping 31,000 in the past 10 years. Since 2019, tech start-ups in India have managed to raise $70 billion in funding, revealed Zinnov-Nasscom 2023 report on tech start-ups landscape. The report states that Indian start-ups are successfully transforming challenges into opportunities, thus creating jobs and facilitating growth.

China's envoy's team visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Maharashtra. In a post on X, Kerala Congress captioned a media report, saying, “Ab Ki Baar Xi Jinping?" However, according to the TOI report, the group of Chinese scholars specializing in Hindi participated in a workshop at Wardha's Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (Hindi University) in Nagpur on December 7th.

Covid Sub-Variant JN.1: Odisha reports 2 fresh cases amid surge. 10 Updates Meanwhile, the Karnataka government made the Covid test mandatory for those with Influenza Like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). According to Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, "More than 7,000 tests are being done every day and the COVID Positivity Rate is 3.82 per cent.

Netflix is reportedly planning to generate revenue from its gaming business by adding in-app purchases and advertisements. The company has had discussions in recent months about how to generate revenue from its games, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions. For two years, Netflix subscribers have been able to download tons of mobile games, all free with their subscription. The company offers more than 75 mobile games, like Grand Theft Auto, Love Is Blind, Monument Valley and Oxenfree. According to the report, Netflix is planning to put a price tag on premium gaming titles and placing ads on games. Netflix was yet to comment on the report. The company last year said it was not worried about ads and in-game payments. «We want to have a differentiated gaming experience and part of that is giving game creators the ability to think about building games purely from the perspective of player enjoyment and not having to worry about other forms of monetization, whether it be ads or in-game payment,» Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters had said during the earnings call. In August, Netflix rolled out its games across devices — TVs, computers, and mobile — and announced the first public tests of its cloud-streamed games.

Ant Group is closing in on a deal to buy Dutch payments firm MultiSafepay as part of the Chinese financial technology group's latest push into Western payment markets, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to value MultiSafepay at around $200 million, one of the people said. It generates $50 million in revenue, the person added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sobha jumped over 28% this week scaling a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,343.35 in the process. Over the five trading sessions, the stock witnessed declines on two occasions as investors booked profit following strong upticks. On Friday, Sobha shares closed at Rs 1,269 on the NSE, down by Rs 26.25 2.03%. A ‘buy’ call by brokerage Motilal Oswal along with buying action in the realty stocks triggered a sharp rally in Sobha shares this week.

foreign job is so luring that individuals have even paid up to Rs 5 lakh to various fake overseas job recruitment agents, revealed data from the Ministry of External Affairs. «It has been noticed that there has been a huge rise in the number of overseas job seekers being cheated by unregistered recruitment agents by fake job offers and also overcharging to the tune of Rs 2-5 lakhs,» said the MEA in a press release dated December 14, 2023. In light of these incidents of fraud, the MEA has highlighted how Indians can search and connect with genuine overseas job recruitment agents who are registered with the MEA. «Persons seeking jobs abroad are requested to use the safe and legal services of registered Recruiting Agents (RA) only. All registered RAs are issued a license number which is prominently displayed in their office premises and their advertisements, including newspapers and social media,» said the MEA in the press release.

The latest instalment of a docuseries exploring the identity of Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace, whose adoptive parents claimed was actually an adult woman and terrorized their family from 2010 to 2013, has proven her true age but also left audiences with even more unanswered questions about the young woman.The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks is the follow-up to the 2023 docuseries that zeroed in on Natalia’s adoptive parents, Kristine and Michael Barnett, who were charged with multiple counts of neglect and accused of abandoning Natalia at a rented Indiana apartment in 2013 and moving to Canada.The Barnetts previously claimed that Natalia was not six years old when they adopted her in 2010, but rather said she was a 20-year-old sociopath who tried to kill them.Natalia, who has a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, has always maintained that she was indeed a child and was mistreated by her adoptive parents.Now, however, Natalia’s claims about her age have been proven.According to People, a DNA blood test, the results of which were revealed in the first episode of the series earlier this week, found that Natalia is approximately 22 years old — suggesting that she was 9 when she was adopted by the Barnetts.“This one little piece of paper throws every single lie that the Barnetts has said right into the trash with a match,” Natalia said in the premiere episode.“This is so big. Because literally, this has been 13 years of just two people lying their butts off.

Justin Trudeau returned from his luxury holiday to face a familiar line of questioning about whether he should accept free vacation stays from wealthy friends.Opposition parties are criticizing Trudeau for spending his winter holiday at an oceanfront villa in Jamaica at no cost, as reported by the National Post. Rooms go for around $9,300 per night, according to the resort’s website.Prospect Estate and Villas located near Ocho Rios is owned by businessman Peter Green.

Google Bard website that mentions Bard Advanced. The initial statement suggests, "Try Bard Advanced for 3 months, on us." A subsequent sentence elaborates, "Get more capable large language models with advanced math and reasoning skills with Bard Advanced for 3 months on us." Reportedly, the code snippets indicate that Bard Advanced will be presented through a three-month trial, implying that users may need to subscribe for continued access post the complimentary trial. The precise release date for the enhanced version of Bard remains uncertain, as the company initially declared an "early 2024" launch when announcing the service in December.