India | Pixr8 News

Government working to make start, exit easy for startups, says Nirmala Sitharaman

16Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Government working to make start, exit easy for startups, says Nirmala Sitharaman

The government is working to make it easy for budding entrepreneurs to start a business or exit from it, giving boost to the Indian startup ecosystem, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at Startup India Event. "I understand that starting a startup is as much important as somebody wants to exit from it. The government is working to make the exit also (easy)," Sitharaman said at the 'Startup India' conference. On the eve of #StartupIndia launch, here's a message from @CimGOI Smt. @nsitharaman . @standup_startup pic.twitter.com/FjplrmrqgI— CIM India@GOI (@CimGOI) January 15, 2016 She said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is working "hard" on the Bankruptcy Code. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, which seeks to provide an easy exit option for insolvent and sick compa...

ISB and NIT Graduates Startup HopCar to Connect Car Buyers to Sellers

15Jan By Sonia MotwaniNo Comments

Story

ISB and NIT Graduates Startup HopCar to Connect Car Buyers to Sellers

The second-hand car market in India is huge. Close to 3.5 million used cars are bought and sold every year, and that number is just going to increase to more than 10 million in the next five years. That means over 20 million customers will be engaged in this market, and all with an average transaction value of Rs 3Lakhs. Anish Karan, Rahul Thakur, Rahul Anand and Arijit Biswas decided to tap into this market and start up in June 2015 to capture a sizeable chunk of the market. “The market of second hand cars is complicated and there is absolutely no solution available, particularly for Peer-to-Peer transactions,” says Arijit Biswas, an ISB graduate. The company connects Buyers directly to Sellers assuring quality at accurate prices to help you effortlessly hop cars. “We thought the name Ho...

Jeff Bezos Shows as a Hindu God “Lord Vishnu” on Fortune Magazine Cover, Irks NRI

12Jan By NitishNo Comments

News

Jeff Bezos Shows as a Hindu God “Lord Vishnu” on Fortune Magazine Cover, Irks NRI

In latest issue of Fortune 500 magazine, Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO portrays as a Hindu god Vishnu on cover page. The move is highly criticized the Indian community in the US over “trivialisation of their venerated deity”. In International edition of the January issue, Fortune Magazine features a story about Amazon’s expansion in India. The titled is ‘Amazon Invades India’ and it explained about how Bezos “aims to conquer the next trillion-dollar market”. An illustration of the Amazon CEO striking a customary form of Vishnu can be seen on the cover. The Fortune cover page has been created by Sydney-based illustrator Nigel Buchanan. His clients include The Wall Street Journal, MTV, The New York Times, etc. Amazon entered Indian e-retail space around three years ago and since then has f...

The Online Jewellery trade in India. Challenges and Solutions

12Jan By No Comments

Story

The Online Jewellery trade in India. Challenges and Solutions

More than anywhere else in the world, India has had the largest culture of jewelry for hundreds of years. Jewelry, gold and precious stones are deeply rooted in the Indian tradition and go as far back as far as the start of the Indian civilization itself. Until today, jewelry in India is not simply an accessory or a show of status. Each piece, and every stone represents something deeply mystical, be it sacred planets or protection against evil spirits. For women across India, jewelry also often represents a form of financial security. Especially in Tier III cities where many women do not own a credit card or even a bank account, jewelry can be a symbol of independence. While an emerging market of online jewelry sales is surging, displaying rapid growth in the last 5 years, traditional...

India’s Leading Taxi Aggregator Platform Ola has Launched ‘Ola Corporate’

11Jan By AdityaNo Comments

News

India’s Leading Taxi Aggregator Platform Ola has Launched ‘Ola Corporate’

India's leading taxi aggregator platform Ola has launched 'Ola Corporate', an enterprise solution for India Inc. Claiming to transform the way India Inc travels, the company said 'Ola Corporate' would make rides available at a fraction of cost as against the existing scheduled corporate travel options, along with benefits of a centralised, paperless billing system. 'Ola Corporate' offers enterprise customers, the flexibility and ease of hailing an Ola as and when required for business and pay from their company's centralised pre-paid account, it said in a release. Centralised billing makes the entire process of applying for transport reimbursements redundant for corporate travellers and organisations resulting in improved business productivity, it added. Fares for Ola Corpora...

Will take structured view on net neutrality: Ravi Shankar Prasad

10Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Will take structured view on net neutrality: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Asserting the government's stand on non-discriminatory access to internet, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday said the issue of net neutrality is being debated by Trai and its report is awaited, following which a final view will be taken. "The issue of net neutrality is being debated by the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and we have to await the Trai report. Thereafter, the government will take its structured view," Prasad told reporters here. Amid a raging debate on providing equal internet access to all, the government had last year set up an expert panel to look into the issues of net neutrality. Net neutrality implies that equal treatment be accorded to all internet traffic and no priority be given to an entity or company based on payment to content o...

Facebook has blocked some of our ads: Hike Messenger

10Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Facebook has blocked some of our ads: Hike Messenger

New Delhi, Jan 10: Home-grown Hike Messenger has accused Facebook of blocking an option in its advertisements which lets people visit the chatting application’s website. Run by Kavin Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal, Hike competes with Facebook-owned WhatsApp. Hike is owned by a joint venture of Bharti and Japan’s Softbank.”Advertisers have, among other options, the option to ‘Send people to your website’. A few weeks back we were suddenly blocked from using this option, while we were able to use other non action-led options,” a Hike spokesperson told. The spokesperson further added that initially, they assumed it was a technical glitch, but when the team wrote to Facebook, the social networking giant said Hike will not be able to run the ads. “There are specific ...

Netflix India Expansion is Evolutionary not Revolutionary

9Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Netflix India Expansion is Evolutionary not Revolutionary

The entry of streaming pioneer Netflix in India is evolutionary in nature though its inaugural price is a bit on the higher side for what it offers, a leading US expert has said. "I would say that the current price is a bit on the high side for what Netflix offers currently and it will have to keep increasing content quantity and quality over time to justify the price point," said Puneet Manchanda, a professor of marketing at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. His areas of expertise are business in emerging markets, business in India and strategy and marketing issues. Netflix's global expansion is driven by three forces, he said. First, Netflix needs to convince investors that it can keep growing. With the broadband market size outside the US about...

DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant to take over as Niti Aayog CEO

8Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant to take over as Niti Aayog CEO

Amitabh Kant, secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, was on Thursday appointed as the chief executive officer of Niti Aayog. He will take over the new job after his retirement, next month-end. The competent authority has approved the appointment of Kant, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, as CEO of Niti Aayog, after his superannuation in February-end, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said. “The terms and conditions of his appointment as CEO, Niti Aayog will be conveyed in due course,” it said. 59-year-old Kant has been appointed in place of former IAS officer Sindhushree Khullar, who was appointed as the first CEO of the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog, a body that has replaced Planning Commission, ...

Netflix launches in India, plans start at 500 rupees

6Jan By AdityaNo Comments

News

Netflix launches in India, plans start at 500 rupees

Netflix Inc launched operations in India on Wednesday, with plans starting at 500 rupees ($7.50) per month, as the U.S.-based video streaming company pushes ahead with its global expansion plans. The company's shares were up 5.5 percent at $113.60 in early afternoon trading. The move confirmed months of speculation on the launch of the service in the second-most populous country in the world. The company will also offer two other plans priced at 650 rupees and 800 rupees, it announced on its website. (nflx.it/1IyMY2e) Netflix is aggressively moving into new markets and aims to reach 200 countries by the end of 2016, as slowing domestic growth puts pressure on the company. Users can access Netflix through an app on a smart TV, a videogame console, a streaming player, a sm...

Uber Announces Start-up Mentorship Programme ‘UberEXCHANGE’

6Jan By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA, News

Uber Announces Start-up Mentorship Programme ‘UberEXCHANGE’

Taxi-hailing app Uber on Monday announced a new start-up mentorship programme in the country in partnership with Invest India called 'uberEXCHANGE'. Over the next years, Uber will host a series of six leadership talks by senior Uber executives, including from their headquarters in San Francisco, the company said in a statement. The programme will address issues that entrepreneurs face, like fund-raising, product design, engineering and how to scale up a business. At the end of the programme, the top 10 start-ups will travel to San Francisco, where they will be introduced to global investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the team at Uber, it said. This public-private initiative will enable students, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn from each other, helping to create a culture t...

Travis Kalanick (Uber, Founder) Will Attend Modi’s Startup India Event

6Jan By AdityaNo Comments

INDIA, News

Travis Kalanick (Uber, Founder) Will Attend Modi’s Startup India Event

New Delhi: Investment firm SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son, taxi-hailing service Uber’s founder Travis Kalanick and collaborative workspace provider WeWork’s founder Adam Neumann will attend the government’s Start-up India event next week, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil an action plan to assist early-stage companies. The event will be attended by around 40 innovators, venture capitalists and angel investors from Silicon Valley along with 1,500 founders of start-ups from across the country. On 27 December, in his Mann Ki Baat radio programme, Modi said the government was going to announce details of the Start-up India event, to be held on 16 January. Considering the importance of the event to the promotion of start-up culture in the country, it will be ...