News Roundup: 8 Stories You Don’t Want To Miss This Week [15June – 20June]

With a motive to engage deeply with his customers and to give them ultra-specific offers, InnerChef co-founder Rajesh Sawhney has launched a IoT device HungerTap, to help consumers understand their food options as per their eating habits. With this, Innerchef became the first foodtech startup to launch an NFC enabled device for its customers

Lets have a look at important developments of the week:

Narendra Modi launches mobile app to enable m-governance

The mobile app is available on Play store and has a pretty nice UI as opposed to other government apps. The app allows users to connect with the PM at the click of a button and in addition to that, it also has an option to send and receive emails directly from Narendra Modi.

It also has a fun feature which allows users to contribute and earn badges through to-do tasks.

Hackers have claimed Reliance’s Jio Chat App for Sending User Data To Chinese Servers

After the claim by the hacker group AnonOpsIndia,  the instant messaging service from Reliance,Jio Chat, has come under the scanner of security experts. Hackers claim to have found evidence that the app was sending sensitive user data to a Chinese IP.

Gurgaon-based MobiKwik, has crossed 10Mn android  app downloads

Gurgaon-based mobile wallet company MobiKwik currently has over 17+ Mn wallet users.Company was launched in 2009 by Bipin Singh and Upasana Taku. On reaching the milestone of 17+ Mn customers, the company has also launched a new TV campaign.

Ratan Tata talked about Indian ecommerce

It was the 107th Annual General Meeting of Indian Merchants’ Chamber. Ratan tata said, valuations of ecommerce companies are “very high” but these firms should be given time to prove themselves on a par with established businesses. Tata also gave insights on the on-going debate about the whether the ecommerce bubble will  burst.

Quikr is listing & generating leads for fake degree

Quikr was using Google’s PPC (Pay per click) to generate leads for fake degrees. Although, the ad clearly mentioned the degrees as fake, this leading classified site of India had hundreds of fake degree advertisements and to our utter shock, there were premium ads too, for which Quickr charges money,

Microsoft launches an online store, in partnership with Snapdeal

Realising the tremendous opportunities in online shopping, Microsoft  has partnered up with Snapdeal ,to launch an online store to make its unified portfolio of phones, tablets, PCs and software  accessible to the users. The store has been customized to offer an integrated Windows customer experience.

Amazon opens fulfillment center in Ludhiana

The centre is Amazon India’s first fulfilment centre in Punjab. It is spread over 50,000 square feet and  over 150 sellers from across the state have already  registered at the facility and many of them have started inbounding their products at the facility.

Lets have a look at other developments of the week:

Snapdeal launches yoga-themed store yoga workshops for employees

Ahead of the first International Yoga Day, Snapdeal started a yoga-themed store, offering yoga-learning e-guides, mats etc. For employee engagement, it partnered with Isha Foundation, who will conduct a workshop to teach yoga practices that can be incorporated into daily routine.

Paytm is launching a virtual card with RuPay

The virtual card is expected to expand Paytm’s reach from 35,000 merchants to 1.5Mn card, it will have a 16-digit number, just like a debit or credit card.Paytm has also applied for a payment bank license with RBI, whose applicants will be announced by august.

Autos & Taxis went on a  strike in Mumbai against app based cabs

18000 autos & 12000 taxis went on a day-long strike demanding a ban to be imposed on all app based cabs. The “Swabhiman Union” who initiated this strike, claims to have support from all the rickshaw & taxi owners who are not a part of the union. The app based cabs, still remain a hit among users.

Gaana.com expanded  its song library from 3 to10 Mn

In an bid to bring rich catalogue of songs to the users, Gaana.com has partnered up with a pioneering music, film and video distribution company, The Orchard. According to the current figures, Gaana.com has 15 Mn+ app downloads and over 12Mn registered users.

Ola launches 5 week long contest for drivers in Bangalore

With Ola Premier League, drivers to win weekly foreign trips, free down payment & 3 month EMI for their cars, consumer durables like refrigerators, TVs, washing machines. Points will be awarded according to customer-feedback & the number of bookings an Ola driver receives.

Unilever’s top executive has joined Flipkart’s new advisory board

India’s ecommerce giant Flipkart has brought in Sudhir Sitapati, who was the vice president at consumer goods giant Unilever. Sitapati is the first member of a Flipkart’s new advisory board,  that will be a panel of four members to help accelerate growth at Flipkart’s commerce platform. The other three members of the advisory board will be identified in the next few months.

A location intelligence firm AdNear has expanded into Europe

Sequoia and Telstra-backed AdNear Pte Ltd, has expanded into Europe by setting up a beachhead in London. This Bangalore and Singapore-based company help brands to  reach out to audiences through the analysis of time bound location data. The company has appointed Ken Parnham as general manager of Europe. Parnham was the former managing director of TrustE.

Tata Housing has sold luxury units worth $12.6Mn, through its ecommerce portal

In 2014-15, Company sold over 30 units in premium and luxury segment for $12-12.6Mn. Interestingly, Tata Housing even sold a villa worth $ 86K  through ecommerce portal www.Tatavaluehome.com, making them the first real estate developer to do so.