About eight in ten Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), or 81 per cent, plan to increase their Cloud spending in 2025, as they scale investments in customer relationship management (CRM), financial services and business intelligence software, a report showed on Thursday.

Meanwhile, top digital adoption challenges that MSMEs currently face are high software costs, budgetary constraints, lack of tech skills, and integration hassles, according to the report by global technology company Zoho.

The number of MSMEs in India is expected to grow from 6.3 crore, to around 7.5 crore, making it a crucial sector for the country’s GDP growth.

“This MSME Day, we commemorate the vital role of these businesses in our country,” said Praval Singh, VP Marketing and Customer Experience, Zoho.

A prominent hurdle these businesses face as they scale is the lack of feature-rich and accessible solutions in the market, he added.

Nearly 73 per cent of the respondents claimed that they were optimistic about their growth in the next six months.

The businesses are, however, concerned about three aspects of the current macroeconomic landscape, which are economic uncertainty (54 per cent), inflation (44 per cent), and a shortage of skilled labour (33 per cent).

As the focus of MSMEs on digital experiences becomes stronger, and they aim to improve their growth prospects they bank on IT and Cloud solutions.

About 97 per cent of the respondents allocate up to 20 per cent of their revenue to their IT and Cloud needs, the findings showed

At Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday, South Africa defeated Afghanistan by a score of nine wickets to advance to the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final.

Afghanistan was reduced to 56 for 10 in 11.5 overs after struggling to score runs on the difficult wicket while batting first earlier. Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje claimed two wickets apiece, while Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi both claimed three wickets.

As the Proteas men chased down the total in 8.5 overs for the loss of one wicket to advance to their first-ever ICC final, they were led by Reeza Hendricks, who played an innings of 29 off 25 deliveries, and captain Aiden Markram, who scored 23 runs.

Afghanistan’s remarkable path to the semifinals cannot be understated. Australia, the reigning world champions, and New Zealand, two of the top-ranked teams, were defeated by this once-underdog team.

In a thrilling Super 8 encounter on Tuesday, the Asian team overcame Bangladesh to advance to their first-ever Men’s T20 World Cup semifinal. However, a loss to South Africa in the semifinals brought an end to Afghanistan’s spectacular run.

Afghanistan chose to bat first and was knocked out for 56 in 11.5 overs. In response, South Africa secured their first-ever berth in an ICC Men’s World Cup final by chasing down the goal in 9 overs.

Rashid commented, “It was tough, tough for us as a team,” following the game. Although the circumstances prevented us from achieving our goals, we could have performed better. That’s the nature of Twenty20 cricket; you have to be prepared for anything. They bowled pretty well, in my opinion. I believe that the seamers’ excellent bowling contributed to our good results in this competition; you need strong starts.”

The Afghan captain commended the efforts of Mohammad Nabi and Fazalhaq Farooqi, although he acknowledged that the team missed Mujeeb Ur Rahman a lot. We were unfortunate to lose Mujeeb to injury, but Nabi and our seamers did a fantastic job bowling with the new ball. As spinners, that made our jobs easier. This tournament has been enjoyable for us.”

“We don’t mind going to the semifinals and falling to a superior team like Africa. For us, this is just the beginning; we are capable of defeating any opposition. We just must maintain our procedures. For us, this has been a fantastic learning opportunity. The belief is what we learn from the competition,” Rashid remarked.

“We are aware of our abilities; all we need to do is learn how to handle challenging and stressful circumstances. To extend the innings, some work needs to be done, particularly in the middle order. As I mentioned, our squad is constantly growing and we have had success thus far, but we intend to return and work even more, particularly in the batting department,” he stated.

Brief scores:

Afghanistan 56 all out in 11.5 overs (Azmatullah Omarzai 10, Rashid Khan 8; Tabraiz Shamsi 3-6, Marci Jansen 3-16) lost to South Africa 60 for 1 in 8.5 overs (Reeza Hendricks 29 not out, Aiden Markram 23 not out; Fazalhaq Farooqi 1-11) by nine wickets.

The artificial intelligence (AI) assistant from tech giant Meta is now available in India on WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and meta.ai. It is based on the most recent “Llama 3” large language model (LLM).

According to a statement from the firm, millions of people in the nation can utilize Meta AI in feeds, conversations, and other areas across apps to do tasks, produce content, and delve deeply into subjects without ever leaving the app they are using.

In India, it’s beginning to roll out in English. Meta stated that users can utilize Meta AI on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger to learn, create, and connect with the things that are important to them.

The corporation originally revealed Meta AI during the “Connect” event of the previous year.

In an Indian WhatsApp group chat, users may ask Meta AI to suggest vegan options and eateries with stunning views for you and your friends to check out.

“Ask Meta AI to recommend destinations for you to visit when traveling. Test-taking by cramming? Request a multiple-choice exam from Meta AI online, the business stated.

Moreover, Meta AI is available while browsing Facebook.

Found a post that piques your curiosity? Right from the post, you can ask Meta AI for more information. Therefore, you can ask Meta AI what time of year is optimal to observe the aurora borealis if you see a snapshot of the northern lights in Iceland.

The AI startup OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, declared on Wednesday that ChatGPT is now accessible to all Apple Mac customers.

During Apple’s premier “WWDC 2024” conference earlier this month, ChatGPT for Mac PCs was revealed.

The company has previously disclosed that Apple’s Mac, iPad, and iPhone operating systems were integrated with OpenAI’s chatbot.

On the social networking site X, OpenAI announced that “the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS is now available for all users.”

“Use the Option + Space shortcut to get quicker access to ChatGPT and chat about email, screenshots, and anything on your screen,” the business stated.

After installing the updated ChatGPT program, Mac users can now launch ChatGPT simply pressing the Keyboard Combination of Option + Space.

During the ‘WWDC 2024,’ Apple announced that ChatGPT access will be integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia experiences. This will enable users to access ChatGPT’s knowledge without switching between products.

When necessary, Siri can draw on ChatGPT’s experience. Before sending any papers, images, or inquiries to ChatGPT, users are prompted, and Siri then provides the response straight.

The company stated that ChatGPT will also be accessible through Apple’s system-wide Writing Tools, which assist users in creating content for any kind of writing.

Users of Compose can also create graphics in a multitude of styles to go along with their content by utilizing the ChatGPT image capabilities.

Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan and his team have finally delivered for the nation, defeating Bangladesh in a gripping Super Eight match to advance to their first-ever T20 World Cup semi-final.

Afghanistan has made it to the semifinals of the ICC men’s competition for the first time, having defeated Australia in the Super Eight and New Zealand in the group stage. Afghanistan shocked Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and England in the previous year’s ODI World Cup in India, but they were unable to advance past the semifinals.

When asked about the victory, Rashid stated it was a “dream come true” and that he was really pleased of his teammates for writing the team’s history. As a squad, being in the semifinals is almost like a dream come true. It all comes down to how we launched the competition. When we defeated New Zealand, the belief emerged. It’s so incredible that words cannot express how I feel. Everyone at home is ecstatic about this significant accomplishment.

“We proved that Brian Lara was the only person who correctly predicted our semifinal spot. I assured him, before to the competition at the welcoming party, “We won’t let you down.” We’ll overcome and show you’re mistaken. I’m proud of this team,” Rashid said in the post-match interaction.

Rain caused the target to be changed to 114 in 19 overs, but Rashid and Naveen-ul-Haq each claimed four wickets to bundle out Bangladesh for 105 in 17.5 overs, despite establishing a modest score of 115 in 20 overs in the match.

Although Rashid acknowledged that they fell 20 runs short of the target, they gave it their all on the field and committed to their game plan. “We felt a good total on this wicket was between 130 and 135.” We were behind by fifteen to twenty runs. It all came down to mindset. We anticipated a strong challenge from them to reach the semifinals by chasing that total in 12 overs. Here’s where we could get lucky. Bowling into the stumps gave us a better opportunity.

We didn’t need to take any more action. All we had to do was lay out our plans clearly. We exert ourselves; that is under our control. Rain, the outcome is beyond our control. We always have the ability to give it our best,” the all-around player stated.

“Everyone performed brilliantly. We have a solid foundation in T20s, particularly in bowling. Our rapid bowling is not as good as theirs, but they are more proficient. Possessing skills makes you more effective in T20s. They have made excellent starts in this World Cup so far, and in the middle, when we can hit the batsmen hard, it gets easy for us, the spinners.

“I’m really pleased with how they provided. It’s quite satisfying that they have such clarity in their thinking. Rain came down in patches, but we were there in spirit all the while. There is only one route to get to the semifinals: we have to play 20 overs and take 10 wickets. I believe Gulbadin had some cramps; hopefully, he will be okay. For us, that wicket he took was crucial,” Rashid remarked.

Rashid admitted that celebrations for Afghanistan’s historic achievement will continue, stating that the players and spectators there were emotional upon their semifinal entry. The scenes at Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown were full of excitement and emotions.

“Now, there is a huge party at home. For us, it’s a significant victory. We achieved that in the semifinals of the Under-19 competition. But when it comes to this World Cup… I’m at a loss for words. The nation will be really pleased. I’m delighted with how well our team performed. We assumed the accountability. It’s big to be in the semifinals, so we need to go into this with clarity. “We need to maintain a low key and ensure that we relish this momentous occasion,” he said in closing.

On Thursday morning (6:00 am IST), Afghanistan and South Africa will play in the inaugural T20 World Cup semi-final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.

India easily advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup with a decisive 24-run victory against Australia in their final Super Eight stage match on Monday at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium thanks to a fantastic recovery with the ball from Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh.

Following skipper Rohit Sharma’s devastating 92 off 41 balls to enable India record a massive 205/5, a victory appeared improbable for India when opener Travis Head cleared his front leg and smashed his smashes all over the park in a 43-ball 76.

Arshdeep picked 3-37 and Kuldeep took 2-24, including the dismissal of Glenn Maxwell, to limit Australia to 181/7 in 20 overs.

Australia’s destiny in the semifinals is now sealed; should Afghanistan defeat Bangladesh at St. Vincent, they would be eliminated from the tournament. David Warner, who was chasing 205, was caught off guard by Arshdeep’s diving first slip and went for six.

Mitchell Marsh was dropped on five after Arshdeep was unable to take a catch on his follow-through, and he survived on zero as Rishabh Pant stumbled while chasing a catch off the draw. Marsh then started hitting boundaries, first hitting Arshdeep for two fours before completing the third over with an enormous drawn six.

Head slashed and pulled Jasprit Bumrah for two fours before slamming a full toss for four through point to join the boundary-hitting frenzy. Australia concluded the Power-play at 65/1 after Marsh pounded Axar Patel for four and six, respectively, and Head lofted and heaved Hardik Pandya for two sixes. Head continued to deal in boundaries, effortlessly drawing in a six and smashing a four over Hardik’s head.

However, Kuldeep broke the 81-run partnership for the second wicket under intense duress when Marsh went down to sweep, but Axar perfectly timed his jump at deep square leg and extended his right hand to scoop the ball out of thin air.

Maxwell sent off a pyrotechnics display as he skillfully touched the short third man to the boundary to take four off Ravindra Jadeja’s opening ball. He then executed two daring reverse sweeps, going for four and six, respectively, after that. Following that, India recovered magnificently.

Maxwell attempted to take on Kuldeep by going down the pitch to chop across the line, but the googly left his stumps in a messy state. Marcus Stoinis attempted a reverse sweep off Axar in the subsequent over, but backward point caught him on the rebound.

In his comeback, Bumrah tricked Travis Head with a slower ball, heaved to cover, and fell for 76. When Arshdeep returned, he quickly caught Tim David and Matthew Wade by the short third man, effectively winning the game for India.

Brief Scores:

India 205/5 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 92, Suryakumar Yadav 31; Mitchell Starc 2-45, Marcus Stoinis 2-56) beat Australia 181/7 in 20 overs(Travis Head 76, Mitchell Marsh 37; Arshdeep Singh 3-37, Kuldeep Yadav 2-24) by 24 runs

Former US President Donald Trump has declared that his administration will launch a scheme to automatically award Green Cards to international students who graduate from US colleges and institutions if he is re-elected.

If Trump follows through on his pledge and is re-elected, Indian students—who make up the second largest country of origin for international students—stand to gain the most.

Collectively, alongside students from China—the largest source nation—they make up 53% of all registered international students in 2023.

The program will employ a “aggressive vetting process” to keep out “all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters, and public charges (poor foreigners who are unable to fend for themselves and need government)”, the Trump campaign quickly backtracked after the former president’s remarks.

On Thursday, Trump made these comments in a podcast with two investors from Silicon Valley. In response to a question about his commitment to bringing the greatest and the brightest to America, he responded, “I do promise, but I happen to agree.”

“What I’ll do is if you graduate from college, I believe that your diploma should automatically include a Green Card, allowing you to remain in this country, he added.

A Green Card is a step toward full citizenship because it grants the bearer the ability to live and work in the US continuously (Permanent Residency). Annually, the United States of America is anticipated to issue one million Green Cards and enroll one million international students, the majority of whom come from China and India.

If the former President does indeed deliver on this promise if elected, it would mark a major expansion of the programme, doubling the number of Green Cards issued annually.

The most important question is whether he will, in fact, keep this promise.

His administration attempted to limit immigration and specifically targeted Indians entering the country on H-1B short-term non-immigrant work visas between 2017 and 2021. He had been an advocate for the H-1B program prior to becoming office.

The vast majority of Indian students enrolled in US universities and colleges go on to obtain H-1B visas, work for US businesses, and eventually obtain citizenship and Green Cards. Two notable instances are Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, and Shantanu Narayen, the CEO of Adobe. To obtain Green Cards, international students must first go through the H-1B or other work visa stage.

In their opening Super Eight encounter at the Kensington Oval here on Thursday, India defeated Afghanistan by a commanding 47 runs, thanks to the efforts of fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, who each claimed three wickets. This victory allowed India to continue their unbeaten streak in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Suryakumar Yadav proved to be the difference on a damp and sluggish pitch as he struck a brilliant fifty-eight off only 28 balls, including five fours and three sixes at a strike-rate of 189. He was also very efficient with his sweep strokes, helping India to a commanding 181/8.

Axar Patel’s 12-run cameo and his 60-run partnership with Hardik Pandya (32) helped India pick up the pace, as 56 runs came in the final five overs.

Bumrah responded by taking 3–7, including bowling 20 dot balls, while Arshdeep, despite being occasionally wayward, took 3-36 to bowl out Afghanistan for 134.

Afghanistan’s pursuit got off to a quick start as Rahmanullah Gurbaz bowled Arshdeep for four and six in the first over. However, a cutter from Bumrah tricked the powerful Gurbaz into hitting over cover, giving the keeper an outside edge.

Virat Kohli was hit hard by Zadran at point, but he failed to make an easy catch off Arshdeep’s bowling. However, Axar struck fast since Zadran was unable to gain any height and went straight for further cover. Returning, Bumrah hit an off-cutter that grabbed hold of the pitch and deflected a leading edge off the bat of Hazratullah Zazai to backward point.

Afghanistan’s needed run rate skyrocketed as a result of India’s three strikes, even though Azmatullah and Gulbadin Naib hit five boundaries between them till the midway point mark.

However, Kuldeep ended the 44-run stand after the drinks break by getting Naib to misjudge a ball high in the air to the keeper. Ravindra Jadeja then got Omarzai to hole out to long-on. After that, the outcome was obvious: India easily won with Bumrah and Arshdeep scoring three wickets apiece, and Kuldeep claimed two wickets in his T20 World Cup debut.

Quick scores:

Afghanistan was defeated by 47 runs in 20 overs, with Afghanistan scoring 134 all out (Azmatullah Omarzai 26; Jasprit Bumrah 3-7, Arshdeep Singh 3-36). India scored 181/8 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 53, Hardik Pandya 32; Rashid Khan 3-26, Fazalhaq Farooqi 3-33).

Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal at the Paavo Nurmi Games on Tuesday after throwing 85.97 meters on his third try. However, he did not waste any time in disclosing the adductor strain that has been bothering him all season.

Chopra, who created history by being the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in track and field in Tokyo, disclosed that he continues to struggle with his adductor problem and that he plans to see multiple doctors in order to solve the recurring condition following the Olympics in Paris.

“The weather was good today, a little bit cold with the wind. But I am happy with my adductor now because I could do all six throws,” Chopra said after his win. “Every year I have some problems with my adductor, maybe after the Olympics, I am going to talk to different doctors.”

Chopra stated a great desire to participate in more competitions this season despite the recurring adductor concerns. In May, he competed in the Doha Diamond League and placed second with a ninth-best career final throw of 88.36 meters. Subsequently, but with a very poor effort of 82.27m, a gold medal was won at the National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar. “Initially, I wanted to compete more this season, but it was not possible due to my niggles,” Chopra stated.

Following his success at the Paavo Nurmi Games, On July 7, Chopra is scheduled to compete at the Paris Diamond League. Together with his coach Klaus Bartonietz and physiotherapist Ishaan Marwaha, he is training at three different locations throughout Europe in preparation for the Olympics in Paris.

He started training in Kuortane, Finland, and will next go to Saarbrucken, Germany, before finishing his last training camp from July 28 to July 31 at the Gloria Sports Arena in Turkey.

“I came from Kuortane and will now head to Saarbrucken, Germany, and maybe to Turkey just before the Olympics. Most of the time I train alone with my coach and physio, but from time to time we exchange information with other coaches, like Jan Zelezny. I will try to stay healthy in the next weeks because then I will throw my best throws,” Chopra elaborated.

At the new Nalanda University campus’s Wednesday opening in the Rajgir region of Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to it as a “symbol of India’s vibrant cultural exchange and academic heritage.”

In addition to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the ceremony was attended by a number of distinguished figures and ambassadors from over twelve different countries.

One of the oldest universities in the world has built its new campus next to the historic remains of Nalanda University.

PM Modi stated that the institution is more than just a name; it is an identity for the nation after officially opening the campus.

Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said: “I got the opportunity to come to Nalanda in the first 10 days after taking the oath for the third term. This is not only my good fortune, but I also see it as an auspicious sign of India’s development journey.”

“Nalanda is an identity, an honour, a value, a mantra, a pride, and a saga. It is the proclamation of truth that books may be burned in the flames, but it can’t erase knowledge,” PM Modi further said.

The prime minister advocated for enhancing the historic university’s heritage and turning it into a cutting-edge learning hub where students could study and take advantage of its wealth of knowledge.

“Children were not admitted to ancient Nalanda on the basis of their identity or their nationality. There are youth from every class in every country here. In this new campus of Nalanda University, we have to strengthen the same ancient system again in a modern form, and I am happy to see that many students have started coming here from many countries of the world today,” PM Modi stated.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said: “Today, I am very happy to see that Nalanda University has become fully functional. Currently, 400 students from 17 countries are studying here.”

“All the buildings and campus for the university have expanded a lot and have also become very beautiful. I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi who came and inaugurated the new campus,” Nitish Kumar added.

Rajgir was the Magadh Empire’s original capital, according to the chief minister of Bihar. It was formerly called Rajgriha and is still a meeting place for five different religions.