Zoom & Mahindra to Roll Out Electric Cars on Self Drive Rental Model

Self-drive car rental service Zoomcar is gearing up for a large-scale roll out of electric vehicles on its platform, which will be owned and offered on rent by its associates, in an effort to expand its user base. As part of this initiative, the company on Monday tied up with Mahindra Electric.

Zoomcar believes that over 80% of its fleet will be under ZAP, Zoomcar’s fractional car ownership programme by the end of 2017.“Currently, Zoomcar owns and operates over 3,000 cars that we rent out to customers. Henceforth, the company will not maintain its own fleet but encourage individuals to buy and rent out cars on its platform,” Greg Moran, founder and CEO of Zoomcar told the media.

Till date, the company has raised over $45 million funds. Greg said, “The ZAP programme allows individuals to purchase the e2oPlus on Zoomcar’s self-drive platform, list the vehicle on a dynamic basis whenever idle, get bookings from Zoomcar’s customer base and earn cash to help offset the monthly ownership costs (by sharing in the profit on a daily, weekly and monthly basis).”

Mahindra Electric CEO Mahesh Babu said, “Currently, the cost of acquisition of an electric car is high and makes retail customers think twice before going ahead. With this partnership, we are addressing that issue.”

Railway’s Digital Contract System To Bring Transparency in Procurement of Materials

Aimed at bringing transparency and Ease of Doing Business in procurement of materials in national transporter, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will launch digital contract, a new system of digitisation of its entire supply chain across all zones of Indian Railways on Tuesday.

Digital contract is a seamlessly integrated digital supply chain, involving stakeholders including industries, financial institutions, internal customers of railways and inspecting agencies to create an efficient, responsive and transparent system, said an official in railways.

The system includes digitisation of processes like bill submission, inspection, dispatches, receipt, bill passing and bill payments, warrantee monitoring and enabling use of analytics for increasing supply chain efficiency in real time.

Though the railways already initiated 100% E-tenders and E-auctions in several of its areas, proposed digital contract is another step to ensure transparency and seamless flow of material, finances and information.

Digitisation will enable use of analytics for decision-making, reduce inventories and reduce procurement cycle time leading to reduced cost of products/services, said the official.

At present, the supply chain of Indian Railways is regulated through a single online website, which handles more than Rs 50,000 crore procurement through 100% E-tenders annually.

The supply chain also handles more than Rs 2,500 crore auction sale through 100% E-auctions in a year. This huge supply chain is managed from the zonal headquarters and production unit levels.

Any transformational change in such a huge supply chain requires innovative and out of the box solutions, while being within the public procurement systems, said the official.

Flipkart Acquires eBay India to Take On Global Gaints Amazon Inc

Flipkart has announced the acquisition of eBay India unit in an all-cash deal and decided to keep it as a separate entity as part of its game plan to compete with its Indian ecommerce arch-rival Amazon. Flipkart’s eBay acquisition will give access to C2C ecommerce market globally.

The deal comes as a part of Flipkart’s 11th round of fund raising of $1.4 billion at a post-transaction valuation of $11.6 billion. Besides eBay’s $500 million investment, the funding is led by other blue chip companies like Chinese Tencent and Microsoft.

eBay, which is also a minority investor in Snapdeal, started its ecommerce business in India in 2014. Flipkart’s eBay acquisition will give the company access to consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ecommerce market.

As per the statement issued by Flipkart, the investment by eBay is accompanied by a strategic commercial agreement with it. “In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay is making a cash investment in and selling its eBay.in business to Flipkart. eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity as a part of Flipkart,” states the Indian ecommerce giant.

Flipkart and eBay have also signed an exclusive cross-border trade agreement. As a result of the partnership between Flipkart and eBay, customers of Flipkart will gain access to the wide array of global inventory on eBay, while eBay’s customers will have access to more unique Indian inventory provided by Flipkart sellers. Thus, sellers on Flipkart will now have an opportunity to expand their sales globally.

In a statement issued to DH, eBay President and CEO Devin Wenig said, “The combination of eBay’s position as a leading global ecommerce company and Flipkart’s market stature will allow us to accelerate and maximise the opportunity for both companies in India. Our exclusive global trade partnership will allow eBay and Flipkart to reach even more consumers around the world.”

The ecommerce industry watchers find that the merger decision of eBay marks a significant victory for new Flipkart chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy. Besides helping his turnaround initiatives, Krishnamurthy also plans to go for Flipkart’s much-delayed IPO.

According to a senior official who worked with eBay India, the company made only minimal investment in India compared with other regions and now took the call to go for investments in India. “It is indeed great to hear that eBay decided to invest in the Indian market. Exactly they are replicating the South Korea model where they had a successful investment in Gmarket and Auction platforms,” he said.

eBay reported losses of Rs 262 crore for the year ended March 2016 in comparison with Rs 172 crore in 2015. Also, it recently replaced India head Latif Nathani by Vidmay Naini.

Hairline International Goes Online; Patients Can Now Consult With Doctors Realtime Via Video Conferencing

Hairline International Hair and Skin Clinic launch Tele-Dermatology which includes Cosmetology and Trichology for the first time in the country. The introduction of Tele-dermatology will now facilitate the practice of dermatology online with the help of unique software that will connect both the patient and the doctor, irrespective of physical distances that separate them. This unique service is the first-of–its-kind in the country and is poised to make immense impact in the field, considering that it offers real time diagnoses and consultation on both non-surgical and surgical conditions.

The company in partnership with DocPulse has developed a software that enables patients from any corner of the country to consult with doctors and experts realtime online without actually having to walk in the clinics. The software has been developed on a Google platform for hazzle free un-interrupted online sessions.

Speaking on the benefits of tele-dermatology in cosmetology, Dr. Kala Vimal, Dermatologist and Cosmetologist, Hairline International Hair and Skin Clinic says, “The primary benefit of such technology is the easy access to dermatologists and cosmetologists for those seeking an opinion on skin conditions, related investigations and diagnoses with treatment options. The ability to reach out to the most remote areas is a benefit. It is especially useful in the case of immobile patients, for whom coming to a hospital is a difficult task. This system may be used to diagnose acne and acne scars, pigmentary conditions, wrinkles, photo-aging, sagging skin, hirsutism, stretch marks and much more. In fact, diagnoses methods go a step further with Hairline International offering Skin DNA investigative options where the patient will be sent video tutorials on taking a swab for a DNA test. This is to be sent back to the specialists at Hairline International who will provide a detailed report, based on which treatment methods are prescribed”.

Dr. Dinesh Gowda, Dermatosurgeon, Hairline International Hair and Skin Clinic enumerate on the benefits of tele-dermatology in Trichology and say, “Trichology is a highly specialized field with doctors, especially surgeons being largely present and confined to metros. This technology assesses the line of treatment required by a patient of hair loss, based on its intensity. Options available may be surgical and non-surgical. Pre-surgical counselling for all possible treatment forms may be provided during interaction. Post-surgical care may also be carried out on an interactive basis over multiple sessions. For patients that require surgical treatment, Hairline will provide end to end packages covering travel, accommodation, procedures, medicines and post treatment consultations”.

Bani Anand, Founder and Managing Director, Hairline International Hair and Skin Clinic says, “We have always believed in bringing the best and latest in technology into our diagnoses and treatment options. Tele-dermatology ensures that expert medical opinion can be made available to all people, irrespective of where they are located. This works to the benefit of the patients not only in Karnataka, but across the country and internationally as well. With the specialized medical personnel on board and the latest in equipment that Hairline possesses, we are well equipped to manage patients coming in from around the country and the globe”.

'Mood of the Nation is in Innovation': DST Secretary Ashutosh Sharma

The mood of the nation is in innovation and in a recent development the centre has decided to increase research and development funding from the current 1% of GDP to 2% from this year onwards, said Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary Ashutosh Sharma.

Speaking at the Global RnD Summit 2017, organised by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and Ficci, on Thursday, Sharma said that increase in the R&D funding is primarily to focus on innovation.

“Funding to DST has doubled from Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore over the past two-and-a-half years. India plans to become the third largest R&D hub in the world, after China and US,” he said.

Sharma said that the number of research papers will increase with a focus on result-oriented R&D. “A few years ago, we were at the 12th place in publishing research papers and now we are in the sixth position. Within one-and-a-half years we will reach fifth position and within seven years we will become third after the US and China,” said DST Secretary.

Commenting on India’s High Performance Computing, he said the government has already invested $700 million in it. “We will have a total of 50 HPCs and this initiative started last year. This year, six HPCs will be commissioned, and out of which, two will be in Bengaluru (at IISc and JNC). Next year, it will be doubled — 10 or 12 will be commissioned,” he said.

The summit opened in Bengaluru, with an aim to explore the potential of research and development in catalysing economic cooperation and social development.

A Ficci — Edelman Knowledge papers on ‘Towards Making Bengaluru as R&D Capital of India’ and ‘Harnessing private Sector Investment in R&D’ were also released on the occasion.

“Karnataka offers a very attractive proposition for global players to set up their R&D operations in the state. It gives access to a huge market, and a very talented base of scientists and engineers, who cost much lesser than their western counterparts.

This talent pool will still remain young over the next two decades, while others like China would have an ageing working population by 2030,” according to the report.

Bangalore Brands - Kingfisher, Fastrack, Himalaya, Kurl-On, Art of Living, and Apple Lead in Brand Trust Report 2017

The seventh in its series, The Brand Trust Report 2017, India’s most comprehensive study on Brand Trust, has been released by TRA Research. Bangalore-based brands have made a strong showing with city brands leading 6 of the 40 Super Categories in the report. These leaders are Kingfisher (Alcoholic Beverages), Fastrack (Branded Fashion), Himalaya (Healthcare), Kurl-On (Home Furnishings), Art of Living (NGO) and Apple (Technology). 23 city-based brands made it to the top 1000 most trusted brands in India.

Other brands from the city that made significant strides are Dell, which maintained its position at rank 8, and Hewlett Packard, ranking 11 (climbing 15 ranks from 2016). Also maintaining its 2016 rank is Sonata at rank 31; Britannia ranks 33 with a 29-rank jump from 2016. Titan, from the house of TATA, ranks 36 (falling 6 ranks from 2016). 

Amazon climbed 18 ranks from 2016 and Wipro climbed 21 ranks from 2016, both rising to secure ranks 65 and 66 respectively. However, Acer (falling 7 ranks from 2016) and Lee (falling 16 ranks from 2016) have witnessed a drop in their trust ranks compared to 2016. 

The Bangalore-based Online Taxi Aggregator Ola makes an impressive 319-rank jump to secure rank 97 among India's Most Trusted Brands. Fastrack is ranked 104, with a fall of 16 ranks from 2016. Flipkart, ranked 121; IBM, ranked 140; and Tanishq, ranked 171, rose in their All India rankings this year. A total of 23 Bangalore-based brands have appeared in the top 1000 Most Trusted listings.

Samsung has been ranked as India’s Most Trusted Brand of 2017 (climbing 17 ranks from 2016). Sony and LG both retain their 2016 rankings and are at second and third ranks respectively. Apple ranks as India's 4^th Most Trusted Brand and, rising 12 ranks from 2016, makes it to the top 5 for the first time. Holding on to its rank of last year, brand Tata’s trust defies the temporary imbroglio it faced to occupy 5^th rank. The 6^th position is held by the automobile giant Honda; Maruti Suzuki follows, taking the 7^th spot. Dell is at 8^th rank and Lenovo, climbing 18 ranks from 2016, features in the 9^th position in the list. Bajaj, a brand which has been in the top 10 in five out of the seven reports, comes in at the 10^th rank in India's Most Trusted Brands list.

N. Chandramouli , CEO, TRA Research, said on the occasion of the report’s launch, “In keeping with the business vibe of the city, several Bangalore-based brands have made a significant mark in the list. Kingfisher, ranked 213; Infosys, ranked 226; and MTR, ranked 285, are cases to point. Myntra catapulted 283 ranks from last year to secure rank 297 in 2017. Among the 23 Bangalore-based brands, a remarkable 12 are category leaders – Sonata in Watches, Britannia in FnB – Diversified, Amazon in Online Retailer – Diversified, Ola in Online Taxi Aggregator,

Fastrack in Branded Fashion, IBM in Consulting/Services, Tanishq in Jewellery, Kingfisher in Beer, Infosys in Software Services, MTR in RTC Foods, Myntra in Online Retailer – Fashion, and Art of Living in the NGO super-category.”

The other brands making an appearance from the city are Karbonn at rank 350, BPL at rank 360, Xolo at rank 376, Wrangler at 419, and Cafe Coffee Day at 706. Thirteen Chennai-based brands have featured in this year’s listings, with TVS (All India rank 34), MRF (All India rank 139), and Nissan (All India rank 161) leading the pack.

The Brand Trust Report 2017, the seventh in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA. This year’s study involved 15,000 hours of fieldwork, covering 2,505 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India; it generated 5 million datapoints and 11,000 unique brands, from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this year’s report. The 200-page, hardbound report is available for Rs. 14,000.

Post Merger of CSC, HPE Services - DXC Technology is Now Set to Operate its Business in India

DXC Technology, a new organization created by the merger of CSC with the Enterprise Services business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), has publicly debuted as the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company.

The new company has began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “DXC.”

With 1/3rd of its workforce in India, DXC employees about 50,000 and has delivery centres in 10 locations including: Bangalore, Shivamoga, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, NCR, Indore and Kolkata. These centres will focus on banking, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing and public sector verticals. 

“Technology is transforming business and industry at an extraordinary pace, and DXC Technology will help clients to thrive on change,” said Mike Lawrie, DXC Technology chairman, president and chief executive officer. “Our goal is to produce greater value for clients, partners and shareholders, along with compelling career opportunities for our people.

“Together with our partners, we help clients harness the power of innovation to create new business outcomes,” Lawrie continued. “Our technology independence, extensive partner network, and world-class talent are core differentiators. We begin the new chapter in our journey knowing that collectively we have met the challenges of innovation many times before, and with a clear and confident vision for navigating the future.”

DXC Technology has established a differentiated operating model to deliver a seamless client experience as technology solutions are built, sold and delivered. With US$25 billion in annual revenues, DXC Technology has nearly 6,000 enterprise and public sector clients in 70 countries, an expansive global partner network and approximately 170,000 employees.

With more than 60 years of experience serving the largest public and private enterprises in the most mission critical environments, DXC Technology delivers world-class digital offerings developed jointly with its Partner Network. These include Cloud, Workload, Platforms and ITO; Workplace and Mobility; Security; Analytics; Application Services; Enterprise and Cloud Apps; Consulting; Business Process Services; and Industry Software and Solutions.

In addition to exclusive IP for a variety of sectors including insurance, healthcare and life sciences, and travel & transportation, DXC Technology also has deep experience in aerospace & defense, automotive, chemical, communications, media & entertainment, consumer products & retail, energy, manufacturing and technology.

DXC Technology has established more than 250 industry-leading global Partner Network relationships, including 14 strategic partners: Amazon Web Services, ATnT, Dell EMC, HCL, HPE, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Micro Focus, Microsoft, Oracle, PwC, SAP and ServiceNow.

The new company will operate in six global regions: Americas; United Kingdom and Ireland, which includes Israel; North and Central Europe; Southern Europe; Asia, Middle East and Africa; and Australia and New Zealand. Its U.S. Public Sector business (USPS) provides IT services to U.S. federal, state and local governments. Its CeleritiFinTech joint venture with HCL Technologies serves banking and capital markets. DXC Technology subsidiaries include Fixnetix, Fruition Partners and Xchanging.

“DXC India is a hotbed of innovation, with over a third of the global workforce based out of India, spread across nine cities and delivering end-to-end solutions to over 1,000 clients across all geographies,” said Sreekanth Arimanithaya, Senior Vice President, Integrated Workforce Management and India Co-Managing Director. “Our centers of excellence in established as well as next-generation technologies – combined with our technology independence – result in greater client confidence in our ability to deliver solutions that are most appropriate to their current requirements as well as future business needs.”

“In the era of the smart enterprise, organizations are looking at technology to help achieve business success,” said Samson David, Senior Vice President, Commercial Delivery, Offering Delivery & Transformation and India Co-Managing Director. “Our combined experience (CSC and Enterprise Services) in managing large and complex client deployments, an employee base of over fifty thousand professionals, together with being compliant with industry-leading certifications makes DXC Technology India a business transformation partner of choice for global customers.”

“To meet growing business demands and capitalize on market opportunities, organizations in India are looking at technologies such as Cloud, IoT, Analytics and Big Data to help bring about digital transformation,” said Marshal Correia, Managing Director, India Sales and Coverage Leader. “With strong IP in industries such as Insurance and Healthcare, DXC Technology India will be in a position of strength to serve a large client base across Insurance, Healthcare and Manufacturing, Public Sector, Travel and Transportation too. We see tremendous long-term growth opportunity in the country to help customers thrive on change with DXC Technology’s next-generation portfolio of IT services and solutions.”