Mobikwik user database hacked; EVs are going mainstream in India

+ Visa to allow the use of cryptocurrencies; The next 10 years of AR: Facebook has huge plans

Mar 30, 2021

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#DoNotMiss

The next 10 years of AR: Facebook has huge plans

The biggest difference between the future AR interface and everything that’s come before is that there will be much more contextual information available to our AR devices. [Read More]

The Nazara Story: From Idea to IPO

Nazara is finally live for trading. What started as an experiment in 1999 is a big blockbuster now!

Do listen to this conversation between Ashish Sinha and Nazara Founder, Nitish Mittersain – they discuss the early days of the Internet in India, the magic of Shammi Kapur, and how Nazara not just survived the multiple boom-bust cycles but is now roaring to scale further post IPO! [Listen].

Subscribe to Ashish Sinha's Podcast

Aaannddd some more to listen…!

InMobi CPO, Chandra Vattikuti on Growth Marketing and Mapping out Channels for growth strategy [Part 1]

E-Commerce in small towns and TikTok ban: Conversation with Prashant Singh (Ex VP of Product, Paytm)

Bharat Market and use of QR Codes: Conversation with Prashant Singh (Ex VP of Product, Paytm)

Also available on:

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Quick News Bytes

#IndiaTech

Database containing personal details of over 3.5 million users of MobiKwik users came up for sales; The 8.2 TB in size of data comprises 99,224,559 user phone numbers, email, hashed passwords, addresses, bank accounts and card details. (MC)

Jio, Airtel, and Vi make timely payment of their spectrum charges and license fee to DoT; The three telecom giants paid their dues amounting to Rs 5,000 crore for the quarter ending March 2021. (TT)

TRAI warns a list of top banks and companies that failed to comply with its rules to prevent fake SMSes; About 39 business entities along with some of the top banks have been issued a warning to comply with the requirements by March 31, 2021, to avoid disruptions with the customers. (GN)

Andhra Pradesh govt to help its employees purchase over 1 lakh electric two-wheelers at cheaper rates; The government plans to offer loans with cheaper interest rates to buy EVs to promote electric mobility. (RN)

#GlobalTech

Visa to allow the use of cryptocurrencies for payment settlements; This move from Visa comes as major financial firms including BNY Mellon, BlackRock Inc and Mastercard Inc are said to have allowed digital coins, which may include cryptocurrencies. (MC)
Facebook to partner with Google to install two new subsea cables linking Singapore to the US; The move will help enhance better internet infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. Google’s Echo subsea cable will be operational in 2023. Facebook’s fibre link called Bifrost, covering 15,000 km, is expected to be completed in 2024. (MSN)
Facebook blocks Venezuela president's page for promoting misinformation on ‘COVID-19’ herbal treatment; Nicholas Maduro’s account has been frozen after he called “Carvativir” a miracle treatment for COVID-19. His account has been suspended for 30 days. (BI)
Humanoid robot Sophia's NFT artwork sold for almost $700,000 at auction; The digital artwork is a 12-second MP4 file showing the evolution of Bonaceto's portrait with a physical artwork, painted by Sophia on a printout of her self-portrait. (HT)
SolarWinds hack gets access to emails of Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security; The vulnerabilities at Public Homeland Security gets worsen following the SolarWinds attack and Microsoft Exchange hack, as in both cases, the hackers were detected not by the government authorities but by a private company. (HT)

#BusinessNews

Three more jets to land in India on March 31, mid-air fuelling will be provided by UAE; Already a total of 11 flights were part of Golden Arrows Squadron, with the next batch coming up, the total number of warplanes are numbered as 14. (MC)

Amazon India to expand grocery business in tier II, tier III cities and small towns; It is reported that Amazon India's grocery segment gets around 65% of orders, and over 85% of new customers were from these regions. (MC)

Banks to conduct special clearing operations for the annual closure of government accounts on March 31; The RBI has directed all the banks to participate in the clearing operations mandatorily. (FE)
NHAI to launch its first Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in April, to raise Rs 5,000 crore; “We are targeting to launch our first InvIT within April 15. We will file the memorandum with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) before March-end,” said an NHAI representative. (FE)

As retailers go Digital with FMCG goods, Sales rose by 40%; Payment options and doorstep delivery are some of the main drivers for the growth in sales during the pandemic. (FE)

#COVID19

WHO findings suggest Animals as a source of COVID-19;The joint team of WHO-China proposed detailed research in areas of Wuhan, especially the 'animal market' where it is said to have spread from. (IE)
Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine found up to 90% effective in real-world conditions; This is based on Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research involving nearly 4,000 healthcare and other frontline workers in the US. (MC)
No lockdown in Karnataka; Ban imposed on rallies and parties; Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, the Karnataka government has ruled out lockdown imposition. The state reported 2,792 cases on Monday; the overall count now stands at 9,89,804. (Scroll)
Centre lists 8 states that accounted for 84.5% of the new COVID-19 cases in the country; Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh accounts for most of the cases in the country. More than 60,000 cases were recorded in India in the past few days. As of Monday, the country registered 68,020 new cases according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s data. (ZN)
India records 56,211 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours; About 271 people have lost their lives due to the virus in the last 24 hours. Among other states, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Punjab have reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases, according to the health ministry data. (HT)

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