New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : Hailing the decision of the US Fed to overnight increase the funds rate to a target range of 0.75 percent to one percent, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian on Thursday said that it was anticipated with a probability of 100 percent and added that this move should not be seen as a surprise.

Talking about the affect of the rate hike on the Indian market, Subramanian said there is very little volatility in the market, adding there is, however, pressure on the rupee to strengthen in the coming weeks.

"There is very little impact on India and Indian rupee in terms of capital outflows because export numbers have been good so far," added Subramanian.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : Online marketplace Snapdeal on Thursday announced its partnership with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) for an exclusive partnership to showcase products from popular SME brands from Japan on Snapdeal.

Customers can now purchase JETRO products across various categories including electronic devices, accessories, kitchenware and personal care directly from Snapdeal.

The partnership is a step forward for Snapdeal in its quest to expand its portfolio with international brands which are acclaimed for excellence in their product quality and standards. Via the partnership, JETRO also hopes to create a niche space for these companies and their products in the Indian market as well as reach out to a huge customer base of over thousands of Indians.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : The US-India Business Council (USIBC) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, and Invest India convened policymakers, global experts, industry leaders, and relevant stakeholders on March 14, 2017 in New Delhi for a conference entitled, "The 2nd Annual Conference on Innovation Driven Expansion of Healthcare Access in India".

"India has proven to be a leader in the global life sciences space," said Dr. Mukesh Aghi, President of USIBC. "If the barriers to increasing R&D and innovation are removed, India has the potential to rank up even higher in the areas of IPR, disease prevention, and drug and medical device manufacturing."

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced its participation in the "Automated Indicator Sharing" (AIS) initiative implemented by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that swiftly shares cyber threat indicators between the government and the private sectors, aligning technologies and human resources in the cyber security businesses and bolstering cyber intelligence as an important source of information.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : The Federal Reserve on Wednesday increased its benchmark interest rate a quarter point amid rising confidence that the economy is on the path of robust growth.

It for the second time in three months that the Fed has increased its interest rates, which is widely anticipated by the financial markets as it has taken the overnight funds rate to a target range of 0.75 percent to one percent and set the Fed on a likely path of regular hikes ahead.

"The market was bracing for a much more hawkish tone from the Fed. The early reaction looks to be one of relief, that the market's worst fears were averted," said Michael Arone, the chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced the panels' consensus on significant issues including fixing the threshold limit for registration and full compensation for five years to the states for losses on account of the GST implementation.

The GST Council is expected to endorse the remaining two crucial bills including the State GST (SGST) and Union Territory GST (UTGST) here today.

The Council's nod will act as another decisive step in the run up to the implementation of the overhauled tax regime from July 1.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : 17th of January 2017, was the day when the city of Madurai observed Trubore's maiden launch event called Tru-Go. This event empowered the brand to enter into the pan-India market. Despite its familiarity in the South, Trubore took a rebirth in a completely bold new form. The company revealed its new-age logo in a spectacular fashion at the event, attended by over 300 dealers and distributors from across Tamil Nadu.

New Delhi [India], Mar 16 : Google India on Thursday announced expansion of the transit feature on the Google Maps to seven more Indian cities including Chandigarh, Lucknow, Vadodara, Indore, Mysore, Surat and Coimbatore.

The new transit feature will help users better plan their commute around the city, and make it easier to get an overview of public transportation around them.

With today's update, the transit feature is now available in sixteen Indian cities including the new ones.

"Google Maps is your guide to the world around you, and this launch is part of our effort to reflect the real world and provide you with relevant information about your surroundings," said product manager Google Maps, Sanket Gupta.

New Delhi [India], Mar. 16 : The State Bank of India (SBI) and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) on Wednesday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly conduct various initiatives towards the development of the Real Estate Sector for a period of three years.

SBI and CREDAI have a common objective of providing housing for all.

Each of them will leverage their individual strengths and collaborate in areas which will be beneficial to the sector and the consumers at large.

The MOU was exchanged between Rajnish Kumar, Managing Director SBI and Geetambar Anand, President CREDAI at the CREDAI National Conclave held in Delhi on March 6 and March 7.

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu was also present for the occasion.

New Delhi [India], Mar. 15 : FireEye, Inc., the leader at stopping today's advanced cyber attacks, recently released the Mandiant M-Trends 2017 report.

The report shares statistics and insights gleaned from Mandiant investigations around the globe in 2016, as well as specific to the EMEA and APAC regions.

Additionally, they have included insights from their FireEye as a Service (FaaS) teams for the second consecutive year.

Some of the key points include:

•Organizations around the globe are becoming better at identifying breaches. The global median time from compromise to discovery has dropped significantly from 146 days in 2015 to 79.5 days in 2016.

New Delhi [India], Mar 15 : LG creates a 'Guinness World Records'® feat for its #KarSalaam initiative launched at the start of this year. The initiative involved the whole nation to come forward and send in their good wishes to the Indian Armed Forces for their undying spirit of bravery.

With this campaign, LG breaks the Guinness World Records by getting more than 114741 handwritten messages from the Indian citizens.

Through this initiative, LG salutes the soldiers' spirit of generous contribution and service towards the nation. The company aims to stand in gratitude for the Indian Armed Forces for assuring that we lead a fearless and safe life in this country while they protect our borders.

New Delhi [India], Mar 15 : OLX, India's number one classifieds announced the launch of its latest brand campaign today that has gone live on television and digital, and will be amplified across radio, social media, and out-of-home in the coming weeks.

The campaign, known as the 'Six Months Break-Up Challenge' urges people to sell pre-owned goods that they haven't used for at least 6 months. The campaign is based on the insights gathered from CRUST (Consumer Research on Used-Goods and Selling Trends), OLX's annual consumer survey to understand user behaviour towards used goods, as well as other consumer trends.

A Campaign Derived Research Insights:

New Delhi [India], Mar. 15 : Obesity in India has been increasing at an alarming rate over the past three decades.

India is under siege; junk food, alcohol and sedentary lifestyle are leading us to silent self-destruction, making one in every five Indian men and women either obese or overweight.

According to a study published in the noted journal Lancet, India is just behind US and China in this global hazard list of top 10 countries with highest number of obese people.

New Delhi [India], Mar. 15 : Retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 3.65 per cent in February this year, mainly due to an increase in the prices of food items.

Inflation measured in terms of the Consumer Price Index had stood at 3.17 per cent in January this year. Retail inflation was 5.26 per cent in February last year.

According to data released by the Central Statistics Office, retail inflation in food items rose to 2.01 per cent in February, from 0.61 per cent in January.

But prices of vegetables declined by 8.29 percent and of pulses by 9.02 per cent.

The increase in prices may weaken the case for an immediate interest rate cut by the RBI, which had kept lending rates unchanged at the last review in February, citing risks to inflation. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], Mar 14 : Strengthening its commitment to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, the Department of Science and Technology launched the India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 on Saturday.

The programme has been running since 2007 with the support of Lockheed Martin Corporation and has supported close to 500 innovators, start-ups, creating an economic value of approx. USD 900 million.

The programme has been administered by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and implemented by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Through a wide outreach campaign undertaken by FICCI over the last 10

New Delhi [India], Mar 14 : ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, today announced the expansion of its senior leadership team in Asia Pacific, a key region for the company, with the appointment of Pierre Samson as Vice President of Sales. Pierre will assume his role effective immediately and will be based from Singapore. He will report to Matthieu Destot, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, ALE.

Pierre has over 12 years of experience in the industry and has held senior leadership positions as Head of the Unified Communication and Collaboration Business Unit for Large Accounts at Orange Business Services and most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Sales Officer at Lexsi, a cyber security specialist which was acquired by Orange in 2016.

New Delhi [India], Mar 14 : India's first global Air Cargo aggregator platform Air Freight Bazaar has announced the launch of its services in India here today.

The platform is world's first air freight aggregator that provides freight forwarding rates and information related to the overall air cargo industry in real-time. Air Freight Bazaar's unique, single, global platform aims at addressing all the needs and requirements of the air cargo Industry bringing transparency, simplicity and efficiency into the process.

New Delhi [India], Mar 14 : The Software Alliance BSA on Tuesday announced the appointment of Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy as its Country Manager, India.

Venkatesh will lead all BSA activity in India with initiatives aimed at furthering BSA's policy priorities relating to software, managing software licensing compliance programs, and related enforcement strategies.

As Country Manager for India, Venkatesh will work closely with BSA

members to invest in areas that promote the continued progress of technology innovation so that India can capitalize on the opportunities of both today and tomorrow.

New Delhi [India], Mar 14 : The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) or inflation for the month of February rose by 0.5 percent to 185.5 (provisional) from 184.6 (provisional) for the previous month.

The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 6.55 percent (provisional) for the month of February, 2017 (over February, 2016) as compared to 5.25 percent (provisional) for the previous month and -0.85 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

Primary articles index rose by 0.9 percent to 258.1 (provisional) from 255.7 (provisional) for the previous month.

New Delhi [India], Mar. 13 : When the festival of colours is here, how can Google be far behind from celebrating it!

Hence it dedicated the Doodle today to celebrate Holi, by taking on a fresh set of colours on it.

Google took to its blog to describe its Doodle, which read, "Today, the Google letters are taking on a fresh set of colors in honor of the Holi festival. Coinciding with the arrival of spring, the vibrant celebration looks a lot like the Doodle: people run around happily covering each other in a rainbow of powdery hues."