12, May 2026
NEDFi Partners with Veefin Solutions to Revolutionise Digital Lending Operations in Northeast India
May 12: North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi) has partnered with Veefin Solutions Limited to implement a comprehensive digital lending ecosystem aimed at enhancing credit access across the North Eastern Region of India.
Under the multi-year agreement, Veefin will deploy a cloud-hosted suite of digital lending solutions, including a Loan Origination System (LOS), Loan Management System (LMS), and Loan Collection System (LCS). The project will also include dedicated mobile applications for sales and collections, along with a customer portal designed to provide borrowers with a seamless end-to-end digital experience.
The platform will integrate with external systems such as credit bureaus and banking APIs to create a unified and efficient financial services ecosystem.
P V S L N Murty said the technology platform will help NEDFi expand its outreach to entrepreneurs in remote and underserved areas across the Northeast. He added that the mobile-based lending system would enable new entrepreneurs to apply for loans digitally while allowing existing customers to access account-related information through smartphones. The new platform is also expected to support the expansion of NEDFi’s financial product offerings, including working capital revolving loans.
Lemli Loyi stated that Veefin Solutions was selected through an extensive RFP-based process and that its technology solutions met NEDFi’s digital transformation requirements. He noted that the partnership would play a key role in modernizing lending processes and extending advanced financial services across the Northeast region.
Raja Debnath described the partnership as a strategically important project for the company and reaffirmed Veefin’s commitment to building a secure, scalable, and high-performance lending platform to support NEDFi’s long-term growth.
The agreement focuses on strengthening financial inclusion by supporting last-mile credit delivery across the Northeast while ensuring compliance with the Reserve Bank of India’s latest IT governance and outsourcing guidelines. The platform will include end-to-end encryption and real-time security monitoring features.
- 0
- By Neel Achary
12, May 2026
NEET-UG 2026 Cancelled Amid Paper Leak Allegations; Re-Exam to Be Held!
New Delhi, May 12 (BNP): The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) — NEET-UG 2026 — conducted on May 3, 2026, has been officially cancelled by the National Testing Agency (NTA) following serious allegations of question paper leaks and irregularities in the examination process.
In continuation of its press release dated 10 May 2026, the National Testing Agency wishes to inform candidates, parents, and members of the public of the following decisions taken in respect of NEET (UG) 2026. NTA had, on 8 May 2026, referred the matters then under consideration…
— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) May 12, 2026
The decision was announced by the NTA on Tuesday after investigative findings and inputs shared by central and state law enforcement agencies, including the Rajasthan Special Operations Group (SOG), which is currently probing the alleged paper leak case.
In an official press release, the NTA stated that the examination has been cancelled with the approval of the Government of India in order to maintain transparency, fairness, and the integrity of the national-level medical entrance examination system.
“On the basis of the inputs subsequently examined by NTA in coordination with the central agencies, and the investigative findings shared by the law enforcement agencies, the National Testing Agency, with the approval of the Government of India, has decided to cancel the NEET (UG) 2026 examination conducted on May 3, 2026, and to re-conduct the examination on dates that will be notified separately,” the agency said.
The NTA further informed that revised dates and detailed guidelines regarding the re-examination will be announced separately through official notifications. Candidates have been advised to stay updated through the official NTA and NEET websites.
The cancellation has sparked strong reactions across the country, with lakhs of medical aspirants facing renewed uncertainty over the admission process. However, many students and education experts have welcomed the move as a necessary step to uphold the credibility of one of India’s most competitive entrance examinations.
12, May 2026
The Outbound American: New Research Tracks the Largest U.S. Emigration Shift in Decades
London — May 12, 2026 — Global Citizen Solutions (“GCS”), a leading residency and citizenship planning advisory firm, has published From Destination to Departure: America’s New Migration Story, a new briefing from its research arm, the Global Intelligence Unit (GIU), examining the long-term rise in American emigration. The shift has been decades in the making and is now measurable through citizenship renunciation records, overseas residency registrations, and survey data tracking Americans’ interest in moving abroad.
The scale of the outbound movement is visible across every continent. According to Pew Research Center, an estimated 2.2 million people left the US in 2025, of whom 180,000 were US citizens. The Association of Americans Resident Overseas estimates 5.5 million Americans were living abroad as of October 2024, up from 5.4 million the prior year. In nearly all 27 EU member states, the number of Americans arriving to live and work is at a record high.
The GIU notes long-term economic, political, and lifestyle concerns are contributing to rising interest in emigration among Americans. Gallup’s longitudinal tracking shows the baseline has shifted dramatically: the desire to emigrate ran at 10% to 11% under Bush and Obama, rose to 16% to 20% during the first Trump presidency, and by November 2025 stood at one in five Americans overall, with women aged 15–44 reaching 40% — up from 10% in 2014.
Renunciation statistics — the most precisely documented indicator of emigration intent — tell a complementary story of acceleration. Before 2009, fewer than 400 Americans renounced their citizenship annually. By 2024, that figure had reached 4,820, a 48% increase from 2023 and the third-highest annual total ever recorded. In the first quarter of 2025, 1,285 Americans expatriated — a 102% jump on the prior quarter. The global queue for renunciation appointments now exceeds 30,000 people.
A significant further catalyst arrived on April 13, 2026, when the US State Department reduced the renunciation fee from $2,350 to $450, restoring it to pre-2015 levels following sustained legal pressure — a change widely expected to accelerate the trend.
The pool of Americans who could act on this interest is larger than is widely understood. An estimated 7 to 10 million Americans already hold dual citizenship, while up to 30 million may qualify for ancestry-based European passports through countries including Italy, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Hungary — options that have existed for years but which many Americans are only now discovering.
The trend is also registering in passport demand. GCS’s Global Passport Index (GPI)— which tracks the travel freedom, lifestyle, and investment value of passports across more than 199 countries — shows the US falling from 1st place in 2021 to 14th in 2025, a decline that reflects both reduced immigration into the country and the growing appeal of alternative citizenships among Americans seeking broader global mobility.
“What the Global Passport Index captures that conventional economic data cannot is the gap between aggregate wealth and lived experience,” said Laura Madrid, Lead Researcher at the Global Citizen Solutions’ GIU. “The United States remains a high-income country by every traditional measure. But the structural pressures bearing down on ordinary Americans — rising poverty, persistent inflation in housing and healthcare, deepening political polarization, and a public safety crisis unlike anything seen in peer nations — are registering in people’s decisions about where to build their lives.”
GIU research identifies several compounding pressures. The US Supplemental Poverty Measure reached 12.9% in 2023, its second consecutive annual increase, while CPI-U inflation ran at 3.0% year-on-year into early 2025. In 2023 alone, the country recorded weather and climate disasters totaling at least $92.9 billion in damages. On public safety, gun violence continues to set the US apart from every comparable high-income nation.
“This is not the profile of people fleeing crisis,” Madrid added. “These are informed, often financially stable individuals and families making a deliberate calculation — that their money, their safety, and their quality of life will go further elsewhere.”
Where Americans Are Going
Europe remains the most sought-after destination, with more than 1.5 million Americans now living across the continent. As of December 2023, the top EU and EFTA destinations for US nationals on residence permits were Germany (81,509), Spain (44,804), France (38,181), Italy (36,549), the Netherlands (33,107), Switzerland (19,579), and Portugal (13,948) — the vast majority on permits of one year or more, indicating long-term relocation rather than short stays.
Portugal ranks first in GCS’s Global Retirement Index and Spain leads its Global Digital Nomad Index. Greece, Italy, and Malta are drawing significant numbers across income and lifestyle profiles. Italy’s ancestry citizenship route, historically one of the most sought-after by Americans, was restricted by Law 74/2025 to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens — a change upheld by Italy’s Constitutional Court in March 2026 that blocks an estimated 80 million people previously eligible through earlier generations. The restriction has prompted some Americans to apply before additional policy changes take effect. Caribbean citizenship-by-investment programs continue to attract those seeking faster routes to a second passport and greater global mobility.
To read the full briefing, visit: From Destination to Departure: America’s New Migration Story
Amid a surge in demand for practical guidance, GCS has updated its guide for Americans, on the 23 Best Countries to move to in 2026, covering digital nomad and passive income visas, Golden Visa investment routes, moving costs and living expenses.
12, May 2026
TrafficGuard Launches Self-Serve Platform to Help SMEs Stop Click Fraud in 10 Minutes or Less
12, May 2026
Bandhan AMC Adjusts Duration Strategy Amid External Pressures and Global Developments
By:- Suyash Choudhary, CIO Fixed Income, Bandhan AMC
Background
For the last few months, we have been focussed on the tension from external account pressures frustrating RBI’s ‘lower for longer’ theme. This can be envisaged under the framework of what is called ‘the impossible trinity’; which denotes the potential tension between exchange rate, capital flow, and monetary policy. Over the past year, one can see this tension in play in the case of India. This has led to monetary easing not achieving desired transmission in market rates.
Given this dynamic, it has made sense to us to turn more active on duration management. Thus, when the ‘lower for longer’ theme seemed to be dominating bond valuations, we had turned underweight duration. Over the course of the West Asia war, as market pricing on rate hikes turned quite aggressive, we had added back duration risk. We had preferred 14 and 40 years on the sovereign curve (since this curve has still been quite steep despite ongoing external account pressures) and front end (up to 3-4 years) on the corporate curve (since this curve is already flat reflecting elevated bank’s credit to deposit ratios).
New Developments
- Duration of the shock: Given the size of the quantity shock on various commodities from the West Asia war, the length of the disruption was always of a major concern for markets and the global economy. With the buffer from inventories depleting, the sustained impact on supply has potential now for greater damage. There is also risk from production shutdowns increasing at source if offtake via the Strait continues to be compromised. Finally, the floor rates on a host of energy prices likely moves up the longer the conflict persists. This is because of rising buildup of ships that needs clearing once the Strait opens, the capacity of ports to process this flow, and the need for nations to rebuild depleted inventories and possibly build for even higher strategic reserves than before.
- US growth is holding up, and alternate capital allocation themes are intact: One reason to go overweight duration was also the very likely impact of the war on growth, and markets pricing that in central bank response functions. This theme would have played an important counterweight to the tightening in financial conditions that we are otherwise facing here in India owing to external account pressures. While this expectation may still hold from a few months’ standpoint, the immediate data reflects a resilient US economy. Furthermore, important capital allocation themes around the world linked to the AI story are if, anything, strengthening in momentum lately.
Implications
It can be easily seen that the above two developments are adding to the external account pressures and, by implication, to the growing disconnect between RBI’s policy rate and market rates. If this dynamic were to not change, the path of least resistance would be for RBI to bring forward tightening rather than market yields reverting to anchoring around existing policy rates. That said, it is important to clarify on two points: One, the route for policy rate normalisation will still be the traditional growth-inflation framework: a prolonged pressure on commodity prices, accompanied with continued currency pressures, will obviously change the predicted path of inflation. With average CPI for the current financial year easily likely to be in the 5 – 6% band, it almost automatically follows that RBI/MPC will have to undertake some rate hikes. As a base case one should expect 50 – 75 bps hikes over the course of the rest of this fiscal year. Two, this still doesn’t imply that a ‘rate defence’ is warranted to ease currency pressures. Thus, at whatever point, if market pricing starts to lean into the direction of aggressive rate hikes (more than what is warranted by the evolving inflation-growth dynamic), we would likely consider that as an opportunity to scale up market risk. To be clear, however, this is our thinking as of date and not a commitment.
Portfolio Strategy Update
Reflecting the evolving dynamics as discussed above, we have again gone underweight duration across a host of our funds (subject to individual mandates and positionings). The primary route undertaken for this has been via reducing our 14- and 40-year government bond positions. Recent relative stability in yields has made the decision somewhat easier, even as the primary reason for the change has been continuous evaluation of the underlying ‘impossible trinity’ tensions in context of the two new developments as described above.
One looks forward to developments that may allow for external pressures to ease including 1> conclusion to the war 2> effective capital flow garnering measures. A sustainable turn to our capital flow dynamic, however, may also need some fatiguing of the AI allocation theme and / or return of some meaningful US rate cut expectations. Both are for now absent. It is also to be noted that our latest portfolio positionings reflect our current thinking. As always, these may change at any time in the future.
|
|
12, May 2026
BULLET Microdrama App Onboards Saatvik Goel to Boost Growth
India, May 12 : BULLET Microdrama app has announced the onboarding of Saatvik Goel to its leadership team, as it strengthens its focus on scaling the platform and driving growth in India’s emerging microdrama ecosystem.
Saatvik has been appointed by ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. as Executive Vice President – Marketing, New Initiatives, and will work closely with the BULLET Microdrama app team as part of this mandate. With over a decade of experience in scaling startups and new-age platforms, he brings a strong focus on agile, insight-led, and outcome-driven marketing.
In his role, Saatvik will lead marketing and growth for BULLET, focusing on building a distinctive brand, driving user acquisition at scale, and strengthening its position as a destination for short-format, mobile-first storytelling.
Commenting on his new role, Saatvik Goel, said:
“BULLET Microdrama app is building in a space that is at an inflection point globally. The opportunity to shape consumer behaviour and establish a new storytelling format in India is incredibly exciting. I look forward to building a strong brand, driving growth, and making BULLET Microdrama app a daily habit for audiences.”
Welcoming him to the team, Azim Lalani, Co-founder, BULLET Microdrama app, said
“We are excited to have Saatvik join the BULLET Microdrama app leadership team. As a new and evolving format, microdrama demands speed, experimentation, and deep consumer understanding. Saatvik’s experience in scaling new-age platforms will be instrumental in accelerating growth, strengthening our market presence, and helping us build this category in India.”
With Saatvik’s addition, the BULLET Microdrama app is poised to accelerate its growth journey and deepen it connect with India’s digital-first audiences. Alongside his focus on BULLET Microdrama app, he will also oversee marketing for other new initiatives within ZEE’s portfolio, including Hipi, as part of his broader mandate.
12, May 2026
Hansa Research Group Appoints Pramod Pawar as National Head Quantitative Research
May, 12 : Hansa Research Group, India’s leading consumer insights provider, has elevated Pramod Pawar as National Head Quantitative Research. In his expanded role, he will lead the company’s quantitative research operations across India, with a focus on driving business expansion, strengthening client relationships, and advancing consultative research solutions for brands across industries.
The move comes amid increasing demand for consumer intelligence and analytics-driven business decision-making. Pramod will oversee large-scale quantitative research mandates across sectors including BFSI, FMCG, Retail, Healthcare, Automotive, Technology, and Telecom. His mandate includes leading customised research frameworks spanning brand tracking, segmentation, campaign evaluation, pricing, product testing, and consumer journey studies, while further enhancing delivery excellence and team development across the organisation.
Pramod brings over 20 years of experience in market research and consumer insights across organisations including Kantar, HDFC Life, and Nielsen. Over the past four years at Hansa Research Group, he has served as Quantitative Head West & South, where he played a key role in expanding regional operations, strengthening strategic client mandates, and leading complex multi-category research engagements. He has also been instrumental in building consultative research practices, enhancing operational efficiencies, and mentoring high-performing teams.
Commenting on his elevation, Pramod Pawar, National Head – Quantitative Research, Hansa Research Group, said,
“Hansa Research Group has built a strong legacy of enabling organisations with strategic consumer intelligence and actionable market insights. I am pleased to take on this expanded responsibility at a time when businesses are increasingly focused on leveraging analytics and deeper consumer understanding to drive growth. My focus will be on further strengthening our quantitative research capabilities, fostering long-term client partnerships, and delivering meaningful insights that support informed business decisions.”
Praveen Nijhara, CEO of Hansa Research Group, stated,
“Pramod’s elevation marks an important step in strengthening our quantitative research leadership as we continue to expand our integrated insights and analytics capabilities. His extensive experience in market research, deep understanding of consumer and market dynamics, and ability to lead strategic client engagements have contributed significantly to our growth journey over the years. We are confident that his leadership will further strengthen our consultative capabilities and enhance the value we deliver to clients across sectors.”
This move further reinforces Hansa Research’s commitment to delivering high-impact consumer intelligence and strengthening its position as a trusted research and analytics partner for brands across India and global markets.
12, May 2026
NRP Day Celebrated Across Delhi to Boost Newborn Survival
In a landmark nationwide effort to improve newborn survival and strengthen neonatal emergency care, the National Neonatology Forum (NNF) India celebrated NRP Day, with large-scale hands-on skill training programs conducted simultaneously across the country. As part of this historic initiative, Yatharth Super Speciality Hospital Model Town, New Delhi actively participated by organizing a Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) training session for healthcare professionals.
The initiative marks one of the largest synchronized healthcare training efforts in India and is being led under the leadership of Dr. Lallan Kumar Bharti, with the vision of ensuring that every newborn receives timely and effective resuscitation support at birth.
Newborn mortality continues to remain a significant public health challenge in India. A large proportion of neonatal deaths occur because babies are unable to establish breathing immediately after birth. Medical experts emphasize that the first few minutes after delivery are extremely critical, and timely intervention by trained healthcare providers can prevent many avoidable newborn deaths. Simple, evidence-based resuscitation skills can make the difference between life and death for a newborn.
Recognizing this urgent need, NNF India conceptualized and executed this massive capacity-building initiative across the nation. A total of 998 training courses were conducted nationwide, with participation from nearly 20,000 healthcare providers. These trainings extended beyond metropolitan cities to rural and geographically challenging regions, ensuring wider access to essential newborn care skills.
In Delhi, multiple centres participated in this initiative, significantly contributing toward strengthening neonatal care services in the state. At Yatharth Super Speciality Hospital, the training program was coordinated by Dr. Nidhi Gupta, where 21 healthcare professionals received hands-on neonatal resuscitation training.
The trainings were conducted completely free of cost and included healthcare workers from both government and private healthcare sectors. This inclusive approach ensured broader outreach and uniform strengthening of newborn care practices across India.
NNF India played a pivotal role in providing end-to-end support for the planning, coordination, standardization, and execution of the training sessions across all centres, ensuring consistency and quality in the program delivery.
This synchronized nationwide initiative is expected to set a record for conducting the highest number of neonatal resuscitation skill trainings in a single day, marking a historic milestone in India’s ongoing efforts to improve newborn survival rates and strengthen neonatal healthcare services.
12, May 2026
AAEON Adds Two New Embedded AI Systems to its BOXER-865xAI-PLUS Series Featuring NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX with Super Mode
The BOXER-8651AI-PLUS, BOXER-8652AI-PLUS, and BOXER-8653AI-PLUS offer distinct features to bring AI functionality to versatile vertical market segments.
Taipei, Taiwan – May 12: AAEON (Stock Code: 6579), a leading provider of edge AI platforms, today announced the release of the BOXER-8651AI-PLUS and BOXER-8652AI-PLUS, two embedded AI systems powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX module with Super Mode support. The two systems follow the release of the BOXER-8653AI-PLUS back in February 2026, and complete AAEON’s BOXER-865xAI-PLUS series.
Designed to provide users across market segments with the enhanced software stack, greater power consumption flexibility and performance optimization offered by Super Mode with NVIDIA JetPack 6.2 SDK, BOXER-865xAI-PLUS series PCs offer up to 157 TOPS of AI performance. The primary differences between the three systems are their form factors and the functions they offer, which in turn influence the types of deployment scenarios AAEON has positioned them for.
The smallest of the three at 125mm x 90mm x 56mm, the BOXER-8651AI-PLUS is geared towards applications that require high-performance AI inference in space-constrained setups, such as AIoT nodes within the smart building management and retail sectors. As such, the system’s I/O is relatively streamlined, with four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and Gigabit Ethernet joining a DB-9 port for CANBus/ RS-232 and a 10-pin physical DIO header. Despite its compact size, the system maintains a -25°C to 55°C operating temperature range alongside a 12V to 24V power input tolerance.
Also relatively compact at 190mm x 136mm x 75mm, the BOXER-8652AI-PLUS is positioned as a platform for industrial AI applications such as AMR. To host the cameras and sensors required for such solutions, the BOXER-8652AI-PLUS provides two DB-9 ports for CANBus and RS-232/422/485, four USB, and dual RJ-45 LAN. Moreover, the BOXER-8652AI-PLUS includes a box header for out-of-band management support, making it suitable for scaling industrial AMR fleets across factories.
The most advanced of the three, the BOXER-8653AI-PLUS includes four independent PoE LAN ports. As such, AAEON has indicated it is primarily positioned for smart city installations like roadside units and public safety systems. Lending further credence to this is the BOXER-8653AI-PLUS’s out-of-band management and TPM 2.0 support, which AAEON states have been included to enable secure remote device rebooting, diagnostics, and monitoring on the system when it is deployed as part of broader smart infrastructure setups.
The full BOXER-865xAI-PLUS series is now in mass production, with detailed specifications available on the product’s respective pages on the AAEON website. Meanwhile, pricing and ordering information can be obtained via the AAEON eShop or via the contact form on the AAEON website.
12, May 2026
Agoda Reveals the Most Popular Search Filters for 2026: Indian Travelers Favor Choice, Culinary Convenience and Comfort
May 12: Digital travel platform Agoda has unveiled its ranking of what Asian travelers prioritize most when searching for accommodation in 2026. Looking at the most-used search filters on its website this year, Agoda reports that Indian travelers consistently prioritize accommodation type, included breakfasts and strong review scores when seeking holiday stays.
At 26% of all filter activity, choice of accommodation type ranked first for Indian traveler searches in 2026, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right stay over all other factors. This places India among the top markets, compared with the Asia-wide average of 19%.
‘Review scores of 7 and above’ rank among the top search criteria for Indian travelers in 2026 constituting 13% of all filter activity reflecting a strong preference for highly rated stays.
Dining and creature comforts drive Indian travel choices
The filter for breakfast-included stays is India’s second-most searched at 14%, reflecting a preference for convenience and value at the start of the day. Dinner-included stays also feature among India’s top 10 search filters, pointing to food as a consideration across the entire day, not just breakfast.
Indian travelers also seek specific creature comforts when choosing stays. Swimming pools and bathtubs both rank among the top 10 search filters for Indian travelers in 2026, reflecting a clear preference for amenities that support relaxation and enhance the overall stay experience.
Indian travelers want flexibility before, during and after the stay
Flexibility across booking, payment and stay options is a clear priority for Indian travelers in 2026. Free cancellation and pay-at-hotel options are featured among the top 10 search filters, highlighting the interest in refundable and on-site payment choices that reduce booking friction.
Other search options that offer flexibility, choice and convenience also feature among the top 10 searches for Indian travelers, including location score (of 9 and above) and car parking facilities. These indicate that travelers are increasingly keen on accommodation that can cater to their diverse preferences, whether this is traveling as a group, driving to their destination, or wanting to be close to public transport and other attractions.
Gaurav Malik, Country Director, Indian Subcontinent & Indian Ocean Islands at Agoda, said,
“In 2026, Indian travelers are becoming more intentional in how they choose their stays. Searches show a clear focus on accommodation type, breakfast-included options and highly rated properties, alongside flexible booking features such as pay-at-hotel and free cancellation. It is not just about availability, but about finding the right fit. Agoda’s easy-to-use search filters and wide range of accommodation choices, amenities, locations and more enable travelers to find the perfect stay based on individual needs and wants.”
With over 6 million holiday properties, more than 130,000 flight routes, and over 300,000 activities, Agoda enables travelers to plan and combine every part of their journey in one place. Running from 7 May to 21 May, Agoda’s 21st Birthday Sale will offer up to 60% off on hotel bookings, with a special flash sale of up to 70% on 19 May and exclusive deals on flights and activities. Agoda VIP members will receive early access to deals from 3 May to 6 May. Discover more on Agoda’s mobile app or at Agoda.com.
