Samsung Electronics on Thursday unveiled Gauss 2, the second generation of its generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, at an annual tech conference.

During a keynote address of the online Samsung Developer Conference Korea 2024, the company highlighted the improved performance, efficiency and various application possibilities of its latest AI model.

Samsung Gauss, first introduced last year, is aimed at enhancing the work efficiency of workers by facilitating tasks, such as composing emails, summarising documents and translating content, reports news agency.

The second-generation version offers improved performance and efficiency in simultaneously handling various data types as a multimodal model integrating language, code and images.

Popular online gifting platform Ferns N Petals reported Rs 24.26 crore loss last fiscal (FY24), from Rs 109.5 crore in FY23.

According to its financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (ROC), the company's income from operations stood at Rs 705.4 crore in FY24, an increase from Rs 607.3 crore in FY23.

Ferns N Petals sells products through its website, third party e-commerce platforms, company-owned stores and franchises.

The cakes, flowers and gifting solutions segments account for 91 per cent of the company's revenue. It has increased by 15 per cent on an annual basis to Rs 640.75 crore in FY24, which was Rs 556.18 crore in FY23.

The UDAN scheme has fuelled the civil aviation sector, transforming air travel by enhancing regional connectivity and making it accessible for millions, the government said on Wednesday.

On November 17, the domestic aviation sector reached a historic milestone as 5,05,412 domestic passengers took to the skies in a single day, marking the first time daily passenger numbers crossed the 5-lakh mark.

With over 3,100 flights operating nationwide, this achievement highlights India’s growing prominence in the global aviation landscape.

“The UDAN scheme has been instrumental in this transformation, operationalizing 609 routes, including helicopter services, and seamlessly connecting states and union territories across the country,” said the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Nokia on Wednesday said it has been awarded a multi-year, multi-billion extension deal by Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across India.

This strategic partnership with Nokia will “future-proof our network infrastructure and provide customers with unparalleled user experience along with a network that will be eco-friendly to minimise environmental impact,” said Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel.

As part of the deal, for which financials were not disclosed, Nokia will deploy equipment from its ‘5G AirScale’ portfolio, including base stations, baseband units and the latest generation of Massive MIMO radios, powered by its ‘ReefShark System-on-Chip’ technology.

As disposable income and private consumption surge, the average price of homes sold in top seven cities was Rs 1.23 crore in the first six months this fiscal, against Rs 1 crore in the corresponding period of FY24, an increase of 23 per cent (year-on-year), according to a report on Wednesday.

There have been record new launches and sales of costlier homes across these cities amid escalating demand for luxury homes after the pandemic, as per the Anarock Group data.

“Over 2,27,400 units worth approximately Rs 2,79,309 crore were sold across the top 7 cities between April and September 2024. Contrastingly, the corresponding period of FY2024 saw approx. 2,35,200 units worth Rs 2,35,800 crores sold,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group.

India’s insurtech sector has delivered 12 times revenue growth over the last 5 years, with cumulative funding surpassing $2.5 billion and ecosystem valuation over $13.6 billion, a report showed on Wednesday.

The country has more than 150 insurtech companies, with 10 unicorns and soonicorns and more than 45 minicorns, with 12 times increase in revenue over the past five years to reach $750 million, according to the report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in collaboration with the India InsurTech Association (IIA).

“Most of the insurtechs at scale are present in the aggregation and distribution legs of the value chain, with these accounting for over 80 per cent of the funding. There is a substantial opportunity for insurtechs to leverage data and technology in underwriting and claims, which can play a critical role in the continued growth of the insurance industry,” said Pallavi Malani, Managing Director and Partner, Lead-India Insurance Practice at BCG.

Apple has issued a software update for bugs 'actively exploited' by cyber-criminals in targeting Intel-based Mac systems.

In a security advisory, the tech giant said it was aware of two vulnerabilities that “may have been actively exploited on Intel-based Mac systems.”

These bugs are considered “zero day” vulnerabilities. To fix those, Apple released a software update for macOS (called macOS Sequoia 15.1.1), as well as fixes for iPhones and iPads, including users running the older iOS 17 software.

“Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited on Intel-based Mac systems,” said the company.

Samsung Biologics said on Wednesday it has won two new contract manufacturing deals with a combined value of 930.4 billion won ($667.7 million) from a Europe-based biopharmaceutical firm.

The deals, set to last until the end of 2031, are valued at 752.4 billion won and 178 billion won, respectively, according to the company's regulatory filing. Other details remained undisclosed under a confidentiality agreement.

Samsung Biologics said it has secured a total of 11 deals with a combined value of 5.29 trillion won so far this year, reports news agency.

It marks the first time the accumulated value of the company's deals surpassed the 5 trillion won mark annually.

Last year, the company sealed deals worth a combined 3.5 trillion won.

भारत की घरेलू हवाई यातायात पहली बार एक ही दिन में ऐतिहासिक 5 लाख का आंकड़ा पार करने के बाद इंडिगो की मूल कंपनी इंटरग्लोब एविएशन और संकटग्रस्त कम लागत वाली वाहक स्पाइसजेट के शेयरों में मंगलवार के इंट्राडे कारोबार में 3 प्रतिशत की बढ़ोतरी हुई।

त्योहारी और शादी के मौसम के बीच देश में हवाई यात्रा की मजबूत मांग के कारण यातायात में वृद्धि हो रही है, 17 नवंबर को एयरलाइनों ने 5.05 लाख से अधिक यात्रियों को ले जाया, जबकि उड़ान प्रस्थान 3,173 था।

नागरिक उड्डयन मंत्रालय ने एक्स पर एक पोस्ट में ऐतिहासिक ऊंचाई की सराहना करते हुए कहा: “17 नवंबर, 2024 को, भारतीय विमानन ने एक ऐतिहासिक मील का पत्थर चिह्नित किया, जब एक ही दिन में 5,05,412 घरेलू यात्रियों ने उड़ान भरी, जो उल्लेखनीय 5-लाख यात्री सीमा को पार कर गया। . यह क्षेत्र की तीव्र वृद्धि और हवाई यात्रा की पहुंच और विश्वसनीयता में भारतीयों के बढ़ते भरोसे को दर्शाता है।"

The shares of IndiGo’s parent company Interglobe Aviation and troubled low-cost carrier SpiceJet shot up by 3 per cent in Tuesday’s intraday trade after India’s domestic air traffic crossed the historic 5 lakh mark in a single day for the first time ever.

The surge in traffic is being driven by the strong demand for air travel in the country amid the festive and wedding seasons with airlines carrying over 5.0 5 lakh passengers on November 17 while flight departures stood at 3,173.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation lauded the historic high in a post on X, stating: “On November 17, 2024, Indian aviation marked a historic milestone as 5,05,412 domestic passengers flew in a single day, surpassing the remarkable 5-lakh passenger threshold. This reflects the sector’s rapid growth and the increasing trust of Indians in air travel’s accessibility and reliability."