The fintech sector has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with the adoption of digital financial services increasing globally. As we look towards 2023, it’s clear that this trend will continue, with several key trends set to redefine the fintech space. Digital payments to see further adoption With a worldwide transactional value of $8,488bn in 2022, digital payments will continue to be the most significant fintech segment in 2023. With UAE as one of the leaders in the fintech space, rapidly establishing a solid base for the industry, the digital payments sector saw a transaction value of $26.28bn just in the region. This trend is set to continue, with the number of users in this segment projected to reach 7.90 million by 2027. The growth of digital payments can be attributed to the level of convenience and security and the increasing prevalence of mobile and online shopping. Furthermore, with the rise of e-commerce and the shift towards contactless payment methods due to the Covid-19 pandemic, digital payments will likely continue to be a key driver of growth in the fintech sector. The prevalence of alternative financing post Covid-19 Another trend in the fintech sector is the rise of alternative […]

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BEIJING, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On January 24, 2023, the inception meeting of the "Digital Transformation" task force of the B20 summit under the Indian presidency in the Group of Twenty (G20) was held online. As an important supporting activity of the G20 Summit, it was attended by representatives from over 160 top global enterprises including Google, Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, Wal-Mart and Boston Consulting Group, etc. Continue Reading QAX QAX, as the only Chinese cybersecurity company selected into the task force, attended the meeting, at which, Qi Zixin, Vice President of QAX and Secretary General of QAX Public Welfare Foundation, delivered a speech on increasing the cybersecurity level of critical infrastructures, promoting international communications on cybersecurity and jointly coping with global security challenges, etc. From the perspective of cybersecurity in the digital era, Qi made three suggestions on behalf of Chinese cybersecurity companies. First, increase the level of cybersecurity of critical information infrastructures so as to ensure safe operation of digital public infrastructures. "The issue of cybersecurity of critical information infrastructures should not be overlooked," said Qi. As the first cybersecurity service provider in the history of the Olympic Games, QAX, during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games […]

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IT Operations management (ITOM) – a framework that gives IT teams the tools to centrally monitor and manage applications and infrastructure across multi-premise environments – has been the foundation of enterprise IT infrastructure and applications for the last 30 years. It has been the backbone that ensures technology stacks are operating optimally to provide timely business value and keep employees engaged and productive by maintaining the availability of core applications. But the recent acceleration of digital transformation across global industries and emergence of multi-cloud environments has introduced a new level of complexity. While flexibility, elasticity, and ease of use are benefits that make starting with the cloud an enticing prospect, ongoing operation and management can quickly become difficult to oversee. As the business scales across infrastructure and applications deployments in a multi-cloud environment, so does the complexity inherent in diverse cloud operating models and tools, and distributed application architecture and deployment. Many IT professionals also lack technical or management skills in these areas. According to a recent VMware survey of tech executives and their priorities for digital momentum, 73% reported a push to standardize multi-cloud architectures. The digital transformation and transition to multi-cloud environments to bring the best technology […]

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Play is an important part of children’s learning and development. While it generally evokes a picture of a small child running, jumping, and shouting, the benefits that play offers in promoting early development and better health outcomes extend far beyond childhood. In fact, playful learning—an area of research that examines how children learn best through playful exchanges—shares many of the same core foundations as the study of intergenerational learning—a body of research involving older and younger generations coming together in the service of mutually-beneficial learning experiences. As the COVID-19 pandemic introduced new layers to our understanding of the importance of social connection for a range of outcomes, researchers have an opportunity to look to the future of the playful learning and intergenerational learning movements together—what they share and how they can be leveraged jointly to support social interactions that foster well-being throughout life. Playful Learning Landscapes support enriching interactions and promote learning As a natural medium for fostering rich interactions, play creates opportunities for children to develop language skills , engage in collaboration , test theories about how the world works, and even develop better self-regulation . Child development experts, recreation and play professionals, and educators have long examined […]

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The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) on January 27, 2023, on behalf of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office that makes available $47 million to support the research, development, and demonstration of affordable hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The FOA further advances the Biden administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It also supports the goals of the H2@Scale Initiative, which aims to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization, and aligns with DOE’s Hydrogen Shot, which targets affordable clean hydrogen production at $1/kg within the decade. As expected, the FOA targets four topics of interest that are critical to enabling the use of clean hydrogen across sectors, particularly in medium-duty and heavy-duty (MD/HD) vehicles and other heavy-duty transportation applications. Topic 1: Hydrogen Carrier Development This topic seeks applications for the research and development (R&D) of novel hydrogen carriers, which offer a unique storage and delivery methodology that can circumvent some of the challenges associated with conventional compressed gas or liquid hydrogen (LH2) (e.g., the need for compression and high costs of infrastructure for […]

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Bain’s fifth annual Global M&A Report examines the ups and downs in 2022 and what to expect in 2023 BOSTON, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Bain & Company’s 5th annual Global Mergers & Acquisitions Report , published today, reveals that corporate executives looking ahead to 2023 remain confident in M&A’s role in value creation. While M&A value dropped dramatically in 2022, a loss of 36% in deal value, Bain’s report confirms that deal activity continues to be a central corporate strategy for growth and profitability. The report points to a survey of nearly 300 M&A executives, conducted by Bain in October 2022, who shared that they anticipate closing a similar number of deals if not more this year. The surveyed executives express confidence in dealmaking’s ability to create value, reporting that nearly two-thirds of acquisitions completed in the previous three years have met or exceeded expectations. Bain’s research shows that strategic deal value declined more quickly than strategic deal volume. Median strategic deal multiples fell to a 10-year low of 11.9x in 2022, off an all-time high in 2021. The decline in deal multiples, coupled with a mid-year pause of mega-deals, explains the relatively large drop in deal volume […]

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If you see in detail you realise that NII has expanded. We have been able to pass-on the rate hikes which happened in the last few quarters and that has been passed on to both our home loan customers, the mortgage finance customers and some bit on the gold finance as well. As we use those numbers there is some credit cost which is coming in this particular fiscal but going forward we should be keeping ourselves on a credit cost range of around 1.5% to 2%. "In the coming quarters there could still be some marginal hikes which can come in because of the way market will behave whether it is on the banks MCLR sides or on the repo side. If need be we will do some kind of a pass on or ensure that we are managing our NIMs ," says Kapish Jain , CFO, IIFL Finance . Firstly on to the NII expansion, it is largely muted despite strong interest income growth how quickly is your asset side going to get reprised as per you? If you see in detail you realise that NII has expanded. We have been able to pass-on the rate hikes […]

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U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten arrives for testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on his appointment as the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on July 30, 2019. By Marcus Weisgerber As the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, John Hyten worked to streamline the military’s requirements process , to speed up the process. Now more than a year into retirement, he’s working to help commercial companies break into the defense sector. “It’s frustrating for a commercial company to figure out how to do business [with the Pentagon], but if we don’t win the artificial intelligence race, and we don’t win the quantum race, we’re in a world of hurt as a country,” Hyten said in an interview. Since retiring in November 2021, Hyten said he preferred to work with “more non-traditional companies—companies that are going fast.“ “I chose people that understand the need to go fast [and] understand the need for national security, but also have a commercial focus,” he said. Hyten recently joined Pallas Advisors, the consulting firm founded by Sally Donnelly and Tony DeMartino, aides to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, which reps a number of defense startups and also has […]

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NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) late Monday beat estimates for the fourth quarter thanks to a surge in automotive chip sales. But it set its outlook lower for the current period. NXPI stock slid in extended trading. The Dutch chipmaker earned an adjusted $3.73 a share on sales of $3.31 billion in the December quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected NXP to earn $3.64 a share on sales of $3.3 billion. On a year-over-year basis, NXP earnings rose 17% while sales climbed 9%. In the fourth quarter, NXP’s automotive chip sales jumped 17% to nearly $1.81 billion. However, industrial chip sales dropped 8% to $605 million. Meanwhile, mobile chip sales increased 9% and communications infrastructure chips advanced 8% in the quarter. Plus, What New Features And Tools Did Brokers Add Last Year To Help Investors Handle The Brutal Bear Market? For the current quarter, NXP forecasts adjusted earnings of $3.01 a share on sales of $3 billion. That’s based on the midpoint of its outlook. Wall Street had predicted earnings of $3.14 a share on sales of $3.17 billion in the first quarter. NXPI Stock Drops On Weak Outlook In after-hours trading on the stock market today , […]

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BENGALURU, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Century Textiles and Industries Ltd (CNTY.NS) , the flagship company of India’s Aditya Birla Group, reported a 38% drop in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, due to weakness in its textile business and stagnant losses in its real estate unit. The company’s consolidated net profit fell to 87.2 million rupees ($1.1 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 141.5 million rupees a year ago. Home textile business revenue at its textile unit Birla Century fell 9% to 2.50 billion rupees, accounting for about 22% of total revenue. The company said higher input prices led to sales volatility of garments and fabrics, adding that while demand in its domestic markets were stable, exports took a hit amid recessionary concerns. About three-quarters of the Mumbai-based company’s total revenue comes from its pulp and paper business, where sales rose 18.1% in the quarter. That helped consolidated sales increase nearly 10% to 11.50 billion rupees. Shares of the company fell sharply after the results were announced but were last up about 5%. While revenue in the Birla Estates business rose nearly 5% from a year ago due to new projects in Mumbai and Bengaluru, its loss widened […]

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