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In IT dept vs Reliance Foundation, a win for Ambanis

Air India's foundations rebuilt: Campbell Wilson

Redington shares rally 5% after Apple unveils new features at WWDC 2026

Shares of Redington surged nearly 5% on Tuesday after Apple unveiled a completely rebuilt Siri at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026, along with a host of features and OS updates.The company rolled out the next-generation Apple Intelligence features, AI-powered photo editing tools, enhanced child-safety capabilities and software updates across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.Redington has been a key Apple distribution partner since 2007, handling the logistics, warehousing and distribution of Apple products to retailers and resellers across India, the Middle East, Turkey, Africa and South Asia.Redington shares sharply surged to an intraday high of Rs 241 apiece on NSE on Tuesday morning, snapping a two-session losing streak. Notably, Apple shares meanwhile closed around 2% lower after its annual conference.New Apple features unveiled at WWDC 2026In what was Tim Cook’s last WWDC as the Apple CEO, the company on Monday unveiled a much-awaited overhaul of Siri, introducing a more conversational, context-aware version of its digital assistant as the company seeks to catch up with AI rivals including ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.The new model called 'Siri AI' will now come with a dedicated app, a redesigned interface and improved conversational abilities. According to Apple, it can understand a user's personal context, access broad world knowledge and even understand what is currently on a user's screen.Also read: Siri gets an AI makeover, its biggest upgrade since 2011 debutApple also unveiled the next generation of Apple Intelligence, built on updated Apple Foundation Models that power Siri, image generation, writing assistance and reasoning capabilities. It also significantly expanded its Visual Intelligence, bringing image understanding capabilities to more devices. On the iPhone, Siri can now analyse what users see through the Camera app and answer questions about objects, locations and food. The assistant can also perform actions such as splitting restaurant bills using Apple Cash.Why are Redington shares rising?Redington has a long-standing partnership with Apple, dating back to a 2007 distribution agreement for Apple products in India. Redington manages logistics, warehousing, and distribution to resellers and retailers across India, the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and South Asia. It is one of Apple’s key official national distributors and supply-chain partners in India.Redington in May reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 391 crore for the January-March quarter of FY26. This is over 41% lower than the Rs 666 crore net profit reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. The firm’s revenue from operations, meanwhile, increased nearly 26% YoY to Rs 33,213 crore during the quarter under review.Also read: Siri AI, Apple Intelligence, child safety tools and more — Biggest announcements from AppleRedington share priceRedington shares have gained over 6% in one month but declined around 14% in 2026 so far. The stock is down 17% in one year. In the longer term, the shares of the tech company jumped 28% in three years and more than 74% in five years.The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than Rs 18,537 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

US lawmakers cheer as court blocks $100K H-1B fee

A chorus of US lawmakers from across the political spectrum has come out in support of a federal court order dismantling a proposed USD 100,000 H-1B visa application fee, even as the White House prepares to challenge the judicial setback in the appeals court. Breaking ranks with the executive branch, several Republican lawmakers backed the decision by shifting the spotlight away from the information technology sector, which heavily utilises this visa category, and focusing instead on how the massive financial penalty would cripple healthcare systems and educational institutions in remote regions. These conservative representatives pointed out that employers in rural areas depend heavily on international professionals to fill severe staffing voids. Stressing the severe local impact, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska emphasised that the issue transcended partisan politics in her state. She pointed out that the judicial intervention arrived at a pivotal juncture as academic institutions actively finalise their faculty rosters for the upcoming school term. Senator Murkowski stated, "Many school districts in rural and remote parts of the state rely on the H-1B visa programme to bring quality teachers to their communities." Unmoved by the legislative backlash, the White House strongly dug in its heels to defend the executive measure and signalled immediate plans to get the ruling overturned. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers argued, "The H-1B programme has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it." Expressing absolute confidence in a legal reversal, Rogers added, "A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal." Conversely, the political opposition welcomed the court's intervention as necessary relief for critical public infrastructure. Democratic Congressman Don Beyer praised the judgment, warning that the steep executive fee would have slammed healthcare facilities already pushed to the brink by severe personnel deficits with unsustainable operational costs. Echoing this sentiment from across the aisle, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler also threw his weight behind the judicial freeze. He highlighted his own ongoing, cross-party legislative efforts to shield medical personnel from the financial burden. Congressman Lawler noted, "I have been working to exempt healthcare workers from this fee that only exacerbates the current staffing shortages in healthcare. That's why I introduced the bipartisan H-1Bs for Physicians and the Healthcare Workforce Act. While we continue to push this legislation through Congress, this ruling is welcome news." Further criticising the administration's economic logic, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. cautioned that the premium pricing would effectively slam the door on global talent, hurting domestic growth. Congressman Bishop argued, "The USD 100,000 fee for employers' H-1B applications would have discouraged the best and the brightest from coming to America and helping our economy grow and innovate." The legal architects behind the successful lawsuit also celebrated the verdict. Leading the state-level resistance, California Attorney General Rob Bonta remarked that the executive fiscal policy directly undermined the nation's capacity to import specialised professionals for sectors struggling with systemic labour deficits. Bonta stated, "This tax was an attack on America's ability to attract and retain the high-skilled talent that strengthens our economy and helps us meet critical workforce needs." Validating the multi-state legal push, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport expressed an identical view, noting that the judiciary clearly agreed that the executive branch had completely overreached its mandate by attempting to levy the financial requirement on H-1B petitioners. However, the Republican consensus on the matter remained fractured. Voices from the conservative wing, like Arizona Congressman Eli Crane, explicitly denounced the ruling. Crane, who has been aggressively pushing for restrictive immigration overhauls, bypassed the judicial roadblock to call for a definitive legislative remedy. Congressman Crane stated, "Although an activist judge blocked President Trump's reforms to the H-1B program, Congress can fix it without judicial obstruction. Urge your representative to cosponsor the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026, which halts and significantly reforms this broken system." This highly publicised judicial verdict represents a major blow to the Trump administration's broader strategy aimed at restricting employment-driven immigration channels and creating steep hurdles for US employers trying to onboard international professionals. The development has triggered significant interest in India, given that the H-1B framework serves as a vital pipeline for the Indian workforce to access lucrative professional opportunities in the US. The non-immigrant work permit enables US corporations to recruit overseas experts with niche expertise across highly technical fields, including technology, engineering, healthcare, and finance. Because of India's robust talent pool in these specialised industries, Indian citizens systematically secure the lion's share of the total H-1B allocations distributed on an annual basis, making any disruption to the fee structure a critical economic talking point for New Delhi. Structurally, the H-1B visa has long solidified its status as an essential foundation for the American guest-worker immigration model. Under the statutory guidelines, the US government caps the yearly allocation at 65,000 standard permits, while reserving an extra 20,000 slots specifically for candidates who have earned advanced graduate degrees from US institutions. Data provided by immigration advocacy group FWD.us reveals the massive scale of this demographic, noting that approximately 730,000 H-1B visa holders reside across the US, living alongside an estimated 550,000 dependents, which includes their spouses and children.

Promoter entities sell Rs 153 crore worth shares in Motilal Oswal block deal; HDFC Life picks up stake

Two promoter-group charitable entities of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited sold shares worth about Rs 153 crore through block deals on Monday, with HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited emerging as the buyer.According to NSE block deal data, Motilal Oswal Foundation and Motilal Oswal Healthcare Foundation together sold 18.2 lakh shares of Motilal Oswal Financial Services at Rs 842.5 per share. The larger transaction was executed by Motilal Oswal Foundation, which sold 14.55 lakh shares, translating into a deal value of about Rs 122.58 crore.Separately, Motilal Oswal Healthcare Foundation sold 3.65 lakh shares, valued at about Rs 30.75 crore.Together, the two entities sold shares worth around Rs 153.34 crore.The entire stake was acquired by HDFC Life Insurance Company through a corresponding block deal at the same price.The transaction represents a transfer of shares from promoter-linked philanthropic entities to a large domestic institutional investor. There was no immediate indication of any change in the promoter group's controlling stake in the company.Motilal Oswal Financial is one of India's leading diversified financial services firms with operations spanning wealth management, capital markets, asset management, housing finance and investment banking.The company has benefited from the rapid financialisation of household savings and growing participation of retail investors in equities and mutual funds over the past few years. Strong capital market activity and rising assets under management have also supported growth across its key business segments.HDFC Life's purchase reflects continued institutional interest in financial-sector stocks, which remain among the preferred bets for domestic investors amid expectations of sustained growth in India's savings and investment ecosystem.Shares of Motilal Oswal Financial Services are likely to remain in focus as investors assess the implications of the transaction and changes in institutional ownership. The stock has been one of the key beneficiaries of the structural shift of household savings towards financial assets, a trend that market participants expect to continue over the long term.