Samsung Electronics said on Sunday it hosted a technology forum in Silicon Valley in the United States, bringing together experts in artificial intelligence (AI) technology to share the company’s key business and research developments in the field.

At the company’s ‘2024 Tech Forum’ hosted by Samsung Research America in the Silicon Valley, senior managers from various Samsung business and divisions offered insights into their respective operations and research related to AI, according to the company.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO, Han Jong-hee, attended the event. Company Vice President Kim Dae-hyun, who heads Samsung Research’s Global AI Center, gave a lecture on customer experiences unique to Samsung Electronics through the use of AI, reports Yonhap news agency.

The South Korean tech giant said it plans to continue creating platforms for networking among industry experts to help foster connections and collaboration among skilled professionals in the industry.

Meanwhile, the company has started mass production of its latest industry-leading solid-state drive (SSD) product, optimal for usage in powerful artificial intelligence personal computers. The “PM9E1” SSD will provide powerful performance and enhanced power efficiency, making it an optimal solution for on-device AI PCs. Key attributes have all been improved compared with its predecessor.

Starting with the PM9E1, Samsung plans to expand its advanced SSD offerings to global PC makers and expects to launch consumer products based on the product in the future to solidify its market leadership.

In August, the chip maker started mass production of the industry’s thinnest mobile DRAM, LPDDR5X DRAM, tailored to on-device artificial intelligence. The new 12-nanometer (nm)-class 12 gigabyte (GB) and 16GB LPDDR5X DRAM packages are only 0.65 mm high, making them the thinnest LPDDR DRAM in the industry.

AGENCIES

Over 60 per cent of South Korea’s automotive exports throughout most of 2024 have been shipped to North America, industry data showed on Sunday, raising calls for companies to consider more balanced global export strategies.

According to industry data, exports of the five automotive firms with manufacturing bases in South Korea — Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea, KG Mobility and Renault Korea Motors — totalled 1,857,111 units during the January-August period, reports Yonhap news agency.

Of those, 61.4 per cent, or 1,140,073 units, were shipped to North America. Exports to the region increased 15.9 per cent from 983,321 units during the same period last year.

In particular, exports to the United States totalled 970,066 units, accounting for roughly half of all South Korean automotive exports during the cited period. American exports recorded an 18.7 percent on-year jump during the period.

In contrast, exports to other regions recorded significant declines from last year, with those to Africa dropping by 44.7 percent. Shipments to Asia, the European Union, Latin America and the Middle East also fell by 23.5 per cent, 26.1 per cent, 11.6 per cent and 9.2 per cent, respectively, the industry data mentioned

Market watchers in particular have expressed concerns about South Korea’s increasing reliance on auto exports to the U.S. market, noting that a high market share of Korean goods could prompt the next American administration to introduce regulatory measures.

Kim Pil-soo, an automotive professor at Daelim University, stated, “If the trade surplus with the U.S. becomes too large due to increased car exports, even an ally such as South Korea could face measures such as tariffs.” AGENCIES

The South Korean units of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and Volkswagen Group plan to provide information regarding the battery management system (BMS) of their electric vehicle (EV) models to the local transport safety authority, according to officials on Sunday.

According to a Korea Transportation Safety Authority (KTSA) report submitted to Rep. Ahn Tae-joon of the main opposition Democratic Party, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Volkswagen Group plan to provide data of their BMS to the authority starting in December.

The decisions follow heightened public concerns over EV safety, following a massive fire that broke out from a Mercedes-Benz electric model in early August, which led to the damaging of over 100 cars in an underground apartment parking garage in Incheon, west of Seoul, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hyundai Motor and Kia began providing BMS data to the KTSA in June 2022. In July of the same year, Renault Korea Motors and GM Korea followed suit. BMW Korea started providing the information in June 2023, while Tesla followed suit in October of last year.

BMS monitors battery voltage and temperature to ensure optimal performance of EVs. It also alerts users to any early warning signs of abnormalities. To verify whether a battery is in a safe condition, collecting data from a BMS is required.

Imported car brands had previously been reluctant to provide BMS information apparently over fears proprietary battery control technology could be leaked during inspections.

The KTSA said it plans to discuss with the transport ministry measures to encourage imported car brands to provide BMS information, although they are not yet specifically considering making such provision mandatory.

AGENCIES

The market outlook for next week will depend upon RBI MPC meet, IIP data, and the Q2 earnings season will kick off with key companies like TCS, IREDA Tata Elxsi and DMart among others which will drive stock-specific movements.

The broader market’s focus will be on the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is scheduled to meet from October 7 to 9, with the outcome to be announced on Wednesday, October 9.

According to the market experts, “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged in its upcoming policy review, having maintained it at 6.5 per cent for the ninth consecutive meeting in August 2024. This aligns with market expectations, as the central bank aims to bring inflation closer to its medium-term target of 4 per cent while supporting economic growth.”

Several other factors like Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) activities, US FOMC Meeting Minutes and crude oil prices will also drive the market next week.

In the previous week, the market experienced a sharp downturn and broke its three-week winning streak. The Nifty and Sensex both plummeted nearly 4.50 per cent, closing the week at 25,014.60 and 81,688.45, respectively.

The primary driver behind the selloff was the diversion of foreign funds to China after the country’s central bank introduced substantial monetary stimulus, reducing the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.50 per cent.

FIIs sold equities worth Rs 40,511 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 33,075 crore.

Palka Arora Chopra, Director of Master Capital Services said, “Nifty has formed a strong bearish candle on the weekly chart, signaling intense selling pressure at higher levels. Last week the NSE benchmark broke the key Fibonacci support at 25,100 and closed negatively, the next critical support is 24,700. A breakdown below this could lead to further declines toward 24,400.”

Pravesh Gour, Senior Technical Analyst at Swastika Investmart said, “Bank Nifty 100-day moving average (DMA) at 51,100 serves as an immediate support level, with the 50,000-49,500 range, which aligns with the 200-DMA, acting as the next support zone. On the upside, 52,500 and 53,300 will be key resistance levels during any pullback.”

AGENCIES

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that India is moving towards becoming the next semiconductor hub for the world as big investment is happening in this sector in the country.  

Minister Viashnaw referred to a recent roundtable in New York between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top tech CEOs and said that in the discussion three top executives had said they had not seen this kind of enthusiasm for any country in the last 35 to 40 years.

The Central government has cleared five semiconductor manufacturing proposals, with a total combined investment nearing Rs 1.52 lakh crore.

The Union Minister further said Micron Technology will roll out the first made-in-India chips by early 2025. The construction work of the CG power semiconductor facility is going on. And in Tata’s ATMP facility in Assam, construction work is going on very well, he said.

Earlier, the Minister said the growth of the semiconductor industry in India will further boost PM Modi’s vision. Semiconductor is a foundational industry. Chips manufactured in the industry are used in medical instruments, mobile phones, laptops, cars, trucks, trains, televisions and practically every device.

All the initiatives taken so far, whether it is the Digital India Mission or the telecom mission, have brought technology into the hands of common citizens.

According to the reports, India’s semiconductor-related market will reach 64 billion dollars in 2026, nearly triple the size in 2019. Towards achieving this goal, the ‘Semicon India’ initiative allows financial support for front-end fabrication units, sensors, display manufacturing, display fabs, semiconductor packaging and compound semiconductors.

As per the experts, “by expanding production capabilities, the country is poised to become a major player in the semiconductor sector. National initiatives, such as the Semicon India Programme and the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), are focused on capturing a significant share of the global market, driving innovation, and stimulating economic growth through job creation and technological advancement.”

AGENCIES

Buoyed by policy continuity and strong domestic demand, especially in rural India, business optimism has soared among India Inc and the industry remains bullish on business sentiments in FY25, a survey showed on Sunday.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Business Confidence Index rose to a two-quarter high of 68.2 in the second quarter of the current financial year (July-September period), as compared to 67.3 in the previous quarter and 67.1 in the corresponding quarter last year.

The survey respondents cited factors such as improvement in consumption, especially rural demand, steady progress in monsoon, continued emphasis on reforms and fresh sightings in private investment as the key reasons which will drive growth in the current financial year.

More than half (59 per cent) of the respondents anticipate an improvement in private capex in the first half of FY25 as compared to the second half of FY24.

This is encouraging as this is likely to provide support to public capex which has shown an uptick recently after a lull in the first quarter due to elections, the findings showed.

“In tandem with the improvement seen in the business prospects, industry has responded positively on the availability of employment opportunities across sectors. Almost half of the respondents anticipate an improvement in the hiring situation in their companies during the second quarter,” the report mentioned.

The upcoming festive season portends well for fortifying growth prospects further. That said, the uncertainty in the global scenario persists, necessitating a careful watch on the evolving economic conditions, according to the leading industry chamber.

The survey highlighted that more than half of the respondents anticipate sales and count of new orders in their companies to increase in the July-September quarter.

Consequently, most of the respondents (46 per cent) feel that the capacity utilisation levels in their company would range between 75-100 per cent during the quarter ending September 2024.

“This level is higher than the proportion witnessing such capacity utilisation levels in the previous quarter. Moreover, capacity utilisation between 75-80 per cent is a propitious sign as it helps to fuel fresh investments in the economy as per the RBI,” the survey report noted.

AGENCIES

 Top investor Vijay Kedia on Sunday slammed IndiGo for frequent delays, poor customer service and rude ground staff, as the low-cost carrier suffered a massive outage leading to flight disruptions and ground services being halted across the nation on Saturday.

In a post on the X social media platform, Kedia told the airline not to “let arrogance lead to your downfall”.

“Without improvements, IndiGo will face the consequences of its own decline,” he commented.

The technical glitch on Sunday left several air travellers stranded across airports as they were unable to board IndiGo flights or book tickets, leading to significant delays.

“As a shareholder and frequent flyer, I feel it’s important to express my concerns about Indigo’s recent performance. Earlier, Indigo was always my first choice. Now, it’s my last. Given an alternative, most passengers would choose you only as a last resort,” the ace investor posted.

Addressing the Indigo management, Kedia mentioned two main areas of dissatisfaction with the airline — frequent delays and poor customer service, “especially at the check-in counters, where staff behaviour is often rude”.

“Passengers deserve better, and your team’s conduct directly impacts the brand’s reputation,” said Kedia.

The technical glitch left several passengers no option but to flood social media with complaints.

“It’s good to invest in new aircrafts but how about improving the ground services (at Bangalore T1 for the last one hour). Additional counters are required, disturbing to see old people suffering. @DGCAIndia please notice,” an affected flier posted.

According to Kedia, Indigo currently holds about 62 per cent of the market share, but competition is growing.

“Air India is catching up, several struggling airlines are reviving, and new entrants are on the way. If these issues aren’t addressed, people will shift to other options,” he said.

Domestic passenger air traffic in the country rose 6 per cent (year-on-year) to 13.1 million in August. Indigo continued to dominate the domestic space, increasing its market share by 40 bps to 62.4 per cent.

agencies

 Authorities on Thursday launched a survey of illegal houses and other structures that came up all along the Musi River in Hyderabad and adjoining districts in preparation for the Musi Riverfront Development Project.

Several teams of officials along with the police were visiting residential areas that had encroached upon the river bed and the buffer zone in Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri districts.

The team members were seen marking the structures which will be removed to clear the river bed and buffer zone of all encroachments.

The officials were seen surveying Langar Houz, Chaderghat, Musa Nagar, Shankar Nagar and other areas.

The officials were collecting details of the residents and checking their documents.

Police personnel were seen accompanying the officials to prevent any untoward incident.

A total of 16 teams were conducting a survey in Hyderabad district, four teams in Rangareddy district and five teams in Medchal Malkajgiri district.

At a few places, residents raised objection to the survey and raised slogans against the government.

They showed their property registration documents and said they have been living in the area for decades and paying property tax, electricity and water bills.

A woman criticised the Telangana government for removing the encroachments and planning to shift them to other places.

“Will the two-bedroom house be sufficient for us,” she asked regarding the government’s decision to allot double-bedroom houses to those being removed from the river bed and buffer zone.

One of the residents questioned the government for calling their houses illegal.

He appealed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to intervene and direct Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to stop this action against poor families.

The survey began a day after the state government issued orders allotting approximately 15,000 double bedroom housing units for rehabilitation of the eligible economically poor families that will be moved for the Musi Riverfront Development project.

According to the Government Order, these families may be allotted 2BHK housing in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, subject to eligibility.

The officials said they would soon begin the removal of 10,000-odd illegal dwellings and commercial structures.

A preliminary survey conducted by the revenue department revealed that there are 2,116 structures on the river bed and another 7,850 in the buffer zone.

The Municipal administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary Dana Kishore, who is also the Managing Director of the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, said that the government has prepared an action plan to clear the constructions that came up along the river course.

“We will ensure rehabilitation of the evacuees of the Musi riverfront in double-bedroom houses. The government has allotted nearly 16,000 double-bedroom houses in different parts of the city to provide accommodation for the people who will be evacuated from the dwellings along the river,” Kishore said.

Those living in the buffer zone will receive compensation for their structures in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset protection Agency (HYDRAA) is gearing up to demolish the illegal structures.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on September 24 discussed with officials the modalities for carrying out demolition of structures along the Musi river and rehabilitating the people from there.

He announced the allocation of 16,000 double-bedroom homes for such families.

A brainchild of CM Reddy, the Musi Riverfront Development Project is aimed to conserve the river, promote tourism and prevent flooding.

The world-class project is proposed to be taken up on a public private partnership basis. The government claimed many private players are evincing keen interest in the project.

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has questioned the need for the project. It questioned the ‘dramatic’ increase in the cost of the project.

According to BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao, it was initially estimated at Rs 50,000 crore. The project’s cost was later revised to Rs 70,000 crore, and now it is a staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crore, he said.

The former minister claimed that the erstwhile BRS government had already completed 100 per cent sewerage treatment at a cost of Rs. 3,866 crore and planned the rejuvenation, beautification, and development of the Musi River at an estimated cost of Rs 16,634 crore. This includes an expressway from ORR West (Manchirevula) to ORR East (Pratapa Singaram).

He questioned the significant increase in project costs, raising doubts about the current government’s calculations and intentions. AGENCIES

 Former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to immediately resign from his position if he wants to maintain his dignity.

Speaking to the media, Bommai said, “CM Siddaramaiah has his own identity in Karnataka politics and his own public support. If he wants to maintain that, he must uphold high moral standards. If he behaves like everyone else, he too will join their ranks.”

Bommai further stated that complaints have been filed against CM Siddaramaiah, based on which the Governor issued orders, subsequently, the High Court and the Special Court have also issued orders. At every stage, the case is tightening further.

“A time for introspection has come. While anyone can fight their case in court, Siddaramaiah must maintain public trust in him. I hope he is able to preserve that trust,” he said.

Responding to a question about the alleged irregularities in the Valmiki Tribal Welfare Development Board, Bommai said, “The SIT had submitted a charge sheet without naming ministers and chairpersons. They had tried to close the matter. However, since the CBI and ED have started investigating, they have now filed a charge sheet. Action against them is inevitable. If wrongdoing has occurred, we must continue the fight as an Opposition party.”

When asked about the ‘Bangalore Chalo’ movement planned by AHINDA (a pro-Backward Class, minority, and Dalit organisation), Bommai declined to comment on it but asserted that the BJP’s fight against CM Siddaramaiah would continue.

On the question of the BJP’s moral right to demand CM Siddaramaiah’s resignation, Bommai responded, “It’s not about who has allegations against them or not. The question now is about Siddaramaiah. In the past, when he was in the Opposition, he would question everyone’s morality. Now that he is Chief Minister, he must question his own morality and provide answers.”

Bommai further stated that a candidate for the Shiggaon constituency bye-election will be selected soon.

“We have already held two meetings regarding this. Several aspirants have submitted their applications. After review, further action will be taken,” he said.

When asked about the possibility of a surprise candidate for the Shiggaon Assembly constituency, Bommai responded, “I’ve not been in town for the past ten days, so I’m unaware of any developments. However, the candidate will be finalised as soon as possible.” AGENCIES

 A Mumbai Court has found Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut guilty in a 2022 defamation case filed by Medha K. Somaiya — wife of ex- Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya — and awarded him 15 days jail plus a fine of Rs 25,000, here on Thursday.

The order of Mazagon Metropolitan Magistrate Court came in the two-year-old libel suit filed by Medha Somaiya against Raut, who had alleged a Rs 100-crore toilet construction scam in Mira Road (Thane), linked to an NGO run by the Somaiyas.

Raut said that he had merely raised certain questions based on certain official records raising doubts on the toilet construction issue, which was also endorsed by ruling MahaYuti alliance leaders, “so where have I made any defamation”.

The SS(UBT) leader said he will challenge the Metropolitan Magistrate Court’s conviction order in a higher court shortly.

Among other things, Raut had claimed that Medha Somaiya was involved in the scam after which she had lodged the libel case.

An elated Medha Somaiya expressed her happiness at the verdict and said that her faith in the judiciary has been vindicated.

“I am an ordinary housewife, engaged in social service and educational activities, but will fight anyone who tries to harm my family members. I am satisfied with the court’s verdict. It will prevent others from making such absurd allegations,” Medha Somaiya told media persons.

In 2022, Raut had accused Medha Somaiya and her family members of the alleged scam and claimed he had documentary evidence to back it up, but failed to produce the same.

The Somaiyas first complained to the Mulund Police Station, and later, filed a defamation suit in the Mazgaon Court, challenging Raut’s allegations and stating that “not even a one rupee scam has been committed”.

While the MahaYuti allies Shiv Sena-BJP-Nationalist Congress Party welcomed the court verdict, opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi partners Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (SP)-SS (UBT) flayed the outcome, terming it as “politically motivated” ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. AGENCIES