Now SMBs in Mumbai Can Sell Using Amazon Tatkal Within 60 Minutes

In line with its vision to transform the way India sells, Amazon.in brings Amazon Tatkal, a unique initiative to help thousands of small and medium businesses (SMBs) to Mumbai. A one-stop-shop on the go, Amazon Tatkal enables SMBs to get online and sell on Amazon.in, in less than 60 minutes.

Amazon Tatkal is a specially designed studio-on-wheels offering a suite of launch services including registration, imaging and cataloguing services, as well as basic seller training mechanisms. It will enable thousands of interested sellers to start selling on Amazon.in in real time and experience the benefits of launching an online business.

Amazon Tatkal will be stationed at Linking Road and Elco Market today; Vashi Market and Nerul Market tomorrow, April 27 and Mulund Market and Dadar Market on Thursday, April 28. It will traverse the entire country, engaging with thousands of entrepreneurs, artisans, manufacturers and sellers and help them sell online on the spot. Mumbai-based sellers will now be able to sell local offerings like apparels, electronics, books, etc through Amazon.in within 60 minutes.

Talking about the concept, Gopal Pillai, Director and GM, Seller Services, Amazon India said “Our conversations with hundreds of SMBs reveal that there is a high level of interest among them to get online and start selling, but they are unable to overcome perception barriers of the process being time consuming, tedious and complex. As a result many interested sellers tend to put off onboarding tasks. As always, we worked backwards from seller needs and conceptualized Amazon Tatkal. We believe this initiative will help sellers to overcome these constraints, get them onboard, and start selling on the Amazon platform with speed and ease.”

Amazon Tatkal will visit seller-dense pockets across multiple cities in the country and engage with local businesses over the next several months.  Specially trained company representatives will educate sellers on the benefits of selling online, introduce them to the specialised seller services offered by Amazon.in including innovations like Easy Ship, Fulfilment by Amazon as well as Global Selling and launch interested sellers on the Amazon platform, helping them with on-the-spot imaging and  cataloguing tasks.

“We are very excited to see the high level of interest and enthusiasm from sellers to get online and benefit from the digital economy. A number of sellers on Amazon.in witnessed a growth of 250% (YOY) last year. We believe that initiatives like Amazon Tatkal will help thousands of SMEs in the country to experience the ease and convenience of selling on the Amazon.in marketplace in a matter of 60 minutes,” adds Gopal.

Since its launch in June 2013, Amazon.in has been working extensively to launch services that meet different business requirements of sellers and help them grow their business profitably online. Over the past two and a half years, Amazon.in has introduced the most comprehensive suite of offerings for sellers to sell online in India. From running an extensive education and skilling program for SMBs called Seller University, offering Fulfilment By Amazon (a pay-as-you-go fulfilment service wherein Amazon.in  packs, ships and delivers products to customers, manages returns and does customer service on behalf of the sellers), innovating Easy Ship (an assisted shipping service that makes it easy for sellers to ship products across India) and Seller Flex (bringing Amazon’s flagship FBA experience to the seller’s doorstep by implementing the FBA technology at sellers’ warehouses) , to  building the largest storage capacity in ecommerce in India for sellers to the tune of 5 million cubic feet, Amazon.in has been helping sellers reach millions of customers across the country. Amazon launched its Global Selling Program for sellers in India in May last year and today over 6000 sellers from India are selling their ‘Make in India’ products on Amazon’s nine global marketplaces to over 304 million active worldwide customers.

Amazon.in also recently launched a lending program for sellers through an independent, third party partner to offer secured and unsecured loans to sellers from 5 lakh rupees to Rs 2 crores at very competitive interest rates. 

India 2nd Largest Smartphone Mkt by 2017; 4G Phones will Account for 75% of 170 M Imports

According to the report on global technology and telecom, the country's smartphone market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% through 2018 and would account for 30% of the global growth during the period.

"We expect India to overtake the US next year as the second-largest smartphone market by units. India will grow nearly five times faster than the world's largest smartphone market China, where growth has decelerated," the report said.

It added, "We estimate a 23% CAGR in units in India, compared with 5% over the same period in China. By 2018, we estimate 192 million smartphones will be shipped to India, or 11% of global units."

Morgan Stanley said there are only 225 million smartphone subscribers in the country, accounting for 18% of the total population. "The improvement in demographics, as measured by declining age dependency, has been one of the most important factors supporting higher potential growth in India... We expect consumption to maintain a relatively high growth rate, driven by an increase in per-capita income growth and an emerging middle class," it noted.

On consumption of data, the report said the country is on the cusp of significant growth in data traffic driven by rising data users as well as growing data usage per user.

"We expect India's internet penetration to reach 50% by 2018, up from 26% last year, driven by rising smartphone availability and affordability, online content and changing user behaviour," it said.

The global consultancy estimates 4G smartphones will account for 75% of 170 million shipments by the next year, which currently has less than 1% subscriber penetration in the country. The report, which is based on 2,600 urban smartphone buyers, said the respondents paid an average of Rs 8,500 for their smartphones and plan to spend 40% more on their next phone. 

Ten Percent GDP to Make India $10 Trillion Economy: Amitabh Kant

India needs to grow at 10% to become $10 trillion economy and eliminate poverty by 2032, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said here on Thursday.

The country's growth rate was 7.6% in 2015-16 and its economy worth $1.7 trillion. In a presentation made during Civil Services Day function attended by Prime Minister and large number of civil servants, he said a growth rate of 10% would also help in creation of 175 millions jobs by 2032.

"Growing at 10% will transform India. India will be a $10 trillion economy with no poverty in 2032," his presentation reads. The presentation was made on the status of implementation of reports of 'Group of Secretaries' formed by the Modi government. A total of eight Group of Secretaries were formed in December last year on focus areas.

"These eight groups had officers from different ministries. Further, there were 16 groups of joint secretaries who simultaneously worked on their focus areas. We cut across silos so that we can act on the eight themes and act as agent of change," said Kant.

He said that current 7% growth rate would make India only a $6 trillion economy by 2032 and would still leave 5-6% of population Below Poverty Line (BPL). The groups has decided on sub-themes, Some of its recommendation have been acted on whereas a road map has been suggested for the rest to achieve intended target.

Under the sub-theme "accelerated growth", he said there will be Rs 2 lakh crore worth investment in roads and railways in FY 2017. It intends to complete 10,000 km of road project during the same period. LPG connections to below poverty line women through Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and promotion of medical tourism are other action points suggested by the group under "health and pharma" category.

Invixium Unveils New Breakthrough Products in Biometrics - IXM Merge

On April 20th evening witnessed the most innovative, revolutionary and advanced technology in Biometric Systems in India. With over 16 years of experience in the biometric industry, Shiraz Kapadia, CEO and President at Invixium launched the brand’s latest biometric product family IXM MERGE at Taj Santacruz, Mumbai. This by-invitation-only event was attended by VIPs, industry experts, consultants, integrators, end-users, media, Invixium staff and key figures of the Invixium ecosystem.

Some highlights of the event included a keynote by Shiraz Kapadia, cutting edge 3-D mapping video and panel discussion with industry leaders like Richard Agostinelli, CEO at Crossmatch Technologies and Ravi Ahluwalia, Deputy General Manager at Hitachi Europe Ltd. The entire Invixium product family including the newly launched IXM MERGE was on display for guests to get a first-hand feel.

IXM MERGE is a combination of design and smart engineering.  The family includes IXM MERGE and IXM MERGE CR.  IXM MERGE is a powerful biometric device with Corning Gorilla Glass, 2.0 inch LCD screen, sensor and card reader. To achieve a slimmer than slim profile, the product was designed with Rigid-Flex PCBA. The sensor uses Active Thermal sensing technology which eliminates errors prone to optical sensors while delivering unmatched performance with any finger condition (dry, wet). IXM MERGE CR is a RFID card reader variant that supports MiFARE, DESFire and DESFire EV1 cards. These are ideal products for end users from enterprise access and time and attendance markets who can select from non-biometric & biometric solution for their installs.

Invixium launched IXM MERGE series for India which is an ideal market for this revolutionary product that balances cost and features. This engineering masterpiece possesses the quality and performance values of the Invixium brand and is interoperable with other Invixium products through IXM WEB.

Speaking on the occasion, Shiraz Kapadia, CEO and President at Invixium commented, "Invixium designs and engineers incredible products". He added "We unveiled our newest masterpiece IXM MERGE at the most extravagant Product Launch event the biometric industry has ever seen. Our invitees were absolutely mesmerized."

At Microsoft’s Confluence, Anjum Chopra & Shabana Azmi Address Over 500 Employees at Hyderabad Campus

 Microsoft India hosted Confluence, its signature annual diversity and inclusion conference in Hyderabad. Confluence is a platform for employees to engage with the company’s leaders, industry experts, and public personalities, and discuss the power of diversity and inclusion in driving innovation, growth, and societal impact. 

The day-long conference was attended by over 500 Microsoft employees from across India. Interactive workshops, panel discussions, and the many inspiring stories were the highlights of Confluence 2016. Successful public personalities Anjum Chopra, Captain, Indian Women’s Cricket team, and Shabana Azmi, eminent actor and social activist interacted with participants and shared work and life advice. The day’s discussions included deliberation on gender, generation, and ability-based biases and building a work culture that helps overcome any such bias.

Building a diverse and inclusive work environment is at the core of Microsoft’s new mission of empowering every individual and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Says Rohit Thakur, Head HR, Microsoft India, “We need the best minds on this planet to help us build technology that makes a positive difference in the world. And the best minds come from myriad backgrounds, different genders, age groups, and physical abilities. We welcome them all to our workplace and create an environment to help them do their best work. Confluence 2016 is a celebration of the power diversity and inclusion brings to Microsoft India.”

Star cricketer and former captain of the Indian women cricket team, Anjum Chopra, and veteran Bollywood actor and social activist Shabana Azmi also spoke at Confluence. Sharing their life stories, talking about turning points in their career and covering key moments in their lives – both speakers had inspiring conversations with the employees.

Six breakout sessions focused on the three pillars of diversity – gender, generational and abilities, engaging participants in theatre plays, simulation and gender sensitization workshops. “Let’s Not Talk about it!”,an interactive play with multiple stories that brought forth key aspects of an inclusive work place like gender equality, stereotyping, urging participants to 'Start Talking About it “. “Antarchakshu” was an immersive workshop that gave participants an insight into the world of the visually impaired. “He F(or) She” – was a workshop held on gender sensitization and “Yuva Katha”, was an experiential workshop addressing generational work styles.

NASSCOM & Govt of Netherlands Partner to Organize Gamification & Applied Gaming Roadshow in India

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in collaboration with the government of Netherlands today concluded its first ever applied gaming roadshow from Mumbai. The roadshows which were held across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore from April 18, 2016 to April 22, 2016 focused on showcasing the potential of serious gaming for various sectors.  The initiative showcased the demos of solutions that have been developed and deployed by reputed Dutch serious games companies and will act as a platform for the exchange of ideas between developers of the two countries. Further, the NASSCOM Gaming Forum also launched its Special Interest Group (SIG) on Applied Gaming, with Ms. Manisha Mohan, Executive Vice President, Tata Interactive Systems as the Chairperson. The group will also include members from companies like  Robosoft, Indusgeeks, Skilldom and Madrat Games.

Expressing his thoughts on the collaboration between the two countries, Rajesh Rao, Chairman, NASSCOM Gaming Forum stated that, “India has just begun taking gaming seriously as a career and as an avenue to larger growth of the sector. The roadshow will act as an accelerator and encourage young talent to build innovative ideas for large scale applications. The cities have been strategically selected basis their growth rate and talent pool and we are thankful to the Dutch delegation for their support in this initiative.”

On the sidelines of the roadshows, the government of Netherlands also launched Ludowise, a joint venture between Ijsfontein, a leader in gamification and applied learning solutions and Dhruva Interactive, a gaming industry pioneer in India. The new venture will provide mobile and PC based apps and solutions for skill development, enterprise customers, education, healthcare and cyber security. The launch comes in the backdrop of the Government of India laying a lot of emphasis on campaigns such as Digital India and Make in India.

According to Alphonsus Stoeling , The  Ambassador of Netherlands, “The Dutch are known for their pioneering work and market leadership in the gamification and serious gaming.  We believe that, we have a lot to offer to India in this space. I am extremely happy to see this relationship between two leading companies from our countries bear fruit with this joint venture, to bring Dutch expertise to India”.

Adding to this, Krista Hendriks, Manager, Dutch Games Association stated that, “Netherlands and India are both on the part of rapid development across fields which will be enabled by technology. This partnership will mutually benefit both the countries and lead to further exchange of ideas and talent.”

With a rapidly digitizing work place enabled by smartphones and high speed Internet, emerging nations are showing great interest in using serious games, immersive simulation and use of gaming technologies to tackle issues like upskilling and high user engagement for training across sectors ranging from corporate skills development, industrial skills, academia, medical, military and government, kids’ education, health-care, cyber security and risk compliance. Serious gaming promises to give much greater return on investment as compared to traditional training models, by making learning much more engaging, effective, on-the-go. The use of interactive game design techniques in learning, is bringing in large-scale innovation and disruption to traditional learning models.

Rajasthan to Develop Smart Villages Before Smart Cities

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje took part in the first Digital Classroom of CISCO Networking Academy today in Anta, Baran. In a multi node Video Conference, Chief Minister Raje interacted with students of ITI, Anta, ITI, Varanasi, CISCO Headquarters in Bangalore, Chief Minister’s office in Jaipur and JDA.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister said, “It is time that we looked beyond smart cities. It’s time for Smart Villages”. Chief Minister Raje urged students of the ITI to grasp this opportunity to equip themselves with skills that are global and make a better future for themselves.

Anta, ITI, is one of the only four ITIs in India which are being developed as Digital ITIs. Raje had a detailed interaction with Dinesh Malkani, President, CISCO Systems India and thanked CISCO for being an able partner in the governments’ efforts in realizing the dream of Digital Rajasthan. Malkani assured Chief Minister that they would work with the government to set up 25 ITIs after the Anta model and these ITIs would impart instruction in technical skills, business skills and soft skills and at the same time, train Master Trainers. The course content would be global in nature and trainees would receive global certification, which would open up new opportunities of employment in India and abroad.

The government’s engagement in PPP with CISCO stands out as only 4 ITIs in India – Varanasi, Chhapra, Noida and Anta (Baran) are part of this Digital Classroom network. In the next phase, CISCO shall take up one ITI each in the 7 divisions of Rajasthan. These digital classrooms will transform the ITIs into Digital ITIs where through cloud computing ‘Any Where, Any Device’ Learning and Real Time Recording would be possible. The content would be the same as taught by CISCO in Europe and USA. The Digital Classrooms would allow industry interaction. CISCO is also working with the state Government in creating two ‘Smart Villages’ in the state.

During the event, Chief Minister was accompanied by Prabhu Lal Saini, Agriculture Minister, Dushyant Singh, Member of Parliament, Jhalawar, Younus Khan, PWD and Transport Minister, Babu Lal Verma, Minister of State, Transport, Rajat Mishra, Secretary, Skill Development and Employment, GauravGoyal, MD, RSLDC, and Dr. S.P. Singh, Collector, Baran.