Business

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong has secured a coveted finalist spot at SBI Life Insurance’s IdeationX 2.0, a national-level innovation contest for India’s top B-schools. The semi-final, held at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar, saw IIM Shillong’s team—Namita Gupta, NitikaBansal, and SakshiAgarwal—emerge victorious against 40 teams selected from over 3,500 entries nationwide. The top eight teams, including participants from XLRI Jamshedpur, IIFT Kolkata, IIM Calcutta, XIMB Bhubaneswar, and KIIT Bhubaneswar, will now compete for the grand finale. SBI Life officials, including Ravindra Sharma, Chief of Brand, CSR and Corporate Communications, and SantoshChacko, Zonal Director – East, praised the students’ innovative ideas and highlighted the imp...

LG Electronics India Limited (LGEIL), the wholly owned subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc., will launch its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on October 7, 2025, with a price band set between ₹1,080 and ₹1,140 per equity share. The issue will close on October 9, 2025, while the anchor investor bidding will take place on October 6, 2025. The IPO is an offer for sale of up to 101.81 million equity shares of face value ₹10 each by its promoter LG Electronics Inc. Investors can bid for a minimum of 13 shares and in multiples thereafter, with eligible employees receiving a ₹108 per share discount. The equity shares will be listed on the NSE and BSE. Shillong has expressed keen interest in the offering, citing the growing consumer demand for premium electronics in the Northeast. Local traders n...

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), in collaboration with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), C-DOT, and Tejas Networks, today launched India’s first fully indigenous 4G network, the Bharat Telecom Stack. The initiative, aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a digitally self-reliant India, aims to strengthen national security and bridge the digital divide by providing connectivity to 26,700 additional villages. The Bharat Telecom Stack, designed and developed entirely in India, integrates C-DOT’s EPC core applications, Tejas’ base stations, and TCS’ Cognitive Network Operations platform for real-time management. Deployed across 100,000 sites within two years, this network ensures seamless integration with BSNL’s existing 2G/3G infrastructure. CMD BSNL, A Robert J Ravi, de...

Accenture Plc is anticipating slower growth, even as artificial intelligence (AI) garners increasing interest from clients. CEO Julie Sweet acknowledged that while AI has quickly gained attention among CEOs and boards, its actual implementation and value delivery have been limited, particularly outside digital-native companies. As a result, Accenture is undertaking job cuts, citing a lack of viable reskilling options for some roles. The company remains largely unaffected by the H-1B visa changes under the Trump administration, as only 5% of its US workforce holds such visas. Accenture reported $69.7 billion in revenue for FY24, a 7% increase, outpacing the cumulative revenue growth of India’s top 10 IT firms. Despite this, it has forecast slower revenue growth of 2–5% in FY26. During J...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) contributes to less than 1% of the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) market capitalisation, according to Dr. Vikas Singh, adjunct professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration. Notably, BSE and NSE do not classify AI as a standalone sector, and fewer than 15 listed companies have clear AI-related operations. Due to limited financial disclosure, it is difficult to gauge AI’s direct impact on revenues or profits. However, Dr. Singh noted AI’s influence may be more systemic in automation-heavy industries like finance, retail, logistics, and telecom. India’s AI investment is growing. The UNCTAD’s 2025 Technology and Innovation Report ranked India 36th out of 170 countries in AI readiness, with $1.4 billion in private investments. The country also impro...

Birla Fertility & IVF Guwahati is proud to announce a rare medical achievement in the field of male infertility. In a highly complex case of non-obstructive azoospermia with extremely low testicular volume, the centre successfully retrieved viable sperm using advanced Micro-TESE (Microsurgical Testicular Sperm Extraction) technology. The 39-year-old patient, who had struggled with infertility for six years and faced additional cardiac complications, had been advised donor semen in several consultations. However, under the leadership of Dr. Kalpana Jain, Centre Head, and a multidisciplinary team, 15–20 viable sperms were retrieved and preserved using the latest sperm vitrification device (Sperm VD) prior to embryo transfer. Commenting on the success, Dr. Kalpana said, “This achie...

Medanta – The Medicity, India’s top-ranked private hospital by Newsweek, has expanded its specialized kidney care and transplant services to Guwahati, reflecting broader economic trends in healthcare infrastructure development across the North East. The move aims to address rising kidney-related health issues while capturing the untapped regional market for advanced medical services. At a recent event, Dr. Sanjay Gogoi, Chairman of Urology and Renal Care, outlined the advantages of Nephron Sparing Surgery, which removes kidney tumors while preserving kidney function, enhancing patient outcomes. Dr. Manish Jain, Senior Director of Nephrology, highlighted the persistent gap between kidney transplant demand and supply, with 13,400 transplants performed in India in 2024 against nearly 2 la...

Next-generation leadless pacemakers are redefining treatment for patients with abnormal heart rhythms. Designed to manage arrhythmias like bradycardia—where the heart beats too slowly—these miniaturized devices eliminate the need for chest incisions and wires, reducing infection risk and post-operative complications. Unlike traditional pacemakers, which sit beneath the skin near the collarbone and rely on leads to deliver electrical signals, leadless pacemakers are implanted directly into the heart via a catheter. “Leadless pacemakers have been developed to make both implantation and retrieval as smooth as possible for physicians, while offering meaningful improvements over existing technologies,” said Ajay Singh Chauhan, General Manager, Cardiac Rhythm Management, Abbott India&nb...