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Internet Company May Lose Permit if Service Not Started in 1 Year

8Mar By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Internet Company May Lose Permit if Service Not Started in 1 Year

Internet companies providing wireless service may lose their permit if they fail to start commercial service within a year of getting spectrum from the Department of Telecom, the regulator Trai said. "For ISP licensees having spectrum assigned from the DoT, a provision should be made in the licensee agreement...that licensee shall offer the commercial service to its subscribers on demand within 12 months from the date of spectrum assignment...failing which spectrum assigned to ISP licensee may be cancelled," Trai said. The suggestions are part of Trai's recommendations on spectrum usage charges and presumptive adjusted gross revenue for internet service providers and commercial VSAT service providers. The regulator provided relief to internet service providers by suggesting to the ...

7Mar By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

India’s Leading PSU Bank SBI Launches ‘Work from Home’ Facility For Employees

Country's largest lender State Bank of India today launched a new facility to enable its employees to work from home. The Board of the bank has recently approved the 'Work from Home' policy to enable its employees to work while at home using mobile devices to address any urgent requirement they may have, that prevents their travelling to work. The lender will be using mobile computing technologies and shall have continuous control over all the enabled devices centrally to manage and secure the data and applications on the mobile devices, the bank said in a statement here today. The use of technology and services shall be monitored through carefully designed MIS and dashboard to enable improvements and refinements, it said. The bank said going forward cross-sell, marketing, CR...

Google India Inks MoU with Telangana Government

6Mar By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Google India Inks MoU with Telangana Government

Google India and Telangana government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at supporting the digitisation efforts of the state. Google India will provide Google Cloud credits and access to all cloud platform products to eligible startups engaged with Telangana government's T-Hub initiative and through its Developer Relations team provide technical mentorship and advisory support to various startups, a release issued by the government said here today. The MoU was signed yesterday in the presence of Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao and Google India representatives, it said. Other initiatives as a part of the agreement include, making all government websites mobile friendly and introduce programmes to help local small and medium businesses go online a...

LIC Follows Digital India Path, Agents Will Get PoS Machine For Premium Collection

1Mar By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA, News

LIC Follows Digital India Path, Agents Will Get PoS Machine For Premium Collection

In a big push to digital payment drive, LIC is planning to provide Point of Sale (PoS) machines to its lakhs of agents who collect around Rs 1.5 lakh crore premium annually. "As part of the strategy for the less cash economy, LIC is also gearing up for providing PoS machines to its few lakhs active agents initially so that premium collection can be done in digitally," a senior official said. The state-owned insurance behemoth is also looking at initiating Aadhaar-linked digital transactions, the official said, adding that this will help policy holders in the rural areas to avoid payment of premium in cash and cash handling burden of agents would come down significantly. To begin with, LIC plans to provide PoS machines to about 1.5 lakh agents that would be ramped up in the future,...

23Feb By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Uber Ties Up With Bangalore Metro

Global taxi-hailing platform Uber said it has partnered with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) across 12 metro stations to provide last mile connectivity to everyday commuters. Consumers can avail the service through exclusive Uber booking counters at metro stations, Uber said in a statement. It said Uber representatives will also be available at these counters to ensure metro commuters get a reliable and affordable ride to their next destination. Uber booking counters at Metro stations will be available by end of March 2017. "This partnership is a great example of how the public and private transport can work together and complement each other's strengths in order to help solve major issues that citizens face, in this case, last mile connectivity," Uber (Bengal...

15Feb By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Indian Government Approves Merger of 5 Associate Banks With SBI

The Cabinet today gave go-ahead to the merger of State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate lenders that would make the state-owned lender a global-sized bank. India's largest lender SBI had last month mooted the proposal for merger of its five subsidiary banks with itself and acquisition of the newly set up Bharatiya Mahila Bank. SBI has five associate lenders -- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad. "Kindly await a structured briefing on that," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said when asked if the Cabinet approved the merger of associate banks with the SBI. Meanwhile, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said, merger of SBI and its associate banks is a win-win for both the sides....

Facebook Nears 2 Billion Users Mark: Report

7Feb By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Facebook Nears 2 Billion Users Mark: Report

Popular social network Facebook is set to become the first 2 billion-user company this year, according to a media report which attributed its "impressive" user growth to "promotional data plans" from countries like India. Facebook had 1.86 billion monthly active users as of the end of 2016, up from 1.79 billion the previous quarter and 1.59 billion a year earlier, the company said in its fourth quarter earnings report. Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said Facebook added more users this quarter compared to a year earlier than any quarter since the company went public in 2012. Wehner attributed the "impressive" user growth to "promotional data plans" from third parties in countries like India as well as Internet.org, Facebook's free stripped-down Internet offering in developing...

No Decision Yet on Apple’s Demand For Concessions: DIPP

6Feb By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

No Decision Yet on Apple’s Demand For Concessions: DIPP

The government has not taken a final decision yet on the concessions being sought by US iPhone maker Apple for setting up a manufacturing unit in India, a top official said today. Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek said that Apple has submitted certain demands for the government's consideration. "We had a meeting of all the concerned ministries and departments (on those demands) and we have asked them to look at those issues and take a view. No ministry has yet taken a final decision on any of those. But we are in touch with them," Abhishek told reporters here. He said the government supports all manufacturing, including value manufacturing, in the country by companies. "So we would definitely like to promote this. So we are coord...

Digital Advertising to Cross Rs 255 Billion Mark in 2020: Report

31Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Digital Advertising to Cross Rs 255 Billion Mark in 2020: Report

Digital advertising in the country is expected to cross the Rs 255 billion mark in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 33.5 per cent, a CII-KPMG report said. According to industry estimates, digital advertising in the country is projected to be at Rs 7,044 crore by end of 2016. "India is one of the fastest growing advertising markets globally with an estimated growth of 15.5 per cent in 2016, driven by a large consumer base and a burgeoning e-commerce industry". "Although the share of digital advertising spend remains low at 12.7 per cent in 2016, it is one of the fastest growing mediums at an expected CAGR of 33.5 per cent (2015- 2020) to cross Rs 255 billion in 2020," said the Digitisation to Drive Marketing Strategies: CII-KPMG report. It noted that of the total digital advertisement sp...

India Post Gets Payments Bank Licence to Start Services

28Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

India Post Gets Payments Bank Licence to Start Services

India Post has received payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India to start rollout of banking operations commercially under the permit. "India Post has received payments bank licence. The service will be launched as per schedule," a Department of Posts official said. India Post Payments Bank is the third entity to receive payments bank permit after Bharti Airtel and Paytm. Payments banks can accept deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per account from individuals and small businesses. The new model of banking allows mobile firms, supermarket chains and others to cater to banking requirements of individuals and small businesses. It will be set up as a differentiated bank and will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and oth...

Amazon Told to Respect Indian Sensitivities: MEA

19Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Amazon Told to Respect Indian Sensitivities: MEA

After the Indian flag incident, e-commerce retailer Amazon has been conveyed that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments, the External Affairs Ministry said today. MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said Amazon has also removed "offending items" like flip-flops and dog tags with Mahatma Gandhi's image. "Our Ambassador in Washington had been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments. We have been in touch with Amazon both in Washington as well as in Delhi and we have had constructive conversations," he said. Asked about sale of flip-flops and dog tags with Mahatma Gandhi's image on Amazon website, he added, "I am ...

When Taj and Oberoi Hotels Worked Together to Host a Wedding!!

16Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INSPIRATIONAL

When Taj and Oberoi Hotels Worked Together to Host a Wedding!!

A wedding dinner scheduled at the renovated Taj hotel in Mumbai shortly after 26/11 had to be shifted at the eleventh hour despite the food being ready to the Oberoi hostel due to a fire, making it a rare occasion when the two business rivals worked together. Karambir Kang, the then GM of Taj Mahal Mumbai, called it a truly win-win situation - victory for Taj because the guest's function was honoured and victory for Oberoi because it had played the Good Samaritan to its senior competitor and emerged in a very positive light. This incident finds mention in the book "Win-Win Corporations", written by Shashank Shah of Harvard University South Asia Institute and published by Penguin Random House. This bonhomie is, however, not new to the Tata Group, the author says. "In 1970, JRD Tata...