Software Financial News

Mobikwik Systems, which runs the digital payment application Mobikwik, saw its initial public offering being subscribed 17 times at the end of the second day, data from the BSE showed. Showing healthy demand from investors, the retail portion of the IPO was subscribed 58 times, while the non-institutional portion was booked 22 times. However, institutional buyers are yet to fully subscribe to the shares reserved for them. The IPO saw full subscription in the first few hours of its opening on Wednesday.

Vapi, a San Francisco-based startup that helps businesses deploy artificial intelligence-powered voice agents, said on Thursday it raised $20 million from investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners and Y Combinator, in an early-stage funding round. The fundraise valued Vapi at $130 million, according to a source familiar with the matter. Other investors in the round included Abstract Ventures, AI Grant, Saga Ventures and Michael Ovitz, who co-founded the influential Creative Artists Agency.

Indian Sellers Collective, an umbrella body of trade associations and sellers across the country, has urged the finance minister and the GST Council not to accept some of GST rate rationalisation suggestions, including the proposal for inclusion of a special rate of 35 per cent on some products. The sellers body is of the view that a fifth GST slab of 35 per cent on demerit goods such as aerated beverages, cigarettes and tobacco, and pricing-based rate structure will materially and fundamentally alter the country's GST framework with devastating outcomes. These recommendations violate both the letter and the spirit that it will be a 'good and simple tax', Indian Sellers Collective said in a statement on Thursday ahead of the 55th GST Council meeting to be held on December 21, 2024 at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. «On the contrary, it will hurt the profit margins of the retailers, lead to compliance nightmares and fuel a parallel economy. This move will primarily benefit Chinese producers who dominate the market of cheap products at the cost of Indian producers,» it said.

Elon Musk. A day after Musk became the first person to surpass $400 billion net worth, Tesla's stock price reached $420 on Wednesday afternoon which prompted responses from social media users and the company's CEO, Elon Musk. «As foretold in the prophecy,» Musk wrote in an X post that included a screenshot of the stock. Tesla stock has reached the threshold previously, but today marked the first time the share price crossed the $420 threshold since the stock split in August 2022.

urban design and create dense cities which fits our esthetics, our way of living and are economically viable, Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) said calling for a need to redeploy land and old buildings and revisiting the standards set for building construction to allow more innovation in design. “This requires us to rethink our architecture and town planning from bottom up instead of the prevalent top down approach,” he said on Wednesday while addressing a session on urban planning at the Global Economic Policy Forum 2024, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Citing the example of Chandigarh, which Sanyal terms as an economically unviable city, he said it is not a good idea to ever recreate Chandigarh again.

steel imports, Union Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Thursday. «The process is going» on the ministry's proposal to impose a 25 per cent duty on steel imports, Kumaraswamy told PTI on the sidelines of an event here. On December 2, the steel ministry in a meeting with the commerce department had proposed for a 25 per cent safeguard duty on certain steel products imported into the country. The steel minister and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were present in the meeting. A final call on imposing the duty can be taken by the finance ministry on recommendations of the ministry of commerce.

One Nation, One Election" bill, a significant move aimed at streamlining the electoral process. A comprehensive bill is expected to follow this decision, paving the way for unified elections across the nation. Earlier on Wednesday, former President of India Ram Nath Kovind stated that the Central government must build a consensus on the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative, emphasising that the issue transcends political interests and serves the nation as a whole.

Supreme Court has said. The observations came from a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale while delivering a verdict on an appeal challenging a Gujarat High Court order refusing to discharge a woman's husband and her in-laws for allegedly harassing her and driving her to suicide. The observations in the judgement gain significance in the wake of the recent suicidal death case of 34-year-old techie Atul Subhash. He alleged harassment at the hands of his estranged wife and her family. A case of abetment of suicide was registered against his wife Nikita Singhania, her mother Nisha, father Anurag and uncle Sushil.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are preparing to become King and Queen, according to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. This preparation has intensified due to King Charles' health challenges. Kate Middleton recently hosted her fourth annual «Together at Christmas» service at Westminster Abbey on December 6. This marked a significant return to public life following a period of chemotherapy treatment, which concluded in September. Her husband, Prince William, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, also attended the service. During Kate's treatment, Prince William reduced his official duties to support his family. King Charles also scaled back his commitments due to his own cancer diagnosis. This led Prince William to represent the royal family at several events, including the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. King Charles has since announced he is cancer-free.

One Nation One Election bill. A comprehensive bill is expected to follow this decision, paving the way for unified elections across the nation. Earlier on Wednesday, former President of India Ram Nath Kovind stated that the Central government must build a consensus on the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative, emphasising that the issue transcends political interests and serves the nation as a whole.

passive funds: Mirae Asset Nifty India New Age Consumption ETF and Mirae Asset Nifty India New Age Consumption ETF Fund of Fund. The new fund offer or NFO of Mirae Asset Nifty India New Age Consumption ETF and Mirae Asset Nifty India New Age Consumption ETF Fund of Fund are open for subscription and will close on December 20 and December 26 respectively. Also Read | Mutual funds see Rs 8,995 crore inflow in mid and small cap funds in November. Should you allocate more?

ANI. The Ministry of Labour & Employment is upgrading its IT systems for enhanced services to India's workforce, Dawra said.

Capacity utilisation of domestic steel industry in 2024-25 is poised to slip below 80 per cent for the first time in four years as cheap imports nibble at market share, according to rating agency ICRA. Fresh upcoming capacity addition plans could be at risk of a slowdown unless earnings of domestic steel mills inch up from prevailing levels, the rating said in a statement Thursday. Following the post-Covid metals rally, the domestic steel industry was able to achieve the impossible trinity of maintaining above 80 per cent capacity utilisation rates, a strong investment pipeline, and comfortable leverage levels for three years back-to-back between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

Union Budget 2025 approaches, leading experts are calling for a significant increase in infrastructure spending to catalyse India's economic growth. The government is urged to go for an 30% annual rise in infrastructure allocations, with demands for the upcoming budget to push capital expenditure to ₹18 lakh crore from last year’s ₹11.1 lakh crore base. Annual increase in capital expenditure is crucial to reversing GDP slowdown and achieving the nation's ambitious economic goals. A robust budget allocation and proactive private-sector participation will be pivotal in ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth.

Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem — gathered at the diner, now the heart of Silicon Valley, to discuss building a computer chip that would make graphics for video games faster and more realistic. That conversation, and the ones that followed, led to the founding of Nvidia, the tech company that soared through the ranks of the stock market to briefly top Microsoft as the most valuable company in the S&P 500 this year. Nvidia has a market cap or net worth of $3.41 trillion as of December 11, 2024, now worth as much as Apple and Microsoft. The poster child of the artificial intelligence boom, Nvidia, whose hardware is now found in all Tesla vehicles, may bring the next industrial revolution in the tech world. It is successful than anybody could have ever imagined because of its charismatic leader. ALSO READ: What is Willow? Google's quantum computing chip explained in 10 points

IMD scientist GS Patil explained, «Due to cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal, moisture-laden winds are bringing rainfall to Karnataka. We anticipate moderate to heavy rain in parts of the state, particularly coastal and southern districts.»

edible oil import rose 38.5 per cent to 15.9 lakh tonne in November mainly due to sharp jump in shipments of crude sunflower oil and crude soyabean oil, according to industry data. On Thursday, Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) released the data of import of vegetable oil (edible and non-edible ) for November. As per the data, import of vegetable oils during November, the first month of the 2024-25 oil marketing year, rose 40 per cent to 16,27,642 tonne compared to 11,60,590 tonne a year ago. Out of total vegetable oil import, India imported 15,90,301 tonne of edible oil in November as against 11,48,092 tonne in the same month last year. Import of non-edible oils increased to 37,341 tonne compared to 12,498 tonne in November 2023.

Prashant Mehta as Managing Director to lead its Global Delivery Centre (GDC). Mehta will focus on accelerating the GDC’s global growth, with a significant concentration of talent based in India. The specialist capability hub, accessible to all WPP agency teams worldwide, will be headquartered in India. This follows the recent opening of a new campus in Chennai, WPP’s third in the country after Mumbai and Gurugram. India, a top-10 growth market for WPP and a hub of technological innovation and creativity, is pivotal to the GDC’s strategic expansion. Leveraging an existing workforce of 11,000 in the country, the GDC enhances WPP’s presence by capitalising on India’s resources and specialist expertise.

season's first snowfall, while higher reaches experienced moderate rainfall, officials said on Thursday, adding that the minimum temperature has improved across most places in the valley. The plains of Shopian, Pulwama, and Baramulla, as well as the upper areas of Anantnag, Budgam, and Bandipora received light snowfall. However, there was no snowfall in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The higher reaches of the valley, including the tourist resorts of Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Tangmarg, Gurez and the Zojila Pass, saw light to moderate snowfall. Due to accumulation of snow along the Zojila Pass, the Srinagar-Leh highway was closed for traffic, while the Bandipora-Gurez road and Mughal Road were also shut, officials said.

The Active Investor Plus Visa that historically lured rich individuals to New Zealand and raked in an average NZ$1 billion ($580 million) a year has languished after rule changes in 2022. Just 35 applications have been fully approved in the past two years, equating to NZ$352 million of nominated investment funds, according to data from Immigration New Zealand. ALSO READ: 7 reasons to pick New Zealand as Australia tightens rules for international students

FTA) with the European Union (EU) during an interaction with Ambassadors from the European Commission delegation and member states. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the meeting, attended by representatives from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, and several other EU nations, along with senior Indian officials, emphasized the growing trade and economic partnership between India and the EU. Highlighting the progress in the FTA negotiations, Goyal acknowledged the need for political guidance to finalize a commercially meaningful agreement that respects the sensitivities of both parties.