Miscellany

Tata Motors-owned British luxury sports car maker Jaguar Land Rover on Monday launched a special edition of its Jaguar XJ model called XJ50 to celebrate five decades of the XJ being on sale globally. Bookings for the company’s flagship luxury saloon are now open in India.

The Jaguar XJ50, which measures over 5.2 metre in length, is one of the longest saloons on sale in the country. With a price tag of Rs 1.11 crore in India, the range-topping Jaguar sedan rivals flagship models from Germany’s big three brands such as the BMW 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the Audi A8.

Indian millennials are increasingly choosing travel destinations based on their “Instagrammability.” They also rate destinations based on this criteria. The survey done by travel site Ixigo shows how social media has become an important element in making life’s decisions. 

Deutsche Bank is not at risk of a takeover, its chief executive told a German weekly paper after its shares fell to a record low on November 30 in the wake of a two-day raid related to money laundering allegations.

Speculation about a possible merger has continued despite the bank's dismissal in September of reports that it could consider tie-ups with Switzerland's UBS or German peer Commerzbank.

Tech giants, e-commerce biggies and consultancy majors were among the companies, which started the placement sessions at different Indian Institutes of Technology.

While a number of global and transnational companies are now coming to India to start their business, India’s Patton Group is moving beyond borders. Close on the heels of foraying into warehousing business in the US, Patton International, has signed OEM (original equipment manufacturer) contract with Eaton Crouse Hinds of Mexico. 

Being the torch bearer of Indian IT in the last couple of decades, Bangalore, on behalf of the entire nation, has built a significant branding and positioning for the sector in the international markets.

Going forward, the city and state of Karnataka are all set to build huge capabilities for deep, digital technologies, thus creating a solid base for the next level growth of the country’s tech sector, said state chief minister HK Kumaraswamy.

Heavy discounts offered on the e-commerce channels hit the offline sales of consumer durables and large appliances during the festive season. While consumer durables clocked 57 per cent growth on the online platform, the category as such fell flat in terms of growth during the festive season.

An online ad for a Facebook app that debuted in 2014 showed a man in a bar pointing his phone at women to zap away their clothes, leaving them wearing only bikinis.

The Pikini app for locating photos of users in swimsuits didn’t last long because Facebook restricted developer access to friends’ data. But now a bitter legal dispute between the app maker and the social networking giant is threatening to strip bare Facebook’s often-criticised practices for sharing what users post on the network.

Facebook Inc crises this year have put immense pressure on chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg, undermining her authority and tainting an image that was burnished by the social-media company’s meteoric rise. Some of her staff, who saw the executive as larger than life, now blame her for Facebook’s woes.

Manindra & Mahindra, the second largest utility vehicle maker by sales, has for the first time forayed into premium SUV space with the launch of its ambitious Alturas G4 targeting the growing luxury SUV segment in the world’s fifth and Asia’s third largest car market. The company has invested a total of $230 million or Rs 1,800 crore to develop, design and manufacture the car for the global market. With this launch, Alturas G4 becomes the most premium car launch by any Indian manufacturer.