Infinix on Saturday launched a new laptop — the Zero Book Ultra AI PC, with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) capabilities to create an ecosystem of future-forward laptops in India.

The Infinix Zero Book Ultra AI PC will be available in three variants — Ultra 5 (16GB+512GB) at Rs 59,990, Ultra 7 (16GB+512GB) at Rs 69,990, and Ultra 9 (32GB+1TB) at Rs 84,990 — starting from July 10 on Flipkart.

“With India’s rapid adoption of AI, this laptop will be a game-changer, striking a chord with consumers through its affordability, user-friendly interfaces, and future-forward features, perfectly aligned with their demand for advanced AI capabilities,” Anish Kapoor, CEO, Infinix India, said in a statement.

The new device comes powered by Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)’s Core Ultra Processor, the first truly ready AI processor that combines exceptional performance with revolutionary AI capabilities, the company said.

The laptop features a 15.6-inch display that boasts a peak brightness of up to 400 nits, ensuring exceptional visuals with vibrant colours and deep contrasts.

In addition, the Zero Book Ultra AI PC offers unparalleled connectivity options, including the latest WiFi 6E protocol with 6GHz support, providing up to an astonishing 9.6 Gbps throughput and seamless Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.

Furthermore, the laptop also includes “PC Connection” that enables Android to Windows features.

Infinix on Saturday launched a new laptop — the Zero Book Ultra AI PC, with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) capabilities to create an ecosystem of future-forward laptops in India.

The Infinix Zero Book Ultra AI PC will be available in three variants — Ultra 5 (16GB+512GB) at Rs 59,990, Ultra 7 (16GB+512GB) at Rs 69,990, and Ultra 9 (32GB+1TB) at Rs 84,990 — starting from July 10 on Flipkart.

“With India’s rapid adoption of AI, this laptop will be a game-changer, striking a chord with consumers through its affordability, user-friendly interfaces, and future-forward features, perfectly aligned with their demand for advanced AI capabilities,” Anish Kapoor, CEO, Infinix India, said in a statement.

The new device comes powered by Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)’s Core Ultra Processor, the first truly ready AI processor that combines exceptional performance with revolutionary AI capabilities, the company said.

The laptop features a 15.6-inch display that boasts a peak brightness of up to 400 nits, ensuring exceptional visuals with vibrant colours and deep contrasts.

In addition, the Zero Book Ultra AI PC offers unparalleled connectivity options, including the latest WiFi 6E protocol with 6GHz support, providing up to an astonishing 9.6 Gbps throughput and seamless Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.

Furthermore, the laptop also includes “PC Connection” that enables Android to Windows features. AGENCIES

Meta-owned Instagram on Saturday suffered a major outage globally, including in India, as thousands of users were unable to load Reels and access other options.

As per website outage tracking website Downdetector, over 6,500 users reported issues with accessing the platform in India at the peak of an outage at around 12.02 p.m.

About 58 per cent reported problems with the feed, 32 per cent with the app, and 10 per cent with server connection.

Users from Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and others faced issues with the app.

Users took to X to vent their frustration as they were unable to log in to the app, load Reels, and others.

“Everyone going towards Twitter to check if Instagram is down,” a user wrote.

“I thought my Instagram got hacked cuz there’s no way my fyp looks like this. It’s all brain rot usually #instagramdown,” another user said.

One more user stated, “Me going to Twitter to check if it’s only my Instagram that’s down, or we all are suffering #instagramdown”. AGENCIES

Myntra collaborates with Masaba Gupta – the acclaimed fashion designer, beauty entrepreneur and actor as the brand ambassador for Myntra Home.

In this role, she will bring her creative vision to the platform, curating an inspiration-driving home selection that caters to trend-first customers who are building homes that best reflect their personalities. As part of this association, she will also be seen in the ‘Curated by Masaba’ campaign that shines a spotlight on Myntra’s premium home selection.

“Home is where we freely express ourselves, adorned with our roots, beliefs, and culture. Becoming the brand ambassador for Myntra’s Home Category is about transforming home decor into a bold statement of self-expression. For me, this collaboration is an opportunity to merge the intimate journey of home-making with inspiring aesthetics,” said Gupta.

Masaba Gupta is a formidable creative force, who has proven her prowess by resonating with diverse demographics through her distinctive aesthetics and design sensibilities across fashion and beauty. Now, she brings her signature quirk and creative brilliance to Myntra Home.

Myntra Home’s portfolio includes fine and elegant home furnishing, trendy art & decor pieces, lamps & lighting, kitchen & dining, bath, and bed linen and appliances from leading brands including M&S Homes, H&M Homes, India Circus, My Trident (NS:TRIE), Urban Space, Elementary, D’Decor and Nestasia.

Since recently intensifying its focus on the home category, Myntra has significantly expanded its offerings, boasting a rich catalogue of over 4 lakh styles from more than 1,500 renowned domestic and global brands.

Over the years, the rise in time spent by individuals at home, with a notable increase in hybrid work and work-from-home becoming norms, has instilled practices of aesthetics that have resulted in consumers investing more in their home furnishings and decor. Some of the sub categories like kitchen, wall clocks and serverware are clocking over 100% year-on-year (YoY) growth in demand.

“We are delighted to welcome the creative force, Masaba Gupta, as the brand ambassador for Myntra Home. Home is an important part of one’s lifestyle and hence the category expansion fits well into Myntra’s commitment of democratising fashion and lifestyle. Masaba’s distinctive design acumen is well-known globally, and we are thrilled to bring her keen sense of aesthetics by way of her curated collections, themes and looks, to inspire our customers,” said Sunder Balasubramanian – CMO, Myntra.

Like fashion, home decor is a natural extension of one’s distinct taste. Focused on design and aesthetics, the curated collection on Myntra aims to transform homes into chic havens of comfort by offering mood-boosting, theme-based decor inspirations, also reflected in the premium catalogue imagery.

For example, the ‘Cozy Bedroom’ selection features ceramic diffusers, minimalist lamps, and neutral-shaded furnishings. Similarly, the ‘Lovely Living Room’ offers tropical cushions, ceramic planters, textured ottomans and woven hangings.

The ‘Curated by Masaba’ campaign will showcase the tasteful ‘Myntra Home’ selection. It emphasizes the core proposition of top-notch design aesthetics, enabling customers to seamlessly discover handpicked products and brands to elevate their homes.

“We felt that the ‘Home Decor’ category needed fresh storytelling and when it was for Myntra, it had to be fashionable too. Featuring Masaba as the brand ambassador, we’ve created super fun films where the creative take is ‘curated home decor products & themes so good, you’ll be tempted to lie about it’ – both films showcasing the width of inspiring themes and unique products one can choose from on Myntra Home,” said Ira Gupta, Chief Creative Officer, Toaster India.

The ad film stars Masaba Gupta, as well as popular content creator Kusha Kapila, showcasing curated home and living looks and products as the focal point. Set against the backdrop of a lively party, Kapila, the hostess, revels in the admiration her meticulously curated home decor receives from guests.

She improvises her responses to suggest that her decor is personally sourced from exclusive crafts worldwide. However, Gupta appears in the scene, knowing the truth about the home decor Kapila is happily showing off is from Myntra’s extensive home selection.

Playfully pointing to a small vase, she questions Kapila about that purchase, prompting Kapila to awkwardly admit it’s from Myntra before hastily excusing herself mid-conversation. The campaign thus puts the spotlight on Myntra’s handpicked, unique and trendy home selection to refresh every corner of the house and let the homes do the talking.

AGENCIES

 Political stability and sharp rebound in markets aided by aggressive retail buying have forced the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to turn buyers in India, market watchers said on Saturday.

FPIs have invested Rs 26,565 crore in equity in June which marks a reversal of their strategy of selling in the two preceding months.

According to market experts, FPIs have realised that selling in the most-performing market would be a wrong strategy.

“FPI buying can sustain provided there is no sharp up move in US bond yields,” they added.

First fortnight data in June from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) shows FPIs buying in realty, telecom and financials.

FPIs were sellers in IT, metals and oil and gas and are likely to continue the buying trend in financials.

According to V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, India’s inclusion in the JP Morgan Bond Index is certainly positive.

“The debt inflows for 2024 so far stand at Rs 68,674 crore. In the long term, this will reduce the cost of borrowing for the government and reduce the cost of capital for corporates. This is positive for the economy and therefore for the equity market,” he noted.

FPIs are selling where valuations are high and buying where valuations are reasonable. Analysts believe that FPI inflows will remain constrained due to the high valuations currently commanded by the Indian equity market. AGENCIES

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday said his social media platform X saw record usage as US President Joe Biden and his challenger, former President Donald Trump, attended their first presidential debate on TV. According to X, the minute-by-minute conversation, about the US presidential debate spiked by “19 times from the start of the broadcast to its peak 90 minutes in.”

The company said the scale of the global conversation on X was staggering during the debate.

“We’ve tracked over 2 billion impressions with over 242 million video views and 2 million posts,” said the social media platform.

The tech billionaire stated that there was a “record usage of X during the US presidential debate.”

A user posted, “X was going crazy during the debate. X live streams during the debate also had huge audiences.”

“Amazing result of allowing people to speak about it freely, without the ban hammer of the ‘Censorship Complex’ hovering over them,” another X user commented.

Meanwhile, President Biden said he “did well” at the debate with ex-President Trump and dismissed the likelihood of him stepping aside, as being demanded by some Democrats disappointed by his performance.

“I think we did well,” President Biden told a reporter. Many Democrats, however, were concerned President Biden may not be able to beat former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. AGENCIES

South Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical and biotechnologies surged from a year earlier in the first half of the year, data showed on Saturday.In the first six months of the year, the country exported 4.5 trillion won ($3.26 billion) worth of pharmaceutical and biotechnologies, up 55 per cent from 2.9 trillion won (about $2.09 billion) for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association.

The number of export deals dropped to seven from 12 over the cited period, but the amount of each deal grew sharply, the association noted, adding that each of the three deals signed this month was worth over 500 billion won, reports Yonhap News Agency.

At the current rate, the country’s annual total is expected to reach 8 trillion won, according to the association.

“This means the competitiveness of our country’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical technologies have significantly improved,” an association official said. AGENCIES

The World Bank on Saturday approved $1.5 billion in financing for a second operation to help India — which is the fastest-growing large economy in the world — accelerate the development of low-carbon energy. The second ‘Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation’ will support reforms to boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolysers, critical technology needed for green hydrogen production.

This operation is aligned with the government’s energy security and with the World Bank’s Hydrogen for Development (H4D) Partnership. According to the World Bank, the reforms are expected to result in the production of at least 450,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolysers per year from FY25/26 onwards, said the World Bank. In addition, it will also significantly help to increase renewable energy capacity and support reductions in emissions by 50 million tonnes per year.

The operation will also support steps to further develop a national carbon credit market. “The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting India’s low-carbon development strategy which will help achieve the country’s net-zero target while creating clean energy jobs in the private sector,” said Auguste Tano Kouame, World Bank Country Director for India. “Both the first and second operations have a strong focus on boosting private investment in green hydrogen and renewable energy,” Kouame added.

The Indian economy is expected to continue to expand at a rapid pace. According to the World Bank, decoupling economic growth from emissions growth will require scaling up renewable energy, especially in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. “India has taken bold action to develop a domestic market for green hydrogen, underpinned by rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity,” said Aurelien Kruse, Xiaodong Wang, and Surbhi Goyal, team leaders for the operation.

In June 2023, the World Bank approved the $1.5 billion first operation, which supported the waiver of transmission charges for renewable energy in green hydrogen projects, the issuance of a clear path to launch 50 GW of renewable energy tenders annually and creating a legal framework for a national carbon credit market. AGENCIES

Former SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya on Friday raised concern over the fact that a very small percentage of women make it to the senior management in different organisations.

She made the comments while delivering her special address during CII’s Rajasthan Women Leadership Summit in Jaipur.

“The reason for this is that women often exit the workforce at various stages, such as during childbearing, when their children are between classes 10 to 12, or when they need to care for the elderly at home. The women workforce should be provided with flexible work schedules and locations,” she said and added that women should make up to 40 to 50 per cent of an organisation’s workforce.

To retain women in the workforce, it is important to understand why they leave and provide them with flexible work schedules and locations, said Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya, who was the first woman chairperson of SBI, further cited the example of how introducing the concept of a sabbatical for up to two years for women in SBI helped more than 650 women retain their jobs.

Talking about skilling, she said that with the leap in technology, there is a need to keep learning, relearning, and unlearning.

“Skilling is a matter of initiative, as plenty of online courses are now available.”

Sanjay Agarwal, Founder, Managing Director and CEO of AU Small Finance Bank, emphasised the importance of enhancing the visibility of women in the workforce.

He acknowledged that while women are indeed working, their contributions and the time they dedicate to their jobs often go unnoticed or undervalued.

Agarwal stressed that it is crucial for organisations to recognise and appreciate the efforts of female employees, ensuring that their hard work is acknowledged and rewarded.

He also highlighted the need for creating a supportive and secure work environment for women, he said.

Nitin Gupta, Senior Director and Head of CII Rajasthan, said that the primary aim of the summit is to create a platform where women leaders would share their experiences, how they surmounted challenges on their leadership journey and what were the pivotal moments or the events that transformed them as individuals and leaders.

During her welcome remarks, Indian Women Network Chairwoman, Rajasthan, Tanuja Agarwal, said that the objective of the session is to discuss the role of women in nurturing organisational growth.

The Vote of Thanks on the occasion was proposed by Co-Vice Chairwoman, IWN Rajasthan, Nivedita Sarda. AGENCIES

The World Bank said that it has approved a $750 million loan to strengthen the Philippine economy’s recovery.

The Philippines Second Sustainable Recovery Development Policy Loan supports reforms that increase investment in public service sectors, attract private investment in public infrastructure, particularly in domestic shipping, promote renewable energy, protect the environment and improve climate resilience, reports Xinhua news agency.

World Bank Senior Economist Ralph van Doorn on Saturday said the Philippine economy remains resilient despite ongoing global and domestic challenges. “The reforms supported by this lending program, if implemented, will encourage private investment, innovation, and sustained growth,” he said.

Through these reforms, Van Doorn said the Philippines can transition faster to a greener economy and achieve its environmental and climate objectives.

Given the Philippines’ archipelagic nature, he added that marine transport is critical for trade and connecting its numerous islands and destinations, enabling efficient movement of goods and products.

Van Doorn said attracting more local and foreign investments in domestic shipping can significantly boost the country’s competitiveness.

The loan also supports reforms that aim to enhance plastic waste reduction, recovery, and recycling, promote green transportation, and encourage the production and consumption of environment-friendly goods and services through public procurement. AGENCIES

Four people were killed and nine others were injured when a minivan crashed into a nail salon in US state of New York, authorities said, citing media reports.Officials say the minivan drove all the way through the strip-mall business, Hawaii Nail and Spa, on 796 Grand Boulevard in Deer Park on Long Island on Friday around 4:30 p.m., ABC7 New York reported.The cause of the crash is still unknown.All of the deceased were inside the nail salon, authorities added.”It’s horrible, it’s going to be tough for the community…tough for the volunteer fire department, but we’re going to get through it…just a horrible thing to see especially at this time of the year with all the good things happening, graduations and what not,” said Deer Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese.The driver was taken to the hospital and was partially conscious, ABC7 New York reported.The people who were trapped were extricated and taken to the hospital.Named Hawaii Nail & Spa, the nail salon is one of several stores in a shopping area in Deer Park. AGENCIES