Washington, Feb 3 (IANS) The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is thrilled to welcome to its Board of Directors Mr Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO; Mr Raj Shah, Co-CEO, MSI Surfaces; Mr Alex Rogers, President, Global Affairs and Qualcomm Technology Licensing for Qualcomm Incorporated; and Mr Prashant Ruia, Director, Essar Capital.

Ucuzoglu, who succeeded Mr Punit Renjen as Deloitte Global CEO in January 2023, also replaces Mr Renjen on USISPF’s Board.

As the Global CEO of the largest professional services organisation in the world, Ucuzoglu remains actively engaged with many of Deloitte’s clients as well as a range of external stakeholders, working to ensure that Deloitte is consistently leveraging the full breadth of its services to deliver impactful results for clients and communities.

Prashant Ruia is a second-generation entrepreneur of the Ruia family that founded Essar. He has been an integral part of Essar’s operations and management since 1985, playing a key role in driving the growth, diversification, and value creation, both within India and internationally.

Under his leadership, Essar is transitioning its existing assets towards a greener economy and investing in sector-transforming sustainable businesses.

Rajesh (Raj) Shah, along with his brother Mr Rupesh Shah, is President and Co-CEO at MS International, a leading importer and distributor of countertops, flooring, wall tile, and landscaping products in North America. The company was launched in 1975 by Raj’s parents, Manu and Rika Shah, founders of MSI, and first-generation immigrants to the United States.

Alex Rogers has been in numerous leadership roles since joining Qualcomm in 2001. Currently, he is a member of the Company’s executive committee and is responsible for government and public affairs, export compliance, corporate responsibility and leads Qualcomm’s patent licensing business.

Speaking on the recent appointments to the USISPF Board, USISPF President and CEO Dr Mukesh Aghi said: “The additions of Joe, Alex, Prashant and Raj accentuate the growing synergy in US-India ties across fields of critical and emerging technology, especially in semiconductors to deepening trade relations and collaborating in new domains in hydrogen and biofuels to build a clean energy economy.

“The year 2023 was a monumental year, with the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US and President Joe Biden’s visit to India for a successful G20 Summit.

“With our ever-expanding Board and new captains of industry and distinguished leaders from the private sector, USISPF is better positioned than ever to build on the commercial and geostrategic aspects of the partnership in 2024.”

Commenting on his addition to the USISPF Board, Ucuzoglu said: “I am thrilled to join the Board of USISPF, an organisation that is key to strengthening the partnership between the U.S. and India and providing an important platform for stakeholders to come together to create meaningful opportunities for business, government and society overall.”

Rogers spoke about the importance of US-India technology ties, saying, “The US and India are uniquely positioned to use connectivity, processing, and artificial intelligence to advance the public good and stimulate economic growth.

“Qualcomm technologies and employees have been an integral part of India’s digital revolution over the past 25 years. We are proud to be part of the solution as digitization transforms the lives of people everywhere, whether it is how they work, connect, socialise, or interact with the environment.”

USISPF Chairman John Chambers congratulated the new appointees and said: “After all the groundbreaking accomplishments 2023 brought for the US-India partnership, I’m excited for the new year with the addition of these well-accomplished leaders to the USISPF Board.

“Alex, Prashant, Raj, and Joe will add even more breadth to USISPF’s roster of private sector experts, underscoring the passion from Fortune 250 companies to increase relations and business pursuits between the U.S. and India. These exciting appointments – along with others we’ve announced this year – position us for even greater success in the years to come.”

Commenting on his appointment to the Board of Directors, Ruia thanked USISPF Chairman John Chambers and USISPF President and CEO Mukesh Aghi and said: “I am thrilled to step onto the prestigious platform of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) as a member of its Board of Directors. This appointment resonates with the mutual commitment to advancing stronger economic ties between the United States and India.

“I look forward to leveraging my experience to enhance collaboration, drive innovation, and further strengthen the strategic partnership between these two great nations, especially in fostering sustainability and ESG. We find ourselves in a momentous period for the diplomatic ties between the United States and India, and I am pleased to contribute to this significant endeavor.”

Raj Shah spoke about what the US-India relationship personally means to his family’s success story, saying: “India is playing an integral role in manufacturing and providing services to consumers in the United States. We look forward to working with the USISPF Board to continue to strengthen ties between the US and India.”

San Francisco, Feb 3 (IANS) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is planning to sell at least 50 million company shares in the next year, the media reported.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Amazon, where Bezos currently serves as executive chair, said its billionaire founder had a trading plan for selling a maximum of 50 million shares.

The sales will occur “over a period” ending January 25 of next year “subject to certain conditions,” the filing read, reports Fox Business.

Bezos, who recently turned 60, owns nearly one billion shares of Amazon stock. Seven other top Amazon insiders took up trading plans for offloading Amazon shares, according to the SEC filing.

However, Bezos’ involved the largest amount of shares. Bezos’ stake in Amazon stocks make up a major portion of his $193.3 billion personal fortune.

Net sales for Amazon increased 14 per cent to $170 billion in the holiday quarter that ended December 31, 2023, compared with $149.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Net income increased to $10.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with $0.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Amazon Web Services (AWS) segment sales increased 13 per cent year-over-year to $24.2 billion.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the past holiday season was “record-breaking.” “This Q4 was a record-breaking Holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon,” said Jassy. “As we enter 2024, our teams are delivering at a rapid clip, and we have a lot in front of us to be excited about,” he added.

San Francisco, Feb 3 (IANS) Apple has no intention to license healthcare company Masimo’s blood oxygen detection to end the Apple Watch import ban.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that the company is focused on appeals.

“We’re focused on appeal. There’s lots of reasons to buy the watch even without the blood oxygen sensor,” he was quoted as saying.

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are still on sale in the US. However, these models being sold have the blood oxygen sensor disabled via software.

Apple Watch models sold before the import ban went into effect on January 18, 2024 will still have functional blood oxygen detection.

It seems likely that the blood oxygen detection function could be added back via a software update if the import ban ends, reports Apple Insider.

Masimo has said the company is willing to settle with Apple.

Apple resumed sale of its Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 last month without blood oxygen features amid the patent infringement dispute.

“Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 without the Blood Oxygen feature will become available from apple.com starting 6 am PT on January 18, and from Apple Stores starting January 18,” a company spokesperson had said.

“Apple’s appeal is ongoing, and we believe the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit should reverse the USITC’s decision. We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting orders,” said the company.

“Pending the appeal, Apple is taking steps to comply with the ruling while ensuring customers have access to Apple Watch with limited disruption,” the company said.

The new Apple watches were banned in the US after the ITC ruled that the blood oxygen sensors violated patents belonging to Masimo.

New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Video communication platform Zoom is laying off nearly 150 employees, or less than 2 per cent of the company’s workforce.

Zoom said the layoffs are not company-wide and it will continue to hire for roles in artificial intelligence, sales, product and across operations in 2024.

“We regularly evaluate our teams to ensure alignment with our strategy,” a Zoom spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

“As part of this effort, we are rescoping roles to add capabilities and continue to hire in critical areas for the future,” the spokesperson added.

Last February, Zoom slashed around 1,300 jobs, or about 15 per cent of its workforce.

In addition to Zoom, cloud software vendor Okta also announced to lay off about 400 employees, or about 7 per cent of its workforce.

Okta CEO Todd McKinnon said that the “reality is that costs are still too high”.

Okta shares rose around 3.6 per cent in premarket trading on the news, according to reports.

McKinnon said the firm needed to be more “thoughtful” about where it was investing to achieve “long-term success.”

“In order to grow profitably, we need to run the business with greater efficiency. While we’ve taken steps in the right direction, the reality is that costs are still too high. We need to be mindful of our overall spend so we can continue to invest in the areas, products, and routes to market with the most opportunity,” said the CEO.

New York, Feb 2 (IANS) Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now the fifth richest person in the world following a surge in Meta’s share price that has seen his net worth increase more than any other individual this year, MarketWatch reported.

In 2024 so far, Zuckerberg has already seen his net worth increase by $14.3 billion, in movements that have put him in fifth place on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, ahead of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and behind Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates.

Zuckerberg, who owns 13 per cent stake in Meta, is now set to see his net worth boom even further in the coming days, on the back of a surge in shares in the social media company he first set up in 2004 when he was a student at Harvard University, MarketWatch reported.

Shares in Meta increased 15 per cent in post-market trading on Thursday, following the Facebook owner’s decision to start declaring its first ever dividend on the back of a sharp increase in the company’s revenues.

The surge in Meta’s share price in out-of-hours trading on Thursday saw the company’s market cap increase by more than $140 billion to $1.17 trillion, MarketWatch reported.

Meta shares have increased by 14 per cent in 2024 and by 109 per cent over the previous 12 months, with stock in the California company up 933 per cent since Facebook’s initial public offering in 2012.

Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms in October 2021.