Software Financial News

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ instead of the widely anticipated platforms like Netflix or Disney+. Fans of the blue blur will be able to enjoy the high-speed action and adventures directly from their Paramount+ subscriptions, as per a report. While an exact release date for «Sonic the Hedgehog 3» has not yet been confirmed, we can make an educated guess based on the release patterns of previous Paramount films. «Sonic the Hedgehog 2» was in theaters for just over six weeks before moving to streaming, and similarly, films like «Smile 2» and «A Quiet Place: Day One» followed a comparable timeline. Given this trend, it’s reasonable to expect that «Sonic the Hedgehog 3» will likely arrive on Paramount+ by mid-February 2025, following a similar theatrical-to-streaming window, IGN reported. Paramount's new action comedy «Sonic the Hedgehog 3» sped to the top of the North American box office this weekend, outdoing predictions with an estimated take of $62 million, one of the best December openings in years, industry watchers said Sunday, as per AFP report.

Aakash Chaudhry, one of India's most successful education entrepreneurs, has secured backing from two of the country's most prominent consumer tech billionaires-Zomato's Deepinder Goyal and Zerodha's Nithin Kamath-for his new venture, Sparkl Edventure, said people in the know. Kamath's Rainmatter, a fintech and sustainability-focused fund, along with Goyal, is participating in a $4 million seed round. The round is expected to attract a few more marquee investors. In October, Chaudhry joined forces with Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, founders of Meritnation.com, an edtech company acquired by his family business Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) in 2020, to launch Sparkl. This comes three years after the $950 million cash-and-stock sale of AESL to Byju's in one of India's largest edtech deals till date. Despite the sale, Chaudhry retains an 11% stake in AESL. Sparkl aims to provide bespoke one-on-one online tutoring for students in grades 6 to 12, specializing in International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge curricula. The platform offers personalised classes across subjects such as mathematics, science, languages, business studies etc. With teachers already on board, Sparkl has begun enrolling students from major Indian cities such as Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad, as well as Singapore and plans to grow the platform leveraging its tech interventions.

Donald Trump said on Sunday he will rename Denali, Alaska natives' name for North America's tallest mountain, after William McKinley, the 25th U.S. president who was assassinated in 1901. Democratic former President Barack Obama in 2015 officially renamed the mountain as Denali, siding with the state of Alaska and ending a decades-long naming battle. The peak had been officially called Mount McKinley since 1917. «They took his name off Mount McKinley,» Trump said in a speech to supporters in Phoenix. «He was a great president,» Trump, a Republican, said, adding that his administration will «bring back the name of Mount McKinley because I think he deserves it.»

The Last of Us" season 2 on HBO Max is happening but fans are curious about the release date. It is known that «The Last of Us» season 2 will premiere in 2025. The second installment features Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. «The Last of Us» season 2 is likely to premiere on Max in Spring 2025, The Direct reported. After becoming known for cinematic storytelling and heartbreaking realism through franchises such as The Last of Us and Uncharted, Neil Druckmann said his next video game would take place in the fantastical reaches of space, where a tattooed bounty hunter watches anime and drives a Porsche-branded rocket ship, NYT News Service reported.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) imposed another set of financial penalties on telcos last week for their failure to curb spam, officials aware of the details told ET. «The penalties have been imposed on all the four major mobile operators-Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi) and BSNL-as well as some smaller firms, as part of the TCCCPR rules,» an official said on condition of anonymity. The regulator had earlier imposed penalties on telcos too, but it had not realised any sum as operators contend they should not be held accountable for something which they don't control or perpetuate.

Income Tax department has served a notice to senior PDP leader and Jammu and Kashmir MLA Waheed Para to submit his books of accounts, officials said on Sunday. Though, according to the notice, Para was scheduled to appear before the Income Tax authorities on December 20, he received the intimation on the same day. While the People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader — the MLA from Pulwama in south Kashmir — was not available for comment, his close aides said his representative would appear at the Income Tax office on Monday. Para was served a notice under Section 131(1A) of the Income-Tax Act that empowers a tax officer to seek information from taxpayers, even when no formal proceedings are pending.

5G phones, triggered by the likely availability of more aggressively priced devices in the sub-₹10,000 range. Top handset brands seeking to clear this year's inventory of base 5G devices at discounts exceeding a sixth of the sticker prices should push volumes further, handset industry trackers said. Market researcher Counterpoint Research estimates pan-India penetration of base 5G smartphones will jump to 43% by end-2025 from an estimated 3% in year 2024, amid falling device prices, rising adoption of the next-gen wireless broadband service and a likely pick-up in upgrades to 5G devices at the entry-level. «The recent launch of sub-₹10,000 5G phones by the likes of Poco (C75) and Xiaomi (A4 5G) is set to intensify competition and potentially drive rival handset brands to also cut pricing of base 5G smartphone models down to similar levels. This is expected to sharply increase the pan-India penetration of entry-level 5G phones in 2025,» Counterpoint's research director Tarun Pathak told ET.

Data centre capacity addition in the colocation space is expected to reach approximately 230 MW (IT load) by the end of 2024, with a similar or higher capacity addition anticipated in 2025, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. In 2025, while the majority of capacity creation will occur in Mumbai, other cities such as Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, and Chennai are also expected to see significant growth. India has the potential to become a global data centre hub due to its low construction, land and power costs compared to other countries, coupled with a well-established IT and digitally enabled services ecosystem. According to Cushman & Wakefield, the median cost of constructing a data centre in India is estimated at $6.8 million per MW of capacity, significantly lower than most APAC nations-Australia is at $9.17 million, Japan is at $12 million.

differential pricing quietly infiltrates the digital economy. The image going viral on social media-showcasing a prominent ride hailing service's fare disparity based on device type-is a stark reminder that the smartphone you use has become an indicator of how much you are charged. This practice, not limited to ride-hailing apps, extends to q-comm platforms, where the cost of groceries or delivery services can subtly shift based on perceived consumer affluence. It's an opaque-and arguably discriminatory-trend that demands scrutiny. At the heart of this issue is algorithmic pricing, a powerful tool in the arsenal of tech firms. These analyse consumer data-from purchasing history and location to device type and spending patterns. Ostensibly, the goal is to optimise pricing to maximise profits. But the process often veers into discriminatory territory. An iPhone signals a consumer's purchasing power, leading the algorithm to nudge prices higher under the assumption that such users are willing to pay more.

Held under the leadership of Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Swami Arun Giri Ji, the 'Chhavni Pravesh' procession started from the local ashram of Aawahan Akhara in Madouka with a number saints marching to the cantonment area on horses and camels chanting 'Har Har Mahadev'. Mahant Gopal Giri of the Akhara said more than a dozen Mahamandaleshwars and 51 Shri Mahants, besides a large number of Naga saints, participated in the Yatra.

Jitendra Singh will inaugurate the National Workshop on 'Good Governance' practices tomorrow in New Delhi. The workshop will take place at Bhim Auditorium, Ambedkar International Centre. According to a statement from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, the minister will also inaugurate an exhibition showcasing the best practices of the Swachhata Campaign 4.0, curated by various ministries, and release the assessment report.

Central banks play a central role in monetary policymaking and a key operational role in current account management. In countries like India, with capital controls and a structural current account deficit (CAD), these roles elide. The task involves careful policy calibration and skilful deployment of a wide set of tools available for current account management, importantly exchange rate management, but also credit, trade and investment policy. This, therefore, requires a 'whole-of-government' strategy with clearly defined macroeconomic objectives. Much commentary on exchange rate policy is simplistic and polarised. At one extreme, we have those who believe in a 'strong' exchange rate, as evidence of a nation's economic testosterone. While this view is normally weird enough to be dismissed as absurd, it gains credibility because the view from the other extreme-the 'mainstream' of the economics profession-is equally doctrinaire and simplistic.

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the demerger scheme of Raymond Ltd, paving the way for the reorganisation of its real estate business into a separate entity, Raymond Realty. The move is aimed at unlocking the growth potential of the group's real estate vertical and attract strategic investors. Raymond Ltd, the demerged company, will transfer its real estate assets and operations to Raymond Realty Limited, the resulting company, effective from April 1, 2025. As part of the scheme of this demerger exercise, existing Raymond shareholders will be receiving one equity share of Raymond Realty for every share held in Raymond Ltd.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his «politically convenient» position on restoring temples. Avimukteshwaranand said a list of temples destroyed in the past by invaders be prepared and archaeological surveys of the structures be carried out to «restore Hindu pride». «When he wanted power, he went around speaking about temples. Now that he has power, he is advising not to look for temples,» he said on Bhagwat's remarks. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat recently said that it was not acceptable that new temple-mosque disputes are raked up after the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Discovery decided not to renew its contract with the streaming platform, Max, which has been its home since 2016, as mentioned in a report by People. With the fate of the show hanging in the balance, here’s what we know about Sesame Street’s future.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday hit out at the Congress, saying their «leadership is frustrated as they have been rejected by the people again and again.» Responding to Mallikarjun Kharge's statement after the Centre amended the rule to restrict access to certain poll documents, the Union Minister for Education told ANI, «The condition of the Congress is very bad. They are going through a phase of disappointment. Their leadership is frustrated because they have been rejected by the people again and again. »They round up any work of a constitutional body with their allegations," he added. «They win the elections and see EVMs alright. They lose the polls and raise questions about the EVMs».

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has recently come under fire for his outspoken views on UK politics, but his ties to his British family have also raised eyebrows. While Musk has strong familial connections to Liverpool, the birthplace of his late grandmother, a family member has shared how Musk dismissed their attempts to contact him. Cousin Shares Social Media Interaction with Musk Marshall Robinson, Musk’s 86-year-old cousin, spoke to Daily Mail about their family’s efforts to reach out to the billionaire. Robinson revealed that one family member sent Musk a social media message, to which he replied bluntly, «What do you want?» Robinson said, “I have never been in touch” with Musk directly, emphasizing that this was the only interaction they had.

US Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent «friendly fire» incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become, with ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels at the time of the friendly fire incident, though the US military's Central Command did not elaborate on what the pilots' mission was and did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On December 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

Boxing Day sales. However, not all retailers and supermarkets will swing their doors open on December 26. Over the past few years, several stores have embraced a new tradition of staying closed on Boxing Day, a practice initiated during the pandemic in 2020.

The benchmark S&P 500 is up more than 24 per cent for 2024, even after a major stumble this week, and Wall Street has historically often enjoyed a strong annual close, according to the Reuters report. Since 1969, the last five trading days of the year combined with the first two of the following year have yielded an average S&P 500 gain of 1.3 per cent, a period known as the «Santa Claus Rally», according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. But this year, there are signs Santa Claus may disappoint, Reuters reported.

BJP national president JP nadda for nationwide commemorations of 'Good Governance Day' and 'Veer Bal Diwas', the party's Himachal Pradesh unit shared the detailed outline for the events scheduled on December 25 and 26. BJP State General Secretary Trilok Kapoor, during a press conference in Dharamshala on Sunday, said to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, homage will be paid in Delhi by President Droupadi Mumu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and other dignitaries. Regarding BJP National President JP Nadda's directives, he said events will also be organized at the booth level nationwide.