Latest news with #RajatSharma
News18
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Aamir Khan Says He's A 'Proud Muslim', Condemns Terrorism: 'Unko Islamic Maanta Hi Nahi'
Last Updated: Aamir Khan, in an interview, declared himself a proud Muslim and Indian. He condemned terrorism, stating it goes against Islam, which preaches against harming innocents. Aamir Khan, in a rather bold confession, said that he is a 'proud Muslim" and a 'proud Indian". The actor also clarified his stance on Islam and terrorism, and asserted that his religion preaches against killing others or harming women and children. He boldly expressed that he doesn't consider terrorists to be Muslims. Aamir Khan spoke about being a Muslim at an interview with Rajat Sharma on Aap Ki Adalat. He said, 'Main Muslim hoon aur mujhe bada garv hain ke main Muslim hoon. Main Hindustani hoon aur mujhe bada garv hain ke main Hindustani hoon. Ye dono baatein apni jagah sahi hain (I am a Muslim, and I am very proud to be a Muslim. I am an Indian, and I am equally proud to be an Indian. Both these things hold true in their own right)." He further added, 'Koi bhi mazhab ye nahi kehta ke aap innocent logon ko maaro. Aur ye terrorist jo kar rahe hain, main unko Islamic maanta hi nahi hoon. Main toh unko Muslim nahi maanta hoon. Islam mein likha hain ke aap kisi bhi innocent aadmi ko nahi maar sakte. Aap auraton pe haath nahi utha sakte, baccho pe haath nahi utha sakte. Ye saari cheezein hamare Islam mein hain. Ye jo kar rahe hain, wo mazhab ke khilaaf jaa rahe hain, galat kar rahe hain wo (No religion teaches us to kill innocent people. And what these terrorists are doing – I don't consider them Islamic. In fact, I don't even consider them Muslims. Islam clearly states that you cannot harm an innocent person. You cannot raise your hand against women, or against children. All of these principles are part of our faith. What these people are doing goes against religion – they are doing wrong)." The conversation emerged after the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists. In retaliation, Indian forces targeted nine locations in Pakistan and PoK, known terror hotbeds, at 1:44 AM on May 7, in a mission dubbed Operation Sindoor. This four-day campaign ended after Pakistan sought a ceasefire. However, New Delhi made it clear to the world that it will not seek anyone's permission to defend its people whenever need be. First Published:
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Metro surpasses 50k ridership in 3 days
Indore: Indore's newly inaugurated Metro Train became an instant sensation, running 'overloaded' with thousands of enthusiastic citizens flocking to stations for a 'joy ride' on the city's latest mode of transportation. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In just three days since its launch, the Metro comfortably surpassed the 50,000 ridership mark, a clear indication of the overwhelming public excitement. However, the current surge in ridership is expected to see a considerable drop after June 7, when the initial 'Joy Ride' period, offering free rides, comes to an end. Despite recording over 15,000 daily ridership between 8am and 8 pm, a significant number of travellers are eagerly awaiting the extension of the Metro. Currently, the Metro operates on an approximately 6 km-long 'Super Priority Corridor' on the Super Corridor. However, citizens are keen for its expansion to the approximately 17.5 km-long 'Priority Corridor' that will reach Radisson Square. Many believe this extended route will provide a "suitable" transportation option due to the comfort, hassle-free nature, economical fares, and its pollution-free, eco-friendly ride. Among the hundreds of passengers enjoying the Metro's maiden run were employees of a major IT company located on the Super Corridor. "I reside near Bapat Square and currently commute to the office on my bike," shared Rajat Sharma, an IT professional. He expressed his eagerness for the Metro's extension, hoping for an economical, weather-proof, and comfortable ride directly between his colony and the IT company's entrance. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sharma's colleague, Akshita, who lives near Chandragupta Maurya (MR-10) Square, highlighted her daily commute challenges. "The bus service recently stopped, and now every day, I have to somehow manage to reach the office," she told a local daily. "However, this will not be the case once the Super Priority Corridor of the Metro is commercially operational and extended." Madhu Mishra, an MBA student who also works part-time in Vijay Nagar, echoed the sentiment for a longer commercial run. "Apart from offering all these facilities and comfort, the Metro Train's fare is very reasonable," she added, emphasising the affordability of the new transport system. The initial overwhelming response clearly indicates Indoreans' readiness for a modern, efficient, and sustainable public transportation system. The true test and sustained success of the Indore Metro, however, will likely hinge on the timely completion of its extended corridors, promising a more comprehensive and impactful service for the city's commuters. Talk of The Town Overwhelming Enthusiasm: Despite light to moderate rains, thousands, including families, friends, and groups of children, flocked to the Indore Metro for its "Joy Ride," showcasing immense public excitement. Safety Measures & Awareness: While some excited passengers, mostly children, were seen pushing panic buttons, hanging on handlebars, or not maintaining distance from doors, security guards promptly educated them on rules and regulations, including penalties for violations. MPMRCL PRO Himanshu Grover stated no formal violations were registered, adding that over 150 security guards and extensive CCTV coverage ensure close monitoring. Big List of Do's, Don'ts and Violations with Penalties: MPMRCL issued a guideline for the passengers, which are pasted on all the stations and inside the Metro Train, to follow. Besides, information is also available to the public about the violations that can lead to penalties, imprisonment, or both. Free Rides Drive Initial Ridership: Many families and friends joined the "Joy Ride" due to the free travel offer. However, working professionals anticipate a significant drop in ridership once ticketing begins. Reasonable Fare Structure: Travellers have generally found the Metro's fare structure to be reasonable. For the current 5-station 'Super Priority Corridor' (Gandhi Nagar to Super Corridor-03), fares range from Rs 20 to Rs 30. The broader Yellow Line, eventually covering 28 stations, will have fare slabs from Rs 20 to Rs 80, depending on travel zones. Promotional Discounts: To encourage public adoption, MPMRCL launched a three-month promotional discount scheme: free QR tickets until June 7, followed by 75% off in the second week, 50% in the third week, and 25% off up to the third month. Impressive Initial Ridership: MPMRCL officials reported approximately 26,000 passengers on the first day, and around 16,000 each on Monday and Tuesday, highlighting the strong initial public interest. |
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bullish on private banks; 3 stocks to bet on: Rajat Sharma
Rajat Sharma , Founder & CEO, Sana Securities , says he favours private banking, highlighting HDFC Bank , Axis Bank , and Federal Bank . These banks benefit from non-interest income. Sharma is also optimistic about the IT sector, noting attractive valuations for companies like Infosys and TCS . Increased spending in the US will benefit Indian IT firms. He believes these tech giants will remain core portfolio components. Which themes are looking good to you right now? What are you bullish on? Rajat Sharma: Yes, in terms of themes, clearly with it is almost a given that next week there will be a rate cut in the MPC's meeting, so banking of course is one sector that I have been bullish on for a very long time because private banking in particular has already anyways been trading fairly cheap compared to a lot of the other pockets of the market. And with RBI's meeting next week with where inflation is, it is a given that there would be a 25 bps rate cut, so that would be an additional benefit which the banking sector will get. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like War Thunder - Register now for free and play against over 75 Million real Players War Thunder Play Now Undo Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. But the major reason why I am bullish on banking, in particular private banking, is because the Union Budget that we had this year which increased the tax slabs and made income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free, the benefit of that you will start seeing from the FY26 which is the financial year which has just started. So, while a lot of people are talking about consumption spending going up and discretionary spending going up, a clear beneficiary, the first beneficiary and the biggest beneficiary of this new tax policy would be banking because that is where money will come in the first place. If you talk about things that are working for the bank, the tax policies, the new tax structure is really favourable, repo rate will be revised to 5.75% so more money in the hands of the banks and over the last two-three years also tax policies have been changed in such a way that a lot of the advantage is given to mutual funds where people were taking their money from banks, particularly debt mutual funds which got indexation benefit and 20% tax post that – has been taken away. Gradually, a lot of policies have started favouring banking and I like private banking. The top picks I have in that sector would be clearly HDFC Bank and Axis Bank which also by the way get a lot of their revenue from non-interest income, another area of banking which I am really positive on, HDFC and Axis both get about 18% to 19% of their total income from fee-based income distribution of third-party products, mutual funds, the AMC business, and the other bank I am bullish on is Federal Bank. Live Events You Might Also Like: CA Rudramurthy BV on crucial Nifty levels to watch; 2 stocks to buy So, these three banks and clearly a week before the MPC meeting banking is definitely one sector which I am really bullish on and bullish on for the next three, four, five years kind of perspective. India still remains an underbanked country. What is your view on the IT sector? Do you continue to be optimistic on that one? And also, how do you see Indian IT companies navigating the whole AI transition play? Rajat Sharma: If you look at the history of the Indian IT sector , it always trails the US IT. Whatever happens there both in terms of development and adoption to new technology whether it was digital around a decade back or it is AI now and also in terms of earnings and valuations, so while US tech companies have run up a lot in the last one year or so, Indian tech has been struggling mainly because there was a negative sentiment around Indian IT companies, still relying on cloud and digital and basically the legacy business of programming and not really adopting to the AI revolution. In fact, because of AI, there were a lot of job cuts which we saw at Infosys and stuff. So, my view is that they got affected because there was a curtailed spending in the US on fears of a recession in US markets on account of Trump's tariffs policies or whatever. Now US and European companies have started spending more, a trend which we have started seeing and given where Indian IT companies are, the large IT companies, Infosys and TCS and Coforge and Mphasis a lot of these companies will benefit from increased spending in the US. I was looking at Infosys, the dividend yield is almost close to 2.75%. For tech companies to be trading at 22-24 kind of price to earnings multiple is a very attractive level to buy. These companies are not going anywhere. They are, were, and will always be part of the core portfolio in India. They will be part of Nifty for all times to come, as would a lot of these large tech companies. So, this is one sector which from a valuation perspective is really attractive and things should turn around for them given that the whole tariff business is behind us and there is no fear of a recession in the US as much as there was some time back. You Might Also Like: Narendra Solanki on where he is overweight and where underweight in current market
Economic Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Bullish on private banks; 3 stocks to bet on: Rajat Sharma
Synopsis Rajat Sharma is bullish on private banking, anticipating benefits from new tax policies and potential rate cuts, favoring HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and Federal Bank. He's also optimistic about the IT sector, citing attractive valuations for companies like Infosys and TCS, expecting increased US spending to boost their performance. He believes these tech giants will remain core portfolio components. Rajat Sharma, Founder & CEO, Sana Securities, says he favours private banking, highlighting HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and Federal Bank. These banks benefit from non-interest income. Sharma is also optimistic about the IT sector, noting attractive valuations for companies like Infosys and TCS. Increased spending in the US will benefit Indian IT firms. He believes these tech giants will remain core portfolio components. ADVERTISEMENT Which themes are looking good to you right now? What are you bullish on? Rajat Sharma: Yes, in terms of themes, clearly with it is almost a given that next week there will be a rate cut in the MPC's meeting, so banking of course is one sector that I have been bullish on for a very long time because private banking in particular has already anyways been trading fairly cheap compared to a lot of the other pockets of the market. And with RBI's meeting next week with where inflation is, it is a given that there would be a 25 bps rate cut, so that would be an additional benefit which the banking sector will get. There is optimism over earnings; only banks have disappointed: Nitin Bhasin But the major reason why I am bullish on banking, in particular private banking, is because the Union Budget that we had this year which increased the tax slabs and made income up to Rs 12 lakh tax-free, the benefit of that you will start seeing from the FY26 which is the financial year which has just started. So, while a lot of people are talking about consumption spending going up and discretionary spending going up, a clear beneficiary, the first beneficiary and the biggest beneficiary of this new tax policy would be banking because that is where money will come in the first place. CA Rudramurthy BV on crucial Nifty levels to watch; 2 stocks to buy If you talk about things that are working for the bank, the tax policies, the new tax structure is really favourable, repo rate will be revised to 5.75% so more money in the hands of the banks and over the last two-three years also tax policies have been changed in such a way that a lot of the advantage is given to mutual funds where people were taking their money from banks, particularly debt mutual funds which got indexation benefit and 20% tax post that – has been taken away. Gradually, a lot of policies have started favouring banking and I like private banking. The top picks I have in that sector would be clearly HDFC Bank and Axis Bank which also by the way get a lot of their revenue from non-interest income, another area of banking which I am really positive on, HDFC and Axis both get about 18% to 19% of their total income from fee-based income distribution of third-party products, mutual funds, the AMC business, and the other bank I am bullish on is Federal Bank. So, these three banks and clearly a week before the MPC meeting banking is definitely one sector which I am really bullish on and bullish on for the next three, four, five years kind of perspective. India still remains an underbanked country. ADVERTISEMENT What is your view on the IT sector? Do you continue to be optimistic on that one? And also, how do you see Indian IT companies navigating the whole AI transition play? Rajat Sharma: If you look at the history of the Indian IT sector, it always trails the US IT. Whatever happens there both in terms of development and adoption to new technology whether it was digital around a decade back or it is AI now and also in terms of earnings and valuations, so while US tech companies have run up a lot in the last one year or so, Indian tech has been struggling mainly because there was a negative sentiment around Indian IT companies, still relying on cloud and digital and basically the legacy business of programming and not really adopting to the AI revolution. In fact, because of AI, there were a lot of job cuts which we saw at Infosys and stuff. So, my view is that they got affected because there was a curtailed spending in the US on fears of a recession in US markets on account of Trump's tariffs policies or whatever. Now US and European companies have started spending more, a trend which we have started seeing and given where Indian IT companies are, the large IT companies, Infosys and TCS and Coforge and Mphasis a lot of these companies will benefit from increased spending in the US. ADVERTISEMENT I was looking at Infosys, the dividend yield is almost close to 2.75%. For tech companies to be trading at 22-24 kind of price to earnings multiple is a very attractive level to buy. These companies are not going anywhere. They are, were, and will always be part of the core portfolio in India. They will be part of Nifty for all times to come, as would a lot of these large tech companies. So, this is one sector which from a valuation perspective is really attractive and things should turn around for them given that the whole tariff business is behind us and there is no fear of a recession in the US as much as there was some time back. 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Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Who Will Emerge As The Winner In The AI Race
Rajat Sharma, Founder and lead Advisor, The "Fourth Industrial Revolution" is steering us from an API-driven economy to an AI-driven one. While significant investments, predictions and innovations have shaped this transition, the impact has yet to fully meet expectations. This shift gained momentum when Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI, triggering a wave of investments by hyperscalers into AI infrastructure. These companies positioned AI not only as a co-pilot for software engineering but also as a transformative force in business productivity, customer service and technology operations. AI is evolving beyond automation—moving toward intelligent agents that can act (automate processes), learn (derive insights from data) and think (determine what, why, when and how to automate). Agentic AI is emerging as the next paradigm in AI evolution, though its definition varies based on how different companies market their AI-related products and services. This mirrors the early days of cloud computing in the 2010s. Analysts and industry experts predict that agentic AI will revolutionize business operations. Put simply, agentic AI is interconnected intelligent AI agents autonomously running an enterprise—from corporate functions (supply chain, customer relationships) to IT operations and product engineering—leading to unprecedented productivity, speed to market and profitability (EBITDA). To harness agentic AI, industries and enterprises must undergo transformation across six key areas: 1. Process Automation: The evolution from robotic process automation (RPA) to intelligent process automation (IPA) has now led to AI-powered agents. 2. Integration: Business connectivity has advanced from complex enterprise integration (EAI) to API-based integration across business-to-employee (B2E), business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) ecosystems. 3. Cloud: Cloud providers have shifted from pure-play infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to offering AI as a service, enabled by PaaS, containers and serverless computing. 4. Data: Data management has progressed from legacy flat files and spreadsheets to big data, AI-driven data warehouses (lakehouse) and master data management (MDM), handling both structured and unstructured data. 5. Security: Cybersecurity has evolved from simple malware protection to advanced threat detection and response, securing enterprise-wide operations. 6. Applications: Software architecture has transitioned from mainframes to microservices and APIs, passing through three-tier web applications and service-oriented architecture (SOA). The AI ecosystem today is largely driven by four major types of players: 1. AI Infrastructure Firms: These include companies like Nvidia (GPUs), integrated CPU/GPU providers, energy suppliers (e.g., Constellation Energy) and enterprise telecom firms (e.g., Lumen) that support AI model training at scale. 2. Hyperscalers: Cloud giants like AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) that offer AI as a service. 3. AI Software Firms: Large SaaS providers integrating AI into their platforms (Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP) and AI-native firms specializing in big data (Palantir, Databricks, Snowflake). 4. AI Service Providers: IT outsourcing and consulting firms (Accenture, TCS, HCL) pivoting toward AI transformation. Some analysts call them "services as a software" companies. Additionally, IBM spans multiple categories, offering AI infrastructure, software and services. Recent market shifts, such as disruptions from new AI players like DeepSeek, are also forcing industry leaders to rethink their strategies. Hyperscalers now suggest that agentic AI could disrupt the SaaS market, as enterprises face growing fatigue from rising licensing and consumption costs. This has fueled the rapid adoption of FinOps—a discipline aimed at optimizing and reducing AI-related spending. Among the four key categories of AI players, I believe AI service providers are best positioned to drive enterprise AI adoption. Their advantage stems from: • Deep Integration Across The Enterprise: They are embedded in IT operations, engineering and corporate functions. • Industry-Specific Expertise: Their vertical service strategies are mature and well-defined. • Platform Agnosticism: Unlike infrastructure providers or hyperscalers, they do not need to invest heavily in AI infrastructure. Instead, they can select and implement the best AI models for each use case. • Enterprise AI Modernization Leadership: As companies seek to build agentic AI strategies, AI service providers will play a key role in assessment and modernization, something infrastructure providers, hyperscalers and AI software vendors cannot achieve alone. • Expertise In Agentic AI: Successfully deploying agentic AI requires mastery across six key transformation levers, a capability that resides primarily with AI service providers and system integrators. While AI service providers lead the charge, other key players—including hyperscalers, infrastructure providers and AI software vendors—can improve their competitive stance by: • Embracing Open AI Architectures: Moving beyond their proprietary LLMs to recommend and deploy the best-fit AI models for enterprises. AWS Bedrock has already taken steps in this direction, with other hyperscalers following suit. • Focusing On Business Value Over Consumption Metrics: Instead of prioritizing instance or license consumption, hyperscalers and AI software vendors must shift their focus toward enterprise-wide transformation that drives real business outcomes. • Strengthening Partnerships With System Integrators: Large system integrators possess deep industry expertise and enterprise-level integration capabilities. Building strong alliances with them will be critical to scaling AI transformation efforts. The DNA of agentic AI requires expertise across all six transformation levers. In the AI race, I believe the key leaders will be the firms that: • Pivot quickly to AI transformation. • Build robust AI capabilities and partner ecosystems. • Move beyond traditional application development and maintenance (ADMS) and IT/cloud-managed services. Ultimately, success in AI will belong to those who innovate, integrate and transform—not those who rely on past models of success. The future of AI-powered business will be shaped by those who fully embrace AI-driven enterprise evolution. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
