The m-cap of SBI jumped Rs 11,334.26 crore to Rs 3,05,087.85 crore, becoming the top gainer among the ten most valuable companies.

NEW DELHI: Eight of the top 10 valued Indian companies together added Rs 52,193.73 crore in market valuation last week, in-line with a bullish broader market sentiment, with SBI and HDFC emerging as the biggest gainers.

The Sensex advanced 434.40 points or 1.07 per cent last week. From the top-10 list, only TCS and ITC suffered losses in their market capitalisation (m-cap) for the week closed on Friday. In contrast, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), HDFC Bank, HUL, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI and Infosys witnessed a rise in their market valuation.

The m-cap of SBI jumped Rs 11,334.26 crore to Rs 3,05,087.85 crore, becoming the top gainer among the ten most valuable companies. HDFC’s valuation zoomed Rs 10,492.7 crore to Rs 3,96,791.39 crore. The market cap of ICICI Bank climbed Rs 9,871.88 crore to reach Rs 3,31,011.55 crore and that of Kotak Mahindra Bank gained Rs 8,818.24 crore to Rs 3,08,420.75 crore.

HDFC Bank’s valuation rose by Rs 5,055.54 crore to Rs 6,97,726.75 crore and of RIL went up by Rs 2,852.62 crore to Rs 9,83,140.16 crore. Reliance Industries on Thursday became the first Indian company to hit the Rs 10 lakh crore market valuation mark following a spike in its share price.

However, on Friday the oil-to-telecom conglomerate’s market capitalisation came below this milestone and was at Rs 9,83,140.16 crore at the close of trade. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) added Rs 2,576.12 crore to Rs 4,40,777.38 crore in its valuation and those of Infosys also advanced Rs 1,192.37 crore to reach Rs 2,96,367.29 crore.

In contrast, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) witnessed an erosion of Rs 6,698.01 crore to Rs 7,70,252.01 crore from its valuation. Also, the m-cap of ITC fell Rs 1,557.16 crore to Rs 3,02,747 crore.

The list of top-10 firms was topped by Reliance Industries followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), ITC and Infosys in that order.

Redmi Note 8 price in India starts at Rs. 9,999, whereas Redmi Note 8 Pro price begins at Rs. 14,999.

Redmi Note 8 series comes with a waterdrop-style display notchHIGHLIGHTS

• Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro were launched in India last month
• Amazon, Mi.com, and Mi Home stores will begin the sale at 12pm
• Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro both run MIUI 10

• Redmi Note 8₹8,970
• Redmi Note 8 Pro₹14,999

Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro are all set to go on sale in India today. Both Redmi Note 8-series phones will be available for purchase at 12pm (noon) IST through Amazon, Mi.com, and Mi Home stores. To recall, Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 8 and Redmi Note 8 Pro in the country last month. Both Redmi phones run MIUI 10 and come with a waterdrop-style display notch. The Redmi Note 8 comes as a successor to the Redmi Note 7 and includes a quad rear camera setup, while the Redmi Note 8 Pro is available as the successor to the Redmi Note 7 Pro and houses a MediaTek Helio G90T SoC.

Redmi Note 8 price in India, sale details

Redmi Note 8₹ 8,970 price in India is set at Rs. 9,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, whereas its 6GB RAM + 128GB storage option is priced at Rs. 12,999. Both models were initially offered in Moonlight White, Neptune Blue, and Space Black colour options, however, Xiaomi recently brought the Cosmic Purple colour variant that will be a part of today’s sale. The smartphone will be available for purchase through Amazon and Mi.com at 12pm (noon) IST.

Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India, sale details

Redmi Note 8 Pro price in India starts at Rs. 14,999 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage option. The handset also comes in the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant at Rs. 15,999 and the top-end 8GB RAM + 128GB storage version at Rs. 17,999. All three variants come in Gamma Green, Halo White, and Shadow Black as well as the newly added Electric Blue colour options. The latest sale round will take place through Amazon and Mi.com starting 12pm (noon) IST.

Redmi Note 8 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Redmi Note 8 runs Android 9 Pie with MIUI 10 on top and features a 6.39-inch full-HD (1080×2280 pixels) display with 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, paired with up to 6GB of RAM. For photos and videos, the Redmi Note 8 has the quad rear camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel primary camera, assisted by an 8-megapixel wide-angle snapper, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. On the front is a 13-megapixel camera sensor with an f/2.0 lens to handle selfies and video calls.

The Redmi Note 8 has up to 128GB of onboard storage. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Besides, the phone packs a 4,000mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging.

Redmi Note 8 Pro specifications

Unlike the Redmi Note 8, the dual-SIM (Nano) Redmi Note 8 Pro features a 6.53-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2340 pixels) HDR display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, there is the octa-core MediaTek Helio G90T SoC, along with up to 8GB of RAM. The Redmi Note 8 Pro has a quad rear camera setup that includes the 64-megapixel primary sensor, paired with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro lens. The smartphone also has a 20-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 lens.

In terms of storage, the Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with up to 128GB of onboard storage. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Lastly, the phone packs a 4,500mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging.

OnePlus suffered a similar security breach in January last year when hackers gained access to the data of nearly 40,000 users.

NEW DELHI: In yet another data breach, Chinese handset maker OnePlus’s online store has been hit by hackers where an “unauthorised party” accessed some customers’ personal information.

The company informed its users on Friday that all payment information, passwords and accounts are safe but the name, contact number, email and shipping address in certain orders may have been exposed.

OnePlus, however, did not disclosed how many users in which parts of the world were affected by the data breach on its website.

“We want to update you that we have discovered that some of our users’ order information was accessed by an unauthorised party,” Ziv C, Staff Member, Security Team, OnePlus, wrote in the company forum.

OnePlus suffered a similar security breach in January last year when hackers gained access to the data of nearly 40,000 users.

According to the smartphone player, the hacker’s entry point this time was a loophole in its website, but did not provide any additional details.

Users who were hit by the breach may receive spam and phishing emails as a result of this incident.

“Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident,” added Ziv.

The breach happened last week, according to OnePlus’ FAQ page.

“We took immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security, making sure there are no similar vulnerabilities. Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident,’ said the company.

The company said it has notified all impacted users via email.

“If you don’t get an email from us, rest assured that your order information is safe. However, if you have further concerns, please contact us at Customer Support for assistance,” said OnePlus.

The company said it is partnering with a world-renowned security platform next month and will launch an official bug bounty programme by the end of December.

Forex traders said the decline in the domestic unit was largely in tandem with other Asian currencies after US President Donald Trump said China tariffs will go ‘even higher’ without a deal.

MUMBAI: The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 9 paise to 71.80 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday as US-China trade deal concerns weighed on the investor community.

Forex traders said the decline in the domestic unit was largely in tandem with other Asian currencies after US President Donald Trump said China tariffs will go ‘even higher’ without a deal.

“If we don’t make a deal with China, I’ll just raise the tariffs even higher,” he told reporters at the White House.

Moreover, sustained foreign fund outflows and strengthening of the American currency vis-a-vis other currencies overseas dragged down the local unit.

However, positive opening in domestic equities and easing crude oil prices supported the domestic unit.

The rupee opened weak at 71.80 at the interbank forex market, down 9 paise over its last close.

The rupee had settled at 71.71 against the US dollar on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, eased 0.15 per cent to USD 60.82 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 915.37 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.

On the domestic market front, benchmark indices Sensex was trading 172.52 points higher at 40,642.22 and Nifty was up 45.85 points at 11,985.95.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.03 per cent to 97.88.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.47 per cent in morning trade.

No political content will be promoted from candidates, parties, governments or officials, public accounts committees and certain political non-profit groups.

SAN FRANCISCO: Putting pressure on Facebook to follow suit, Twitter has officially banned all kinds of political ads from its platform, weeks after CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the micro-blogging site would no longer allow those ads.

No political content will be promoted from candidates, parties, governments or officials, public accounts committees (PACs) and certain political non-profit groups.

“Twitter globally prohibits the promotion of political content. We have made this decision based on our belief that political message reach should be earned, not bought,” the micro-blogging platform said on Friday.

It defines political content as content that references a candidate, political party, elected or appointed government official, election, referendum, ballot measure, legislation, regulation, directive or judicial outcome.

“Ads that contain references to political content, including appeals for votes, solicitations of financial support, and advocacy for or against any of the above-listed types of political content, are prohibited under this policy,” said Twitter.

On October 31, Dorsey tweeted: “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics.”

News of the ban divided America’s political camps for the 2020 election. Brad Parscale, manager of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, said the ban was “yet another attempt by the left to silence Trump and conservatives”.

Twitter said it also does not allow ads of any type by candidates, political parties, or elected or appointed government officials.

“News publishers who meet our exemption criteria may run ads that reference political content and/or prohibited advertisers under our political content policy, but may not include advocacy for or against those topics or advertisers,” it elaborated.

Dorsey had explained his position in a thread of tweets.

“We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…” he tweeted.

Internet political ads, he said, presented “entirely new challenges to civic discourse”. These challenges included “machine learning-based optimization of messaging”, “micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes”.

Experts said the onus is now on Facebook which has become a platform for spreading misleading and fake political ads.

Paytm expects to employ technology across the growing internet to become the dominant player in artificial intelligence, it added.

One of India’s biggest start-up success stories, Paytm, has announced that it will start investing in early-stage deep technology start-ups which are building technologies and solutions that can complement the digital payments ecosystem. According to a statement from the firm earlier this week, Paytm is planning to invest as much as Rs 500 crore into such companies over the next few years.

“The company has set aside ₹500 crore to invest in early-stage companies that build complementary technologies augmenting the digital ecosystem,” Paytm said in a statement, adding that it will focus companies that are working on artificial intelligence-based technology and big data solutions to make its investment, in order to acquire or develop innovative solutions that can generate large scale employment.

“We are well aligned with our country’s mission to ensure that the benefits of the digital revolution reach the last mile,” said Paytm Deputy Chief Financial Officer Vikas Garg, “We partner with startups who have capabilities that augment the digital ecosystem for the next wave of growth. These investments are also an indication that Paytm believes India’s entrepreneur ecosystem is innovative”.

Paytm expects to employ technology across the growing internet to become the dominant player in artificial intelligence, it added. Over the recent past, Paytm has typically invested around Rs 200-250 crore every year in intellectual properties or companies building complementary technologies. A few such firms Paytm has chosen to invest in include names like Insider, Nearbuy and Loginext.

The whole priority will now shift to mergers and bad loan recovery will become the casualty,” General Secretary of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) C H Venkatachalam said. 

MUMBAI: The all India bank strike against the merger of 10 public sector banks saw more than three lakh employees participate throughout the country has hit banking service across the country, General Secretary of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) C H Vekatachalam said. 

Eastern part of the country saw virtually all the branches being closed, and in other states where the branches were open also had an impact on transactions according to AIBEA. More than 20 lakh instruments worth over Rs 15,000 crore were not collected due to the strike, it said. 
 
Functioning of the ATMs, online transfers and remittances mitigated the all India bank strike, bankers to a great extent, officials at some of the public sector banks said. Except for rural and branches with fewer staff, there should may not have been a major impact on customers from Tuesday’s bank employees’ strike, the officials added. City branches to a greater extent have been able to keep their functions on, they further said. 
 
AIBEA and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) had given a call for strike mainly to protest against the merger of ten public sector banks announced recently – they had termed consolidating 10 banks to 4 as shutting down 6 important nationalised banks. 
 
“Merger is unwarranted in the present moment. Branches will be closed, services will be affected. Big banks will take big risk, giving big loans. There is no tangible benefit to banks, we have seen SBI merger, no tangible real problem is in bad loans, priority to recover. Now, the whole priority will shift to mergers, bad loan recovery will become the casualty,” Venkatachalam said. 
 
He said the meeting with the Chief Labour Commissioner in which the finance ministry officials also participated did not have any meeting points over the issue of merger ahead of the strike. Finance ministry officials had indicated that the merger is beneficial and any issues arising out of merger would be addressed after the merger, he said. 
 
State Bank of India had last week said it expected minimal impact of the strike. In a filing with the stock exchanges it said, “the membership of our bank employees in unions participating in strike is very few, so the impact of strike on Banks operation will be minimal”

According to the government plan, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce are to be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest public sector bank (PSB). Syndicate Bank is to be merged with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will be merged with Indian Bank. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will amalgamate with the Union Bank of India.

Flipkart says that it will offer mobile protection plans at compelling prices alongside the purchase of these phones.

Redmi K20 Pro is the most expensive of the lotHIGHLIGHTS

• Realme X is priced starting at Rs. 16,999, Realme 3i at Rs. 7,999
• Redmi K20 Pro is priced starting at Rs. 27,999
• The Redmi phones will go on sale on Mi.com as well

Flipkart today announced its Super Flash Sunday, where as many as five phones will be up for grabs in a flash sale. The five phones are namely Redmi K20 Pro, Redmi K20, Realme X, Realme 3i, and Redmi 7A. The phones will go on sale in a flash sale on July 28 i.e., this Sunday at 12pm IST. Flipkart will provide Complete Mobile Protection plans at best prices alongside these phones during the flash sale. The phones will be available till the stocks last, and we recommend interested buyers to be online a few minutes before the flash sale begins, and fill in payment and address details beforehand.

As mentioned, the Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro, Redmi 7A₹ 5,799, Realme X, and Realme 3i will all go on sale at the same time at 12pm IST. The sale will go on till stocks last, and Flipkart says it will be offering mobile protection plans at best prices alongside the purchase of these phones.

Xiaomi had already announced that the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro phones will go on sale this Sunday. The Redmi K20 price in India is set at Rs. 21,999 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, while its 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model is priced at Rs. 23,999. However, the Redmi K20 Pro price is set at Rs. 27,999 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model. There is also the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant at Rs. 30,999. While the flash sale will be held on Flipkart, you can also purchase the phones through Mi.com and Mi Home stores as well, at the same time.

Apart from the mobile protection plan best price benefit, sale offers on both the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro include double data benefits for Airtel customers using the Rs. 249 or Rs. 299 prepaid plan. There will be Airtel Thanks Gold tier benefits for the customers. Also, Xiaomi is offering Rs. 1,000 discount on ICICI Bank credit cards and credit card EMI transactions.

The Redmi 7A price in India is set at Rs. 5,999 for the 16GB storage variant, while its 32GB storage model is priced at Rs. 6,199. Both options come in three colour variants, namely Matte Black, Matte Blue, and Matte Gold. Throughout July, Xiaomi is offering a Rs. 200 discount on both Redmi 7A variants in India. This means the smartphone can be purchased at as low as Rs. 5,799. Alongside Flipkart, the phone will also be available on Mi.com.

Sale offers on the Redmi 7A include a Rs. 2,200 worth of cashback along with 125GB of additional data on Reliance Jio. The cashback will be credited in the form of 44 discount vouchers of Rs. 50 each in the MyJio app. Also, customers will need to recharge their Jio connection with Rs. 198 or Rs. 299 prepaid plan to avail the cashback offer.

Coming to the Realme phones, Flipkart says that the Realme X will also go on sale at 12pm IST on Sunday. The Realme X price in India starts at Rs. 16,999 for the base 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The phone’s 8GB RAM + 128GB storage model has been priced at Rs. 19,999. The Realme X will be available for purchase in Polar White and Space Blue colour options. The sale will only happen on Flipkart, and the next sale on Realme online store will be held on July 31.

Lastly, the Reame 3i will also be made available in Flipkart’s Super Flash Sale Sunday, and the phone is priced at Rs. 7,999 for the base 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant, while the higher-end 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant of the phone carries a price tag of Rs. 9,999. One can choose between Diamond Black, Diamond Blue, and Diamond Red colour options. The sale will only be held on Flipkart, and the next sale on Realme online store is on July 30.

9to5Mac reported that Apple will release successors to previous year’s iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, and iPhone XR with A13 chip, lightning port, improved Taptic Engines, a wide-angle lens, new camera features and more.

Apple’s iPhone 11 lineup is expected to be launched in the month of September and thanks to various leaks and rumours, we know that the California based company will unveil a total of three devices this year, which will succeed last year’s iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. A 9to5Mac report reveals some new information about this year’s Apple devices and confirms some already leaked information as well.

The report mentions the chipset used in the new iPhone models as well as the display, charging port, Taptic Engine, and some information about the camera tech on the upcoming devices. It also confirmed that Apple will have three iPhone 11 models. The D43 (internal name) will replace the iPhone XS Max, the D42 (internal name) will replace the iPhone XS, and the N104 (internal name) will replace the iPhone XR.

Apple iPhones 2019 to have A13 chip and Lightning port

As per the report, the new iPhone models will be powered by the new Apple A13 chip, which is internally known by its platform codename Cebu, model T8030. The report also mentions that the new devices will not have the USB Type-C port as suggested by various rumours. Instead, Apple will continue to feature a Lightning port in the iPhone.

Triple rear cameras with a wide-angle lens

The report confirms the earlier leaks suggesting a triple rear camera setup on the iPhone XS models placed in a square-shaped camera bump. While other reports suggest that the iPhone XR successor will have a similar bump carrying dual cameras at the back, the 9to5Mac report doesn’t confirm this information.

The new Redmi K20 series phones are with powerful big displays, available at an affordable price and can be regarded as successors to the Note series in a way.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi’s Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun has revealed that the company currently has no plans to launch new phones in the Mi Max and Mi Note lineups this year.

In a Weibo post, Lei stated the company will rather be focusing its energies on the Redmi, Mi MIX series, Mi 9 and the new CC series of smartphones, the GSM Arena reported on late Friday.

The new Redmi K20 series phones are with powerful big displays, available at an affordable price and can be regarded as successors to the Note series in a way.

With the Mi Max series smartphones, the compaany was focused on giving users a large screen experience with larger than 6-inch screen.

In addition, the company has posted many teasers about the upcoming CC series in association with Meitu mobiles. As per the company, the CC series phone will be trendy mobile phones aimed for youth around the world.

As per reports, the company is expected two smartphones launch under its upcoming CC series, dubbed as Mi CC9 and Mi CC9e.