Sunday, November 24

Tag: India

DIPP to Hire Consultants to Push Startup India
News

DIPP to Hire Consultants to Push Startup India

The commerce and industry ministry is looking to engage consultants to promote the government's Startup India campaign for budding entrepreneurs. The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), under the ministry, has issued an advertisement for engaging a senior consultant and two consultants for the Startup India initiative. It has invited applications from eligible candidates for "engagement as senior consultant/consultant on contractual basis." It said the job responsibilities for the senior consultant include assessment of the existing startup ecosystem in the country, identifying the national and international best practices, making recommendations to facilitate growth of startups and monitoring implementation of action plans, schemes and programmes. Those of th...
Indonesia Based GO-JEK Acquires Bangalore Based Startup Pianta
ACQUISITION

Indonesia Based GO-JEK Acquires Bangalore Based Startup Pianta

Indonesia's based food and grocery delivery startup GO-JEK has acquired Bangalore based Pianta, a marketplace for home healthcare services, for an undisclosed sum. Post the acquisition, Pianta's eight member team will merge with GO-JEK's engineering centre in Bangalore. Founded in 2010, GO-JEK has over two lakh motorbike taxis, known as "ojeks" in its fleet. Since then, the company has diversified into food, grocery and even courier delivery services. GO-JEK raised $550 million in 2016 from the likes of KKR, Warburg Pincus, Farallon Capital and Capital Group Private Markets. In India, GO-JEK doesn't have any services but has an engineering centre in Bangalore where it employs 60 people."Pianta's core team comes from Ola and Flipkart and their expertise in the logistics and payments s...
IIT Guwahati Gets State-of-The-Art Supercomputer “Param-Ishan”
INDIA

IIT Guwahati Gets State-of-The-Art Supercomputer “Param-Ishan”

A state-of-the-art supercomputer, Param-Ishan, was today unveiled in IIT Guwahati by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, as the government looks to give a push to research and innovation in Indian institutions. "It is a one of the glad moments to have the fastest and most powerful computer in northeastern, eastern and southern regions," Javadekar said after the launch. Calling IITs "modern temples for development", Javadekar said a nations potential for growth is evaluated on the quality of its research and development. Several technology areas will be positively affected through the introduction of the new supercomputer, he said. Officials said several institutions in the country will get supercomputers in the near future to boost innovation and research. "While some institutions ...
India Lays Foundation For a Fintech Revolution
BLOGS

India Lays Foundation For a Fintech Revolution

India is setting a new global standard in fintech. A new instant online payments system, tied to national biometric identity data, launched in recent weeks. Together with an explosion in smartphone usage, this could help the world’s fastest-growing large economy skip traditional financial infrastructure like cash machines, debit cards and point-of-sales machines – speeding up a move to a cashless economy. The so-called “Unified Payment Interface” is unlike anything available in China or the United States. It enables secure, real-time transfers from one person to another, or to a company. UPI enables individuals and businesses to manage money held across multiple accounts at various banks through a single mobile application – and not one that necessarily belongs to the customer’s own ban...
PayU Acquires Indian Payments Technology Citrus Pay For $130 Million
ACQUISITION

PayU Acquires Indian Payments Technology Citrus Pay For $130 Million

PayU, a global online payment service provider has acquired Indian payments technology Citrus Pay for $130 million in an all-cash deal, a joint-statement said here on Wednesday. The agreement is due to close in the third quarter of 2016. The statement described $130 million transaction as the largest ever merger and acquisition cash deal in the Indian fintech sector. "Today's announcement is a significant milestone for both businesses, as well as the fintech industry in India. It is exciting for everyone across the PayU and Citrus teams as we bring together new capabilities that will help us to better serve our collective clients." said Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU. The deal will grow PayU India customers to more than 30 million, processing a forecasted 150 million trans...
Startup Chhattisgarh Launched For Boosting Entrepreneurship
INDIA

Startup Chhattisgarh Launched For Boosting Entrepreneurship

To give a fillip to Prime Ministers vision of Startup India, the state government today launched Startup Chhattisgarh initiative here to foster entrepreneurship and promote innovation. Youths have no dearth of ideas. Lots of creative ideas take shape in their mind. They should convert them into business ideas according to the need of market to provide facilities to people at lower rates in a convenient manner," Chief Minister Raman Singh said after the event. "They need to be fearless to bring their ideas into commercial products," he said. The function was held at Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Professional Management & Technology in Sejbahar area, which was attended by a large number of entrepreneurs and youths. As part of the initiative, 14 special camps will be set up in ...
LinkedIn Launched Mobile Lite Version For Indian Users
News

LinkedIn Launched Mobile Lite Version For Indian Users

Professional networking site LinkedIn today launched a lighter version of its mobile website and other products as part of its efforts to tap into students and young professionals beyond the metros in India. The company has followed the footsteps of Facebook, which picked up India as a testbed for the lighter version of its app. The lighter versions are designed to work on slow and often patchy telecom networks in the country. India, which has 37 million LinkedIn members, is the second largest userbase for the US-based company after its home market. "We are deeply focused on localising our products and services to create much value for Indian members and customers," LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner told reporters here. Lite version loads four times faster and provides a better experience t...
Indias IT Exports Revenue Growth Will 9-10% This Fiscal: T V Mohandas Pai
Entrepreneurs Talk

Indias IT Exports Revenue Growth Will 9-10% This Fiscal: T V Mohandas Pai

The revenue growth of Indian IT exports this fiscal is likely to be slower than industry body Nasscoms projection of 10-12 per cent, according to industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai. "The figures could be lower than what Nasscom has said. But its still (expected to) be good figures. They forecast 10 to 12 per cent, I would say 9 to 10 per cent is something that could be more reasonable because we already have seen in the first quarter some companies not meeting numbers...second quarter, some companies going quiet. So, 9 to 10 per cent is reasonable," the former Board member at Infosys said. A clear picture would emerge after companies announce results for the September quarter, which is generally good for them. "Europe is beginning to look better. Brexit has hurt the UK. America... we h...
$10 Billion Deal- Two Indian Brothers in Talk With Chinese Company For Server Deal
ACQUISITION

$10 Billion Deal- Two Indian Brothers in Talk With Chinese Company For Server Deal

Two Indian-origin brothers, who were declared as Britain's richest family this year, were today said to be close to clinching a whopping 5 billion pound deal to sell a stake in one of the worlds biggest computer hosting networks to a Chinese consortium. Mumbai-born brothers - David and Simon Reuben - are in advanced talks to sell half of their UK based company Global Switch, which runs data centres in locations ranging from London to Hong Kong and Singapore, according to The Sunday Times. Global Switch's two centres in Canary Wharf, east London, are together the biggest in Europe. They manage servers for a range of Wall Street banks and Sprint, the US wireless internet provider. The Chinese consortium is led by Daily Tech, a data centre giant run by its founder Li Qiang. Daily Tec...
Finance Ministry Will Challenge Delhi High Court Order to Refund The Service Tax of Travel Portals MakeMyTrip, Ibibo and Ebiz
INDIA, News

Finance Ministry Will Challenge Delhi High Court Order to Refund The Service Tax of Travel Portals MakeMyTrip, Ibibo and Ebiz

A recent High Court verdict directing the central revenue authorities to refund service tax collected from three travel portals including MakeMyTrip may be challenged in Supreme Court by the government. Officials sources today said legal experts are going through the High Court order and an appeal challenging the verdict is likely to be filed in Supreme Court. Delhi High Court had on Thursday ordered Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), an intelligence arm under the Finance Ministry to refund the service tax collected from travel portals-- MakeMyTrip, Ibibo and Ebiz, saying the payment made by them "was not voluntary but under coercion and duress". The court had also pulled up the DGCEI for "unwarranted" arrest of a senior official each from MakeMyTrip and Ebi...
There Should be One Policy For Retail Business and E-commerce, Says Amitabh Kant
INDIA

There Should be One Policy For Retail Business and E-commerce, Says Amitabh Kant

(Pic Source: Gaurav Munjal, Unacademy co-founder Facebook profile) India is the only country where there are different policies for different segments of the retail business and e-commerce. Logically, there should be one policy, said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, while interacting with CEOs at the Valedictory Session of the sixth edition of Massmerize 2016, FICCI’s annual flagship Retail, FMCG and E-Commerce Convention. He said that in today’s globalized world, it has become essential for India to become a part of the global supply chain. For this, India has opened up its economy and liberalized the FDI regime. Now India features as the number one nation in attracting FDI, which has given the country access to latest technology, global best practices and global innovations. Kant ...