Tencent’s latest education push is a nod to new collaborative structure

Loknath Das

When Tencent announced it had formed a new education brand this week, the internet giant wasn’t just flexing its muscles to conquer China’s booming online education sector. The new initiative is also an early result of Tencent’s long plan to foster more internal collaboration at a time when its core businesses, the lucrative video gaming segment and the billion-user WeChat,  are under attack. Called “Tencent Education,” the new brand consists of 20 products across all six of the firm’s business groups, announced executive senior vice president Dowson Tong at the company’s annual…

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5 points to consider before selecting travel credit cards

Loknath Das

Travel credit cards can be an excellent tool for business travellers and holiday makers. These cards earn you higher reward points and other benefits on travel-related expenses. You can redeem accumulated reward points for air tickets, hotel stays and other expenses. They also enrich travel experience by providing complimentary airport lounge access, additional baggage allowance, dedicated concierge service and priority check-in at airports. Following are the points that you must factor in while selecting your travel credit card: Co-branded or non-co-branded credit card: Co-branded cards bear the name of their…

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Amazon’s Travel Strategy Comes Into Focus

Loknath Das

So why would Amazon choose to re-enter the travel industry through a seemingly loss-generating proposition hawking already low-margin airline tickets via a Cleartrip partnership in the domestic Indian market? It sounds crazy, but Skift Research believes that airline tickets are a sensible entry point for a new Amazon foray into travel. Flights is a fairly commoditized product with far fewer suppliers to tangle with —hundreds of airlines worldwide versus hundreds of thousands of hotels, for example. But the challenge of selling airfares is that it is a low-margin offering, typically the least…

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Ticketmaster put an end to screenshots with new digital ticket technology

Loknath Das

Ticketmaster is turning to new technology to help fight ticket fraud. The ticketing giant today unveiled its next-generation digital tickets, “Safetix,” which are tied to the ticket holder’s mobile device through an encrypted barcode that automatically refreshes every few seconds. The tickets will also support NFC technology, allowing fans to enter venues through a “tap and go” experience. The company says ticket holders will later this year be able to add their contactless ticket to Apple Wallet, so they can enter a venue with their iPhone or Apple Watch. This…

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Finance ministry reworking strategic sale procedure for CPSEs

Loknath Das

The finance ministry is reworking strategic sale procedure to ensure outright sale of CPSEs within 4 months of issuance of documents to potential investors, a move aimed at ensuring speedier conclusion of the entire process, an official said. However, for CPSEs like Air India, which are relatively bigger in size, the timeline for completion of strategic sale is likely to be fixed at 6 months from the date of issuance of Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) about the company. Currently, there is no set timeline for concluding strategic sale of a state-owned company and…

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Share market update: Nifty Financial Services index up; Indiabulls Housing Finance jumps 5%

Loknath Das

NEW DELHI: The Nifty Financial Services index was up with most of its components trading with gains in Tuesday’s afternoon session. Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance (up 5.69 per cent), Shriram Transport Finance Company (up 4.20 per cent), Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company (up 3.75 per cent) and Indiabulls Ventures (up 3.51 per cent) were the top gainers in the index. ICICI Bank (up 2.38 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (up 1.58 per cent), State Bank of India (up 1.37 per cent) and REC (up 1.08 per cent)…

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Why Should You Give a Second Thought to DIY Teeth Whitening Methods?

admin

An entire laundry list of causes leads to the discoloring of our pearly whites. Genetics, lifestyle choices, diseases, the natural process of aging—there are many reasons behind discolored and toned-down teeth. However, thanks to medical science, now there are professional ways to reverse the discoloration through safe and effective teeth whitening procedures. Amid the wide-scale availability of professional teeth whitening treatments, many people still resort to home remedies and DIY methods to deal with their discolored teeth.  You can certainly try different DIY methods to whiten your teeth. However, it…

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The Future of Finance is Female

Loknath Das

Diversification is the cornerstone of sound investment management, and yet diversity remains largely absent from the investment industry. Women investment professionals hold a mere 11% of C-suite positions according to the CFA Institute Gender Diversity in Investment Management study. In most financial firms, women are a minority of employees and that’s bad for customers because women make excellent investors. Despite diversity making headlines across industries globally, the Indian financial sector remains stubbornly impervious. Research indicates that gender diverse companies deliver better returns with lower volatility for investors. Efforts to reduce gender inequality in…

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PM Modi, Ministers spend Rs 393 cr on foreign, domestic travel in 5 years

Loknath Das

A Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Council of Ministers incurred an expenditure of Rs 393 crore on foreign and domestic travel in last five fiscal years. City-based RTI activist Anil Galgali had filed an RTI query with the PMO seeking the total Foreign Travel Expenses (FTE) and Domestic Travel Expenses (DTE) incurred by the Prime Minister and his council since May 2014. In December 2018, the Modi government, replying to queries on foreign travel expenses in Rajya Sabha, had said that…

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Apollo Fusion Obtains Hall Thruster Technology from JPL

Loknath Das

WASHINGTON — Satellite electric propulsion startup Apollo Fusion is expanding its product line through an agreement with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, giving it access to advanced Hall thruster technology. The Silicon Valley-based company said May 7 that it signed a deal that gives it an exclusive worldwide commercial license for JPL’s Magnetically Shielded Miniature, or MaSMi, Hall thruster technology, as well as a contract to provide JPL with three thrusters that use that technology. Apollo Fusion plans to use the MaSMi technology in an electric thruster called the Apollo Xenon Engine (AXE), which will…

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