New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Integrated supply chain services provider Delhivery on Friday reported a net loss of Rs 69 crore in the January-March quarter, down from Rs 159 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The company also announced that Sandeep Barasia, Executive Director and Chief Business Officer, has resigned to “pursue outside interests”. He will remain with Delhivery till June 30.

For the full fiscal year (FY24), the company said that loss after tax narrowed by Rs 759 crore to Rs 249 crore in FY24, from Rs 1,008 crore in the previous fiscal year.

“FY24 has been a crucial year for us where we delivered consistent service levels, significantly improved profitability, completed a large portion of our planned long-term capital investments and achieved material working capital improvement,” Sahil Barua, MD and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement.

Delhivery clocked revenue of Rs 8,142 crore in FY24, a growth of 13 per cent as compared to Rs 7,224 crore in FY23.

Barua told analysts that “don’t use this quarter to model for the next six quarters. There are forces beyond Delhivery’s control”.

Supply chain services and truckload service showed robust growth in Q4 FY24, with revenue from these services growing 25 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively, said the company.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Nearly one in four Indians faced hacking attacks in the first quarter (January-March period) this year, as malware continues to be a major cyber threat, a report showed on Friday.

In the quarterly data released by global security company Kaspersky, 22.9 per cent of web users in the country were attacked by web-borne threats.

About 20.1 per cent users were vulnerable to local threats during the same period.

“Malware remains a major threat to the users in India. Targeted malware attacks continue to be a major source of worry for organisations and users alike,” said the company.

Cyber criminals exploited the vulnerabilities in the browsers and their plugins.

“File-less malware is being seen as the most dangerous web threat this quarter since it does not leave any trace for static analysis of the attack,” the findings showed.

Social engineering like phishing, baiting and pretexting also remained a prevalent mode of cyber attack on the Indian users.

Kaspersky said its web security solutions blocked 12,454,797 different Internet-borne cyberthreats during the January-March period.

In the same period, it detected and blocked 16,751,049 local incidents on computers.

–IANS

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London, May 17 (IANS) The European Commission on Friday directed Microsoft to provide more information about the generative AI (GenAI) features in its search engine Bing else face fine, as the tech giant failed to respond to a March 14 request for inputs regarding specific risks stemming from Bing’s GenAI features.

The Commission stepped up its enforcement actions against Microsoft and the company now has time till May 27 to provide the requested information to the Commission on Bing’s generative AI features, notably “Copilot in Bing” and “Image Creator by Designer”.

If Bing fails to reply within the deadline, the Commission may impose fines up to 1 per cent of the provider’s total annual income or global turnover and periodic penalties up to 5 per cent of the provider’s average daily income or worldwide annual turnover.

The regulator can also impose fines up to 1 per cent of the provider’s total annual income or worldwide turnover for incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to a request for information.

“Following its designation as ‘Very Large Online Search Engine’, Bing is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the Digital Services Act (DSA),” said the Commission.

Microsoft was yet to react to the “legally binding request for information,”.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) IT services major Wipro on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjeev Jain as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) with immediate effect.

Jain succeeds Amit Choudhary, who is stepping down to pursue opportunities outside the organisation, the company said in a statement.

Jain will report to Srinivas Pallia, CEO and Managing Director, and will continue to be a member of Wipro’s executive committee.

“Under Jain’s leadership, we’ve built out our approach to AI training and upskilling and trained over 225,000 of our people in AI principles,” said Pallia.

As COO, he will be responsible for continuing to simplify our operating model, building a client-centric delivery organisation, and driving operational excellence with a focus on execution rigour and speed.

Jain joined Wipro in 2023 as the Global Head of Business Operations.

Over the past year, he has been leading Wipro’s talent supply chain, including the company’s gig work platform, ‘TopGear’, as well as talent skilling, global mobility, talent acquisition, and business resilience functions.

“I would like to thank Choudhary for his leadership over the last two years and for building a strong operations foundation and structure that will be invaluable as we move forward,” said Jain.

Prior to joining Wipro, he held leadership roles at Kyndryl Holdings (IBM spin-off), IBM, Cognizant and GE.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Vaccination, hygiene, and a balanced diet are the major ways to prevent hepatitis A — a highly contagious liver infection caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) –, said doctors on Friday amid reports of a severe outbreak in Kerala.

Hepatitis A is spread via ingestion of contaminated food and water or through direct contact with an infectious person.

Hepatitis A outbreak in Kerala

Kerala’s Malappuram district has in the last few days seen a massive outbreak of Hepatitis A, with reportedly about 8,000 cases and 12 deaths.

Kerala has continually been witnessing such outbreaks since 2018. As per the government data, the state has witnessed 1,977 confirmed cases and 12 deaths since January this year.

In addition, about 5,536 suspected Hepatitis cases have also been reported, and 15 are suspected to have died due to the virus.

“The increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall and decreasing surface water has impacted drinking water quality, heightening the risk of waterborne illnesses like Hepatitis A, typhoid and gastroenteritis which spreads through contaminated water and food, particularly when faecal matter pollutes water sources,” Lorance Peter, Director – Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Sakra World Hospital Bengaluru, told IANS.

Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister Veena George has reportedly put four districts — Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, and Ernakulam — on alert as a maximum number of cases have been reported from here.

Naveen Ganjoo, Senior Consultant – Hepatology & Integrated Liver Care, Aster RV Hospital, Bengaluru, said that the affected population in Kerala is mainly adults as the state is typically good in sanitation so they have managed to prevent Hepatitis A in children.

“It has been seen that at this age Hepatitis A is more dangerous. Also, a different strain particular to geography may be in play as there is also renal impairment with liver dysfunction which is the main organ affected,” Naveen told IANS.

Hepatitis A and its implications

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver infection. But unlike Hepatitis B and C, it does not lead to chronic liver disease but can cause severe symptoms and, in rare cases, lead to liver failure.

Symptoms often include fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and jaundice. Most people recover fully within a few weeks to months, but the illness can cause severe weakness.

Especially in older adults or those with underlying liver conditions, it can cause acute liver failure, a life-threatening condition,

“Hepatitis A spreads primarily through the faecal-oral route, often via contaminated food or water. Common sources include consuming raw or undercooked food, drinking contaminated water or ice, eating food prepared by someone with the virus who has not practised proper hand hygiene, and close personal contact with an infected person or caring for someone who is ill,” said Lokesh L V, Lead Consultant Gastroenterologist, SPARSH Hospital, Bengaluru.

Lorance explained that jaundice is a common symptom of Hepatitis, and appears well after the virus has been present in stool for up to two weeks and can persist beyond the resolution of symptoms, thereby contributing to silent ongoing contamination.

Maintaining liver health and nutrition during a hepatitis attack is paramount, necessitating lifestyle adjustments such as no alcohol intake and refraining from smoking.

“A balanced diet during this time should consist of ample whole grains, fruits, and vegetables packed with essential vitamins and fibre. Healthy fats like Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil and olive oil can help reduce inflammation, while lean proteins from poultry, fish, and legumes are beneficial. Despite dietary constraints, there are plenty of appetising and nutritious food choices available, with an emphasis on fresh, seasonal produce to boost overall nutritional intake,” Lorance said.

The expert also stressed the need to take the vaccination drive seriously “to prevent this epidemic as it is easily spread in a larger population which can be detrimental and increase massive burden on healthcare.”

“Hepatitis A vaccine is safe, effective, and recommended for all children and adults who are at risk,” Lokesh said.

He also called for regular handwashing with soap and water, cooking food thoroughly, and drinking bottled or boiled water.

–IANS

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