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Baystreet
14h
109
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Big Players Lining Up to Secure Critical Supplies of Nickel Despite Price Drop
- Despite a price drop in 2023 for nickel, several major players continue to develop a domestic nickel supply.
- Automaker General Motors Company signed a massive $19 billion deal with LG Chem to supply cathode materials by 2035.
- More attention is being given to promising domestic nickel projects from groups such as Alaska Energy Metals Corporation, Canada Nickel Company, FPX Nickel Corp., and Nickel 28 Capital Corp.
- The battery market continues to grow with researchers working on NCM batteries that use nickel, providing a higher energy density.
- KoBold Metals, backed by billionaires Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Ray Dalio, uses artificial intelligence to search for nickel on more than 60 projects.
- Other countries placing restrictions on ore exports have increased the focus on promising domestic nickel projects.
- Alaska Energy Metals Corporation and Canada Nickel Company are developing domestic nickel supplies for electric vehicles, defense components, long-term, grid-scale renewable energy storage batteries, stainless steel, and other uses.
- The Nikolai Nickel Project’s Eureka Deposit saw an upgrade to the more-preferred Indicated category, with an addition of 813 million tonnes of Indicated nickel resource.
- Canada Nickel Company proposes to build a US$1 billion nickel processing plant in Ontario, Canada, which would be the largest in North America once completed.
- GM’s $19 billion deal with LG Chem stipulates that a large portion of the input materials, including nickel, are sourced from US or friendly free trade partners.
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Baystreet
14h
105
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Agritech Market Boom: AI, IoT, and Biologicals Drive Growth to $49.2 Billion by 2031
- The agritech market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.33%, reaching $49.2 billion by 2031.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing new crop varieties, providing vital soil data and utilizing precision drones for fertilizers and pesticides.
- Bunge is attempting to acquire Glencore-backed Viterra, which would put Bunge Global SA nearer in scale to rivals Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and Cargill.
- Origin Agritech Limited announced it has received a GMO safety certificate for its transgenic maize, BBL2-2.
- Ingredion Incorporated has unveiled its new purified Rebaudioside M (Reb M) stevia-based sweetener solution called PURECIRCLE Clean Taste Solubility Solution (CTSS).
- Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. (BVT) uses commercially-reared bees to deliver biological pesticide alternatives directly to crops.
- BVT's proprietary biological control agent, CR-7, is being tested as a seed treatment for soybeans, which have a global crop value of $155 billion annually and projected to reach $278 billion by 2031.
- Recent progress shows that CR-7 maintains a long shelf life when coated on soybean seeds, and is compatible with various seed treatment products, including other biologicals and chemical pesticides.
- Innovations like precision farming, biotechnological applications, and the integration of AI and IoT technologies are fueling the expansion of the agritech sector.
- Agritech companies, including BVT, Bunge Global SA, Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Origin Agritech Limited, and Ingredion Incorporated, are leading the way to ensure future food security.
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HinduBusinessLine
14h
251
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RBI cautions UCBs acquiring large corporate exposures beyond their bite size
- The RBI has cautioned Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) against acquiring large corporate exposures beyond their capacity.
- The RBI has zero tolerance for poor corporate governance practices, such as loans to directors or their relatives.
- Frequent breaches in risk limits, if overlooked or normalized, can compromise the institution's overall risk awareness and stability.
- UCBs need to adapt, stay vigilant, and work on risk management, compliance, and internal audit to retain relevance in a fast-changing world.
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Tech Story
15h
0
Everything You Need to Know About Google’s Project Astra
- Project Astra is a multimodal AI assistant capable of semi-conversational interactions and simultaneously using a camera to identify objects and people in the environment.
- Astra aims to function as a smart assistant, offering real-world guidance and assistance by identifying objects, recognising faces and moods, and even remembering the location of misplaced items.
- In the demonstration, Astra showed impressive abilities in accurately identifying people, objects, and actions, providing relevant information in real time, suggesting a bright future for technology as it continues to evolve and improve.
- One of the most intriguing aspects of Project Astra is its potential to replace traditional virtual assistants like Google Assistant. Astra can remember where users place their items and pick up on nuances in conversation, suggesting a more natural and intuitive interaction with devices.
- Project Astra’s multimodal capabilities processing text, video, images, and speech make it a versatile tool for numerous applications.
- While the demo primarily showcased Project Astra on the Pixel 8 Pro, Google has broader ambitions for this technology. A demo video highlighted the use of Astra with smart glasses, indicating that the AI could be integrated into various devices.
- Ensuring the AI can accurately and consistently identify objects and actions in various environments is crucial for its success. This requires extensive training and testing to account for diverse scenarios and conditions.
- Privacy and security are also significant concerns. As Project Astra processes real-time data from cameras and microphones, it is essential to ensure that users’ privacy is protected. Google will need to implement robust security measures to safeguard user data and prevent unauthorised access.
- One of the most significant potential applications for Project Astra is in the realm of accessibility. By providing real-time information about the environment, Astra could help individuals with visual impairments navigate the world more effectively.
- Project Astra represents a bold step forward in the development of AI assistants. As AI continues to evolve, it could become an indispensable tool for a wide range of applications, from accessibility to everyday convenience.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
113
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Letters to Editor
- State Bank of India (SBI) has increased its deposit rates by 25-75 bps in short term buckets.
- The bank has not revised its maximum deposit rate of 7% in larger tenure deposits.
- This move is aimed at attracting depositors from small finance banks and private sector universal banks.
- SBI's net interest margin (NIM) is unlikely to decrease due to this increase, given its high-yielding personal advances.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
36
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FY24 pulses exports drop 22% on higher prices, lower crop
- Pulses exports dropped by 22% in FY24 due to higher prices and lower crop.
- Pulses exports stood at 5.94 lakh tonnes, down from 7.62 lakh tonnes in the previous year.
- Bad weather and higher prices affected the production and export of chana and kabuli chickpeas.
- While exports to Bangladesh and China reduced significantly, exports to the US and Sri Lanka saw an increase.
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Guardian
15h
36
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Thames Water’s biggest investor cuts value of its stake to zero
- Thames Water’s biggest investor, Omers, has written down the value of its stake in the company to zero.
- Omers held a 31.7% stake in Thames's parent company and valued it at £700m at the end of 2022.
- Thames Water is facing a financial crisis and its shareholders refused to give the company £500m of emergency funding.
- There are concerns that Thames Water may require a taxpayer-backed bailout, and possible plans for renationalization are being considered.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
255
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Gujarat collects over 300 samples of spices for testing ETO
- Gujarat has collected over 300 samples of spices for testing ethylene oxide (ETO) residue.
- The move comes after Singapore and Hong Kong suspended the sale of popular spice brands due to the detection of elevated levels of ETO.
- India's regulatory body, FSSAI, ordered comprehensive testing of spices from all brands across the country.
- The controversy surrounding ETO residue in spices has started affecting spice exports from India.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
266
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Branding can sweeten Indian honey’s prospects
- India, the seventh largest honey producer, exports around 75,000 MT of natural honey to major destinations.
- Per capita annual consumption of honey in India remains low at 10 gm compared to developed nations' 3-4 kg.
- The honey industry faces challenges due to low consumption, sluggish market growth, and limited industry collaboration.
- To revive the industry, a multifaceted marketing strategy, improved branding, and collaborations are necessary.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
259
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Big gains from developing Iran’s Chabahar port
- India Ports Global Ltd to invest $125 million for basic port equipment and $250 million expected through credit for infrastructure development.
- The gains from developing Iran's Chabahar port are both strategic and economic.
- Chabahar port provides India with access to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.
- India's presence in Chabahar helps counterbalance China's influence in the region.
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Associationsnow
15h
343
Why CEOs Need to Plan Their Exits
- Smart CEOs create pipelines that build future leaders and successors.
- Long-tenured CEOs may become risk-averse and miss opportunities to innovate.
- Succession planning is crucial for all CEOs, regardless of organization size.
- CEOs should focus on identifying talents and preparing successors to lead.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
274
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Retail investors need a derivatives de-addiction
- Indian equity derivatives market experiences excessive trading by retail investors, with growing participation in the derivative's market possibly risking more savings than necessary.
- An increasing number of less-informed traders are entering F&O trading space in pursuit of multi-bagger returns, despite SEBI's warnings.
- Local brokers or short-term traders, along with foreign funds, could be exploiting novice retail traders and their risky punts in the options market.
- SEBI needs to introduce measures that help secure the long-term health of India's capital markets by discouraging speculative trading and de-addict retail investors from their F&O habit. It needs to stop supplying the instruments that encourage irrational gambling punts.
- Diis such as mutual funds, insurers, pension funds, and the Employees Provident Fund need to be encouraged to use derivatives to hedge against volatility and event risks actively.
- F&O contracts should be made available on indices backed by significant real-life investments to facilitate hedging. Narrow indices that have hardly any funds of investments benchmarked to them must be avoided.
- Streamlining the expiries will be helpful, and contracts with weekly expiries that do not serve any significant purpose should be done away with.
- The participation of DIIs and long-term investors' appropriate use of F&O can lead to a more rational F&O market.
- The state of retail traders' F&O segment leads to an increase in record trading volumes that Indian exchanges log. However, it is necessary to de-addict amateur retail traders to secure India's capital markets' long-term future.
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Tech Story
15h
277
Microsoft Surface Pro 9: The Must-Have Gadget You Can’t Miss at $440 Off
- The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is currently available at Best Buy for $1100, $440 off its original price.
- The Surface Pro 9 is a versatile device that functions as both a laptop and a tablet.
- It has a sleek design, impressive display quality, and Dolby Atmos technology for enhanced visuals and audio.
- This deal offers a great opportunity to get a high-quality device at a discounted price.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
146
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India advances iron-ore beneficiation policy
- India is working on an iron-ore beneficiation policy to upgrade low-grade ore to higher variants.
- This policy aims to maximize the use of ore with less iron content in steel production.
- Beneficiation, the process of removing impurities, adds to the cost of steel production.
- The policy is expected to be formulated in the next three months in collaboration with the ministries of Environment & Forests and Mines.
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HinduBusinessLine
15h
73
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ARCs should follow transparent and non-discriminatory practices: RBI Deputy Guv Rao
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor, M.K. Jain, has emphasized that Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) should follow transparent and non-discriminatory practices.
- Jain stressed the need for responsible conduct in the recovery process and highlighted that sound governance is crucial for ARCs to build a robust business model.
- The RBI has emphasized that ARCs should publicly solicit invitations for participation in the auction process and ensure that securities are released on repayment of dues or realization of the outstanding loan amount.
- In addition, ARCs should avoid harassing debtors and develop a board-approved Code of Conduct for Recovery Agents.
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