Shivani Shinde And Sourabh Lele

Stories by Shivani Shinde And Sourabh Lele

'After many rocking years, we needed a rocky year'

'After many rocking years, we needed a rocky year'

Rediff.com   3 Jan 2023

'Criticism is one thing, and cynicism is quite another.' 'However, we are undaunted by this negativity because we know the truth.'

Indian crypto exchanges stay put in business after 'a year to forget'

Indian crypto exchanges stay put in business after 'a year to forget'

Rediff.com   29 Dec 2022

The price of bitcoin, the bestselling cryptocurrency, has shrunk nearly three times this year to mark the fate of such digital assets. Crashing prices, regulatory uncertainty and taxes have put Indian crypto exchanges in troubled waters. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget for FY23 announced a 30 per cent tax on any income from the transfer of virtual digital assets.

Online Gaming To Have Rules Soon

Online Gaming To Have Rules Soon

Rediff.com   29 Dec 2022

The industry came under scrutiny after the proliferation of games like cards, casinos, and fantasy sports among young people led to addiction and financial losses, with some reported cases of suicide.

'It's incredibly important Big Tech is at the table'

'It's incredibly important Big Tech is at the table'

Rediff.com   27 Dec 2022

'...helping the government, citizens, and companies get the balance right.' 'As great as technology is, these are societal questions, not just technical ones.'

Online Gaming: Age Verification Coming!

Online Gaming: Age Verification Coming!

Rediff.com   26 Dec 2022

Gaming platforms will also be required to display a warning after a certain time of usage to reduce the risk of addiction.

Aadhaar's next goal: Financial inclusion in rural areas

Aadhaar's next goal: Financial inclusion in rural areas

Rediff.com   19 Dec 2022

Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.

Indian Techies Doubtful About Joining Twitter

Indian Techies Doubtful About Joining Twitter

Rediff.com   9 Dec 2022

'It's a big technology company and may offer good remuneration, but stability in my career is equally important to me.'

Amazon's Black Friday: Unions to join protests

Amazon's Black Friday: Unions to join protests

Rediff.com   25 Nov 2022

Several Indian traders, hawkers, as well as transport and gig workers' unions will join a global campaign by Make Amazon Pay coalition happening across close to 40 countries on Black Friday to protest alleged exploitative practices by the tech giant. Employees in the US, the UK, India, Japan, Australia, South Africa and across Europe are demanding better wages and working conditions as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, as part of the campaign. Trade unions, including Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, Hawkers' Joint Action Committee, Gig Workers' Association, and All India People Science Network, will join the campaign.

How Tech Is Reinventing Fashion Shopping

How Tech Is Reinventing Fashion Shopping

Rediff.com   24 Nov 2022

With the fashion world blurring the lines between innovation, technology and reality, shopping is all set to be revolutionised.

AWS to invest $4.4 bn in India by 2030 through new Hyderabad region service

AWS to invest $4.4 bn in India by 2030 through new Hyderabad region service

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2022

Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest nearly $4.4 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) in India by 2030 and support more than 48,000 jobs externally through a new regional service launched on Tuesday, said the on-demand Cloud computing company. AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) is the company's second infrastructure region in India, six years after it opened its first Cloud region in Mumbai in 2016. The Hyderabad region will give customers access to AWS technologies for data analytics, security, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

In layoff season, Google may fire 10,000 'low performing' employees

In layoff season, Google may fire 10,000 'low performing' employees

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2022

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is likely to join the list of Big Tech companies going for large-scale layoffs. With this, almost the entire universe of FAANG - acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google - has now come under the layoff turbulence hitting tens of thousands of tech jobs around the world. Reports surfaced on Tuesday about the Mountain View (California)-headquartered tech giant planning to fire around 10,000 employees.

Indian PC mkt dips 11.7% in Q3CY22; demand to be slow for next 2 qtrs: IDC

Indian PC mkt dips 11.7% in Q3CY22; demand to be slow for next 2 qtrs: IDC

Rediff.com   18 Nov 2022

India's traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations declined by 11.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q3CY22 (Jul-Sep) after 8 consecutive quarters of growth despite strong shipments of 3.9 million units, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. All segments declined except the government, which grew by 91.5 per cent YoY on the back of government orders, leading to strong growth in the third consecutive quarter. While the desktop and workstation categories grew by 23.4 per cent and 17.6 per cent YoY respectively, the notebook category declined by 19.5 per cent YoY.

Pandemic boom to layoff season: How Big Tech, start-ups got it wrong

Pandemic boom to layoff season: How Big Tech, start-ups got it wrong

Rediff.com   17 Nov 2022

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, summed it up well as he explained the reason for the company sacking 13 per cent of its employees. He said no one predicted that the boom for digital services during the Covid pandemic would die out. "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended.

After 10 years: Infosys may overtake Cognizant on revenue front

After 10 years: Infosys may overtake Cognizant on revenue front

Rediff.com   11 Nov 2022

Slowing growth and execution challenges for Cognizant (CTSH) may well allow Infosys to overtake the former after a decade. Cognizant had marched ahead of Infosys in terms of revenue in the first quarter of financial year 2012-13. The Nasdaq-listed IT services firm's performance in Q3 and the guidance for Q4 and full-year 2022 suggest that it could take time for Cognizant to see the expected improvement in performance from its decision to restructure.

Meta Platforms' India staffers on edge over layoff media reports

Meta Platforms' India staffers on edge over layoff media reports

Rediff.com   8 Nov 2022

US media reports that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, could be the latest technology giant to downsize its workforce have triggered trepidation among its 300-400 employees in India, according to people familiar with the matter. "We have not heard much about the impact (of downsizing) on India. "It's a wait-and-watch situation. Certainly, there is uncertainty," said a source.

Two-thirds of Indian technology enterprises hiring gig workers

Two-thirds of Indian technology enterprises hiring gig workers

Rediff.com   4 Nov 2022

Two-thirds of organisations in the Indian technology sector are hiring gig workers as they respond to a changing business landscape, said a report by industry organisation NASSCOM and others on Thursday. Focus on requirement for specialised skills, employee demand and cost optimization enabled organisations to use the gig model for technology roles traditionally restricted to HR and support functions. Software development, UI/UX design, and data analytics were the top three gig skills the technology sector needed.

Google pauses in-house billing system in India on antitrust directive

Google pauses in-house billing system in India on antitrust directive

Rediff.com   2 Nov 2022

Google has said that it is pausing enforcement of Google Play billing system (GPBS) for developers in India. This comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of Rs 2,275 crore in two cases and an immediate cease-and-desist order of its policies of running the Android Mobile device and Play Store ecosystem. In a statement, the company said, "Following the CCI's recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play's billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India.

Talent Cloud will address moonlighting: TCS

Talent Cloud will address moonlighting: TCS

Rediff.com   24 Oct 2022

In the future of work, companies will have to embrace terms like moonlighting, gig work, flexi work as 'on-demand talent in a Cloud' can be a reality, says Milind Lakkad, chief human resource officer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). In some form or the other, gig work, flexiworking - and even moonlighting - will have to be welcomed by companies, says Lakkad. As a first step towards embracing these, TCS is trying to bring all these opportunities for its own employees within the company.

'AI is going to be used as a weapon by the bad guys'

'AI is going to be used as a weapon by the bad guys'

Rediff.com   17 Oct 2022

'This is a race where every technology can be used by the bad guys and good guys.'

Unicorns feel funding winter chill; see fall in numbers

Unicorns feel funding winter chill; see fall in numbers

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2022

The drying up of funds for a number of start-ups is affecting the firms' unicorn status across the globe. The past six months have seen the valuations of 147 unicorns drop, of which 71 were from the US and 29 from China, according to the latest Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2022. Eighty-one unicorns from across the globe saw their valuations drop below $1 billion-the threshold for a start-up to be labelled unicorn-from last year.