Business News at 10:00 am on 10th April, 2024

Let’s begin…ICICI Lombard has entered into a partnership with Policybazaar to bring together the comprehensive product portfolio of ICICI Lombard and reach of Policybazaar, promising accessible insurance solutions for Indian consumers. The collaboration encompasses access to nearly 10 million customers with a range of insurance products, including motor insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, and business insurance. The partnership entails inclusion across multiple business lines of the Policybazaar platform, policybazaar.com catering to retail audiences, PB for Business for corporates and PB Partners for channel partners. Anand Singhi, Chief – Retail & Government Business of ICICI Lombard, said, quote, ‘On the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa, we are pleased to join forces with Policybazaar to offer our innovative insurance solutions to customers’ end quote.

Moving on, India’s start-up ecosystem has slowed with the number of unicorns declining for the first time since 2017, said Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2024 launched on Tuesday. Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said the slowdown came despite the recent stock market record highs while one factor was that Indian founders produced more offshore unicorns than any other country. According to the report, Indian founders co-founded 109 unicorns outside of India in comparison to just 67 in India. Hoogewerf said that of the unicorns founded outside of India, significantly all were in the USA (95), led by the Bay Area, with 4 in the UK, 3 in Singapore and 2 in Germany.

In other news, Viral hepatitis has become the second-leading infectious cause of death globally. According to the latest WHO 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, 1.3 million people have died in 2022, the same as tuberculosis, a top infectious killer. The data reveals the estimated number of deaths from viral hepatitis increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022. Of these, 83 percent were caused by hepatitis B, and 17% by hepatitis C. Every day, 3500 people are dying globally due to hepatitis B and C infections. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, quote, This report paints a troubling picture: despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far too few people with hepatitis are being diagnosed and treated, end quote.

Meanwhile, Altair, a global leader in computational intelligence, product development, high-performance computing (HPC), and data analytics, has opened its new office in Chennai, India. This strategic expansion strengthens Altair’s commitment to serving its growing customer base in the region and underscores its dedication to fostering innovation and collaboration within the Indian engineering community. The newly expanded Chennai office will accommodate over 100 employees and serve as a hub for Altair’s engineering and technical teams, enabling closer collaboration with customers and partners in the southern region of India. The office will offer a range of services, including technical support, training, and consulting, to help businesses leverage Altair’s cutting-edge simulation and optimisation technologies for enhanced product development.

Up next, The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has unveiled a massive initiative that is aimed at optimising passenger handling capacity across its 57 terminals across the country. The development comes as a response to the rapid rise of the Indian Civil Aviation sector, presenting a solution to efficiently manage the escalating demands of air travel. Announcing the details on X, the AAI said, quote, ‘With this comprehensive plan to enhance passenger handling capacity at its 57 terminals, the organisation will save more than Rs 10,000 Crore. The meticulous planning and efficient execution by AAI officials paved the way for the success of this initiative, end quote. Notably, the terminal reconfiguration initiative is poised to revolutionise the passenger experience while delivering substantial cost savings for AAI.

Moving ahead, Musashi Auto Parts India, a 100% owned subsidiary of Musashi Seimitsu Industries, Japan and a leading manufacturer of two-wheeler and four-wheeler transmission components in India has appointed Naoya Nishimura as the new CEO. The move Musashi says is part of its commitment to fortify its leadership team and its focus in Indian market.Nishimura has been associated with Musashi for over two decades and has worked across several international markets like Japan and North America. He has also worked at Musashi in various capacities, including operations, new customer acquisition, R&D, and business planning. The company says with his remarkable leadership and extensive background in research & development, electrification and business expansion, he brings a fresh perspective to Musashi India’s vision of revolutionising the auto industry with high-quality products.

Lastly, The Indian equity indices on Tuesday ended lower after reaching to all-time high levels. The Nifty 50 closed the day 0.10% lower at 22,642.75. Similarly, Sensex dipped 58.80 points to finish the session at 74,683.70. Nifty Bank closed the day’s trading 149 points higher at 48,730.55. The Nifty Midcap 100 gained 146.70 points or 0.29% to settle at 49,894.70. On the sectoral front, media, PSU Banks, and consumer durable stocks dragged the indices lower. In the broader indices, midcap stocks closed in the red. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, quote, The Indian market reached a fresh intraday peak before seeing profit-booking at higher levels in anticipation of tomorrow’s key US inflation data, which carries weight in determining future rate cuts by the US Fed, end quote.