VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Vehere ropes in Wahab Yusoff as an Advisor to the Board:  Vehere   announced the appointment of   Wahab Yusoff   as an Advisor to the Board. He will be based out of Singapore and shall be assisting Vehere in building its presence across the ASEAN Region.   Yusoff has over three decades of rich experience in Cybersecurity and Information Technology, with a focus on assisting organizations to scale operations in the Asia Pacific Region. He has expertise in IT Security and a proven track record of driving corporate growth and development in the APAC region.   Yusoff is the Vice President of the Asia Pacific and Japan region for Forescout Technologies. Prior to that, he worked for reputed companies such as Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Dell EMC, and Documentum. Additionally, he also serves on the Boards of Changi Airport Group, Workforce Singapore, EZ-Link Pte Ltd, and Rekanext VC.... Read More

Google, Microsoft plan to spend billions on cybersecurity:  The whole globe is struggling into the issue of   Cyber security   and   cyber crime.   The White House hosted a cybersecurity summit Wednesday with CEOs in sectors ranging from tech to insurance. Technology giants including Google,   Microsoft   and   IBM   committed to spending billions on cybersecurity following the meeting, they are going to strengthen cybersecurity defences and to train skilled workers, the White House has announced, following President Joe Biden's private meeting with top executives. The gathering on Wednesday during a relentless stretch of ransomware attacks that have targeted critical infrastructure, in some cases with the attackers extorting multimillion-dollar payments from major corporations, as well as other illicit cyber operations that US authorities have linked to foreign hackers.... Read More

Equinix Opens Fifth Data Center in Singapore and Deepens Commitment to National Sustainability Agenda:  Equinix, Inc ., the world's digital infrastructure company™, today announced the opening of its fifth International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Singapore, SG5. With an initial investment of US$144 million, the purpose-built facility helps address the need for a sustainable, future-ready digital infrastructure to enhance enterprises’ digital resiliency.   Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative and digitalization efforts over the years have led local and regional businesses to realize the importance of an agile and resilient digital infrastructure to their business success. According to the latest Equinix Global Tech Trends Survey, 88% of surveyed companies in Singapore indicated that digitizing their IT infrastructure was a top priority, with 66% believing interconnection will help them navigate challenges.... Read More

Supercell brings beta for Everdale and unveils 3 new Clash of Clans games:  Supercell   is launching a wide beta test for its newest mobile game,   Everdale , today in some regions. This is the first time the company has lined up a new game since the global launch of Brawl Stars in 2018.   Everdale Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen  said in an interview that the company is also working on three new Clash games: Clash Mini, Clash Heroes, and Clash Quest. Those titles present variations on the Clash of Clans themes, gameplay, and characters.   Paananen said, “The starting point was that the team wanted to do something quite different at Supercell. This game has no battles at all. They wanted to offer a very peaceful, relaxing experience for all the players. They were talking about some zen-like feeling for the player. It’s maybe somewhat closer to something like Hay Day, from a philosophical point of view.”.... Read More

Tom Cruise lands helicopter in a UK family's garden, dinned at Asha Bhosle's restaurant:  Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise , who is shooting for ' Mission: Impossible 7 ' in the UK, landed by helicopter in a family's garden in Warwickshire as Coventry Airport was temporarily shut.   The family was reportedly told a VIP had to land but they had no idea that it would be Cruise. The actor gave the family a ride in his helicopter.   Tom Cruise has a voracious appetite for making movies - and now the same can be said for his love of Indian food.   Cruise reportedly spent two hours at Asha's at 12-22 Newhall Street on Saturday night, August 21, while taking a break from shooting Mission: Impossible 7 in the Midlands.   Asha's general manager Nouman Farooqui was delighted when his all-time favourite, real-life action man loved his chicken tikka masala so much that he ordered a second portion.   Nouman said the party was sharing meals - so fact that Tom enjoyed what ...

Khatabook valuation crosses $600 Mn valuation after raising $100 Mn: Khatabook , a fintech start-up, has received a $100 million Series C funding, with a valuation now close to $600 million. The round was led by US-based VC firms   Tribe Capital   and   Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV) .   Ravish Naresh, CEO, and co-founder, Khatabook  said, the first phase of our journey was enabling digital transformation by building a tech ecosystem for Indian MSMEs . He further said that, we have created a widely accepted digital platform, the next step will be digitally-enabled financial services for small businesses.   Other investors in this oversubscribed series C round were Alkeon Capital, with continued investment participation from internal investors B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, RTP Global, Unilever Ventures, and Better Capital. In addition, top Silicon Valley investors Balaji Srinivasan, Sriram Krishnan participated as independent investors among oth...

New Delhi's Connaught Place witnesses India's first smog tower:  CM Arvind Kejriwal   has inaugurated the " country's first smog tower " at   Connaught Place   in Delhi and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.   Kejriwal said, "This is the first such smog tower in the country. It's a new technology. We have imported it from the US. The structure will suck polluted air from above and release clean air from below. It will purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second".   He also said that the concentration of PM2.5 has reduced from 150 micrograms per cubic metre to 100 µg/m³ and that of PM10 has dipped from 300 µg/m³ to 150 µg/m³ in the national capital since 2014 due to the efforts made in the last few years.   PM 2.5 refers to fine particles which penetrate deep into the body and fuel inflammation in the lungs and respiratory tract, leading to the risk of cardiov...

SAP to empower Revlon to drive e-commerce acceleration:  SAP SE   announced that beauty giant   Revlon Inc.   will use the RISE with SAP offering to expedite the company’s strategic cloud migration.   “Revlon is an iconic and trusted brand that has long been known for innovation in the beauty and personal care industry, always with a keen focus on the customer experience,” said  SAP North America President DJ Paoni . “We are honored to be a part of Revlon’s incredible transformation journey and provide solutions to help the company continue to scale and grow share of market.”   Revlon, which last year saw e-commerce net sales soar approximately 40%, remains focused on enhancing its end-to-end digital capabilities to support continued acceleration in this channel. By tapping RISE with SAP, Revlon expects to bolster its digital infrastructure in order to help its e-commerce operations become more nimble and innovative. Revlon also plans to use the SAP An...

Apurva Chandra assumes charge as Secretary, Ministry of I&B:  Apurva Chandra, IAS (Maharashtra: 1988)  today assumed charge as Secretary in the   Ministry of Information & Broadcasting . A Civil Engineer by education, Chandra obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and Masters in Structural Engineering from   IIT Delhi .   Apurva Chandra has earlier served as Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employmentsince  01.10.2020 with the mandate to implement the Labour Codes passed by the Parliament in September, 2020 expeditiously. Under his guidance rules have been framed for all four Labour Codes after extensive consultations with all stakeholders. The Atmanibhar Bharat RozgarYojana has been launched to provide employment opportunities to 78.5 lakh workers in the formal sector with a budget of Rs. 23,000 crores.   Apurva Chandra has also worked as Director General (Acquisition) in  Ministry of Defence   w.e.f. 01.12.2017 ...

Visa buys NFT based CryptoPunk and paid $150,000 in Etherium:  Leader in the digital payments   Visa   has purchased a digital CryptoPunk for $150,000, marking the company's first ever   NFT   purchase. The deal is clearly shows that, Visa is stepping into the world of NFTs with its purchase of   CryptoPunk 7610 .   Going forward, NFTs and Visa to align and integrate them in new brand strategy to gain a sizable market share. However, NFTs have often been compared to physical collectible items like rare trading cards and works of art.   The CryptoPunk 7610, which feBlatures a female punk with a mohawk and large green eyes. "We envision there could be a future where your crypto address becomes as important as your mailing address," Visa's Head of Crypto said.   An NFT - which stands for non-fungible token - is a unique digital asset designed to represent ownership of a virtual item. Unlike bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, NFTs can’...

T-Mobile subscribers sue firm in US as data breach hits 53 mn customers:  T-Mobile   confirms there was a data breach that affected 53 million customers and some of the customers filed class action lawsuits against the firm in the US. The firm has been accused of violating the   California Consumer Privacy Act   and acting negligently by failing to provide adequate security. The leaked data includes users' addresses, birth dates and phone numbers. Two class action lawsuits were filed against the wireless carrier as customers seek compensation.   In its latest update, which comes days after the  U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)  opened an investigation into the breach, T-Mobile revealed it had identified 5.3 million additional wireless subscribers who were impacted by the breach as well as 667,000 more accounts of former customers.   The data includes addresses, dates of birth and phone numbers of customers, the company said, adding tha...

Alia unboxes the new folded Galaxy Z Series of Samsung:  Alia Bhatt   unboxes the next-generation Galaxy Foldable phones- Galaxy Z Flip3 5G   and   Galaxy Z Fold3 5G .   "With the world's first water-resistant Foldables, she gets to reimagine the smartphone experience and unfold a new way to work, watch and express.   Because there are two Foldables, the special delivery splits Alia! You may be wondering how that is even feasible. Alia Bhatt with Galaxy Z Flip3 and Alia Bhatt with Galaxy Z Fold3 are two previously unseen Alias!   However, she is having a tough time deciding whether to pick Flip or Fold," Samsung said.   Analysts says, the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is possibly the tiniest Galaxy Fold yet, with large screens on both the inside and outside! When folded, it is a premium smartphone with a classic one-handed grip, and when unfolded, it has an enormous tablet-like perspective that opens up new possibilities!   Furthermore, Alia claims that ...

Hiring in the Indian IT sector witness a strong momentum:  Hiring into technology companies touches all-time high in July and August and it will continue up to end of 2021. Witnessing a 20 per cent sequential increase, indicating a strong revival of economic growth and a recovery of business from the impact of   Covid-19 , Jefferies sees a strong hiring boom on account of the post-pandemic rush for the outsourcing of   IT jobs to India .   According to the report, as businesses continued to ride the wave of digitisation, the IT-software and software services sector maintained its growth momentum with an 18 per cent increase .   The top five IT companies, representing about 30% of the 44 lakh employed in Indian IT and  BPO industry , hired 55,000 in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal. They could end the year with 1.3-1.5 lakh net hires, nearly 50% higher than the best year in the last decade.... Read More

Cisco may buy application monitoring company Epsagon for $500 mn: Reports:  As per news source, to fortify its observability platform,   Cisco Systems   is all set to buy Israeli application monitoring company   Epsagon .   Epsagon’s technology will enhance Cisco’s full-stack observability platform that consists of the company’s other acquired assets from  AppDynamics  and ThousandEyes, as well as its own Intersight management platform.   the companies did not reveal financial terms of the upcoming transaction, but as per news source Cisco is investing $500 million to buy the observability firm.   Epsagon specializes in distributed tracing solutions for modern applications and technologies, including containers and serverless environments. The company‘s technology will join Cisco’s other solutions to provide deeper observability across the entire application lifecycle, network infrastructure and security. This will give IT teams more visibili...