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Business Standard
33 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Goldman Sachs trims Q1 estimates on EMS, durables; turns positive on C&W
Goldman Sachs retained its 'Buy' ratings on Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Havells, and KEI Industries, citing stronger fundamentals and growth visibility. Tanmay Tiwary New Delhi Listen to This Article Goldman Sachs on India Industrials: Goldman Sachs has cut earnings estimates for Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) and consumer durables companies for June quarter of financial year 2026 (Q1FY26) amid weak summer product sales and margin headwinds, while raising projections for cable and wire (C&W) players on better volume growth. That said, the New York-based brokerage expects a mixed June quarter earnings season for India's industrial space, with divergent trends across electricals, durables, EMS, and cables and wires. Reflecting upon these divergent trends, Goldman Sachs retained its 'Buy' ratings on Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Havells, and KEI Industries, citing stronger
New York Post
13 hours ago
- Health
- New York Post
Children's cough syrup recalled due to possibly deadly food poisoning risk: ‘Stop using it immediately'
Parents: You might want to check your medicine cabinet. A New York-based pharmaceutical company is voluntarily recalling several batches of a popular children's cough syrup over fears they may be contaminated with harmful bacteria. The Food and Drug Administration is urging consumers to 'stop using it immediately' if they have any of the affected lots of Little Remedies® Honey Cough Syrup, according to an alert issued by the agency on Wednesday. Advertisement 3 The recalled product may contain Bacillus cereus Little Remedies The affected bottles were sold both in stores and online between Dec. 14, 2022, and June 4, 2025. The syrup comes in a 4-fluid-ounce amber bottle, packaged in an outer carton. Lot codes, which identify the recalled products, can be found on the bottle label and the bottom of the box. Advertisement The following five batches are affected: 3 FDA No other Little Remedies products are part of the recall. Syrup affected by the recall may be tainted with Bacillus cereus, a bacteria that can lead to two types of food-borne illnesses, according to the FDA. Advertisement One causes nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps within six hours of exposure. The other triggers diarrhea and cramping, typically 8 to 16 hours after use. 3 The product is intended for children ages 1 year and older. redpepper82 – 'While healthy individuals may suffer only short-term illness, exposure to high levels of B. cereus can be fatal,' the agency said in an alert. So far, no illnesses have been reported. The FDA recommends that anyone experiencing symptoms seek medical attention and report any adverse reactions through their website. Advertisement Manufacturer, Medtech, is offering full refunds for the recalled products. Customers can contact the company directly by email at medicalaffairs@ through its website or by phone at (800) 754-8853 from 8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
MAGA voters want Donald Trump to strike on Iranian military as 'doomsday plane' flies to Washington
About 65 per cent of MAGA voters want US to strike on Iran as President Donald Trump keeps his thoughts about this ambiguous, a poll revealed. 19 per cent opposed the idea, JL Partners, which conducted the survey with New York Post claimed. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'This poll makes clear: the Republican base is not isolationist. They back forceful US and Israeli action to stop Iran, and see Israel's fight as America's fight,' James Johnson, co-founder of the New York-based JL Partners, said in a statement. The poll comes as MAGA is split between the choices with Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, conservative commentators Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon advocating for maintaining a safe distance from the Middle East conflict. They are reminding the MAGA voters that Trump came to power promising that America would not fight war overseas. Doomsday plane flies to Washington Amid the tension, the Boeing E-4B Nightwatch, one of the doomsday planes, made a rare flight to Joint Base Andrews near Washington Tuesday night. The plane is a mobile command post in case of any emergency or if any nuclear conflict breaks out. What Trump said on reports that he approved strike on Iran The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told his top aides that he approved a plan to strike Iran, but no final order was given. Trump dismissed the report and said the Wall Street Journal had no idea what his thoughts are about Iran. What Trump officially said about joining the war is that he may or he may not. Trump also called for Iran's unconditional surrender, which Iran rejected. Pete Hegseth, Trump's defence secretary, told a Senate committee that the Pentagon was prepared to execute any order given by Trump. Iran's mission to the UN mocked Trump in posts on X, calling him a "has-been warmonger clinging to relevance" and adding that no Iranian official would "grovel at the gates of the White House".
NDTV
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
India Has Had Arranged Matches For Ages, The West Is Only Waking Up To The Reality Of Filtered Love
"He checked a lot of our boxes. And, you checked a lot of his." This is Dakota Johnson's common refrain throughout Materialists, a New York story about love, money, and dating. Her character Lucy, a New York-based professional matchmaker who gets caught up between two men of diametrically opposite financial backings - John (Chris Evans) and Harry (Pedro Pascal) - often says this one-liner to her clients as she tries to find a perfect match for them. Little do they know, or perhaps, little did any of us know that dating in this day and age is all about filters, algorithms, and curated bios. In a world dominated by swipes and scrolls, dating apps are increasingly mimicking the institution of Indian marriages which have orchestrated matches based on "checkboxes", including caste, education qualifications, financial compatibility, horoscopes, and community ties. Marriages have been arranged in India since time immemorial, and what's fascinating is that the West seems to just have woken up to the concept of filtered love, at least if we believe what the movie Materialists depicts. Online Dating And Filtering Through Love Dating apps have changed the landscape of relationships, but they come up with new updates to help you find the person that matches your preferences. In an effort to do that, Tinder has recently introduced the "height filter" and it's not the only one. In 2019, Bumble introduced the astrology and politics filters that allowed people to filter matches based on their zodiac signs and political affiliation, respectively. Filters are not new to dating apps though. With a wide range to choose from, individuals have the option to find a partner based on their religion, views, lifestyle choices, zodiac signs, and even pet preferences. "I think adding filters is good. In a way, you are putting filters in your mind when you look for a partner I might as well look for it on an app. I think it is a better way to find a partner that way," a 24-year-old user tells NDTV on the condition of anonymity. "We are physical beings, and we get attracted to some features. For example, I like a guy who is around my age and has the same emotional maturity and views as me. While I will not find every filter to my liking, it will definitely help," shares a 37-year-old user of dating apps. According to Matchmaker and Relationship Coach Radhika Mohta, the goal of these dating apps is to keep users engaged and help them feel like they're optimising their search while keeping them scrolling. Are Dating Apps Becoming Arranged Marriages 2.0? Interestingly, this criteria-based approach to finding the right partner is not new to Indian society. For decades, arranged marriages in India have relied on similar filters - religion, caste, income, family, and educational background. Even matrimonial advertisements, be it in newspapers or on websites, have functioned as extensions of these traditions. A Delhite, who is in her mid-30s, says, "The only thing that has changed is the person doing the filtering. Earlier, it was your family. Now it's you - guided by tech." Mohta further highlights how this filtering may help, while also explaining how it is making people confuse compatibility with customisability. "We live with a lot of predictive technology that enables us to give an input and expect an output, which will be standardised. This is also the reason why when it comes to our personal lives, the idea of having a smooth experience and getting what we want makes more sense." The Only Thing Missing: Serendipity As filters multiply and apps promise ever-sharper matches, we are inching closer to an era where dating mimics the mechanics of arranged marriages - only this time, the matchmakers are algorithms and we have to choose the one we like. As the Relationship Coach rightly explains that if you are filtering your world down to the same type of people, you are shrinking your perspective, not broadening your horizons. While these filters are marketed as tools to "find your match faster," the Matchmaker highlights that it is taking away serendipity - the concept that reminds us that the most meaningful connections can emerge in unexpected moments, beyond the data points. Dating apps have simply digitised what communities and families once did manually - matching people based on checkboxes. This shift reflects how people are now approaching love through a blend of personal choice and inherited social structures. So, the question remains - are we inching towards redefining relationships or simply reducing love to a list of checkboxes that is nothing new to the Indian society?
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
How the world's top ad agencies aligned to fix prices in India
HighlightsOmnicom Media's India Chief, Kartik Sharma, expressed frustration over a rival's attempt to poach their client by offering lower prices, which violated a collective agreement among global advertising agencies on ad rates in India. The Competition Commission of India is investigating a suspected cartel among major advertising firms, including WPP Media, Omnicom Media, and Interpublic Group Mediabrands, for coordinating pricing and denying business to non-compliant agencies. A WhatsApp group named 'AAAI media agencies' included top executives from various advertising companies coordinating their pitches and pricing strategies, which led to concerns about antitrust violations in India's media sector. Omnicom Media 's India chief was frustrated. It was October 5, 2023 and a rival was trying to poach the U.S. firm's client by offering lower prices, just weeks after global advertising agencies and broadcasters struck secret pacts on ad rates in the South Asian country. The attempt to woo the client violated the agencies' agreement, Omnicom Media's India CEO Kartik Sharma wrote in a WhatsApp group comprising a who's who of advertising, according to excerpts of the discussion documented by antitrust investigators and verified by Reuters. "This kind of practice is not in the spirit of what we are collectively trying to achieve," Sharma wrote, without identifying the parties. Shashi Sinha, then India CEO of New York-based IPG Mediabrands, suggested an industry group should "admonish the agency". The exchanges form part of a confidential dossier compiled by India's antitrust watchdog that chronicles how global advertising companies, including leading U.S. and European firms, coordinated to rig prices in the world's most populous nation. Reuters reviewed evidence from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation, including a 10-page document with messages and records of meetings between top advertising executives, and two industry agreements under scrutiny for antitrust violations; and interviewed two people familiar with the probe. The key details, which haven't been previously reported, centre on WhatsApp interactions involving 11 industry executives. They include the top India or South Asia executives of WPP's GroupM; U.S.-based Omnicom Media and Interpublic's IPG Mediabrands; France's Publicis and Havas Media; Japan's Dentsu and India's Madison World. Over WhatsApp and in meetings, the executives coordinated responses to clients, which "resulted in alignment of competing advertising agencies," CCI officials said in the August 9 dossier, determining on an initial basis that the conduct contravened competition law. The firms agreed to cooperate on pricing, including not to undercut each other; colluded with broadcasters to deny business to agencies that didn't comply; and discussed financial terms involving at least four Indian clients over conference calls, according to the investigation documents. The documents don't indicate whether the agencies' foreign headquarters were aware of the executives' actions. A spokesperson for WPP Media , which until May was known as GroupM, told Reuters it was aware of the investigation but declined to comment further. A Dentsu India spokesperson confirmed Reuters reporting that it had disclosed industry practices to the CCI in February 2024 under the regulator's leniency program, which enables lesser penalties for firms that share evidence of malpractice. The spokesperson didn't address specific evidence raised in the dossier but said the firm had implemented stricter audits and controls. The other agencies and their executives didn't respond to Reuters questions about the antitrust probe and information in the dossier. The regulator also didn't respond to queries. Reuters has reported that in March, as part of the continuing investigation, the regulator raided the Indian offices of many advertising firms and an industry group that represents broadcasters, including the Reliance-Disney venture and Sony . CCI investigations typically take several months. The regulator can't press criminal charges, but can impose financial penalties on the media agencies of up to three times their profit or 10% of an Indian entity's global turnover, whichever is higher, for each year of wrongdoing. Secret Pacts WPP Media, the world's largest media buying agency, last year - when it was still known as GroupM - won new India business worth $447 million, followed by Omnicom's $183 million, according to research firm COMvergence. But India's near-$30 billion media and entertainment sector is grappling with weak consumer sentiment. Ad spending will rise 7% to $19 billion in 2025, the slowest growth in three years, according to GroupM estimates. The CCI is investigating the role of two industry bodies, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF), in orchestrating the suspected cartel. The former group is led by WPP Media India head Prasanth Kumar, while the broadcasting body's president is Kevin Vaz, a top Reliance-Disney venture executive. Neither industry group responded to requests for comment. The dossier shows the AAAI circulated guidelines to ad agencies in August 2023: They must charge clients whose annual spending exceeds $29 million a minimum 3% commission for digital ads and 2.5% for traditional media. Lower-spending clients would pay higher minimum commissions of up to 8%. A month later, the industry associations entered a joint pact, agreeing no agency would "unilaterally offer any discount" on rates while pitching for business. The pact, reviewed by Reuters, declared its aim was to eliminate "lower pricing as a reason to award a pitch". The advertising firms began coordinating their activities at least as early as August 2023, according to the CCI documents. Ad executives who met on December 1 that year hailed their collaboration as a "great success" and resolved to continue, according to meeting minutes cited in the CCI's evidence. 'All Aligned' In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission this month sought information from advertising agencies as part of a probe into whether they coordinated boycotts of certain sites. The Justice Department in 2016 probed agencies it suspected of rigging bids to favour in-house units, but eventually closed the case without bringing charges. Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev used CCI's leniency program to blow the whistle on an industry cartel in India in 2017. In the case of the ad industry, Dentsu India told Reuters it filed its leniency application with the CCI not as a reaction to external pressure but out of a decision to "support reform from within". Two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the evidence Dentsu submitted included a transcript of the WhatsApp group. The group, formed in August 2023 and reviewed in part by Reuters, was named "AAAI media agencies" and contained scores of chat messages. Participants included Kumar of WPP's media company, Sharma of Omnicom Media, IPG Mediabrands' Sinha, Havas Media India CEO Mohit Joshi, Dentsu South Asia CEO Harsha Razdan and then-media business CEO Anita Kotwani, Publicis South Asia chief Anupriya Acharya and Madison boss Sam Balsara, the investigators' evidence shows. Members of the group discussed advertising pitches and coordinated on interactions with clients such as food delivery giant Swiggy , drug maker Cipla, SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm Meesho, and Kshema Insurance. In Swiggy's case, the AAAI arranged a Zoom call with media agency heads to discuss the company's advertising pitch. Later, GroupM's Kumar, as AAAI president, suggested an email response to Swiggy explaining the industry's agreed position on rebates. "Ok all aligned thanks," he wrote after a consensus emerged. Kshema told Reuters the insurer was unaware of the matter. The other clients didn't respond to questions. During another discussion on client rebates, an unspecified Dentsu executive told rivals over WhatsApp that "the lowest we go to is retain 30% and 70% we pass back to the client," according to the CCI dossier. CCI officials noted in the document that advertisers and the broadcasters' group had sought to penalise enterprises that didn't comply with the pricing pacts. In an email to Walt Disney in August 2023, Kumar wrote that broadcasters should refrain from granting business to a firm that had breached the pacts, ITW Consulting, though he said it had later agreed not to approach clients directly. ITW didn't respond to Reuters questions. Tensions heated up again over WhatsApp three months later. Sharma, of Omnicom Media, learned that ITW had done another "direct deal with a client of ours" for advertising on streaming platform Hotstar, which was run by Disney. This irked Sharma, as Hotstar had the rights for the cricket World Cup held in India at the time. "This nuisance has to stop," he wrote in the group.
