Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday announced that it has now joined Project Nexus with the four ASEAN countries to create a platform to facilitate instantaneous cross-border retail payments.

Nexus, conceptualised by the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), aims to connect India’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface), with the fast payment systems of ASEAN members — Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. These four countries and India would be the founding members and first-mover nations of this platform, the RBI said.

An agreement to this effect was signed by the BIS and the central banks of the founding countries i.e., Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bank of Thailand (BOT), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Reserve Bank of India on June 30, 2024, in Basel, Switzerland, according to an RBI statement.

Indonesia, which has been involved from the early stages, continues to be involved as a special observer.

The RBI has been collaborating bilaterally with various countries to link India’s Fast Payments System (FPS) – the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with their respective FPSs for cross-border Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) payments.

“While India and its partner countries can continue to benefit through such bilateral connectivity of Fast Payment Systems, a multilateral approach will provide further impetus to our efforts in expanding the international reach of Indian payment systems,” the RBI said.

The platform can be extended to more countries, going forward. The platform is expected to go live by 2026. Once functional, Nexus will play an important role in making retail cross-border payments efficient, faster, and more cost-effective, the RBI statement added.

AGENCIES

South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries said on Monday it has won a 1.4 trillion-won ($1 billion) order to build four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for a Middle Eastern shipper.

The vessels will be delivered to the undisclosed shipping company by August 2028, Samsung Heavy Industries said in a regulatory filing.

So far this year, the shipbuilder has clinched orders worth $4.9 billion to build 22 ships, or 51 percent of its 2024 target of $9.7 billion, reports Yonhap news agency.

The ships include 19 LNG carriers, two very large ammonia carriers and one shuttle tanker.

Samsung Heavy Industries is the shipbuilding arm of South Korea’s top family-controlled conglomerate, Samsung Group, whose marquee unit is Samsung Electronics Co. AGENCIES

 Indian equity indices opened in the green on Monday following positive global cues. At 9:40 a.m., Sensex was at 79,197, up 165 points or 0.21 per cent and Nifty was at 24,069, up 58 points or 0.22 per cent.Midcap and smallcap stocks lead the market. The Nifty midcap 100 is up 237 points or 0.43 per cent, at 55,984 and the Nifty smallcap 100 is up 161 points or 0.88 per cent, at 18,478.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto, IT, Metal, and Media are major gainers. Realty, PSU Bank and Energy are major laggards.

Overall market breadth remains positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Out of the total shares 1,631 are in the green and 601 are in the red.

In the Sensex pack, JSW Steel (NS:JSTL), Tech Mahindra (NS:TEML), Maruti Suzuki (NS:MRTI), HUL, TCS (NS:TCS), Wipro (NS:WIPR), Bharti Airtel (NS:BRTI), Tata Steel (NS:TISC), Nestle (NS:NEST) and HDFC Bank (NS:HDBK) are top gainers. NTPC (NS:NTPC), Power Grid (NS:PGRD), L&T, Sun Pharma (NS:SUN), and SBI (NS:SBI) are top losers.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking said, “Nifty can find support at 23,900 followed by 23,850 and 23,800. On the higher side, 24,100 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 24,200 and 24,250.”

“The charts of Bank Nifty indicate that it may get support at 52,200, followed by 52,000 and 51,900. If the index advances further, 52,500 would be the initial key resistance, followed by 52,650 and 52,800,” Mehata added.

Most Asian markets are bullish. The markets of Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Seoul are in the green. American markets closed in the red on Friday. Crude oil benchmark Brent crude remains at $85 per barrel and WTI crude at $82 per barrel. AGENCIES

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has met with leaders of global tech giants, including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), to discuss ways to broaden business cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, his company said on Monday.

Chey, who has been on a US trip since June 22, held talks with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy at the headquarters of the US multinational technology company in Washington, last week, to explore ways to enhance cooperation in the AI chip sector, according to SK Group.

Amazon has unveiled its own AI chips, Trainium and Inferentia, as part of its plans to expand its business portfolio to include designing AI chips and offering AI services, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The US company is one of SK Hynix’s clients for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a core component for AI semiconductors. SK Hynix is leading the HBM market with its latest fifth-generation HBM3E product.

Later, Chey also met with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger at its headquarters in California.

During the meeting, the two leaders celebrated the long partnership between the two companies and shared views on future technologies and business collaborations in the sector of AI chips.

In partnership with Intel, SK Hynix developed the fastest DRAM for servers, DDR5 Multiplexer Combined Ranks Dual In-line Memory Module, in December 2022.

Last year, SK Hynix’s DDR5 product for servers received approval for Intel’s fourth-generation processor for the first time in the industry.

During his stay in the US, Chey has also met with other tech moguls, including Sam Altman from OpenAI and Satya Nadella of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Meanwhile, SK Group unveiled its reform plan to secure 80 trillion won ($58 billion) by 2026 to increase investment in AI and semiconductors, aiming to keep up with the AI-led industry transition. AGENCIES

SK On, the loss-making battery unit of South Korea’s chip-to-construction conglomerate SK Group, said on Monday it will freeze the annual pay of all executive-level officials until it turns to profit, as part of its cost-cutting measures.Under the measures, C-suite executives, including the chief executive officer, let the company’s board decide their position, SK On said in a statement.

In his message to all employees, SK On CEO Lee Seok-hee said the emergency plan is to respond to “changed business environments” and effectively manage business operations, reports Yonhap news agency.

“The current crisis will be an opportunity (for the company) to reemerge as a leading global manufacturer (in the fields of EV batteries),” the CEO said.

SK On reported an operating loss of 581.8 billion won ($422.7 million) last year and remained in the red in the first quarter of 2024 with a loss of 331.5 billion won.

In its guidance announced earlier this year, the company targeted reaching the break-even point during the second half by posting an operating profit in the third or fourth quarter.

But SK On will continue to make investments in research and development projects to strengthen its competitiveness in car battery manufacturing while reorganising sales operations to flexibly respond to market demands, it said.

The global EV markets are in a stagnation phase, known as the “chasm,” which occurs before the widespread adoption of EVs.

SK On is 89.5 per cent owned by SK Innovation Co., the country’s leading refiner by sales. AGENCIES

 Video telematics startup Cautio on Monday announced a pre-seed raise of Rs 6.5 crore led by Antler, 8i Ventures and AU Small Finance Bank.

The funding round, a mix of equity and debt, also saw participation from Cautio’s early believing customers and angel investors.

“With the support of our friends at Antler, 8i and AU, we are primed to escalate our efforts in deploying cutting-edge safety solutions across the country,” Pranjal Nadhani, Co-founder & CTO, Cautio, said in a statement.

Cautio offers cost-effective video telematics products and delivers tailored solutions aimed at mitigating safety issues prevalent in India.

Through customisable dash cam devices and an AI-powered operating system, Cautio ensures accountability, improves driver conduct, minimises revenue loss, and adopts an API-first strategy, the company said.

“The Cautio model is not just about capturing telematics data but transforming it into actionable insights to enhance driver behaviour, increase safety, and pave the way for autonomous vehicles,” said Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler.

According to Ankit Acharya, Co-founder & CEO of Cautio, telematics in India has rapidly advanced from GPS, Bluetooth and portable navigation to embedded connectivity.

“India, ranking first in global road fatalities, recorded 1,68,491 deaths in 2022, with overspeeding responsible for 70 per cent of these fatalities, along with approximately 4.4 lakh injuries,” said Acharya.

“Video telematics and dash cams, driven by demand from the commercial vehicle sector, will be crucial in eliminating hearsay and enhancing road safety,” he added. AGENCIES

About 17 Indian startups have raised $196.4 million in funding across 17 deals this week.This represents a decrease of 75 per cent from the $800.5 million secured by the startups last week across 21 deals, reports Inc42.

The largest funding round was witnessed by non-banking financial company (NBFC) Northern Arc this week. It raised $75 million via non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO.

The Fintech sector emerged as the investors’ favourite this week as the startups in the space cumulatively secured $77.4 million across three deals.

Startups in the e-commerce sector raised $48.3 million across five deals, enterprise tech raised $25.8 million across three deals, real estate tech raised $20.2 million across one deal, and health tech raised $10.5 million.

However, seed funding dropped this week by 69 per cent to $6.9 million from last week’s $22.7 million, according to the report.

Softeware-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Rocketlane raised $24 million in its Series B funding round co-led by 8VC, Matrix Partners India and Nexus Venture Partners.

Co-working space solutions provider Smartworks has secured $20.24 million (Rs 168 crore) from a group of investors including Keppel, Ananta Capital Ventures Fund I, Plutus Capital, family trusts, and HNIs.

Meanwhile, a Nasscom report has said that India now ranks sixth among the top nine deep-tech ecosystems globally with 3,600 such startups, which received $850 million in funding last year. AGENCIES

As artificial intelligence (AI) begins to transform user experiences across devices and apps, ‘Apple Intelligence’ now aims to puts powerful generative models at the core of iPhone, iPad, and Mac systems, which will be part of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia this fall in beta.

Claiming to set a new standard for privacy in AI, ‘Apple Intelligence’ understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant. ChatGPT will also come to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year, powered by GPT-4o.

This is how this new AI is going to change the way people use devices to communicate, work and express themselves.

First of all, the generative models have been infused with personal context to deliver intelligence that’s incredibly useful and relevant.

According to the company, with Private Cloud Compute, it has set a new standard for privacy in AI, with the ability to flex and scale computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers.

AI-powered writing tools will help you rewrite, proofread, and summarise text.

With the ‘TextView’ delegate API, you can customize how you want your app to behave while writing tools is active — for example, by pausing syncing to avoid conflicts while Apple Intelligence is processing text.

Using the Image Playground API, you can add the same experience to your app and enable your users to quickly create delightful images using context from within your app.

Since images are created entirely on device, you don’t have to develop or host your own models for your users to enjoy creating new images in your app, according to Apple.

While emoji are represented as text, Genmoji will be represented as inline images.

‘Apple Intelligence’ also provides Siri with enhanced action capabilities. Developers can take advantage of predefined and pre-trained App Intents across a range of domains to not only give Siri the ability to take actions in your app, but to make your app’s actions more discoverable in places like Spotlight, the Shortcuts app, Control Center, and more.

With ‘App Entities’, Siri can understand content from your app and provide users with information from your app from anywhere in the system.

In the Notes and Phone apps, users can now record, transcribe, and summarise audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to help recall key points.Searching for photos and videos becomes even more convenient with Apple Intelligence. AGENCIES

 In another bid to ensure healthcare for all, the government has unveiled three new initiatives which will play a major role in improving the quality of healthcare services in the country.

These initiatives include virtual National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) assessment for Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM); a new dashboard which will help health institutions in quickly monitoring compliance with respect to Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS); and a spot food licence and registration initiative for food vendors.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, said the government has established over 1.73 lakh AAMs, doubled the number of medical colleges since 2014, increased the number of AIIMS from seven to 23 and more than doubled the number of PG and MBBS seats since 2014.

“The government is committed to strengthening the healthcare system with more skilled human resources and quality infrastructure that can tackle both present and future medical challenges”, the minister noted.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel, said that the launch of the virtual NQAS assessment and dashboard “will lead to improvement in providing quality of healthcare in public health facilities while the launch of the spot food licence will enhance the Ease of Doing Business in India”.

NQAS for Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHL) will improve the quality and competence of management and testing systems, which will positively impact the reliability of test results.

The launch of the spot food licence initiative is a ground-breaking new functionality for the instant issuance of licences and registrations through the Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS).

FoSCoS is a pan-India IT platform designed to address all food safety regulatory needs.

Minister Patel said the government is working hard on building a robust and quality healthcare infrastructure by 2047, in accordance with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s vision. AGENCIES

The development of ‘Made in India’ sovereign cloud infrastructure will enhance national security and resilience, industry experts have said, as the data centre capacity in the country is likely to double from 870 MW in FY22 to about 1,700-1,800 MW by FY25.The country currently has more data in India than the US and China put together.

“Average data consumption which was just about 300 MB a few years back had already become 25 GB per month, and by 2028, we will become the largest in the world in terms of per user data consumption at almost 62 GB per user per month, said Sunil Gupta, Chair, Assocham National Council on Datacenter.

“The digital pervasiveness is only becoming bigger, making India a digital-first economy leapfrogging us beyond every single largest global economy,” he said.

From about 200 megawatts in 2013-14, India has grown to 1200 megawatt.

“By 2027 we are expected to go to 2,000 megawatt. A sovereign cloud ensures that data generated within India remains within the country’s borders and also protected completely by local law and regulation,” said Gupta, also the Co-Founder, MD and CEO of Yotta Data Services.

By 2025, the Indian software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is expected to grow to $35 billion, with data centres contributing to this growth.

“Growth is imperative as far as the country is concerned. The paradigm that we really need to focus on is to make the lives of individual Indians better,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, Past President Assocham and CMD, Hiranandani Group of Companies.

According to Surajit Chatterjee, Co-Chair, Assocham National Council on Datacentre, Mumbai is leading the pack in terms of the largest data cenrtre market share, followed by Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

“We are now moving into tier 2 and tier 3 markets,” he added. AGENCIES