EV maker Hero Electric on Wednesday said it has delivered the first 12 e-bikes to Sivakasi-based Pioneer Asia Group for employees' commute in the first phase of the deal and is in discussion with the group for further orders. Pioneer Asia Group is the largest match producer in the country with more than 400 workforce, including factory workers.

Japan will declare a month-long emergency in Tokyo and surrounding areas to tackle a surge in coronavirus cases from Saturday until Feb. 7, broadcaster Asahi TV reported. Japan's capital recorded a record number of daily coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with at least 1,591 new infections. The restrictive measures will help in controlling the spread of the virus.

The Centre has prepared a draft bill to increase the age to allow the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to 21 years from 18 years currently. Analysts reckon this is sentimentally negative for ITC. Among the reported changes proposed in the bill, the penalty for smoking in restricted areas has been increased to ₹2,000 from ₹200. Sale of cigarettes should also be in sealed and intact packets.

Tata Motors, India’s leading automotive brand has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Karnataka Bank in a joint effort to introduce attractive financing offers for its customers to purchase their favourite Tata car. Customers can now take advantage of a variety of schemes on their future vehicle purchase available across 857 branches of Karnataka Bank.

Digital payments major Paytm ventured into the lending business with its Instant Personal Loan facility for salaried individuals, business owners and professionals. The Noida-based company said that it has partnered with banks and NBFCs to process these loans and the aim is to extend credit to those ‘new to credit’ or consumers who do not have a credit history, thereby driving financial inclusion.

Makers Lab, the research and development arm of Tech Mahindra Ltd. today announced a collaboration with the College of Military Engineering (CME), Pune to address challenges in the field of defence through technological innovations. CME will leverage the partnership to address critical military problem statements using next-generation technologies of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

Centre has given additional financial assistance of Rs 1,004 crore to Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh for capital expenditure after they completed three out of the four citizen-centric reforms. The two states have completed the One Nation, One Ration Card Reforms, Ease of Doing Business Reforms, and Urban Local Bodies Reforms, Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday.

With preparations almost on a war footing, including over a dozen MoUs signed in less than two months, SpiceJet may have readied the most extensive network to deliver vaccines for any airline in India. If successful, delivering vaccines across the country may also keep Ajay Singh's core aviation business, which like its peers is yet to reach anywhere close to pre-COVID-19 levels, afloat.

India’s internet shutdowns cost $2,779.3 million in 2020 – making it the worst impacted in a list of 21 countries that restricted residents’ online access during 2020. India restricted 8,927 hours of bandwidth access, inclusive of social media shutdowns – more than any other country. This includes 1,655 hours of internet blackout, 7,272 hours of bandwidth throttling, and social media shutdowns.

Financial Technology firm BharatPe reported that it plans to raise over Rs 5,000 crore in debt funding in next 2 years to build its lending business. “As we build the lending business at BharatPe, raising institutional debt is important to us. We plan to raise USD 500-700 million (Rs 3,600 crore – Rs 5,118 crore) of debt capital over the next 2 years," BharatPe group president Suhail Sameer said.

Following the data leak of 10 Cr digital transactions from the server of Indian payments processor Juspay, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly reached out to key stakeholders, including the Payments Council of India (PCI), to inquire about the enforcement of new payment aggregator licensing norms that mandate storage of card data only by licensed payment aggregators and gateways. 

The Government of India, the Government of West Bengal and the World Bank signed a $105 million project to improve the inland water transport infrastructure in Kolkata. This Project will facilitate passenger and freight movement across the Hooghly river, undertake spatial planning to improve accessibility in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and enhance the quality of life of its residents.

Maruti Suzuki said it has added models like S-Cross, Ignis and WagonR to its vehicle subscription offering for individual customers. The company launched its Maruti Subscribe initiative in major cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad, with its models Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga from its Arena network & Baleno, Ciaz, and XL6 from Nexa retail chain.

Digital media and OTT platform Pocket Aces has grabbed INR 17 Cr in a venture debt funding round from Stride Ventures, as it looks to capitalise on the engagement growth seen in 2020 as well as the launch of its new talent management platform Clout. Pocket Aces said it would utilise the funding to scale up its current content output and invest further in new content formats.

Edu-tech platform Kyt on Wednesday raised $5 million in a Series A funding round. The investment is led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), a venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, January Capital, Titan Capital and other angel investors also participated in the round. Kyt is the first Indian company to receive investment from Singapore-based January Capital.