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India, Apr 06: HDFC Mutual Fund has concluded a first-of-its-kind campaign under its long- standing initiative, Nurture Nature, reimagining how India understands Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) by turning a complex financial concept into visible, real-world impact.

The campaign linked every new SIP registered during the initiative to water restoration, with each SIP registration contributing to the revival of the dying Nayanamkunta Lake in Hyderabad. Thousands of individual SIPs which got registered, helped channel a small portion of the funds into a large-scale ecological effort that helped restore a lake in partnership with the renowned environmentalist Anand Malligavad, bringing a fragile ecosystem back to life.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Navneet Munot, Managing Director & CEO, HDFC Asset Management Company, said “This campaign is a testament to the idea that small steps, taken consistently, can lead to extraordinary outcomes. Just as SIPs help build financial security over time, collective action can restore and sustain our environment. We are proud to have created a platform where every investor could contribute to a larger social cause.” 

Beyond awareness, the campaign aimed to inspire genuine behavioural change. By drawing a parallel between the discipline of regular investing and the compounding power of collective action, the initiative shows how small, sustained contributions financial or environmental can create lasting transformation.

The campaign marks a significant milestone for HDFC Mutual Fund, not just in investor outreach, but in reimagining the role a financial brand can play in driving ecological and behavioural change.

New Delhi: India’s major ports have outperformed expectations in the financial year 2025–26, reflecting strong growth in cargo movement and improved operational efficiency.

Data released by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways shows that the country’s 12 major ports handled a total of 915.17 million tonnes of cargo during the year—surpassing the target of 904 million tonnes. This marks a growth of 7.06% compared to 2024–25, signaling a positive trend in maritime trade.

Deendayal Port led the chart with the highest cargo handling of 160.11 million tonnes. Paradip Port followed closely with 156.45 million tonnes, while Jawaharlal Nehru Port handled 102.01 million tonnes, maintaining its position as a key hub for container traffic.

Among other major ports, Visakhapatnam handled 91.16 million tonnes and Kolkata recorded 70.87 million tonnes. Ports such as Chennai, Kamarajar (Ennore), New Mangalore, Cochin, V.O. Chidambaranar, and Mormugao also contributed significantly to the overall cargo volume.

In terms of growth, Mormugao Port emerged as the fastest-growing, registering an impressive 15.91% increase in cargo handling. Kolkata Dock System followed with 14.28% growth, while Jawaharlal Nehru Port recorded a rise of 10.74%. Paradip Port also posted a steady growth of 4.02%.

The strong performance highlights the increasing capacity and efficiency of India’s port sector. With continued focus on infrastructure upgrades and streamlined logistics, the country’s ports are set to play an even bigger role in driving trade and economic growth.

STAMFORD, Conn., Apr 06:  By 2028, over half of all enterprises will stop paying for assistive intelligence (such as copilots and smart advisors) and instead will favor platforms that commit to workflow results, according to Gartner, Inc. a business and technology insights company.

In this emerging model, humans move from completing work with procedural software to supervising intelligent systems that execute on their behalf. The distinction doesn’t come from whether AI is a feature, but whether it possesses delegated authority to trigger actions across enterprise systems within policy and identity constraints.

“In this environment, execution authority is not a product feature. It is an architectural position that spans control over identity, permissions, policy enforcement, system-of-record access, and auditability,” said Alastair Woolcock, VP Analyst at Gartner. “Vendors that embed AI within this control plane will shape workflow execution. Vendors that treat AI as an enhancement layer risk being abstracted.”

The first disruption will hit approval-heavy, timing-sensitive workflows where AI collapses decision latency and reallocates authority to policy-bound agents.

Execution will gradually move out of traditional interfaces and into platforms that control enterprise context and safely delegate work. Human roles will shift, not disappear, as they become an “Agent Steward” that supervises outcomes rather than performing tasks.

These market shifts will force enterprises and independent software vendors into a structural choice; redesign around delegated execution and control planes or remain as an interface layer agents route around. In the execution era, control of enterprise context is economic power.

Because of this, Gartner predicts that by 2030, software companies that layer bolt-on AI over legacy applications rather than redesigning for agentic execution will face margin compression of up to 80%.

Enterprise Context Is Becoming the Control Plane for AI Execution

Winning vendors will not simply add AI onto their products. Instead, they will embed agent orchestration into systems of record, expose policy-aware execution APIs, and enforce identity, permissions, and audit at the control plane to gain competitive advantage. Incumbents will hold structural advantages, but only if they convert context ownership into delegated execution authority. Legacy SaaS providers may attempt to close systems of record to preserve control, but durable advantage will come from controlled openness. Those relying on restriction risk being bypassed by orchestration layers enterprises trust more (see Figure 1).

“These dimensions don’t exist in a vacuum, though. Each market carries structural exposure based on its ability to evolve from assistive AI to delegated execution,” said Woolcock.

Gartner clients can read more in Tech FutureSight: Structural Winners and Markets at Risk in the AI Execution Shift.

Gartner is the World Authority on AI

Gartner is the indispensable partner to C-Level executives and technology providers as they implement AI strategies to achieve their mission-critical priorities. The independence and objectivity of Gartner insights provide clients with the confidence to make informed decisions and unlock the full potential of AI. Clients across the C-Level are using Gartner’s proprietary AskGartner AI tool to determine how to leverage AI in their business. With more than 2,500 business and technology experts, 6,000 written insights, as well as more than 1,000 AI use cases and case studies, Gartner is the world authority on AI. More information can be found here.

Mumbai, Apr 06: KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery, one of India’s foremost jewellery brands, today announced the launch of its Gold Rate Protection Plan, a strategic initiative aimed at helping customers navigate gold price volatility and plan their festive purchases with greater confidence ahead of Akshaya Tritiya.

Introduced in the run-up to the festive season, the plan allows customers to lock in prevailing gold rates by booking their jewellery in advance during a defined promotional window. The initiative reflects KISNA’s continued focus on offering customer-centric solutions that combine value, transparency and flexibility during key purchase occasions.

Under the Gold Rate Protection Plan, customers can freeze the gold rate by paying a 25% advance on their selected jewellery. The plan remains valid until April 19, coinciding with Akshaya Tritiya. Customers can select their jewellery in advance and complete the final purchase on the festive day, ensuring both convenience and price assurance.

The plan has been structured to safeguard customers against price fluctuations, ensuring that they are billed at the lower of the gold rate on the day of booking or the day of final invoicing. This mechanism enables customers to remain protected regardless of market movements, offering a clear advantage in a volatile pricing environment.

The offer is valid across gold and diamond-studded jewellery categories and is available at all KISNA exclusive brand showrooms. It is specifically designed for festive and wedding buyers planning purchases during the season, rather than for investment-led buying such as coins or bullion.

As this is the first time KISNA has introduced such a proposition, the brand expects the plan to contribute approximately 25% of its monthly business, with early consumer response indicating encouraging traction. Participation is expected to build further as awareness increases closer to the festive period.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Ghanshyam Dholakia, Founder & Managing Director, Hari Krishna Exports and KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery, said, “In a volatile gold price environment, the industry is seeing increasing unpredictability in purchase cycles, especially around key festive periods. For us, Akshaya Tritiya contributes nearly 15% to 18% of our annual revenue, making it a critical business window. Structured offerings like the Gold Rate Protection Plan help bring greater visibility to demand while encouraging advance bookings and strengthening conversions during this period.”

Commenting on the launch, Parag Shah, CEO, KISNA Diamond & Gold Jewellery, said: “With gold prices witnessing ongoing fluctuations, customers are becoming more cautious and value-conscious in their purchase decisions. The Gold Rate Protection Plan has been introduced to address this need by offering price assurance and flexibility. It allows customers to plan their purchases in advance without worrying about market volatility, while ensuring they benefit from the most favourable pricing.”

Akshaya Tritiya remains a key purchase occasion for jewellery, with consumer sentiment closely linked to gold price movements. As buyers become more value-conscious and shift towards lightweight and studded jewellery, the Gold Rate Protection Plan positions KISNA to drive stronger consideration and conversions during the festive period.

Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through the mesophotic zone of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand how these mysterious “living fossils” thrive in areas with limited nutrients. In a recent paper published in Scientific Reports, a UW-led team documented new habits and habitats for current Nautilus and Allonautilus species. These creatures appear to live in deeper water than their extinct cousins did, and the younger ones live twice as deep as the fully mature adults. Nautilus and Allonautilus species scavenge their food and never stop moving. While a few species migrate hundreds of meters down at dawn and then back up at dusk every day, the team found that most species aren’t quite as intrepid. The researchers also describe a new population of Allonautilus in waters off the island New Britain, one of several populations thriving due to hunting restrictions inspired in part by research efforts from this team