India | Pixr8 News

18Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Indian Companies to Double Tech Hiring this New Year

The Indian companies are stepping up and hiring technology talent this New Year. This is basically because digital will play an important role for many of the businesses as they gear up for disruption. According to the reports, the hiring of digital and technology talent will double in the year ahead as businesses transform, customer needs change and newer technologies come into play. Sectors such as automobile, banking and financial services, consumer goods, manufacturing and pharmaceutical will contribute to the high demand for talent in the space of technology and digital. Automobile companies are at the forefront of industries that are witnessing an increased demand for talent in automation and digital space. “M&M is actively looking at hiring talent wi...

Demonetisation was Executed Poorly, Introduction of 2000 Notes was a bad idea: Uday Kotak

10Dec By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

Entrepreneurs Talk

Demonetisation was Executed Poorly, Introduction of 2000 Notes was a bad idea: Uday Kotak

Mumbai: Speaking at former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian's book launch, the MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank said that the outcome of the controversial demonetisation would have been "significantly better" if "simple things" like cancelling the introduction of higher denomination Rs 2,000 notes. The executive vice chairman and managing director of the fourth largest private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has also said small businesses are in a difficult situation at present and has welcomed the government focus to revive the sector. On demonetisation, he said the outcomes would have been different if it was planned well. "I think we would have had significantly better outcomes, if we had just thought about simple things. If you are taking out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, why w...

3Dec By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Indian govt & RBI may Allow use of QR code-based offline Aadhaar

The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are in talks to allow use of 'offline Aadhaar' that relies on QR codes. This would replace the biometric eKYC, for opening bank accounts, operating payment wallets and purchasing insurance covers. This particular move is significant as it will also benefit financial technology companies that have been prodding the government to amend the law to make Aadhaar mandatory. It's an option that the Centre has virtually ruled out for the moment. The SC has ruled that Aadhaar-based verification could not be done by private firms. Since the use of offline Aadhaar has to be facilitated by the RBI, the central bank needs to bring out a circular and has held two-three rounds of discussions with UIDAI. The court had ruled that Aadhaar could...

Ballooning United States Deficit is Good News for Indian Gold Investors

28Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Market

Ballooning United States Deficit is Good News for Indian Gold Investors

The United States federal deficit for October ballooned up to more than $100 billion, which is almost 58 percent more than the figures we had for last year. In October of 2017, the United States saw a monthly deficit of $63 billion, but the figures have gone even higher this year. The net spending by consumers in October rose by some 18 percent, whereas the receipts collected showed a meager increase of 7 percent. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that due to current ongoing projects, the federal deficit in the United States is expected to go up over the $1 trillion mark. Last time we saw the United States federal deficit cross the $1 trillion mark, gold prices made a massive jump to end at over $1,800 per ounce. Gold has not yet participated in this deficit, because ...

The EV Era: 25% Indian Vehicles to Turn Electric by 2023

28Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Story

The EV Era: 25% Indian Vehicles to Turn Electric by 2023

Electric vehicles have been getting a lot of hype in recent times, majorly because of the increasing pollution problems. An electric vehicle also called an EV, first came into existence in the mid-19th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion. Later in the 21st century, EVs saw a resurgence due to technological developments, and an increased focus on renewable energy. Government incentives to increase adoptions were introduced, including in the United States and the European Union. Now, in a bid to combat air pollution, the Delhi government has drafted a policy and proposed to make 25 percent of all vehicles to be electric by 2023. The draft named 'Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018' has been released by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delh...

28Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

Chinese Smartphone Brand Comio is Leaving India

One of the fastest growing Chinese smartphone brands in India known as Comio is reportedly quitting the Indian market. The basic reason behind the exit is that the company isn’t making money and its Chinese promoters aren’t infusing capital. "Chinese team members left India in the first week of November, 2018, abruptly and asked us from China to close the operations immediately. We have been regularly following up with them but not getting any satisfactory reply regarding settling pending issues in India,” TopWise Communications (which owns the Comio brand) India CEO Kalirona said. Also, the CEO stated that the company is trying to take legal and government authorities’ help to ensure “Chinese promoters settle each and everything and honour their commitment in India”. It was in Septem...

Music Streaming Service Spotify Launching in India Within 6 Months

28Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Tech

Music Streaming Service Spotify Launching in India Within 6 Months

The popular music streaming service Spotify will reportedly make its India debut in the next six months. The company says that they will offer an extended free trial period when it launches in the country. Spotify currently offers a 30 day trial to all its new customers across the world. This development comes after the Swedish company entered 13 Arab markets, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt earlier this month. The service is currently available in 78 markets across the world and has 83 million paying subscribers as of June this year. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had first announced plans to enter the India market in March, just prior to its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Also, Spotify had disclosed in its public offering filing that it has leas...

24Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

India to See Over 1 million Cloud Computing Job Roles by 2022

India is expected to see more than a million cloud computing job roles by 2022 as more organisations are shifting their operations to the cloud infrastructure. As the Indian cloud computing market, currently at $2.2 billion, is expected to grow to $4 billion by 2020 with an annual growth rate of more than 30%; IDC estimated more than one million new jobs to be created in India. Skills in DevOps, software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service, automation, agile and software-defined network are going to be critical for IT professionals to land these jobs. Keeping these skills in mind; the job profiles such as Cloud Architect, Cloud Software Engineer, Cloud Enterprise Architect and Cloud Infrastructure Engineer are in great demand, according to the report. Roles in cloud compu...

23Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Digital Lending in India Expected to Grow to $100 Billion by 2023

A joint study by Omidyar Network and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has reported that digital lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in India can grow upto 7 lakh crore by 2023, a 15x increase in annual disbursements. “As of 2018, most of the credit demand for $600 billion is being met through informal sources,” said Roopa Kudva, partner and managing director, India at Omidyar Network. “Digital lending has the potential to propel the productivity of India’s MSMEs, disrupt the status quo in financial services, and offer a meaningful market opportunity for both innovative startups as well as traditional lenders,” he added. India’s 60 million MSMEs - businesses with annual revenue up to Rs. 250 crore (approximately $35 million) –make an enormous contribution both to India’s...

India’s NSM Selects France-based Atos to Build the Supercomputer

22Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

India’s NSM Selects France-based Atos to Build the Supercomputer

France-based IT firm Atos has been chosen to build the supercomputers under India’s Rs 4500 crore National Supercomputing Mission (NSM). This is a three-year contract and Atos would be making use of its energy-efficient Direct Liquid Cooled BullSequana supercomputers. The tender to build these high-performance computers (HPC) had been floated by the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in February this year. It has been stated that the contract was for all three phases of the NSM which would be running simultaneously. “In Phase I, we will be assembling three supercomputers at an outlay of Rs 68 crore. In Phase II, it will be an aggregate of 10 petaflop, but the number of computers is yet to be decided,” Hemant Darbari, director-general, C-DAC said. Atos has a major pre...

22Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

INDIA

Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund to Open its India Office

Japan’s investment major Softbank investment Advisers, which invests through the SoftBank Vision Fund, is looking forward to deepening its play in India’s technology ecosystem, and thus, the company has announced plans to open an office in Mumbai in India. For this purpose, the company has even roped in Sumer Juneja to lead the same. Norwest Venture Partners’ Sumer Juneja would be joining SoftBank to lead its India investments. Juneja is joining the company after a 9-year stint at Norwest Venture Partners. He has also led and invested in deals like those in Swiggy, Komli Media and Quikr. “I’m delighted to welcome Sumer to the team; he will play a pivotal role in working with our existing portfolio companies as well as sourcing new opportunities on the ground. India represents an enor...

Google Neighbourly App to Launch in Other Indian Cities

21Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

Tech

Google Neighbourly App to Launch in Other Indian Cities

An Indian app that was created by Google known as Google Neighbourly which comes from the company's ambitious Next Billion Users team is now launching in other parts of India as well. The app was originally launched in Mumbai back in May and is aimed to offer a platform to help people source local information from their neighbours. While its debut was limited to Mumbai and Jaipur, the Neighbourly app reached Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Kota, Mysore, and Vizag in September. It is touted to have over 1.5 million downloads and half a million people on its waitlist. The Neighbourly app is now rolling out nationally starting with Bengaluru and Delhi that both topped the waitlist. Google is also in plans to add more cities on a daily basis and bring the app to Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune...