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Earlier today (December 24) on Good Morning Britain (GMB) Kate Garraway opened up to her co-hosts Ranvir Singh and Ed Balls about her first Christmas without husband Derek Draper. Derek who was a former lobbyist and political adviser, died in January aged 56 after suffering long-lasting damage to his organs from coronavirus. On Tuesday’s GMB programme, Kate spoke about how this Christmas will be a “tough one” for their family. Kate Garraway opens up about first Christmas without Derek on GMB The said: “I think this one will be particularly hard, I’m lucky I’ve got family around me.” added: “But I think you do feel grief because that’s the point where you have the memories of previous years. “We were lucky enough to still have him [Derek] over the last four or five years even though there were times when he was very ill.” Kate recalled how this time last year Derek was in intensive care and she did “fear” for the worst but their two children didn’t and were still “very hopeful”. “Yeah, it’s a tough one this year,” she continued. “I think anyone experiencing grief, it does hit you when you feel something which is full of tradition, where you have memories, it comes back. “I’m thinking about everybody else, who’s feeling it this time.” 'It's a tough one this year.' talks to and about her first Christmas without her husband Derek. Speaking about her plans for New Year, Kate said she “isn’t planning on anything”. She added: “I think it will just be a little moment of thought, I think we’ll all probably go to the grave and have a little bit of time and welcome the New Year.” This year, Kate won her third National Television Award (NTA) in the best authored documentary category for a film which followed the final year before her husband died. It followed on from two other programmes about Derek’s battle with covid and her struggles navigating the care system, which picked up NTA gongs in the category in 2021 and 2022.OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The biggest question facing the Baltimore Ravens right now has little to do with Lamar Jackson or even a defense that started the season poorly. It’s about a kicking conundrum that has turned into a crisis. Can the Ravens make it to the Super Bowl with Justin Tucker? One of the more surprising subplots of this NFL season has been Tucker’s decline from one of the greatest of all time to a week-in, week-out liability. Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia might have been the nadir — he missed two field goals and an extra point in a game the Ravens ultimately lost 24-19 . “Points were at a premium in the game. They have been in a few of these games. Sometimes we haven’t made the most of our opportunity to score points,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “We’re racking our brains, talking to Justin, looking at what we’re doing. I’m very confident that it’s going to get fixed. I believe it will. It has to. “And he’s the guy to get it fixed.” Harbaugh has given every indication that he’s standing by Tucker, who is in his 13th season and is under contract through 2027. When he’s at his best, he’s the type of kicker that gives his team a clear advantage in close games, but this season he has missed eight field goals. RELATED COVERAGE 49ers are nearing rock bottom following a blowout loss and the injury to McCaffrey Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers are in good position for the playoffs but need to improve on offense The Vikings are showing their worth at 10-2 by winning the games that don’t go smoothly Sunday showed that against a good defensive team, the Ravens (8-5) can’t simply assume their excellent offense will pile up points. There almost certainly will be close games in the weeks to come. Tucker’s ability to come through will be tested again, and it’s hard for Baltimore to feel too confident at the moment. “When he was hitting, three or four years ago, hitting bombs, we were going 57, 58, 56 pretty regularly,” Harbaugh said. “That’s tightened up a little bit.” The AP Top 25 college football poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here . What’s working The Ravens continue to do a good job stopping the run. Although Saquon Barkley did eventually surpass the 100-yard mark late in the game, Baltimore held the Eagles to 140 yards on the ground, well below their usual output. What needs help Even beyond Tucker’s problems, Sunday wasn’t a great showing by Baltimore’s special teams. Tylan Wallace was shaky returning punts, and the Ravens had to start four drives inside their own 20 and two inside their own 10. “They had great bounces, and they downed right down in there,” Wallace said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll come back and talk about those and see what we can do to avoid those.” Stock up The Ravens’ defense continued to show signs of improvement, holding Philadelphia to 252 total yards. “I think we’ve just locked in on some things, and we’re playing our deep coverages better, bottom line,” Harbaugh said. “You watch the coverage, you watch the guys’ spacing, positioning, eyes, the communication, the checks that get made, and you just keep chasing doing the right things. It’s not (that we) changed the defense. We’re just playing it a lot better.” Stock down Harbaugh was vague on receiver Diontae Johnson’s situation. He was active Sunday but didn’t play, and he has only one catch in four games since the Ravens acquired him in a trade from Carolina. “I’m going to have to wait just to clarify it,” Harbaugh said. “There’s some moving parts there that we’re going to have to figure out and explore and just see where we’re at. I know that’s not the answer you want, but that’s the best I can do in fairness to everybody right now.” Injuries The Ravens were missing pass-rushing ace Kyle Van Noy (hamstring/neck) on Sunday, and WR Rashod Bateman was dealing with knee soreness. Key stats Through his first 12 seasons, Tucker made field goals at a 90% clip. That’s dropped to 70% this season. He had a 95% success rate from under 50 yards, and that’s dipped to 83%. Next steps The Ravens have this week off before a Dec. 15 road game against the New York Giants. Then comes a home matchup with Pittsburgh that may determine whether Baltimore has any shot to win the AFC North. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl50 jilibet 。

Gov. Brad Little announced Monday he has sent Idaho State Police troopers to Texas, according to a press release . This is the fourth time ISP has been deployed at the U.S.-Mexico border. “In Idaho and across the country, reports of human trafficking are on the rise,” Little said in the release. “Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are seizing record amounts of fentanyl, meth, and other dangerous drugs. In too many cases, this illegal activity can be traced right back to cartels and other bad actors taking advantage of our lawless southern border.” The 13 troopers sent are part of the ISP Domestic Highway Enforcement team, a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force to identify, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. The troopers left Sunday and will be deployed until mid-December. The release states the troopers will assist the Texas Department of Public Safety in intercepting drug and human traffickers, learning the “latest tactics being used by Mexico drug cartels to smuggle drugs, weapons, and people into America.” “The troopers we deploy to Texas come back with better knowledge to stop these perpetrators in our state,” Little said in the release. “As they have done before, our troopers will debrief and train their law enforcement colleagues around the state so we can protect Idahoans from these deadly, dangerous threats.” This follows actions by Little since 2021 addressing a southern border “crisis.” Little has claimed Idaho faces a drug threat from the border and has often criticized the Biden administration. In 2021, Little sent specialized ISP troopers to Arizona to assist with drug interdiction. In May of 2023, Little sent two teams of Idaho State Police troopers to the Texas border to assist in efforts to “secure the border.” In April of 2024, Little sent another two teams of state troopers to Texas to assist with and learn tactics to deter human trafficking. Little is also a member of the American Governors’ Border Strike Force and created “Operation Esto Perpetua.” The state initiative made a new citizen's action group to combat drug trafficking and human trafficking, according to the governor’s office. The Legislature approved $250,000 for Operation Esto Perpetua and directed another $1 million to purchase additional roadside testing equipment and start a new media campaign to educate the public about the dangers of fentanyl, according to a 2022 press release . Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied that Mexico produced or consumed fentanyl. In 2023, he called it a problem of U.S. “social decay,” according to reporting by the Associated Press . U.S. President-elect Donald Trump recently threatened a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico if the country doesn’t stop drug trafficking and illegal immigration across the border. Current Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was willing to engage in talks on the issues, but said the flow of drugs across the border “is a problem of public health and consumption in your country’s society,” according to reporting by the Associated Press . While much of the fentanyl in the U.S. is from Mexico, a 2023 report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission indicated 86.4% of people sentenced for fentanyl trafficking were American citizens.

Progressing through Palworld and coming into contact with higher-level Pals and enemies means only one thing – you need weapons. Whether you’re a fan of Melee combat or want to cause high damage from afar, here’s how you unlock every weapon currently in Palworld. With each update to Palworld , more weapons are added, allowing you to expand your armory and do huge amounts of damage to new high-level Pals. Each new weapon recipe is unlocked via the Technology Ladder , with the levels for each noted below. It goes without saying that the higher level you need to be to unlock a weapon, the more damage it will do, but the harder it will be to make. Melee Weapons If you want to get up close and personal in order to see the life drain from the eyes of your enemies, Melee weapons are the way to go. As you progress further through the game and your level increases, they might be the only chance you have of inflicting just enough damage to a Pal in order to catch it without outright killing them with one shot. Ranged Weapons All the way from a Bow and Arrow to the massively powerful Rocket Launcher, these weapons do a large amount of damage and are perfect for defeating the Tower bosses or higher-level Pals. Here’s how to get them and what Ammunition you need in order to use them. Grenades It’s always a good idea to stock up on grenades, which now come in a range of different varieties as of the Feybreak update of December 2024. They do a high amount of damage of the same type as their name, making them really strong if a certain Pal has a weakness to any of the Grenades you’re carrying, and can be very useful if you’re low on ammo for your chosen main weapons.

Klaus Vedfelt Shares of Standex International ( NYSE: SXI ) have kept on setting fresh highs. Despite an improved positioning, the organic performance has been lackluster, yet it has been ambitious and M&A actions which have driven shares higher. Given the disconnect If you like to see more ideas, please subscribe to the premium service "Value in Corporate Events" here and try the free trial. In this service we cover major earnings events, M&A, IPOs and other significant corporate events with actionable ideas. Furthermore, we provide coverage of situations and names on request! The Value Investor has a Master of Science with specialization in financial markets and a decade of experience tracking companies via catalytic company events. Value In Corporate Events Learn more Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Justin Jefferson might be weary of all the safeties shadowing his every route, determined not to let the Minnesota Vikings go deep, but he's hardly angry. The double and triple coverage he continually faces, after all, is a sign of immense respect for his game-breaking ability. The strategy also simply makes sense. “I would do the same," Jefferson said. "It’s either let everybody else go off or let Justin go off. I’m going to let everybody else go off. That would be my game plan.” When the Vikings visit Chicago on Sunday, they're expecting the usual heavy dose of split-safety coverage designed to put a lid on the passing attack and force them to operate primarily underneath. “We see that every week: Teams just have different tendencies on film, and then when we go out on the field they play us totally different,” Jefferson said, later adding: “I don’t really feel like anyone else is getting played how I’m getting played.” Jefferson nonetheless is second in the NFL in receiving yards (912) behind Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase, his former college teammate at LSU. Last week, Jefferson set yet another all-time record by passing Torry Holt for the most receiving yards over the first five seasons of a career. Holt logged 80 regular-season games and accumulated 6,784 yards for St. Louis. Jefferson has 6,811 yards — in just 70 games. “I want to go up against those single coverages. I want to go have my opportunities to catch a deep pass downfield, just one-on-one coverage, like a lot of these other receivers get," Jefferson said. "It’s definitely difficult going up against an extra person or an extra two people, but it is what it is and the concepts that we’re drawing up and the ways that we’re trying to get me open, it definitely helps.” With fellow tight end Josh Oliver ruled out of the game on Sunday because of a sprained ankle, T.J. Hockenson is certain to have his heaviest workload since returning from knee surgery four weeks ago. He's also certain that Jefferson will continue to see persistent double-teams. “It puts it on us to make some plays and do some things to get them out of that,” Hockenson said. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell has been forced to dig deeper into the vault of play designs and game plans to help keep quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense on track. O'Connell said after Minnesota's 12-7 win at Jacksonville, when Darnold threw three interceptions to precipitate a safer strategy down the stretch, that he superseded his play-calling role with the wisdom of a head coach to help win that game. "Not just the egomaniac of wanting to score points and constantly show everybody how smart we are. There was a mode that I think you have to go into sometimes to ensure a victory,” O'Connell said on his weekly show on KFAN radio. Taking what the defense gives is usually the shrewdest strategy. “You’ve got to really implement some new things and some things that maybe you didn’t come across during your early coaching years whether as a coordinator or position coach or even when you’re responsible for a small area of the game plan as a younger coach," O'Connell said. "You really have to kind of look outside the lens of always what you see on tape.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Dave Campbell, The Associated PressDirecTV extends its agreement as title sponsor of the Holiday Bowl

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people on Monday after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were Israeli truce violations . The projectiles were apparently the first time that Hezbollah took aim at Israeli forces after the 60-day ceasefire went into effect last Wednesday. The increasingly fragile truce aimed to end more than a year of war between Hezbollah and Israel — part of a wider regional conflict sparked by the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza . In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump demanded the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza, saying on social media that if they are not freed before he takes office in January there would be “HELL TO PAY.” It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. The U.S. has given Israel crucial military and diplomatic support throughout the nearly 15-month conflict. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Haris killed five people and wounded two while another airstrike on the village of Tallousa killed four and also wounded two. Israel's military carried out a string of airstrikes late Monday against what it said were Hezbollah fighters, infrastructure and rocket launchers across Lebanon, in response to Hezbollah firing two projectiles toward Mount Dov — a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet. Israel said the projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported. Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired on an Israeli military position in the area as a “defensive and warning response” after what it called “repeated violations” of the ceasefire deal by Israel. It said complaints to mediators tasked with monitoring the ceasefire “were futile in stopping these violations.” Before the Hezbollah projectiles, Israeli carried out at least four airstrikes and an artillery barrage in southern Lebanon, including a drone strike that killed a person on a motorcycle, according to Lebanese state media. Another strike killed a corporal in the Lebanese security services. Israel has said its strikes are in response to unspecified Hezbollah violations, and that under the ceasefire deal it reserves the right to retaliate. Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days by launching airstrikes, demolishing homes near the border and violating Lebanon's airspace. Officials in the U.S. — which along with France helped broker the truce and heads a commission meant to monitor adherence to the deal — played down the significance of Israeli strikes. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “Largely speaking, the ceasefire is holding.” “We’ve gone from dozens of strikes down to one a day maybe two a day,” Kirby told reporters, referring to Israeli strikes. “We’re going to keep trying and see what we can do to get it down to zero.” Under the deal, Iran-backed Hezbollah has 60 days to withdraw its fighters and infrastructure from southern Lebanon. During that time, Israeli troops are also to withdraw to their side of the border. In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump called for Palestinian militants to free all of the roughly 100 Israeli hostages still held inside Gaza , around two-thirds of whom are believed to be alive. If not, Trump said, “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” Hours earlier, the Israeli government confirmed the death of Omer Neutra, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, whose body is still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the Israeli government. The Biden administration is mounting a last-ditch effort to try to restart talks between Israel and Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on Trump's post though President Isaac Herzog welcomed it. In Gaza, meanwhile, alarm is mounting over increasing hunger. The amount of food allowed in by Israel has plunged over the past two months, compounded by a decision Sunday by the United Nations to halt aid deliveries from the main crossing into the territory because of the threat of armed gangs looting convoys. Experts have already warned of famine in the northernmost part of Gaza , which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October, saying they're fighting regrouped Hamas militants there. Displaced families have set up tents surrounded by piles of garbage on the streets of Gaza City. Bilal Marouf, 55, said he and 11 family members fled the Israeli offensive “barefoot and naked.” “We had nothing. Hunger and thirst killed us, and we did not have a single shekel, nor clothes, nor a mattress, nor a blanket,” he said, speaking near his tent. Israel’s campaign in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, has driven almost the entire population of the territory from their homes. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in squalid tent camps, relying on international aid. The Israeli military said it allowed 40 trucks carrying 600 tons of flour for the World Food Program to enter the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, as well as 16 other food trucks. Israel has said it is working to increase the flow of aid. November saw an increase in the average number of humanitarian trucks it let into Gaza, up to 77 daily from 57 the month before, according to official Israeli figures. But the levels are still nearly the lowest of the entire 15-month war. And the U.N. says less than half of that actually reaches Palestinians because Israeli military restrictions, fighting and robberies make it too dangerous to deliver the aid. The World Food Program was able to only deliver aid to some 300,000 Palestinians in November across the Gaza Strip due to ongoing Israeli military offensives and the looting of convoys, Carl Skau, WFP’s deputy executive director, said Monday. In a tent camp in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, Palestinians lined up at makeshift mud ovens trying to buy a few loaves of flatbread for their families. With the price of flour mounting because of scarcity, the bakers — women displaced from further north — said they could bake less bread, and families could afford far less. “They divide them to their children, one loaf every day,” said one woman baker, Wafaa al-Attar. Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Fatma Khalid in Cairo contributed to this report. Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/mideast-warsGUWAHATI: Assam Minister for Industries and Commerce Bimal Borah said that an International Investors Summit 2.0 will be held in Guwahati in February next year. Assembly Election Results Live Updates Maharashtra Election Results Jharkhand Election Results Bypoll Election Results To build upon the growth momentum in the State and attract investments and infrastructure development in Assam, Cabinet has approved holding of the Assam Investment and Infrastructure Summit, 2025 on 24 & 25 February. The Summit will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Assam Day was celebrated at the ongoing 43rd India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2024 here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion Borah said: “Assam has seen significant strides on the development front under the able leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the then Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal. The state has attracted investments to the tune of several lakh crores, including the Rs.27,000 crore semiconductor unit at Jagiroad, 13,000 crore MoUs with reputed companies, the over Rs 700 crore Greenfield project ." The Minister said that an international investors summit 2.0 will be held in Guwahati in February next year. Strategy ESG and Business Sustainability Strategy By - Vipul Arora, Partner, ESG & Climate Solutions at Sattva Consulting Author I Speaker I Thought Leader View Program Finance AI and Generative AI for Finance By - Hariom Tatsat, Vice President- Quantitative Analytics at Barclays View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI for Everyone: Understanding and Applying the Basics on Artificial Intelligence By - Ritesh Vajariya, Generative AI Expert View Program Office Productivity Mastering Google Sheets: Unleash the Power of Excel and Advance Analysis By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development JavaScript Essentials: Unlock AI-Driven Insights with ChatGPT By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Tally Prime & GST Accounting: Complete Guide By - CA Raj K Agrawal, Chartered Accountant View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrow's Innovations By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Advanced Excel Course - Financial Calculations & Excel Made Easy By - Anirudh Saraf, Founder- Saraf A & Associates, Chartered Accountant View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Master in Python Language Quickly Using the ChatGPT Open AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Astrology Vastu Shastra Course By - Sachenkumar Rai, Vastu Shashtri View Program Finance A2Z Of Finance: Finance Beginner Course By - elearnmarkets, Financial Education by StockEdge View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Tabnine AI Masterclass: Optimize Your Coding Efficiency By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Leadership Validating Your Startup Idea: Steps to Ensure Market Fit By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Data Science MySQL for Beginners: Learn Data Science and Analytics Skills By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Digital Marketing Masterclass by Pam Moore By - Pam Moore, Digital Transformation and Social Media Expert View Program Finance Startup Fundraising: Essential Tactics for Securing Capital By - Dr. Anu Khanchandani, Startup Coach with more than 25 years of experience View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.NET Core MVC 6 Project Guide for 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program The Minister praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all out efforts to accelerate the pace of development in the state and the Northeast as a whole. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's various initiatives such as Make in India, Start Up India, Digital India and skill development has brought about transformation in Assam and other parts of the country," he added. The Minister has made much effort to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the state and to highlight its strengths in different sectors be it industry and tourism, in the fair. MP, Dilip Saikia said Assam is making progress at a rapid pace and will soon join the league of five developed states in the country. Saikia said in sync with Prime Minister's vision of a Viksit Bharat@2047, Assam is also marching triumphantly towards a Viksit Assam (developed state). Saikia further said no Prime Minister ever has given so much importance to Assam and the Northeast region than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Today the MSME sector is growing at a fast pace and contributing significantly to the development of Assam and the country as a whole," quipped Saikia.. The Assam Pavilion highlights the state’s progress in various sectors including manufacturing, technology, tourism, and infrastructure, as well as its vision to transform into a major economic hub in Eastern India. Visitors get to know about Assam's unprecedented development journey and its slew of future initiatives such as development of advanced semiconductor facilities aimed at making the state a leader in high technology manufacturing, creating skilled employment opportunities and supporting technological growth. The Pavilion also highlights the state's emphasis on the renewable energy sector, the establishment of the Unity Mall project to promote ODOP, and the government's initiatives in the field of healthcare to improve accessibility among the entire community. It also presents schemes and policies aimed at aligning the development of Assam with the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat@2047. The 43rd IITF being organised by the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) in the national capital will come to a close on November 27. Assembly Election Results Live Updates Maharashtra Poll Results Highlights 2024 Jharkhand Poll Results Highlights 2024 (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )

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MUMBAI: Dutch technology investor Prosus , which has invested over $8 billion in the country, will raise its bets on India, where more people are coming online, expanding opportunities for companies and investment firms alike and giving new startups room to find their feet. India is very "heterogeneous" - people from different parts of the country vary in the way they buy and transact, allowing multiple firms to have a play in the same sectors, Ashutosh Sharma, head of growth investments (India and Asia) at Prosus, said. He cited the instance of its portfolio firm Meesho , which tapped a different market within e-commerce and built its play despite the presence of giants Amazon and Flipkart within the sector. "The India next" - the next set of 100-200 million users who are coming online - opportunity is something the firm is looking at besides scouting for more deals in the GenAI space. "What is Meesho-equivalent in other sectors and can we invest in that early is what we will explore. When we started investing in India, it was largely consumer tech... over time, we added B2B marketplaces, SaaS, crypto and now GenAI. Our excitement around India continues and you will see us be more aggressive than we have been in the past across sectors here," Sharma told TOI in an interview. Prosus counts Swiggy, PharmEasy and Urban Company among its portfolio companies. The firm - which is Swiggy's largest shareholder with over 20% stake - made over $2 billion in gains on its total investment in the startup which got listed on the bourses last month in India's second-biggest public issue of the year. Sharma said that there are quite a few other startups in its portfolio which are "ready" to get listed without sharing timelines. Even as a mix of geopolitical tensions and the election win of Donald Trump risk pose market uncertainties, strong backing from domestic investors and high appetite for new-age tech stocks should bode well for startups planning IPOs in 2025, Sharma said. "As a country, we are still in the very early stages of tech penetration across sectors. Investors believe that there is a long runway for all of these companies to perform. These are all, in that sense, growth stocks and not defensive stocks and there are a set of investors which are excited in them," Sharma said. He added that unless a black swan or a big disruptive event takes place, foreign investors - who have been net sellers in the past couple of months - should come back to India sometime next year. Prosus's investment cheques for India will range across early stage, mid-sized and late stage companies. "The overhang of rich valuation (in private markets) that was seen in 2021 and early 2022 is gone now. The India story looks pretty solid, valuations look palatable and companies are on a much stronger footing", making Prosus bullish, more so on late-stage bets going forward. The investor's failed bet in Byju's - which has gone from being a $22 billion startup to facing bankruptcy - has not deterred it from evaluating deals in the edtech space as technology is the only way to bridge the demand-supply gap of quality education in India, Sharma said. Globally, Prosus's most successful bet has been China's Tencent and the firm aims to emulate the same in India. "It's an aspiration for sure. That's like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of a hit," he added.

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