On a tech market rally, fuelled by declining bond yields and solid March U.S. retail sales, the Dow industrials (.DJI) closed above 34,000 for the first time on Thursday, with the blue-chip benchmark and S&P 500 (.SPX) posting new record highs.This week, the S&P 500 set a new closing high, and the Dow surpassed its previous high from April 9. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) closed above 14,000 for the first time since February 16, and is now down less than 1% from its record high ending on February 12.The S&P information technology sector (.SPLRCT) also reached a new peak. Big tech names including Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), and Facebook Inc (FB.O), which earned between 1.5 % and 1.9 %, boosted the benchmark and the communication services (.SPLRCL) index."Even though valua...

Flipkart announced on Thursday, that it is acquiring online travel aggregator Cleartrip, for an undisclosed amount. The agreement would enable the Walmart-owned e-commerce behemoth to expand its online travel space footprint, and become a more formidable competitor to Amazon. Even though both, Flipkart and Amazon provide flight, bus, and train bookings, companies such as MakeMyTrip and Cleartrip have been key players in this space. This acquisition will also aid the company's business and revenue growth.According to the terms of the agreement, Flipkart will acquire all Cleartrip operations, while Cleartrip wil

Startek, a multinational business process management company, said it has put $30 million into CSS Corp through a limited partnership managed by Capital Square Partners, its largest shareholder., CSS, an IT services and software support company, has both, an indirect beneficial interest of approximately 26 percent and a direct beneficial interest of approximately 26 percent will be acquired by Startek. Startek said in a statement that it had the option but not the obligation to buy a majority stake in CSS.The investment was made possible by a new $185 million senior debt facility from CSP Alpha Holdings Pte. Ltd., Startek's wholly-owned subsidiary. A $165 million term loan and a $20 million revolving credit facility make up this debt refinancing. The term loan has a 21-month principal r...

Daimler AG launched the hybrid "sibling" of its flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class premium sedan on Thursday, putting the challenge to industry leader Tesla Inc as electric vehicle sales take off. The EQS is the first in a series of Mercedes-Benz cars, to be designed entirely on an electric vehicle platform. In August, it will be available in Europe and the United States, with China following in January. Last year, the sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the European Union nearly tripled to over 1 million, accounting for more than 10% of total sales."With this car, we set the bar really high," Daimler CEO Ola Källenius told reporters. "In this market, customers demand a mix of hi-tech creativity and modern luxury... and that's what we're aiming for with the EQS." Daimler has not ye...

Saudi Arabia is enjoying one of the largest foreign-investment windfalls in history, after selling a stake in the oil pipelines, that run through the desert kingdom for more than $12 billion. However, as a result of this, the nation could face an unpleasant fact. Since carefully cultivated partnerships with firms like BlackRock Inc. and SoftBank Group Corp. have failed to attract the desired investment, it is turning to the jewels of its energy sector to attract new capital.The selling of the stake to EIG Global Energy Partners LLC last week demonstrates how dependent Saudi Arabia is on its conventional mainstay, as well as the difficulties Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman faces in diversifying the country away from oil and gas, in order to achieve his Vision 2030 target. International ...

“To enhance their currency cycling and fund their short-term liquidity requirements, large listed car and vehicle companies have delayed their payments for the financial lockdowns during the pandemic. While their inventory of large companies and their payment payments for sales increased on average over the 12 months ended September 30 of the last year, the number of days after payments were made to suppliers increased even more. This reduced their cash conversion cycles effectively or converted investments into cash flows from sales”, said Naveen Tiwari, Operational transactional services in EY India.“For the large car companies, the payment period for suppliers has increased from an average of 61 days to 76 days, as stated in the report. The cash cycles were reduced by 13 days even af...

Ford Motor Company announced another round of plant closure on Wednesday, as a result of the global semiconductor chip shortage, this time affecting five facilities in the United States and one in Turkey.The No. 2 automaker in the United States did not say how many vehicles would be missing as a result of the latest measures, but it did say it plans to provide an update on the financial effect of the chip shortage with its quarterly earnings on April 28, implying the hit may be greater than anticipated.Ford estimated the expense of the semiconductor shortage to be between $1 billion and $2.5 billion in March. Although the company has prioritised chips for its most profitable vehicles, it has been forced to halt production of its best-selling F-150 full-size pickup on occasion, and it ha...

2018 is poised to be the landmark for healthcare industry. Millions of patients will receive their online video consultation without the requirement of doctors’ premises, and thousands of patients use smartphone as their diagnostic tool. Through incorporating technology and obtaining valuable insights from data analytics, healthcare industry itself will become stable and self-sufficient. Nowadays, outsourcing has become the latest buzz in the healthcare industry. In this rapidly changing business scenario, healthcare sector faces noteworthy challenges. Cost containment, healthcare compliance, and business stability play a crucial role in establishing business sustainability. Outsourcing non-medical activities such as medical billing, coding, and transcription to third party vendors are ...

“Green energy like solar power would power India as 175 gigawatt (G) of electricity is expected to be generated from renewable sources.”- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.India has targeted to complete its 100 GW of installed capacity by 2020 in order to achieve 175 GW renewable energy capacity target by 2022. The 100 GW target include utilities and rooftop solar installation in which 60 GW is to come from utilities and 40 GW from rooftop solar installations. While the 60 GW target may can be achievable with the help of auction timeline, the country is showing poor performance in rooftop solar installation.India has installed 19.58 GW of solar power generation capacity till February, 2018. The government is very close to achieving 20GW in 2017-18. However, the officials reported that I...

2018-19 is about going to witness a milestone for cars safety in India. As per Ministry of Road Transport of India, the country faces about 150,000 mortalities each year along with half million injuries due to road accidents, which is highest across the world. Annually, more than 50% of the total road crashes were due to over-speeding, and 6% were due to overtaking. Several injuries can be reduced by implementing proper active and passive safety equipment in cars and airbags, which are the basic passive safety standards. Indian economy with its automobile industry is witnessing an impressive growth since the last few years. This factor will provide an impressive growth rate to the Indian airbag market. The sales of the passenger cars is increasing continuously in the country. By unit sa...