MeitY releases draft of the revised data protection bill for public comment
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has released a draft of the revised data protection bill. The bill has been titled Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 and is open for public comment till December 17.
The proposed bill comes in place of the Data Protection Bill, which was withdrawn by the government in August this year. The draft proposes to set up a Data Protection Board of India, which will carry on functions as per the provisions of the bill.
According to the ministry, the purpose of this Act is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The focus of the draft bill will be solely on personal data, the parliamentary Committee’s bill had sought to regulate personal and non-personal data. The data fiduciary is required to give itemised notice to users on data sought to be collected, in clear and plain language.
Skyroot Aerospace launches India’s first ever private rocket
Private space start-up Skyroot Aerospace, in collaboration with Indian space agency ISRO, successfully launched its Vikram-S suborbital vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Friday.
The launch took place at around 11.30 am under the mission ‘Prarambh’ in the presence of union Science & Technology Minister - Dr Jitendra Singh, who was invited as the chief guest for the event.
Before the launch, Singh had said that India is all set to make history by launching from the first-ever private rocket developed by a startup. As per the latest update, Vikram-S has achieved 89.5 kms peak altitude and has met all flight parameters. The rocket is named after former head and founding father of ISRO - Vikram Sarabhai.
Mass exodus at Twitter after Elon Musk’s ultimatum
Hundreds of Twitter employees are estimated to have decided to quit the beleaguered social media company following a Thursday deadline from new owner Elon Musk that staffers sign up for "long hours at high intensity," or leave.
The departures highlight the reluctance of some of Twitter's 3,000 or so employees to remain at a company where Musk earlier fired half of the workforce including top management, and is ruthlessly changing the culture to emphasize long hours and an intense pace.
Amid a buzz that Twitter might go down on Friday night after being hit by mass resignations, the company’s new owner Elon Musk tweeted a cryptic meme photo on the platform in which 'Twitter can be seen being buried at a graveyard.' This comes alongside #RIPTwitter trending on the microblogging site.
No layoffs for now, but hiring freeze across parts of the company soon: LinkedIn CEO
The world is in the midst of companies announcing hiring freezes and layoffs. Recently Facebook’s parent company Meta announced that it would lay off 11,000 employees and put in place a hiring freeze. After Musk took charge of Twitter, the company fired 3,000 employees, while Microsoft too carried out a massive layoff exercise, which has affected almost 1,000 employees.
On the layoff trend Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, told CNBC-TV18 that the company is not planning any layoffs but a hiring freeze will soon be seen across some verticals of the company.
“We haven't announced ... any kind of layoffs. We have put ourselves inside of a hiring freeze right now for various parts of the company. But again, like every other leader, we're just continuing to navigate the global strategy that we need to keep the company going to create this platform,” said Roslansky.
Startup Stairs launches ‘Growth Accelerator Program’ to select 20 startups for a Rs 20 crore fund
Startup Stairs, a seed-stage accelerator in partnership with The National Skill Development Corporation(NSDC) has announced the launch of the 'Growth Acceleration Program with 4i (Integrity, Inclusion, Innovation and Impact)' on to find innovative startups that are working for the upliftment of informal sectors.
Through this program, 20 startups with the best ideas will be selected and given seed funding in the range of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore from Startup Stairs. The accelerator will also provide technology and policy support, as well as an office and other resources. In addition, NSDC will help startups build a business case and SOP and give them access to mentorship, guidance and a network of training institutes, a statement said.
The last date to apply is 25th November 2022. On 30th November, 50 startups will be shortlisted and invited to in-person meetings with investors from December 1-8, while the best 20 startups will be announced on December 9, it added.
Medi Assist acquires majority stake in UK-based Mayfair
Insurtech firm Medi Assist Healthcare Services has acquired a majority stake in UK-based healthcare-focused administration service provider Mayfair We Care for an undisclosed amount.
Medi Assist has acquired a 60 percent stake in the UK-based firm, having a presence across the world. The acquisition will allow Medi Assist to expand offerings for its customers beyond India and provide global access to medical benefits and health plan administration.
Besides, customers of both organisations can now avail integrated services globally through a combined platform, with one of the largest global healthcare networks, the firm said in a statement.
SaaS unicorn Darwinbox plans IPO in 3 years
HR tech company Darwinbox, may go for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the next three years, co-founder Rohit Chennamaneni said.
Chennamaneni added that the firm is expected to achieve profitability by 2025 with Indian operations becoming profitable by next fiscal.
The company has opened a new global headquarters in Hyderabad and plans to hire around 300 employees in the next six months, taking the total workforce in the city to 1,000.
WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose, Meta India public policy head Rajiv Aggarwal step down
WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose and Meta India's public policy director Rajiv Aggarwal have stepped down from the company, on the heels of the exit of Meta India country head Ajit Mohan earlier this month.
Shivnath Thukral, who is currently serving as the director of public policy at WhatsApp India, has been appointed the director of public policy for Meta India that includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
SoftBank writes off about $100M invested in bankrupt FTX
Japanese investment firm SoftBank has reportedly written off about $100 million it invested as part of its Vision Fund 2 in now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
According to MarketWatch, the investment is now marked down to zero with SoftBank saying "it would not face a material markdown in the value of its stake".
SoftBank had backed FTX after the startup raised $400 million in January, valuing it at $32 billion. SoftBank has now disclosed a $100 million venture capital investment in crypto broker FTX.
Softbank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto was quoted as saying that $100 billion Vision Fund invested in FTX "as a minor stake in the company".
Google Play introduces UPI Autopay payment option for subscription-based purchases in India
Google has announced that it is introducing UPI Autopay as a payment option for subscription-based purchases on its Play Store in India.
Saurabh Agarwal, Head of Google Play Retail & Payments Activation - India, Vietnam, Australia & New Zealand, said, “With the introduction of UPI Autopay on the platform, we aim to extend the convenience of UPI to subscription-based purchases, helping many more people access helpful and delightful services — while enabling local developers to grow their subscription-based businesses on Google Play.”
The company also said that it has also been focused on removing complexities associated with finding and integrating local payments, including access to over 300 local payment methods supported in more than 60 countries.
Swiggy introduces sexual harassment policy for women delivery executives
Foodtech major Swiggy has introduced a policy on Sexual Harassment Redressal for female delivery partners which is in alignment with the POSH (Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013) Act.
If the harassment occurs at a customer’s location, after the initial investigation is done, no other female delivery executive with Swiggy will be assigned to that customer. The customer’s number will be highlighted so that a female executive is not assigned even if the customer changes location, the firm said in a blogpost.
In a sexual harassment case arising due to customers, male counterparts, restaurant partners, and Swiggy employees, the woman delivery executive can reach out to Swiggy’s Emergency SOS number for support. After gettingemergency assistance, should she want Swiggy to conduct an investigation, she can lodge a complaint with Swiggy’s on-ground team.
upGrad to hire over 1,400 people by March 2023
Edtech major upGrad has announced that it plans to hire over 1,400 team members by March 2023 to continue its growth and expansion plans to impact learners in India and globally. The company has made offers to hire people across India and global offices between November 2022 and March 2023.
The majority of the 1,400 members will be hired as Faculty, Trainers, and Experts, followed by sales and marketing, content, delivery, and learning experience.
The focus of the hires will be on their high growth areas, which include Study Abroad, 10 Global Campuses, Job enabled and ready programmes that upGrad launched in India and the US in the last 90 days, as well as at its ATLAS SkillTech University in Mumbai.
PE/VC investments nosedive 75% to touch $3.3Bn in October: IVCA-EY report
Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) investments for October 2022 touched $3.3 billion across 75 deals, 75 percent down from the same period last year ($13.1 billion), according to IVCA-EY’s monthly PE/VC round-up.
In terms of the number of deals, October 2022 recorded 75 deals, a 43 percent decline YoY (132 deals in October 2021) and at par with deals in September 2022. Nonetheless, October 2022 recorded a 60 percent increase in investments on a sequential basis due to the large Bain Capital-CitiusTech deal.
Startup investments recorded $583 million across 46 deals in October 2022 compared to $4 billion recorded across 100 deals in October 2021 and $938 million invested across 43 deals in September 2022. Buyouts recorded $472 million across four deals in October 2022 compared to $6 billion across six deals in October 2021 and $81 million across three deals in September 2022.
First Published: Nov 18, 2022 10:54 PM IST
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