Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars India have clocked a robust increase in exports to the Japanese market, reflecting the improving quality and acceptance of India-made cars in developed markets.

According to figures compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), India’s car exports to Japan jumped to $616.45 million in the first nine months (April-December) of 2024-25, which represents a close to 3-fold jump over the $220.62 million worth exports in full financial year of 2023-24.

The Maruti Suzuki India is the biggest exporter its off-roader sport utility vehicle (SUV) Jimny to Japan. Mexico, Australia, and South Africa are currently the top four export markets for this car.

This is the second SUV after the Fronx that the company is exporting to its parent company in Japan. The company exports its Fronx SUVs to Japan from its Guajart plant with the consignments being shipped out from the Pipavav Port in the state.

Interglobe Aviation, the operator of IndiGo Airlines, saw its stock slipping nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday after its co-founder Rakesh Gangwal offloaded 2.26 crore shares worth nearly Rs 11,928 crore in a block deal.

The block sale constituted 5.8 per cent of Gangwal’s stake in the leading budget airline, according to multiple reports. Gangwal had resigned from the board of InterGlobe Aviation in 2022 and remained one of IndiGo’s largest shareholders.

The floor price for the transaction has been pegged at Rs 5,260 per share, representing a discount of around 3 per cent to the last closing price, according to reports.

The stock, however, recovered from early losses and was trading at Rs 5,318.00 apiece, down 1.88 per cent around 11 am.

Fintech company Infibeam Avenues on Monday reported 15 per cent sequential decline in profit from operations in the January-March period (Q4) to Rs 54 crore, from Rs 64 crore in the December quarter (Q3).

The company said in a stock exchange filing that its income from operations stood at Rs 1,160 crore in the March quarter of FY25, which is 8.4 per cent higher than the December quarter's income from operations of Rs 1,070 crore.

The company's profit from operations grew 17 per cent (year-on-year) in the March quarter. The company had a profit of Rs 46 crore in the March quarter of FY24.

The company's expenses increased by 8.88 per cent on a quarterly basis to Rs 1,103 crore in the January-March period, from Rs 1,013 crore in the October-December period.

Bengaluru stands out with the highest optimism for fresher hiring in the global capability centre (GCC) sector, with 17 per cent of companies project an increase of more than 50 per cent, indicating a more aggressive hiring approach compared to other cities in 2025, a report showed on Monday.

Compared to last year, hiring in the IT sector has seen a 4 per cent year-on-year increase in 2025 to date, according to NLB Services.

“India Inc’s focus on entry-level talent is a response to evolving industry demands, driven by advancements in automation, cybersecurity, and cloud transformation. Companies are not just hiring freshers to fill roles but strategically investing in them to build a future-ready workforce,” said Sachin Alug, CEO, NLB Services.

Among sectors, IT-hardware and software led the way, nearly doubling its share from 17 per cent in 2024 to 34 per cent in 2025, followed by FMCG (16 per cent), insurance (15 per cent), and pharma (11 per cent).

Leaders in the Human Resource industry in India expect adoption of agentic AI to grow by 383 per cent by 2027, according to a report on Monday.

Agentic AI is defined as the technology that powers AI agents so they can act autonomously without human oversight.

The report, by American cloud-based software company Salesforce based on a survey of 200 global human resource executives, reveals that digital labour isn’t just a trend -- it’s a business strategy revolution.

Over the next two years, they expect AI agent adoption to jump 383 per cent leading to a productivity gain of 41.7 per cent.

The findings reveal that Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) in India expect to redeploy nearly a quarter (24.7 per cent) of their workforce as their organisations implement and embrace digital labor.

South Korea's major companies spent an average of 2.9 billion won ($2.1 million) per year on information protection, industry data showed on Monday.

According to data from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and other sources, 10 local companies each invested over 100 billion won in cybersecurity over the past three years.

Samsung Electronics Co. topped the list, spending a total of 712.6 billion won from 2021-2023, followed by telecom giant KT Corp., which invested 327.4 billion won during the same period, reports news agency.

SK Telecom Co., the country's largest mobile carrier that recently suffered a large-scale data breach, came in third with 251.5 billion won in spending.

Aadit Palicha, the CEO and Co-founder of quick delivery platform Zepto, has alleged that the chief financial officer (CFO) of a rival company is running a smear campaign against them over the past few days.

In a LinkedIn post, Palicha said the spam campaign includes “calling our investors to make wild allegations about us with no empirical evidence, giving out false numbers/Excel sheets on Zepto through sources known to journalists, and paying bots on social media to spread a negative narrative”.

He, however, did not reveal the name of the rival firm. In the quick commerce space, Zepto competes with Blinkit (owned by Eternal which was earlier Zomato), Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart Minutes and Tata BigBasket, among others.

Hyundai Motor Group said on Monday it has established its third startup investment fund to support innovative venture companies with cutting-edge technologies and ideas.

The group's third fund under its ZER01NE accelerator program has been set up at a scale of 125 billion won (US$91.4 million), with financial participation from group affiliates, reports news agency.

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. each invested 40 billion won, while Hyundai Motor Securities Co. contributed 10 billion won. Additional investments came from seven other units, including Hyundai Mobis Co., Hyundai Glovis Co. and Hyundai Rotem Co.

The fund aims to identify and invest in promising startups in South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, particularly those working in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, hydrogen and cybersecurity.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Saturday said it has earned a Guinness World Records (GWR) title for ‘most life insurance policies sold in 24 hours.’

On January 20 this year, a total of 4,52,839 agents of LIC successfully completed and issued an astounding 5,88,107 life insurance policies across India.

This monumental effort established a new global benchmark for agent productivity in the life insurance industry within a 24-hour period, according to the LIC.

The record attempt was the culmination of a thoughtful initiative by Siddhartha Mohanty, CEO and MD, LIC in the form of an appeal to every agent to complete at least one policy on “Mad Million Day” (January 20, 2025).

Personnel of CISF will be entitled to enhanced personal accident insurance of up to Rs 1 crore as part of new benefits introduced by the Force as part of an MoU with the State Bank of India for managing salary accounts, said an official on Saturday.

The MoU with the State Bank of India (SBI) for managing salary accounts of serving and retired CISF personnel under the Central Armed Police Salary Package (CAPSP) was formalised at a function held at CISF Headquarters, the official said.

The agreement introduces a host of enhanced financial benefits for CISF personnel, marking a major milestone in CISF's ongoing commitment to the welfare and financial security of its members. These benefits come at zero cost to Force members and are in addition, said an official statement.