The Indian healthcare sector has become a major target for cybercriminals, experiencing an average of 6,935 cyberattacks per week over the last six months, compared to 1,821 attacks per organisation globally, a new report revealed on Friday.

According to the cyber security provider Check Point Software Technologies, this trend highlighted the increased attack surface due to the rapid adoption of technologies such as electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

“The simplicity of spoofing email addresses and the capability to deliver weaponised content make email a powerful tool for spreading malware, stealing credentials, and executing social engineering attacks,” said Sundar Balasubramanian, MD for India and SAARC at Check Point Software Technologies.

“Check Point urges users to avoid opening unverified email attachments, use strong passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and exercise caution with unsolicited or suspicious emails,” he added.

Following healthcare, the most attacked industries in India include education/research (6,244 attacks), consulting (3,989 attacks), and government/military (3,618 attacks), the report mentioned.

The report also highlighted that Indian organisations, on average, were targeted 2,924 times per week over the past six months, compared to 1,401 attacks per organisation globally.

The most prevalent malware in India was ‘FakeUpdates’, accompanied by other malicious software such as ‘botnets’ and a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) named ‘Remcos’.

Information disclosure was the most commonly exploited vulnerability in India, affecting 72 per cent of organisations, followed by Remote Code Execution impacting 62 per cent, and Authentication Bypass affecting 52 per cent.

In the last 30 days, 63 per cent of malicious files in India were delivered via email, while 37 per cent were delivered through the web.

Notably, 58 per cent of the top malicious files delivered via email were executable files, while 59 per cent of malicious files delivered via the web were PDF files, the report said.

“Preventive measures, such as regular software updates, employee training, and the deployment of advanced security solutions, are essential to mitigate the growing threat landscape,” Balasubramanian said. AGENCIES

India government bonds or government securities are set for inclusion in the global bond index from Friday.

JP Morgan will add Indian government bonds to its Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) from June 28. It is the first time ever that Indian government bonds would be included in this index.

Government securities inclusion in the global bond index will have a positive impact on the Indian economy.

Indian bonds will have a 10 per cent weightage in the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index. The weightage of India’s government bonds will be gradually increased in this index in a phased manner from June 28, 2024, to March 31, 2025, by one per cent each in the next 10 months.

JP Morgan announced the inclusion of Indian bonds in GBI-EM in September 2023, since then there has been an inflow of more than $10 billion into Indian bonds.

The move will enable foreign inflow to accelerate into Indian bonds. Demand for Indian government bonds will increase due to the inflow of foreign investment. This will increase the size of the Indian bond market. Besides, liquidity and efficiency will also increase.

Till now, only banks, insurance companies, and mutual funds have been major investors in government bonds. Now, a large number of global investors will be able to invest in Indian bonds. This will reduce the bond yield and will also reduce the cost of borrowing for the government which is expected to reduce the fiscal deficit.

Demand for the rupee will increase due to foreign inflow and hence it may remain strong in the coming months. AGENCIES

The scope and scale of operations of ITC’s Agri Business have grown manifold over the years and currently encompasses nearly 3 million tonnes of annual volume in 22 states and over 20 agri-value chains, according to the ITC Annual Report 2023-24.The strategic focus of the business in recent years has been to accelerate growth by rapidly developing and scaling up Value-Added Agri Products (VAAP), straddling multiple value chains comprising spices, coffee, frozen marine products, and processed fruits, among others.

Amid the extremely challenging operating environment, ITC leveraged its strong farm linkages, extensive sourcing expertise enabling traceable, attribute-based and identity-preserved sourcing of agri-commodities, multi-modal logistics capability, agile supply chain operations, deep customer relationships, and focus on scale-up of the VAAP portfolio to sustain business operations during the year.

ITC is one of India’s largest exporters of agri commodities with exports to over 85 countries.

ITC is a leading player in spices such as chili, turmeric, coriander, and cumin. In line with its strategy of enhancing value addition and ‘producing the buy’, the business has, in recent years, scaled up its presence in ‘food safe’ markets viz. the US, EU, and Japan, leveraging its key strengths such as identity-preserved sourcing expertise, strong backward integration, custody of supply chain and customer-focused strategies.

During the year, the business consolidated its position as a preferred supplier in ‘food safe’ markets (private labels, steam sterilised, organic products) leveraging deep customer relationships, portfolio augmentation, and agile execution.

The business scaled up its Organic and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) programmes, thereby enhancing its ability to produce ‘food safe’ spices in a sustainable manner. The business continues to partner with various State Governments for production of ‘food safe’ spices and has maintained an unblemished track record over the years in terms of compliance with stringent food safety parameters.

The business continues to pursue sustainable farm management practices anchored on Rainforest Alliance and Global GAP accreditation.

Capacity utilisation of the state-of-the-art spices processing facility in Andhra Pradesh has been ramped up to enable ITC to expand its customer base in ‘food safe’ export markets, besides promoting inclusive spices value chains benefiting thousands of Indian farmers.

During the year, coffee prices witnessed a sharp increase in the international markets primarily due to lower crop output in Vietnam. The tightness in supply, in anticipation of further price increases, resulted in lower export volumes of Indian coffee. Notwithstanding these challenges, the business registered strong growth in exports, leveraging its strategic presence in key coffee-producing regions of India, deep understanding of estate and region-specific varieties, and focus on premium grades of Arabica, Certified Coffees, Specialty and, Monsooned Coffee.

ITC is one of the leading exporters of value-added frozen marine products from India with expertise in processing individually quick-frozen (IQF), raw and cooked products, adhering to the highest standards of safety and hygiene prevalent in developed markets such as the US, EU, and Japan.

During the year, ITC has emerged as one of the top three exporters of frozen shrimps from India to the EU market by expanding its footprint in sustainably sourced shrimps leveraging the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) programme.

The business also provides sourcing support to the ‘ITC Master Chef’ range of ‘Super Safe’ frozen prawns in the domestic market and supplies high-quality shrimps to ITC’s Hotels Business.

In the Processed Fruits & Vegetables segment, the business continues to expand its footprint in the fruit pulp and tomato paste categories through a robust network comprising a large number of small and marginal farmers in four states.

The business continues to focus on its strategy of moving up the value chain by scaling up its customised crop development and cultivation programme in Madhya Pradesh to further enhance its expertise in Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Extracts (MAPE).

Collaborations with farmers are being strengthened with the business providing necessary inputs, advisory, on-field support, and enabling farmers to ‘produce the buy’. AGENCIES

 The Maruti Suzuki Swift has achieved a new milestone of three million sales in India, the company said on Friday.

The launch of the Epic New Swift in May has created new benchmarks and propelled the revered Swift legacy to its three million sales milestone, according to the company.

“With each new generation, the Swift has continued to raise the bar, offering cutting-edge technology, contemporary style, and that unmistakable ‘Swift DNA’ which continues to captivate customers,” Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India, said in a statement on Friday.

“This accomplishment fills us with immense gratitude, and we are thankful to all Swift owners across the country,” he added.

Inspired by the iconic Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, the Swift was launched in 2005 with segment-first features such as climate control, airbags and an anti-lock braking system (ABS).

The brand has achieved over 6.5 million sales globally, with India being Swift’s largest market.

The Swift surpassed one million sales in 2013 within eight years since its introduction, and the two million sales mark was breached in 2018, the company mentioned.

In May, the carmaker launched the fourth generation Epic New Swift at a starting price of Rs 6.49 lakh (ex-showroom) in the country. AGENCIES

 The latest round of 15-20 per cent mobile tariff hikes for prepaid and postpaid plans by telecom service providers (TSPs) can result in additional operating profits of around Rs 20,000 crore for the industry once these hikes are fully absorbed, industry experts said on Friday.

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are likely to witness a significant average revenue per user (ARPU) benefit after the tariff hike. Vodafone Idea is yet to implement the mobile tariff hike.

“This will result in increased profit generation, thereby providing headroom for the industry to undertake deleveraging as well as fund capex for the technology upgrade as well as network expansion,” said Ankit Jain, Vice President and Sector Head of Corporate Ratings, ICRA.

ICRA expects the industry revenues to grow by 12-14 per cent in FY25, which given the operating leverage, is likely to translate into healthy expansion in operating profits by 14-16 per cent.

The telecom industry is likely to report revenues of Rs 3.2-3.3 lakh crore with operating profits of Rs 1.6-1.7 lakh crore in FY25.

“The improvement in operating profits coupled with the muted participation in the latest spectrum auctions and expected moderation in the capex intensity, the debt levels are expected to moderate to around Rs 6.2-6.3 lakh crore as on March 31, 2025, with the expectation of further decline going forward,” said ICRA.

According to a note by Morgan Stanley, we expect other players, including Bharti Airtel, to follow and announce price increases soon for 4G subscribers.

“We estimate that blended ARPU would benefit in the range of 16-18 per cent for Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio,” said the note.

AGENCIES

E-sports and gaming company NODWIN Gaming on Friday said that it will be acquiring Berlin-based global full-service gaming and esports agency Freaks 4U Gaming for Rs 271 crore.

The company’s Singapore-based subsidiary NODWIN Gaming International Pte has signed definitive agreements to increase its existing 13.51 per cent stake in Freaks 4U Gaming to 100 per cent in tranches through a share swap.

“This acquisition is a pivotal step in our global growth strategy. By integrating Freaks 4U Gaming’s expertise and resources, we are poised to deliver unparalleled services and expand our global footprint in the gaming and esports industries,” Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder of NODWIN Gaming, said in a statement.

NODWIN Pte will initially increase its existing stake in Freaks 4U Gaming to 57 per cent and the remaining 43 per cent held by the founders Michael Haenisch, Matthias Remmert and Jens Enders will be swapped at a later time at its option.

Existing investors of Freaks 4U Gaming will become shareholders of NODWIN Pte, according to the company.

“With our shared vision and ambition, we look forward to driving our global expansion while spearheading innovation and growth for gaming and esports,” said Haenisch.

Freaks 4U Gaming offers a multitude of agency services and best-in-case solutions to brands and publishers and generated Rs 223 crores in 2023.

Last year, NODWIN Gaming’s Singapore acquired a 100 per cent stake in game marketing agency PublishME for $2 million from its existing shareholders Nazara Technologies (NS:NAZA) and Ozgur Ozalp.

AGENCIES

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that its foreign exchange reserves had decreased by $239 million due to external debt repayments.

During the week ending on June 21, the total foreign exchange reserves of the bank fell to around 8.9 billion dollars, the SBP said in a statement on Thursday.

It added that the net foreign reserves held by commercial banks came at $5.3 billion, reports Xinhua news agency.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the South Asian country stood at about $14.2 billion, according to the SBP.

AGENCIES

Global investment bank and financial company Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has stated that the PM Gati (NS:ALLA) Shakti scheme has succeeded in giving a new fillip to India’s infrastructure development and multi-modal connectivity across highways, railways and ports that has spurred economic growth.

According to the report, India has scaled up its infrastructure strongly over the last decade, with higher investment that is also better targeted and potentially more productive.

“We expect India’s infrastructure investment to steadily increase from 5.3 per cent of GDP in FY24 to 6.5 per cent of GDP by FY29. Indeed, this implies that infrastructure investments are expected to register a strong 15.3 per cent CAGR, resulting in cumulative spending of USD 1.45 trillion over the next five years. In our view this will help to lift the investment rate, leading to a sustained period of high productive growth.”

Interestingly, the report also states that “contrary to popular perception, India’s physical infrastructure scale already compares favourably to China’s when viewed in the context of GDP differential.”

The report cites the World Bank’s Logistics Index Report, 2023, which records that the average Container Dwell Time in Indian ports was three days compared to four days for countries like the UAE and South Africa, seven days for the USA, and 10 days for Germany.

Indian Ports “turnaround time” has reached 0.9 days, which is better than the USA (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 days), Singapore (1.0 days), etc. 6. In F24, ports overall cargo growth was 7 per cent, with 53 per cent of cargo handled by major ports (government-owned).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Gati Shakti National master plan for infrastructure development in October 2021. It brings 16 ministries including Railways and Highways together on a digital platform for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of multi-modal connectivity projects. It is conceived as a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development with roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure constituting “7 engines “ to pull the economy forward in unison.

According to the Morgan Stanley Report, initiatives under PM Gati Shakti are yielding results. Under the PM Gati Shakti scheme so far, cumulatively 101 projects worth Rs 60,900 crore have been identified for implementation in the ports and shipping sectors.

As of April 2023, 26 projects, worth Rs 8,900 crore have been completed, 42 projects worth Rs 15,340 crore are under development, and 33 projects worth Rs 36,640 crore are under implementation.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) is also implementing a comprehensive port connectivity plan in coordination with the highways and railways ministries.

The Morgan Stanley report says under the Sagarmala programme, 220 projects worth Rs 1.12 lakh crore have been completed and 231 projects worth Rs 2.21 lakh crore are under implementation while 351 projects worth Rs 2.07 lakh crore are at the evaluation stage.

Similarly, National Waterways are also being developed as a more efficient and environment-friendly means of transport for both cargo and passengers.

AGENCIES

Indian equity indices opened in green on Friday following buying in largecap stocks. Sensex and Nifty made a new all-time high of 79,671 and 24,174 respectively.At 10 a.m., Sensex was at 79,558, up 314 points or 0.40 per cent and Nifty was up 93 points or 0.39 per cent, at 24,137.

NTPC (NS:NTPC), Sun Pharma (NS:SUN), Tech Mahindra (NS:TEML), Tata Motors (NS:TAMO), Power Grid (NS:PGRD), Tata Steel (NS:TISC), Nestle (NS:NEST), Asian Paints (NS:ASPN), Infosys (NS:INFY), HDFC Bank (NS:HDBK) and JSW Steel (NS:JSTL) are the top gainers. Whereas, UltraTech Cement (NS:ULTC), Axis Bank (NS:AXBK), IndusInd Bank (NS:INBK), Maruti Suzuki (NS:MRTI) and HCL Tech (NS:HCLT) are the losers.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index is up 346 points or 0.46 per cent at 55,740 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index is up 187 points or 1.03 per cent at 18,352.

Among sectoral indices, PSU Bank, Fin service, Pharma, Metal and Energy are major gainers. Auto and realty are top laggards.

According to the experts, “The market momentum has the potential to take the Sensex to 80,000 level. The healthy trend in the recent rally is that it is driven by fundamentally strong largecaps like RIl, Bharti and the leading private sector banks.”

“Corrections can happen any time since the market is in the overbought zone and DIIs are booking profits,” They added.

AGENCIES

In a major fillip to the government’s local manufacturing push, Adani Defence & Aerospace – the defence arm of the Adani Group — has signed an agreement with the Thales Group to manufacture 70mm rockets in India.

Thales said that this partnership is not only significant for their commitment to India, “but it also allows us to strengthen our partner network worldwide”.

“We congratulate the Adani Group on this partnership. Together, we seek to contribute to the further growth and success of India’s defence sector,” the Thales Group said in a post on X.

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with the Adani Group in India. We look forward to collaborating on the manufacturing of Thales’ 70mm rockets in India,” said the Thales Group.

This partnership is a key milestone in our continued support of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision for India’s growing defence industry, the Thales Group added.

Adani Defence & Aerospace, part of the Adani Group, is a pioneer in the design, development and manufacturing of state-of-the-art defence products.

The company signed a significant agreement with EDGE Group – one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence groups in the UAE – earlier this month.

The pact aims to establish a global platform leveraging the defence and aerospace capabilities of both companies to bring together their respective product portfolios and cater to the requirements of global and local customers.

AGENCIES