VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“RJIL”) has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of specified assets of Reliance Communications Limited (“RCOM”) and its affiliates. The acquisition is subject to receipt of requisite approvals from the Governmental and regulatory authorities, consents from all lenders, release of all encumbrances on the said assets and other conditions precedent. The consideration is payable on completion and is subject to adjustments as specified in the agreement. An asset monetization process for RCOM assets was mandated by the lenders of RCOM, who appointed SBI Capital Markets Limited to run the process. The process is supervised by an independent group of distinguished industry experts. RJIL emerged as the successful bidder in the two-stage bidding process.... Read More

Bitcoin or virtual currencies (VC) has grown to 20-fold rise to reach new high to 3000% this year. It is like the elephant in the room, a lot of people don’t want to talk about it because they have invested in it. Bitcoin does not have a legal status as a currency in most of the world, and authorities usually do not know how best to approach thefts. Some larger exchanges have replaced customer funds after a theft from the exchange itself, but at this stage they are not legally obliged to do so. The entire process works with blockchain, which is a record of all transactions on a decentralised network of computers across the world. Bitcoin going Mainstream… Bitcoin has provoked gambling. Bitcoin is a decentralized global digital currency that runs on a peer-to-peer network called the blockchain. It was launched in 2009 by a person or group of people operating under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The currency obeys its own internal logic. Bitcoin has hit a tipping point ...

In the wake of the current consolidation in the telecom industry, while also the Vodafone-Idea merger and sector-wide financial stress, Huawei Technologies has brought down its direct workforce in India by almost a third. The economic stress caused in the sector after the disruption caused by billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio's entry, and the amalgamation between Vodafone and Idea have proved to be a double setback for the network vendor's workforce. A company source said, on the condition of anonymity said, that there has been a job cut since early this year with nearly 30% of the employees having now gone out of the company, while some of them who were in the field teams have been rehired on a contractual basis. The employees were asked to leave on the basis of performance, network shutdowns and declining telco business, the source added...... Read More

Vodafone has confirmed the rollout of its VoLTE services beginning January 2018. In the first phase, Vodafone VoLTE service will be available in Mumbai, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, and Kolkata and will be extended across the country in a short time. Vodafone’s VoLTE services will allow Vodafone SuperNet 4G customers to experience HD quality crystal-clear voice with super call connect time. Vodafone 4G customers will experience VoLTE at no additional charges. All they need is a handset supporting Vodafone VoLTE and a 4G SIM. Announcing Vodafone VoLTE service, Sunil Sood, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone India, said, “Vodafone is getting Future Ready with the advent of newer technologies and digital services. The introduction of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) will enhance customer experience with HD quality calling and offer our customers newer possibilities. Vodafone VoLTE is an important step towards introducing futuristic technology enhancing our Data S...

Post the raise on import duty on smartphones, the price of almost every iPhone model that Apple sells in India has gone up by Rs.3,720. The move to increase customs duty was announced to promote domestic manufacturers and give an impetus to Modi government's ambitious “Make-in-India” initiative. From the earlier 10 per cent, the government had increased import taxes on smartphones to 15 per cent. Other electronic items to get a tax hike included television sets, projectors, and water heaters which saw 5-10 per cent increase in basic customs duty. Apple was expected to increase the prices of iPhones in India soon after the customs duty hike, as it imports them for sale in India. According to updated prices on Apple India's website, the 256GB version of iPhone X has been raised by Rs.3,720 to Rs.1,05,720. Similarly, consumers will have to shell out Rs.88,750 for the 256GB variant of iPhone 8 Plus after an increase.... Read More

Wipro has announced an investment of $2.05 million in a US-based data management software startup, Imanis Data (formerly Talena). It is reported that the company has made a strategic investment of $2.05 million in this tranche, taking the total investment to$4.05 million. The transaction has been done through cash and note conversation, the company said in a stock-exchange disclosure. Wipro released that it has acquired minority stake of less than 20% on a fully diluted basis. Imanis was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Delaware, US.... Read More

The founder of debt-laden tech conglomerate LeEco is facing yet another setback and this time from the China Securities Regulatory Commission Beijing branch. Jia Yueting has been ordered by the Security Commission to return to the country by the end of this month and deal with the company’s debts. The CSRC in its letter on Monday said that its failure to repay debts is “a serious violation of the legal rights and interests of listed companies and the interests of investors, with an extremely negative social impact”.  Shares of LeEco’s parent company, Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp., were traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange until April, but trading soon halted allowing the company to review a restructuring plan.  Leshi was launched in 2004 by Jia as a video streaming service. In 2016, it embarked on an ambitious expansion plan under the LeEco brand, which included an agreement to buy American TV maker Vizio for $2 billion, the launch of smartphones...

As part of the initiatives under the Digital India programme of the Central government, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has launched a high-speed broadband internet service in the state. People from Jammu, Srinagar, Ladakh, and Katra would now be able to avail the benefits of the service. During the launch, Singh said, "By improving digital connectivity and improving digital literacy in the country, we will be able to promote inclusive growth that covers electronic services, products, devices and job opportunities." According to the minister, the launch of the service would assist in achieving the goal of the Digital India programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.... Read More

Strengthening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (IT) department is set to send notices to 4 to 5 lakh high net worth individuals (HNI) who were trading on this unregulated virtual currency across the country. The Bengaluru wing of the tax department had conducted surveys at nine such exchanges last week to check instances of tax evasion. Official sources said that the department has found that out of the estimated 20 lakh entities registered on these exchanges, about 4 to 5 lakh were "operational" and indulging in transactions and investments. The investigation team has now dispatched the information of the individuals and entities found on these exchanges to eight other such wings across the country for a detailed probe.... Read More

Founder of Iris Computers, Sanjiv Krishen has taken over the company from Dragon Singapore, a John Sculley company. Dragon Singapore had acquired controlling stake in Iris Computers through InflexionPoint.  Iris showed consistent business growth for more than 20 years reaching a turnover of Rs 2,600 crores. Requiring fresh investment for further expansion of the company Iris Computers tied up with Dragon, Singapore 4 years ago for additional limits. However in September last year Dragon closed down in Singapore unable to fulfil its further obligations. Sanjiv Krishen acquired the company from them for a few compelling reasons: 1. To ensure that the jobs of the company's employees - the Iris family - remained secure. 2. To maintain the continuous flow and running of the business between vendors and Iris resellers. 3. To reinfuse the original ‘Iris responsiveness’ and enthusiasm that the partners and customers missed. The original management team of Kamini Talwar, Som Arya...

Dell has recently announced the launch of XPS 13, a high-performance, artfully constructed laptop in India. The stunning 13.3-inch laptop sports virtually borderless Infinity Edge touch display, a design pioneered by Dell, and is backed by the unmatched Intel 8th-generation core processors offering increased performance. Dell XPS 13 has been consistently winning accolades as one of the best 13” Windows notebooks and is one of the jewel products of the XPS family. The XPS 13 has all of the manageability and select security features of Latitude in an aggressively thin and competitive form factor. The Dell XPS range is an acclaimed range and has garnered over 300 product awards, with a number of industry “firsts” and “bests” across form factor breakthroughs, display prowess, battery life to its acclaim. Dell’s iconic virtually borderless InfinityEdge display maximizes screen space by squeezing a 13.3-inch display in an 11-inch form. With a bezel only 5.2 mm thin, starting ...

Vodafone India and itel Mobile have entered into a strategic partnership to provide an exciting cashback offer on the purchase of feature-intensive itel A20 smartphone. The offers provide a cashback of Rs.2,100 to a customer buying itel A20 bringing its effective price down from Rs.3,690 to just Rs.1,590. This partnership underlines the common mission of both itel and Vodafone to popularize 4G connectivity in the country. It aims to propel the growth of data adoption by providing access to a smartphone and mobile internet, thereby empowering customers to remain connected always at extremely pocket-friendly prices. To avail this exclusive offer, itel and Vodafone customers will have to buy the itel A20 smartphone priced at Rs.3,690 and recharge with Rs.150 or more in a calendar month for 18 months. The recharge can be done either cumulatively or as a one-time recharge. At the end of 18 months, customers will receive a cashback of Rs.900. Upon continuing to recharge Rs.15...

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited has written to Airtel and sought a reversal of subsidy amounts that have been wrongfully credited to the Airtel Payment bank accounts. A company statement said: “HPCL has requested that the subsidy amounts of consumers whose LPG subsidies have been wrongfully credited to Airtel Payment bank accounts be immediately transferred back to the customer’s earlier bank account or to the respective oil marketing companies.” According to reports, ₹167 crore have been wrongfully credited to the Airtel Payment Bank interface through 31 lakh transactions. The oil marketing companies and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have been getting a large number of complaints from consumers regarding non-credit of the LPG subsidy amounts into their earlier bank accounts for the past few weeks, the HPCL statement added.... For more information, visit   :  http://www.varindia.com/news/hpcl-writes-to-airtel-payments-banks-for-r...

The GST Council has today decided to make the electronic-way bill compulsory from February 1. If implemented, the bill will come two months ahead of the earlier plan and will thus make ferrying of goods quicker across states. Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules, ferrying goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within or outside a state will require securing an electronic-way or e-way bill by prior online registration of the consignment. “The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from February 1, 2018. This will bring uniformity across states for seamless inter-state movement of goods,” the finance ministry said in a statement. The Council, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley, met earlier during the day via video conference to advance the implementation of e-way bill under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter w...

Siemens is gaining further momentum in digitalization and is the first company worldwide to set up 20 centers for digital customer applications in the industrial sector. Each of these MindSphere Application Centers for digital offerings from Siemens spans multiple locations in different countries and specializes in a particular industry in which Siemens is active. Today, around 900 software developers, data specialists and engineers are already working together with Siemens customers at these centers to develop digital innovations for data analysis and machine learning. These new solutions are being developed on MindSphere, Siemens’ open, cloud-based operating system for the Internet of Things (IoT). To be close to its customers, the company has distributed its 20 centers across around 50 locations in 17 countries worldwide. “We are continuously expanding our leadership role in industrial digitalization,” said Joe Kaeser, Siemens President and CEO. “With our global experience i...

COAI Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) has welcomed ZTE India as an Associate Member.  ZTE is one of world’s largest telecom equipment and mobile phone manufacturers. The company started operations in India in 2003. Further, the company is also a partner with many state governments for the Smart Cities initiative and contributing as per the technical strength.  Commenting on this, Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, COAI, welcoming the new member, said, “It’s our pleasure to welcome ZTE on board as an Associate Member. We are sure that the joint efforts of COAI for the industry and ZTE’s expertise in telecom equipment and next-generation technology will go a long way in fulfilling Prime Minister Modi’s dream of building a digitally empowered nation. Given ZTE’s technical expertise and ability to cross purpose, various technologies for consumer and business use, we are proud to have them as our member. We are truly delighted and look forward to working...

Orange Business Services has been selected to support the communications requirements of the Bihar State Wide Area Network (NextGen B-SWAN 2.0) project. “A strong State network will help India to provide effective e-governance with applications and collaborative services. Connectivity is an essential component of the ‘Digital India’ campaign. Orange Business Services has the expertise and unmatched technical capabilities to help Governments to deliver seamless data, voice and video. We are honoured to support the Government of Bihar and the ‘Digital India’ initiative through this project,” said Bala Mahadevan, CEO, Orange Business Services, India.... Read More

Nokia and the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-Delhi) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together in the areas of data science, analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The collaboration will allow IIT-Delhi to leverage Nokia’s technological leadership and expertise in communications networking to conduct research in these areas.  The talented students and faculty of India’s premier institute will work in projects with Nokia’s top technical minds to explore ways to make networks more efficient and reliable.  Amit Dhingra, Vice-President of Global Service Delivery, Nokia, said, “We are pleased to work with some of the brightest minds of the country at IIT-Delhi. Collaboration with universities and educational institutes fosters innovation and can help resolve complex challenges our industry is facing. New technologies require fresh thinking and working with the scholars of IIT-Delhi will allow us to push the boundaries of what is pos...

NEC Corporation and NEC Technologies India Private Limited have announced that they will establish a FIWARE Lab node in India. The objective is to encourage application developers and solution provider organizations, government bodies and academia to experiment and innovate FIWARE-based solutions for smart cities. Having a FIWARE Lab node within India will encourage more participation from Asian countries as they can keep all experimental and research data within the boundaries of the region. The FIWARE Lab node in India will help to foster a culture of collaboration between various participating entities and help to promote their solutions in the FIWARE community. With the Indian government increasing its focus on Open Source Software, FIWARE can introduce open APIs based on specifications which are public and royalty-free.... Read More

Atos has made a formal proposal to acquire Gemalto by way of a public offer for all of Gemalto issued and outstanding shares. Atos invited Gemalto’s Board of Directors to engage discussions and review collaboratively this potential transaction. On November 28, 2017, Atos has delivered an offer to the Board of Directors of Gemalto which is friendly, compelling, and which addresses the interests of all stakeholders. Since then, Atos has reiterated its friendly intentions. Considering increased risk that could impact Gemalto’s shares, and for the purposes of market information, the Atos’ Board of Directors has decided to make its proposal public while affirming its willingness to engage into discussions with the objective to come to a transaction recommended by the Gemalto’s Board of Directors. Key terms of the Atos proposal – * Intended all-cash offer of €46.0 per Gemalto share (cum dividend), representing a total consideration of approximately €4.3 billion. *...

BT and Symantec have announced the availability of new endpoint protection solution for BT’s business customers.  Symantec’s best-in-class endpoint security technologies have been added to BT’s broad portfolio of security products and services to help customers battle the rapidly changing threat landscape with a consolidated, intelligent security infrastructure.  With advanced technologies such as machine learning, memory exploit mitigation, file reputation analysis, and real-time behaviour monitoring, Symantec Endpoint Protection 14 provides real-time threat protection, even against unknown threats, so called ‘zero-day’ attacks and ransomware.  Mark Hughes, CEO - BT Security, said, “The ongoing migration to the cloud and digital transformation further raises the importance of endpoint security. By adding Symantec endpoint protection to our already broad security portfolio, we are further extending our ability to help our customers stay secure in the face ...

Perth, Australia: The Annual edition of Canalys Channels Forum APAC region was held in Perth last week. Partners from across APAC, the majority of who were from India, headed to Perth, the vibrant capital of Western Australia. About 900 delegates from across the APAC region attended the event.  Steve Brazier, CEO & President- Canalys in his keynote address on the tech trends said that the death of IT hardware channel has been greatly exaggerated. “Technology is transforming every industry, and the channel is lucky to be at the heart of this new industrial revolution. Good and bad tech news stories have frequently hit the headlines in 2017. Artificial intelligence, deep learning, IoT, robotics, chatbots, cloud and edge computing are driving the channel forward, while issues around regulation, ethics, tax, security and monopolistic behaviour cause complications. Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) offers exciting opportunities for human computer interaction, the e...

The telecom tower industry is expected to undergo structural changes in the medium term. Currently, the industry, with around 4 lakh towers and around 8 lakh tenancies, is a sizeable one in the world. It has 10 organized players wherein 74% of the portfolio is held either by tower companies promoted by telecom operators, or by telecom operators themselves. Over the next 1-2 years, there is likely to be a material change in the industry structure with number of players expected to reduce to 4-5.  The key development for the industry would be the likely change in ownership from telecom operators to independent players, as reflected by the consolidation transactions under way and by the interest from such players and investors. The industry is also likely to witness strong growth in the coming years driven largely by the network expansions by telecom operators; and upside in rentals due to improved negotiation power which would follow from consolidation as well as from greater...

Infosys has roped in Salil S Parekh as its chief executive officer thus picking an outsider for the job for a second time and handing him the twin challenges of reviving growth and forging peace between its founders and board following a public spat. Parekh, who was earlier with Capgemini where he was a member of its group executive team, has been given a 5-year term effective Jan. 2. U.B. Pravin Rao who was serving as the interim CEO has been re-designated as chief operating officer from Jan. 2, Infosys said. "He (Parekh) has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry," said Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani. "He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions. The board believes that he is the right person to lead Infosys at this transformative time in our industry.".... Read More

ARRIS International plc has finalised the completion of acquisition of the Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business from Broadcom Limited. Dan Rabinovitsj will lead Ruckus Networks at ARRIS. "I am proud to welcome the 1,700 talented Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch Business employees into the ARRIS family," said Bruce McClelland, ARRIS CEO. "It's an important milestone, not only for ARRIS but for our industries. Ruckus' unmatched expertise in wireless and wired networking perfectly complements our growth strategy of driving towards a constantly connected, mobile future. The acquisition brings diversification to our portfolio, building on our strength in networking and helping us to serve new verticals. Ultimately, our combined portfolios and scale will help our customers and partners deliver a smart, simple connected world for billions of people." The deal strategically positions ARRIS for a new phase of growth by leveraging the companies' combine...

To support digital payment system, Hon’ble Union Finance Minster Arun Jaitley formally inaugurated Paytm Payments Bank recently. Paytm Payments Bank is mobile-first bank with zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement. The bank has been designed to help achieve financial inclusion in the country and is in line with Paytm’s mission of bringing half a billion Indians on to the mainstream economy. The company has planned an investment of $500 million in KYC (Know Your Customer) operations. It is also setting up KYC centres across India to complete KYC for customers and make them eligible for a Payments Bank account..... Read More

Microsoft Corp. and SAP SE have announced integrated offerings to provide enterprise customers with a clear road map to confidently drive more business innovation in the cloud. In a bold show of commitment, the two companies also announced they will be deploying each other’s cloud solutions internally. Through their unique partnership, the companies will co-engineer, go to market together with premier solutions and provide joint support services to ensure the best cloud experience for customers. SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud – SAP’s private managed cloud service – on Microsoft Azure will allow customers to run SAP S/4HANA in a secure, managed cloud. Additionally, Microsoft will deploy SAP S/4HANA on Azure to help run its own internal finance processes, and SAP will move its key internal business critical systems to Azure. Finally, SAP Ariba is currently utilizing Azure and is exploring further use within its procurement applications....... Read More

Considering the TRAI’s recommendations on Net Neutrality, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has said that the recommendations are progressive in nature and are in line with the debates in the industry and user groups that have been raging for the last two years. For the industry, the recommendations are pragmatic in the sense that it recognizes the requirements of expansion of digital services in the country, when it makes reasonable exceptions for specialized services, reasonable traffic management practices or fulfilling international treaty agreements. Special provisions for IoT, specialized services and CDNs reflect forward-looking recommendations that take into account the needs of the foreseeable future. The TRAI recommendations ensure level-playing field in enabling emerging service providers to reach out to target audiences on the same terms with their peers. At the same time, recognition of special sectors like IoT, CDNs ensure that emerging sect...

ABB and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) have entered into a strategic global partnership that combines ABB’s digital offerings, ABB Ability, with HPE’s innovative hybrid information technology (IT) solutions. The partnership will provide customers with solutions that generate actionable insights from vast amounts of industrial data to increase efficiency and flexibility of their operations and create competitive advantage. “This alliance between two global leaders is unprecedented in terms of breadth and depth, and it will be groundbreaking for the progress of the Industrial Internet of Things,” said Meg Whitman, CEO, HPE. “Together with ABB, we will shape a digital industrial future where everything computes, equipping machines with intelligence to collaborate, allowing plants to flexibly adapt to changing demands, and enabling global supply chains to instantaneously react to incidents. This partnership will create exciting business opportunities for our joint customers.”.......

Speaking at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global entrepreneurs to come to India by saying that it provides an investment friendly environment where restrictions have been removed and archaic laws abolished. In his address, he said that over 1,200 outdated laws have been scrapped, 87 rules for foreign investment eased in 21 sectors and several government processes have been taken online. "To my entrepreneur friends from across the globe, I would like to say, 'Come, Make in India, Invest in India', for India and for the world," he said. "I invite each one of you to become a partner in India's growth story. And once again assure you of our wholehearted support." Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump's daughter and advisor to the White House attended the Summit. She was leading a US delegation to the summit and gave the keynote address.... Read More

Infosys has partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to offer a joint end-to-end mainframe modernization solution, which will provide global enterprise customers robust hardware and advanced software architecture.   Ravi Kumar, President & Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Infosys, said, “Digital transformation is being embraced by enterprises across various industries. Infosys, through this partnership with HPE, aims at co-creating and enabling clients to simplify their IT landscape by redeploying existing mainframes on modern architecture. Customers will be able to re-host and re-engineer their business critical enterprise applications on modern hardware and software architecture to scale and accelerate the business impact in a secure manner. This will lead to enhanced productivity for customers across industry segments. This partnership with HPE will help clients modernize their mission-critical infrastructure with confidence.”   Infosys' Mainframe Moderniz...

Facebook has recently introduced Facebook Digital Training and Facebook Start-up Training Hubs and personaliza million people in India by 2020, these online training hubs, which are being rolled out first in India and have been developed with local organizations, will provide digital skills and training for people in need of work, advise entrepreneurs how to get started and help existing businesses and nonprofits get the most out of the internet.   Facebook is working with local organizations, including Digital Vidya, EDd to the individual's needs and available in English and Hindi on mobile.   Facebook Digital Training Hub provides free social and content marketing training (not just Facebook) for anyone – from students to business owners – who are looking to develop their digital knowledge and skills. The curriculum includes social media basics, how to build and create an audience, how to create content, how to measure online activity, and stay ahead of the curve...

Companies all over the world are looking to move to the cloud to help their business move faster. Azure provides security, reliability, and scale to help them deliver and scale their applications. Keeping in line with this, Microsoft announces new migration offerings as additional solutions to help customers get to the cloud easily and securely for their VMware environment. Enclosed are the services that will be a part of this offering - Migrate applications with Azure Migrate -  Azure Migrate helps you through the journey of migrating an entire multi-server application Integrate VMware workloads with Azure services -  There are many Azure services that you can use together with VMware workloads without any migration or deployment, enabling you to keep your entire environment secure and well-managed across cloud and on-premises Host VMware infrastructure with VMware virtualization on Azure -  Most workloads can be migrated to Azure easily using the abo...