Road projects under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) in India, awarded by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), are on a steady drive, with more than 90 per cent of the project length under development being constructed on schedule, according to a report on Wednesday.

Such timely execution and comfortable debt protection metrics will support the credit risk profiles of these projects, according to a Crisil Ratings analysis.

Over the past five fiscal years, excluding 2024, about a quarter of the projects awarded by MoRTH were under HAM, underlining the model’s significance in the sector.

Its success can be attributed to provisions such as the requirement of at least 80 per cent right-of-way (ROW) availability before the declaration of appointed date, de-scoping and de-linking of project length where ROW has not been received, and inflation and interest-rate hedging given indexation of cash flows.

Adani Electricity on Wednesday said that it registered a significant number of FIRs against perpetrators of power theft in the April-September period this year – 622 compared to 439 for the corresponding period last year -- thus significantly reducing losses.

The Adani Group company said that this action resulted in a 0.7 per cent reduction in Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT& C) losses, bringing them down to 4.56 per cent in the last six months compared to 5.26 per cent in the previous six months.

To achieve this reduction, Adani Electricity has intensified its vigilant efforts. The company conducted 18,255 mass raids in high-loss areas, a significant increase from the 11,408 raids conducted during the same period last year.

South Korea's industry ministry said on Wednesday the country plans to implement eased regulations for hydrogen charging stations next year in line with efforts to support the sector's ecosystem.

The set of new rules is reflected in the revised high-pressure gas safety control act, which will be implemented in May, focusing on lowering barriers for building new hydrogen charging stations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Under the updated guideline, the required safety distance between charging stations and their surrounding facilities, currently set at 12 to 30 meters, may be reduced if the stations are equipped with proper protection walls and other safety measures, reports news agency.

The stations will also be allowed to host not only automobiles but other types of hydrogen fuel cell transportation, including forklifts, excavators and trams.

As India gears up to create a future-ready workforce in newer careers and emerging technologies, AI-enabled talent assessment and hiring platform HireMee on Wednesday launched a new tool to assist students make informed decisions about their academic and professional futures.

The Bengaluru-based company introduced the Career Navigation Assessment, a scientifically designed tool to assist students in Classes X, XI and XII (aged 14-18 years) by mapping their unique personality traits, aptitudes, and interests to potential career paths.

“This innovative psychometric assessment meets the growing need for personalised career guidance, offering students a reliable, engaging, and actionable solution to navigate this formative phase of their lives,” said Venkatraman Umakanth, SVP and Head, HireMee.

Samsung Electronics will unveil its new home appliances lineup powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology at the upcoming CES next month, the company said on Wednesday.

The lineup, comprising the new Bespoke refrigerator, washer and dryer applied with AI home solutions, will be showcased at CES 2025, set to take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Jan. 7-10, according to the Korean company.

AI home refers to Samsung's solution of connecting all of its home appliances to its AI-powered SmartThings connectivity platform, allowing remote monitoring and control of the products, reports news agency.

The global data analytics market is forecast to be worth $190 billion in 2028, registering an 11.1 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2023 and 2028, according to a report on Tuesday.

With data volumes projected to exceed 175 zettabytes by 2025, organisations must leverage advanced analytics tools to extract actionable insights, said GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The traditional data analytics vendors are being disrupted by AI-native vendors that aim to help companies automate operational decision-making using machine learning.

“Furthermore, the emergence of generative AI (GenAI) tools has led data analytics vendors to embed those solutions in their platforms, democratising access to data science capabilities,” said Isabel Al-Dhahir, Principal Analyst, Strategic Intelligence at GlobalData.

Amid the rising influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, 94 per cent of desk workers in Indians feel the urgency to master the advanced technology, according to a report on Tuesday.

Slack’s new Workforce Index showed that AI adoption is on the rise in India with 61 per cent of Indian desk workers using AI in their jobs and 80 per cent excited about the prospect of AI replacing some tasks.

India's progress in AI adoption underscores the growing prioritisation of AI among its executives and reflects a heightened sense of urgency among business leaders to unlock its transformative potential.

The report, based on a survey of 1,029 desk workers in India, showed that although 94 per cent workers are keen to skill up on AI, 40 per cent have spent less than five hours total learning how to use the technology. About 30 per cent of global workers said they’ve had no AI training at all, including no self-directed learning or experimentation.

Fitness startup Curefit's consolidated loss has increased by 42 per cent to Rs 888.5 crore in FY24 from Rs 625.5 crore in FY23.

The company's EBITDA loss surged by 123.4 per cent to Rs 587.97 crore in FY24 from Rs 263.2 crore in FY23.

The reason for the increase in the company's loss in the last financial year is the high cash burn. Curefit's advertising and promotion expenditure has increased by 40.67 per cent year-on-year (YoY) basis to Rs 188.5 crore in FY24 from Rs 134 crore in FY23.

Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday announced a production milestone of 2 million vehicles in a calendar year for the first time in its history.

The automaker also became the first among Suzuki Motor Corporation’s global automobile manufacturing facilities to reach this landmark.

Of the 2 million vehicles, almost 60 per cent were manufactured in Haryana and 40 per cent in Gujarat.

“The 2 million production milestone is a testament to India’s manufacturing potential and our dedication to ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has launched an electronic campaign to assist taxpayers in resolving mismatches between the income and transactions reported in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and those disclosed in Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the financial years 2023-24 and 2021-22, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

The campaign also targets individuals who have taxable income or significant high-value transactions reported in their AIS but have not filed ITRs for the respective years, the statement said.

The initiative is part of the implementation of the e-Verification Scheme, 2021.

As part of this campaign, informational messages have been sent via SMS and email to taxpayers and non-filers where mismatches have been identified between transactions reported in AIS and the ITRs filed.