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13May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

India Has Tools To Tackle iPhone Encryption: Ravi Shankar Prasad

As Apple slugs it out with FBI on privacy issues, Indian govt has said strong encryption technology to secure data and communications in smartphones, including those made by the US-based firm, is a challenge for law enforcement agencies. It said however that a tool for mobile forensics has been developed to handle smartphones including Apple. "Smartphones including phones by Apple employ strong encryption to secure the data stored and to protect the communication. Such Encryption technologies pose challenges to Law Enforcement Agencies throughout the world including India,"telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha. He said the government has taken note of media reports about the dispute between the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and App...

Invested $300 Million in Supply Chain, Logistics in 18 Months: Snapdeal

13May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Invested $300 Million in Supply Chain, Logistics in 18 Months: Snapdeal

E-commerce major Snapdeal has pumped in $300 million (about Rs 1,990 crore) over the last 18 months to strengthen its supply chain and logistics and facilitate the increase in shipment volumes. The city-based firm has seen 1.9 times increase in shipment volumes from 1.29 lakh daily shipments last year to 2.5 lakh this year. "We have seen a significant increase of 1.9 times in shipment volumes. This is on account of increase in assortment on Snapdeal from 12 million to 35 million over the year. We have also expanded our seller base which helped increase shipments," Snapdeal Chief Customer Experience Officer Jayant Sood told PTI. He added that reports by PwC and RedSeer Consulting suggest that Snapdeal's promised delivery time is the shortest across India. "The number of sell...

SoftBank’s Profit Drops, But India Investments Show Traction

11May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

BUSINESS

SoftBank’s Profit Drops, But India Investments Show Traction

Japanese telecom giant SoftBank today said its investee companies in India - Snapdeal, Oyo Rooms, Ola and Hike - saw good traction even though its own profits dropped 27 percent for the fiscal ended March. SoftBank's sales for 2015-16 totalled 9.15 trillion yen ($84 billion), up nearly 8 percent from the previous financial year. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said the Indian companies in which SoftBank has invested are growing, which include games, online messenger, and retail businesses. According to the investor presentation, e-commerce major Snapdeal saw the value of merchandise (GMV) sold through its platform rise 90 per cent in 2015-16 over the previous fiscal. "Repeat purchase rates increasing...Investing in supply chain technology... (Freecharge is) the fastest-growing di...

10May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

UAE-Based Indian Firms To Invest USD 3.6 Billion In UP

DUBAI: Five leading Indian-owned businesses in the UAE will invest over USD 3.68 billion in infrastructure and industrial development initiatives in Uttar Pradesh after an MoU was signed in this regard during an investment forum held in Dubai. The move comes after UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had launched an ambitious programme to boost all-round development of the state by attracting NRI investments from across the globe, especially from the Middle East. The UAE-based Indian companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government which was represented by a high-level delegation of officials who visited the UAE on Thursday. The names of the investors will be announced by the UP government in the coming weeks. The companies pledged to invest in the state's ...

10May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Delhi Metro Train Maker Bombardier is Eyeing Up to $1 Billion Business From India

Banking big on the governments thrust to boost infrastructure, global transportation player Bombardier is eyeing up to USD 1 billion business from India in the next five years from USD 300 million, at present, its chief Laurent Troger has said. Bombardier counts India among top markets for its railway business and has invested over USD 100 million in the past two decades. The firm is also a collaborator in the governments ambitious Make in India drive and is the largest supplier of the Delhi Metro. "We expect that in five years we will double our business in India. We can reach between USD 700 million and USD 1 billion... India, in the overall landscape of Bombardier Transportation, is a significant country. The climate now is very favourable, if we look for investment," Bombardi...

Not Fully Giving Lower Fuel Cost Benefits To Customers: IndiGo

10May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Not Fully Giving Lower Fuel Cost Benefits To Customers: IndiGo

Amid rising concerns over higher airfares despite fall in oil prices, no-frills airline IndiGo has acknowledged that it is not "passing on all" the benefits accruing from lower fuel costs to the customers. The steep fall in international crude oil prices in recent times has provided a boost for airlines as ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) costs account for over 40 percent of a carrier's total operating costs. IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh said the airline continues to use the low-cost fuel opportunity to lower fares and register strong increases in passenger numbers. However, the full benefits of fall in fuel prices are not passed on to the customers, he said. "If you look at fourth quarter (January-March 2015-16), then fuel prices came down 29.5 percent whereas the a...

Banks Should Provide Hassle-Free Services to Start-Ups in J&K’

9May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Banks Should Provide Hassle-Free Services to Start-Ups in J&K’

The banking sector in Jammu and Kashmir should create entrepreneurship culture in the state by providing hassle-free services to start-ups, Union minister Kalraj Mishra said. Speaking at a daylong workshop on Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) said banks should be customer-friendly by providing hassle-free services to entrepreneurs on priority basis. "Banks should not add to their (entrepreneurs) worries. They should be given free hand in choosing their trades. The financial institutions should professionally perform their job, but dispose of cases on priority. You should be customer-friendly and create entrepreneurship culture by providing hassle-free services to the start-ups," Mishra said. The...

United Payments System To Make Mobile Wallets Redundant: Report

9May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

United Payments System To Make Mobile Wallets Redundant: Report

Ongoing push by the Reserve Bank of India to revolutionize banking through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will leave mobile wallets redundant, as mobile banking has jumped over three-fold in February from the year-ago period, according to a report. The report by city-based Centrum Broking stated that mobile wallet services like SBI's Buddy, ICICI Bank's Pockets, HDFC Bank's Chillr and standalone operator Paytm will be redundant with the massive adoption of the UPI. "Mobile banking has taken the country by storm, growing by 212 per cent growth in value terms in February 2016 over the same period in 2015 and by 131 per cent in volume." "If the UPI adoption continues mobile wallets like SBI's Buddy, ICICI Bank's Pockets, HDFC Bank's Chillr and Paytm will be redundant," a Cen...

5May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

India to cross 500 million Internet users this year: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The number of Internet users in the country is likely to reach 500 million this year, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today. "India has grown to around 400 million Internet users. If we take Trai numbers then it is somewhere close to 332 million. As per service providers, they were telling me that up to date it is 402 million. We were to have 500 million users by 2017, I feel it will happen this year itself," Prasad said while launching Digital Desh Drive 2. India has now over 100 crore mobile subscribers, he added. As per the official data shared by him in Lok Sabha today, the total mobile subscriber base at the end of February has 98.2 crore GSM mobile users and 4.45 crore subscribers on CDMA network. ALSO WATCH: Live Coverage of Digital Desh 2.0 – An Introducti...

Kishore Biyani Resigns as Managing Director of Future Retail

3May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Kishore Biyani Resigns as Managing Director of Future Retail

New Delhi: In the latest, Kishore Biyani, Future group chairman stepped down from the position of Managing Director of Future Retail. The decision is part of the realignment strategy of the group's business. The resignations would be effective from May 1, 2016, Future Retail said in a BSE filing. ALSO READ: Kishore Biyani Acquires FabFurnish.com; Eyes Expansion in 100 cities Besides, Rakesh Biyani has also resigned from the post of Joint Managing Director as well as Director of the company as part of a restructuring to execute the merger Bharti Retail with the company announced last year. However, Kishore Biyani would continue to hold office as non-executive director of Future Retail Ltd, it added.

Indian Executives Open to Working With Startups: Survey

1May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

ANALYSIS

Indian Executives Open to Working With Startups: Survey

A half of Indian executives polled are open to work with start-ups as partnering with new-age companies bring in agile and innovative methods, says a survey. However, the other half is still sceptical about working with a start-up, according to annual EY-CIO Klub's Enterprise IT trends and investment survey titled 'the startup gene: a way forward'. The survey, which revolves around the idea of the startup gene, noted that the CIOs of the country can benefit from partnerships with start-ups and by imbibing the attitude of start-up entrepreneurs. About a half of 294 Chief Information Officers (CIOs) polled have shown faith in implementing start-up practices to get their work done. This was supplemented by the fact that 30 percent of the respondents were aligned towards 'Do It For...

Uttar Pradesh Rolls Out Major Incentives to Boost Startups

29Apr By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Uttar Pradesh Rolls Out Major Incentives to Boost Startups

In a bid to boost startups, particularly in the information technology sector, the Uttar Pradesh government has waived off the stamp duty on land purchased for building offices or built-up offices, an official said on Friday. This has been done under the IT and StartUp Policy-2016 rolled out by the Akhilesh Yadav government. However, the government has put a rider that these units getting exemptions must commence their operations within the next three years. Similarly, the electricity duty for these units has been waived off for almost five years. It has also been decided to provide grants to these units to contribute to the employees' provident fund.