Forbes India Daily Tech Brief Podcast
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HCL Tech launches climate change learning for employees; Pixxel's third satellite to launch on November 26
India has released a framework to curb fake and misleading reviews on ecommerce platforms and portals offering tour and travel services, restaurants, eateries and consumer durables, TechCrunch reports. HCL Technologies is launching a climate change course to get its 220,000-strong workforce to reduce its carbon footprint. And hyperspectral imaging satellites company Pixxel plans to send its next satellite up on an ISRO PSLV later this week
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India releases data protection bill for feedback; Target 10,000 deep tech startups by 2030 — Nasscom
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has released a draft bill, titled 'The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022' for public feedback. The last date to provide feedback, via the ministry's website, is Dec. 17. This brings India a step closer to formulating rules that will govern the individual rights of the 'digital citizen' and the need to process data for lawful purposes. And deep tech startups in the country need much more money at various levels to thrive, Debjani Ghosh, president of Nasscom, India's main tech lobby, said last
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India rises in climate performance rankings; Meta names Sandhya Devanathan as VP for India
India ranked eighth on the annual climate change performance index, jumping two positions since last year, Carbon Copy reports. India is among the high-performing countries in the index, preceded by Denmark, Sweden, Chile, and Morocco, while the first three positions for "very high" performance remained empty, according to the report. And Meta Platforms is appointing Sandhya Devanathan — with 22 years in the industry with multinational experience from finance to gaming — as the Vice President of Meta India.
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Tatas to employ 60,000 at iPhone plant; SoftBank to sell partial stake in Paytm — report; Microsoft, NVIDIA team up on supercomputer
Tata group's iPhone components factory in Hosur, near Bengaluru, is set to employ 60,000 workers, with a large proportion being women, Press Trust of India reports, citing Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. SoftBank Group is set to sell part of its 12.9 percent stake in Paytm in a transaction that will fetch the Japanese telecom and internet investor at least $200 million, Mint reports. And Microsoft and NVIDIA have teamed up to build a supercomputer to train AI models
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TCS to add airline digital centre in Portugal; Google adds UPI Autopay on Play; ContentStack raises $80 mln
Tata Consultancy Services has won a contract from TAP Air Portugal to modernise the airline's IT systems and business processes to improve customer experience, as part of which it will establish a digital centre for innovation that will eventually serve other airlines in the region as well. Google has added UPI Autopay as a payments option for subscriptions on its Play app store. And content management system provider ContentStack nearly doubles its funding
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Amazon to layoff 10,000 staff — report; Adani a step closer to acquiring NDTV; LTI, Mindtree merger approved
Amazon plans to lay off approximately 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as early as this week, in what would be the largest job cut in the company's history, New York Times reports, citing people who know about the plan. Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate has received the go-ahead for an open offer for broadcaster NDTV's shares. And LTI and Mindtree became LTIMindtree, India's fifth biggest IT company by market cap, yesterday
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India's IT Minister to crypto startups: 'Innovate but respect our forex laws'; Lentra raises $60 mln
Crypto startups in India are not barred from any innovation but must adhere to the country's laws on foreign exchange, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Inc42 in an interview, according to a report from the startup news and analysis site. And SaaS action continues in India, with Lentra raising $60 million in Series B funding that includes Citi Ventures's first investment in an Indian fintech company, valuing the Mumbai startup developing AI-based embedded finance solutions at more than $400 million, TechCrunch reports
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Sequoia writes off FTX investment; Netcore delays IPO; Amagi raises $100 mln from GA; TCS to add 1200 jobs in Illinois
Netcore Cloud, a marketing technologies provider and one of India's biggest SaaS companies, has put off its initial public offering, Economic Times reports, citing founder and group managing director Rajesh Jain. Amagi, a media tech SaaS company in Bengaluru, shows that an 'up round' is possible even in current macro conditions. And Sequoia burns but the tip of its pinkie as another high-flying crypto company comes crashing down
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Skyroot's Vikram-S, India's first private space launch vehicle, set to launch soon; Meta lays off 11,000 employees
India's first privately developed rocket (Vikram-S) is undergoing final preparations at the ISRO's launchpad in Sriharikota, ahead of a launch likely as early as this weekend. The mission named 'Prarambh' (beginning) was unveiled by ISRO Chairman, S. Somanath in Bengaluru on Nov. 7, after the technical launch clearance from the Space regulator IN-SPACe. The rocket is set to carry two payloads from India, and one from an overseas customer. And Facebook parent Meta Platforms is laying off 13 percent of its staff worldwide
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Zoho hits $1 bln revenue, to invest more in AI, blockchain; Merak, Huddle announce India climate tech accelerator
One of the latest climate finance initiatives in India comes from Merak Ventures, a venture capital firm, and Huddle, an accelerator-led fund that have teamed up to launch ClimAct — a Climate Tech accelerator programme for startups in India. The programme will back startups in India in agriculture wastage and supply chain efficiency, mobility and transport, climate finance, carbon accounting and sequestration, and digital solutions. And Indian SaaS icon Zoho announces expansion plans, crossing $1 billion in annual revenue
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'Climate solidarity or collective suicide — you decide,' says UN Chief, calls on US, China to jump-start action
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned world leaders at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt that humanity will have to urgently work together or face annihilation, in the fight against global warming. In particular, the US and China must join forces to make a "historic" pact happen between rich emitters and emerging to hold the rise in temperatures to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era that most experts believe today is a lost cause without drastic action