PM Modi and Cuban President discuss ties in Pharma and, UPI on sidelines of BRICS
According to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both leaders also exchanged views on enhancing cooperation in areas including Ayurveda, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), disaster management, and capacity building.
The two leaders agreed to work on issues of concern to the global South, including in the areas of health, pandemics and climate change. They appreciated the cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral arena, the statement added.
"PM Narendra Modi met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez of Cuba on the sidelines of the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.
He posted, "Both leaders exchanged views on various facets of India-Cuba relationship including in the areas of economic cooperation, biotechnology, pharma, Ayurveda and traditional medicine, Digital Public Infrastructure and UPI, disaster management, and capacity building."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
UPI AutoPay set to drive incoming wave of consumer AI companies in India
The launch of UPI AutoPay has led to a new breed of startups and is helping others tweak their strategy to make the best use of the technology. The shift comes at a time when Indians are spending more time and money on the internet. AutoPay's adoption has been sector agnostic. Between 2024 and 2025, startups in edtech, wellness, health tech, fintech, as well as media and entertainment, have raised nearly $7.6 billion from venture capital firms, according to startup data intelligence platform Tracxn. Some of the firms that have adopted a subscription model or have enabled UPI AutoPay include content platforms like Kuku FM and Pocket FM, edtechs like SpeakX, Khare Classes, and Seekho, and wellness platforms like mental health startup Wysa and weight loss and nutrition tracking startup HealthifyMe. 'Anywhere that people need to make regular payments, whether it's towards entertainment or financial services, AutoPay is boosting that,' said Munish Vaid, vice president at global consulting firm Primus Partners. In 2025, India will have over 900 million internet users, according to a 2024 report from market research firm Kantar and the Internet and Mobile Association of India. As a result, UPI AutoPay's adoption is also set to increase. But it isn't new to us. Indians have always paid for television channels and newspaper subscriptions, and even milk. 'AutoPay has opened people up to subscriptions online. It isn't a new market, this is the offline market that is coming online,' said Anant Vidur Puri, partner at global investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Indians spend an average of nearly seven hours a day accessing various services and products on the Internet, according to social media intelligence firm Meltwater. Mobile devices account for 58% of this time. Launched in 2021, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced UPI AutoPay, a functionality for recurring payments that allows users to set up e-mandates for things ranging from electricity bills to mutual fund systematic investment plans to even OTT subscriptions. As a result, startups have pivoted their business models: subscription-first platforms priced for the Indian consumer. 'What UPI AutoPay has done is that it has enabled people to recurringly pay for something they want to pay for,' said Puri. The transaction volume of UPI AutoPay from the top 10 remitter banks nearly doubled to 29.29 million in May 2025 from 16.73 million in May 2024, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India, which runs UPI. In contrast, the volume of UPI transactions in May this year alone stood at 18,677 million, valued at ₹ 25 trillion. Harsha Kumar, partner at Lightspeed India, said, 'UPI was the first large tailwind because of which transaction platforms such as ecommerce, transportation and utility all grew. Now, UPI AutoPay is the next big tailwind on the back of which we will see a bunch of fintech and content solutions come up. It's because these are two models where AutoPay or subscription works best." The volume of UPI transactions has gone to 13,116 crore in FY24 from 92 crore in FY18, a compound annual growth rate of 129%. For example, prior to UPI AutoPay, consumers would make mutual fund investments through systematic investment plans (SIPs), doing it through accounts on MF websites. Essentially, AutoPay makes it easier for people to set up their SIPs on brokerage apps like Groww, Zerodha and AngelOne. AutoPay reduces friction for both users and businesses. Traditional subscription systems use credit cards, a financial product with little penetration in India. In comparison, UPI AutoPay is mobile-first, low-cost, and works for small-ticket services. Thirty-seven million AutoPay mandate registrations were made in January this year alone. English-language learning startup SpeakX uses a subscription model, enabled by AutoPay. 'We've been able to capture a market which was untouched because digital penetration there was low. What it has enabled is access to people who want solutions, and it has become feasible for us to serve them at an affordable cost,' said company founder and chief executive Arpit Mittal. The company's product has seen considerable traction from lower-income groups as well as Tier-II and Tier-III cities, primarily due to its ₹ 300-a-month subscription model. Mittal argues that prior to the enablement of AutoPay, consumer companies had to be sales-led in order to convince users to join a platform. 'If I had to do SpeakX five years ago, my only option would be to sell packages to people, and not subscriptions. As a result, my product would be priced very differently and it would be out of the reach of many Indians,' Mittal said. SpeakX is raising up to $15 million in a pre-Series B round, the largest for a personalised AI-led edtech platform so far this year. Existing investor Elevation Capital has already paid the company. Other investors include consumer tech VC firm Goodwater Capital and global investment firm WestBridge Capital. Seekho, an online edutainment OTT platform, pivoted from a yearly payment model to a monthly one. The company had started out at the same time as the National Payments Corporation of India launched AutoPay back in 2021. At the time, monetisation wasn't the goal. By 2023, the company pivoted to a monthly subscription, led by AutoPay. 'It helped us drive good user retention, and for us, we saw it as an opportunity to finally build Netflix-like subscription businesses in India, something that wasn't possible before,' said Rohit Choudhary, founder and CEO of Seekho. As a result of the switch, the company was also able to increase its pricing, starting at ₹ 99 per month before raising it to ₹ 199 a month. That's what Seekho used to charge users yearly before. The pivot was led primarily because the company realised they could acquire more users and keep them engaged for less money spent. 'We saw recurring subscribers increase 3 to 4 months after we shifted to a monthly plan. After that, however, we had returning users coming back, which is where we saw hockey stick growth,' said Choudhary. Seekho claims that it currently has four million users and retains between 30 to 35% of its users over a 12-month period. Their market is spread across India. In terms of revenue, the company said they make ₹ 40 crore every month and that 85% of their user base are paying customers. Choudhary narrates a user interview who said that, considering they require ₹ 400 to recharge their phone every month, paying ₹ 200 to learn isn't a bad deal. 'This is how people compare their spends with Seekho. They don't really compare it with OTT platforms, but to a newspaper or a coaching class where they're paying to learn something.' But there's still a long road ahead. Often, the AutoPay mandate cancellations are hard to find, and users complain that they're losing money on something that they didn't want to continue to pay for. A letter had been sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 'an aggrieved user' earlier this year, alleging unfair auto-debit practices from some of these startups. The letter said that some of these apps didn't provide users a simple way to cancel auto debits and were instead being forced to rely on UPI apps to make those cancellations. 'Eventually, builders will learn how to build for AutoPay, and consumers will learn how to manage AutoPay,' said Lightspeed India's Kumar. 'But we're headed in the right direction.'
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
PM Modi Arrives In Brasilia For State Visit After Attending BRICS Summit
Brasilia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brasilia on Monday evening (local time) for his State Visit to Brazil. Brazil's Minister of Defence, Jose Mucio Monteiro Filho, received him at the airport. PM Modi appreciated the artists, who performed a traditional Brazilian Samba Reggae performance to welcome him. He arrived in Brasilia after attending the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro from July 6-7. PM Modi travelled to Brazil at the invitation of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In a post on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, "Taking new strides in India- Brazil steadfast partnership. PM @narendramodi has landed in the capital city of Brasilia on a State Visit to Brazil. On arrival, he was warmly received by Mr. Jose Mucio Monteiro Filho, Minister of Defence of Brazil, at the airport. The welcome was made delightfully musical by the traditional Brazilian Samba Reggae performance." Taking new strides in 🇮🇳-🇧🇷 steadfast partnership. PM @narendramodi has landed in the capital city of Brasilia on a State Visit to Brazil. On arrival, he was warmly received by Mr. José Múcio Monteiro Filho, Minister of Defence of 🇧🇷, at the airport. The welcome was made… — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 7, 2025 During his visit, PM Modi will hold bilateral discussions with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on broadening the Strategic Partnership between the two nations in areas of mutual interest, including trade, defence, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health, and people-to-people linkages, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement. PM Modi described the Rio de Janeiro leg of his visit to Brazil as "productive." He stated that he and other leaders held extensive deliberations at the BRICS Summit. PM Modi stated that his bilateral meetings with world leaders will boost India's friendship with various nations. PM Modi shared a video on the social media platform X, which showed him participating in the BRICS Summit and holding bilateral meetings with world leaders. The video also showed how PM Modi received a warm welcome from the Indian diaspora upon arrival in Rio de Janeiro. While sharing the video on X, PM Modi stated, "The Rio leg of my Brazil visit was very productive. We had extensive deliberations at the BRICS Summit. I compliment President Lula and the Brazilian Government for the work they've done through their BRICS Presidency in making this platform even more effective. My bilateral meetings with world leaders will also boost India's friendship with various nations." "Now on the way to Brasilia for the State Visit. Will hold detailed talks with President Lula on different aspects of India-Brazil ties," PM Modi posted on X. Earlier on Monday, PM Modi met Uruguay President Yamandu Orsi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and discussed the expansion of the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement. "They reviewed cooperation in the areas of digital collaboration, ICT, Digital Public Infrastructure and UPI, defence, railways, health and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy, culture and people-to-people linkages," the MEA said in a statement. "A key area of discussion was strengthening bilateral trade and investment. Both sides expressed interest in the expansion of the India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement, aiming to unlock greater economic potential and trade complementarities," it added. Earlier, PM Modi, along with other BRICS leaders, partners and outreach invitees, gathered for the traditional family photo at the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro. While addressing a session on 'Environment, COP-30 and Global Health' at the BRICS Summit in Brazil on Monday, PM Modi said India would redefine the BRICS grouping under its upcoming chairmanship by focusing on "Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability." "Under India's BRICS Chairmanship, we will define BRICS in a new form. BRICS would mean 'Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability'." He affirmed that India would carry forward the spirit of people-centric progress during its leadership of the BRICS in the coming year. PM Modi arrived in Brazil on Saturday (local time) after concluding his visit to Argentina, where he held a bilateral meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei. After Brazil, PM Modi will head to Namibia on July 9 and also address its parliament. He began his five-nation visit on Wednesday in Ghana. From Ghana, PM Modi went to Trinidad and Tobago and then to Argentina.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
VMC panel to relocate street vendors after closure of night market
1 2 Varanasi: The Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) has established a committee to identify and relocate street vendors from the night market beneath the Lahartara Chowkaghat flyover to designated vending zones. The night market, a significant initiative by PM Narendra Modi in his Parliamentary constituency, ceased operations on July 4, merely three years after its inauguration. The establishment, part of the Varanasi Smart City project, had commenced operations on July 7, 2022, under the Lahartara-Chowkaghat flyover. Municipal Commissioner Akshat Verma issued an official notice stating that vendors beneath the Lahartara Chowkaghat flyover underwent multiple identification and verification processes, with records maintained by Varanasi Smart City Limited. The shops were dismantled on July 4 following contract termination. The newly formed committee comprising Jitendra Anand (zonal officer, Varunapar), joint municipal commissioner, district project officer from urban development agency, and chief engineer from Varanasi Smart City Ltd will identify legitimate vendors and allocate them spaces in accordance with the Street Vendors Act-2014. The directive takes immediate effect, requiring documentation and notification to relevant parties. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like O que é ar-condicionado sem dutos no Brasil? Knowledge Knower Undo The night market was developed with the aim of showcasing Varanasi's art and culture in a vibrant nighttime setting. It came up on a 1.9Km stretch under the flyover, featuring thematic wall art, public amenities, and spaces for recreation. According to authorities, an agreement was made with Shreya Company to operate the night market, but due to its failure to meet specified standards and violation of conditions, several notices were issued. Despite this, non-compliance led to the cancellation of Shreya Company's contract, rendering all shops illegal. The municipal corporation previously issued notices to vacate all shops. Even after the notice, shopkeepers did not vacate the premises. Authorities noted reports of improper activities occurring between Cantt Railway Station and the bus station, alongside hygiene issues and traffic disruptions. The administration announced enforcement actions following a 48-hour notice period.
