Surajeet Das Gupta And Neha Alawadhi

Stories by Surajeet Das Gupta And Neha Alawadhi

Sachin Tendulkar invests $2 mn in JetSynthesys

Sachin Tendulkar invests $2 mn in JetSynthesys

Rediff.com   30 Jul 2021

Sachin Tendulkar has recently made an equity investment of $2 million in digital entertainment and technology company JetSynthesys. The investment further strengthens Tendulkar's relationship with JetSynthesys, as the two already have an existing joint venture for a digital destination for all things cricket, called 100MB, and immersive cricket games Sachin Saga Cricket Champions and Sachin Saga VR. With this investment, Tendulkar joins the bandwagon of existing shareholders of JetSynthesys, who include Adar Poonawalla, Kris Gopalakrishnan, and the multi-billion-dollar family offices of the promoters of Thermax, Triveni Group, Yohan Poonawalla Group and DSP Group.

A peek into Mukesh Ambani's big retail push

A peek into Mukesh Ambani's big retail push

Rediff.com   26 Jul 2021

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group has struck acquisition deals worth $4.2 billion with a dozen companies in just two years to expand its retail business. The latest purchase was of a majority stake in Justdial for Rs 3,497 crore. Elaborating on his acquisition strategy a few weeks ago during the AGM, Ambani stated that one of the key planks would be to acquire businesses that enhanced Reliance's offerings and experiences to customers and that they would be both physical and digital.

Indians more vulnerable to tech support scams, says Microsoft report

Indians more vulnerable to tech support scams, says Microsoft report

Rediff.com   23 Jul 2021

Indians are more vulnerable to technology support-related scams compared to the global average, and lost over Rs 15,000 on average in such scam, a Microsoft research has found. According to the 2021 Global Tech Support Scam Research report, which looks at tech support scams and their impact, consumers in India experienced a relatively high scam encounter rate of 69 per cent during the past 12 months, close to the 70 per cent rate experienced in 2018. In contrast, there was an overall five-point drop in scam encounters globally with a rate of 59 per cent over the same period. The survey was conducted in Spring 2021 and asked consumers to share their experiences with tech support scams for the year prior (January 2020 to present).

How face-off with Indian govt has boosted Twitter

How face-off with Indian govt has boosted Twitter

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2021

Political controversies aside, Twitter's business in India is expanding, and creating opportunities for Indians, reports Neha Alawadhi.

'IPO won't change how Zomato operates'

'IPO won't change how Zomato operates'

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2021

'We work with a very large restaurant base, we make sure that we're doing the right thing by them, and we're helping them grow because we'll grow only when they do.'

Why Voda Idea's options for survival are narrowing

Why Voda Idea's options for survival are narrowing

Rediff.com   14 Jul 2021

Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) CEO Ravinder Takkar did some plain speaking. In an analyst call after its quarterly results recently, Takkar said that the main stumbling block to raising fresh capital from investors is "pricing" - telecom tariffs, in other words. Nine months ago, the telecom company's board had cleared a proposal for raising Rs 25,000 crore from investors, after the promoters made it clear that they were not ready to pump in more money. But potential investors are concerned that without clarity on tariff hikes (there have been none for more than 18 months) they might just lose their money. The lack of visibility on raising tariffs has also impelled VIL to request the Department of Telecom (DoT) for a fresh reprieve by extending the two-year moratorium on paying its spectrum instalment of Rs 8,200 crore for another year till FY23.

Why Vodafone Idea has failed to raise fresh funds

Why Vodafone Idea has failed to raise fresh funds

Rediff.com   12 Jul 2021

Vodafone-Idea (Vi) has said the key hurdle it faces in raising fresh funding, despite interest from investors, is the 'pricing situation' which is also the reason why it has asked the Department of Telecommunica-tions (DoT) for another extension of the moratorium on payment of spectrum instalment by one more year. Responding to a question during an analysts' call on Friday after its quarterly results on the reason for the delay in fund-raising nine months after it was announced, CEO & MD Ravinder Takkar said: "We are in discussions with investors. There is continued interest in investing in the telecom sector in the country. "The biggest hurdle is that the overall industry is under stress because of the pricing situation." He said that once tariffs go up, it will create a significant amount of confidence.

The Man in the Middle of the Twitter Storm

The Man in the Middle of the Twitter Storm

Rediff.com   10 Jul 2021

When the Delhi police served him a notice in May for a case involving tagging some political leaders' tweets as carrying manipulated media, a spirited Maheshwari said he was employed by Twitter Communications Private Limited, and not Twitter Inc, and, therefore, could not help them. The authorities were understandably not pleased.

Wistron invests Rs 1,255 crore in Apple's India factory

Wistron invests Rs 1,255 crore in Apple's India factory

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2021

Apple Inc's leading contract manufacturer, Taiwanese giant Wistron, has exceeded its investment obligation in India in just eight months, although the government's production-linked investment (PLI) scheme allowed it to complete the investment in four years. Between August 2020 and end March 2021, Wistron made an investment of Rs 1255 crore - 25 per cent more than the total investment it had committed to the government. Under the PLI scheme for mobile devices, the government had stipulated that each of the five participating global companies needed to invest Rs 250 crore every year for the first four years, totalling Rs 1,000 crore.

Insolvency proceedings against Oyo Hotels closed

Insolvency proceedings against Oyo Hotels closed

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2021

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday closed insolvency proceedings against Oyo and one of its subsidiaries, and also disallowed the intervention of external parties including Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). Industry body FHRAI said in May it has been allowed by the NCLAT to intervene on behalf of hotels in the Oyo unit insolvency case before the tribunal. The association had filed the application on behalf of its member hotels in India, who it said at the time are operational creditors suffering hugely on account of non-payments of debt by Oyo.

Restaurant body up in arms against Zomato, Swiggy

Restaurant body up in arms against Zomato, Swiggy

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2021

Alleging "anti-competitive practices" by Zomato and Swiggy, restaurant industry body National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Monday said it has approached fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a detailed probe against the food aggregators. Keeping the interests of restaurants in mind, NRAI on July 1 had filed information with the CCI, it said in a statement. The main issues highlighted by the association in the submission are bundling of services, data masking, and exorbitant commission charged, price parity agreements, deep discounting, including forcing restaurant partners to give discounts to maintain appropriate listing, exclusivity of listed restaurants, and violation of platform neutrality, vertical integration, and lack of transparency on the food ordering platforms.

81% consumers back e-commerce rules, want clarity on services-based biz

81% consumers back e-commerce rules, want clarity on services-based biz

Rediff.com   5 Jul 2021

As many as 81 per cent people support having rules for consumer e-commerce, but want more services-based platforms to have more clearly defined roles, a survey by community social media platform LocalCircles has found. The survey asked respondents to answer questions based on the recent draft Rules proposed by the ministry of consumer affairs. The responses found 81 per cent consumers wanting sales of products and services over electronic or digital networks to be governed by a set of electronic commerce rules.

Facebook removes over 30mn posts, most for violent content

Facebook removes over 30mn posts, most for violent content

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2021

Facebook removed 25 million pieces of content identified as 'spam,' 1.8 million pieces of content containing 'adult nudity and sexual activity', reports Neha Alawadhi.

Clubhouse sets the trend for social audio apps in pandemic

Clubhouse sets the trend for social audio apps in pandemic

Rediff.com   2 Jul 2021

From Twitter to Facebook to Spotify, everyone it seems is clambering aboard the social audio bandwagon. Neha Alawadhi reports.

India's digital economy to grow 10x to $800 bn by 2030

India's digital economy to grow 10x to $800 bn by 2030

Rediff.com   1 Jul 2021

India's consumer digital economy which was pegged at $85-90 billion in calendar year 2020, is expected to become a $800 billion market by 2030, according to reports released by consulting firm RedSeer at its flagship event Ground Zero 5.0. The digital economy includes 60 per cent of travel, 40 per cent non-grocery retail, 30 per cent of education, 25 per cent of food and beverages services and 6 per cent of pharma/grocery going through digital channels by calendar year 2030. Online retail is set to become the third-largest market by scale by CY30 with an annual gross merchandise value (GMV) of $350 billion in CY30, said RedSeer.

Facebook, Google agree to publish transparency reports

Facebook, Google agree to publish transparency reports

Rediff.com   30 Jun 2021

While Facebook said on Tuesday it will publish an interim report on July 2 as mandated by the IT rules, Google will publish its transparency report as required under the new IT Rules in India.

Chinese telcos feel new rule doesn't place curbs on them

Chinese telcos feel new rule doesn't place curbs on them

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2021

Chinese telecom gear giant Huawei Technologies has sought permission for access to the government's 'Trusted Telecom Portal' which went live on June 15 so that it can share details about the telecom products which telecom service providers have agreed to buy from it. The move is significant as sources close to the development say that, according to Chinese telecom companies' interpretation, the new National Security Directive on the telecom sector does not in any way prohibit them from participating in the process of selling telecom equipment of any kind to private telcos. The firm is waiting for a response from the government. It declined to comment.

UN's special rapporteurs ask govt to review new IT rules

UN's special rapporteurs ask govt to review new IT rules

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2021

The submission was made by the UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan; on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Clement Nyaletsossi Voule; and the right to privacy, Joseph Cannataci.

Covid-19 pandemic: PEs pour $584 million into healthcare in 2021

Covid-19 pandemic: PEs pour $584 million into healthcare in 2021

Rediff.com   11 Jun 2021

Sensing a huge opportunity in the healthcare sector during the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath, private equity (PE) players are upping their investments in the space. According to data from research platform VCCEdge, the PEs have together invested a staggering $583.82 million in the first five months of 2021 in five deals, which is the highest investment in the sector in the last five calendar years - from 2016 to 2020. The second highest investment in the sector took place in 2017, when PEs invested $503 million in 18 deals, with an average deal size of $29. 9 million.

How to Defeat Pirates who STEAL Films

How to Defeat Pirates who STEAL Films

Rediff.com   9 Jun 2021

Intelligent tools are being deployed to detect content pirated from OTT platforms.