One Thing Today in Tech
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TCS to add airline digital centre in Portugal; Google adds UPI Autopay on Play; ContentStack raises $80 mln
Tata Consultancy Services has won a contract from TAP Air Portugal to modernise the airline's IT systems and business processes to improve customer experience, as part of which it will establish a digital centre for innovation that will eventually serve other airlines in the region as well. Google has added UPI Autopay as a payments option for subscriptions on its Play app store. And content management system provider ContentStack nearly doubles its funding
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Amazon to layoff 10,000 staff — report; Adani a step closer to acquiring NDTV; LTI, Mindtree merger approved
Amazon plans to lay off approximately 10,000 people in corporate and technology jobs starting as early as this week, in what would be the largest job cut in the company's history, New York Times reports, citing people who know about the plan. Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate has received the go-ahead for an open offer for broadcaster NDTV's shares. And LTI and Mindtree became LTIMindtree, India's fifth biggest IT company by market cap, yesterday
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India's IT Minister to crypto startups: 'Innovate but respect our forex laws'; Lentra raises $60 mln
Crypto startups in India are not barred from any innovation but must adhere to the country's laws on foreign exchange, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Inc42 in an interview, according to a report from the startup news and analysis site. And SaaS action continues in India, with Lentra raising $60 million in Series B funding that includes Citi Ventures's first investment in an Indian fintech company, valuing the Mumbai startup developing AI-based embedded finance solutions at more than $400 million, TechCrunch reports
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Sequoia writes off FTX investment; Netcore delays IPO; Amagi raises $100 mln from GA; TCS to add 1200 jobs in Illinois
Netcore Cloud, a marketing technologies provider and one of India's biggest SaaS companies, has put off its initial public offering, Economic Times reports, citing founder and group managing director Rajesh Jain. Amagi, a media tech SaaS company in Bengaluru, shows that an 'up round' is possible even in current macro conditions. And Sequoia burns but the tip of its pinkie as another high-flying crypto company comes crashing down
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Skyroot's Vikram-S, India's first private space launch vehicle, set to launch soon; Meta lays off 11,000 employees
India's first privately developed rocket (Vikram-S) is undergoing final preparations at the ISRO's launchpad in Sriharikota, ahead of a launch likely as early as this weekend. The mission named 'Prarambh' (beginning) was unveiled by ISRO Chairman, S. Somanath in Bengaluru on Nov. 7, after the technical launch clearance from the Space regulator IN-SPACe. The rocket is set to carry two payloads from India, and one from an overseas customer. And Facebook parent Meta Platforms is laying off 13 percent of its staff worldwide
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Zoho hits $1 bln revenue, to invest more in AI, blockchain; Merak, Huddle announce India climate tech accelerator
One of the latest climate finance initiatives in India comes from Merak Ventures, a venture capital firm, and Huddle, an accelerator-led fund that have teamed up to launch ClimAct — a Climate Tech accelerator programme for startups in India. The programme will back startups in India in agriculture wastage and supply chain efficiency, mobility and transport, climate finance, carbon accounting and sequestration, and digital solutions. And Indian SaaS icon Zoho announces expansion plans, crossing $1 billion in annual revenue
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'Climate solidarity or collective suicide — you decide,' says UN Chief, calls on US, China to jump-start action
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned world leaders at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt that humanity will have to urgently work together or face annihilation, in the fight against global warming. In particular, the US and China must join forces to make a "historic" pact happen between rich emitters and emerging to hold the rise in temperatures to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era that most experts believe today is a lost cause without drastic action
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Apple to continue with Qualcomm modems for now; Meta's India head leaves for Snap; Wipro names new COO from Capgemini
Apple will continue to source modem chips from Qualcomm for the 2023 iPhone 15 lineup, MacRumors reports, citing Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Meta Platforms's India chief Ajit Mohan has stepped down and will join rival social networking company Snap, Economic Times reports. Wipro yesterday named Amit Choudhary, a former Capgemini executive, as a chief operating officer and member of the Bengaluru IT services company's executive board
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Tata Group to add 45,000 workers to win Apple iPhone orders — report; Freshworks faces class action lawsuit
India's Tata Group is planning to multiply the number of employees at its electronics factory in southern India that makes iPhone components, adding tens of thousands of workers as part of a push to win more business from Apple, Bloomberg reports. And India's SaaS darling Freshworks is facing a class action lawsuit in the US, for allegedly withholding information about obstacles to its business in the lead-up to its IPO last year
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Google temporarily halts enforcing billing system in India; Freshworks grows 37 pct in Q3, raises full-year forecast
Google has temporarily halted enforcing its Google Play app store rule that developers use its proprietary billing system in India after the country's Competition Commission ruled the practice anti-competitive, last month. Freshworks beat its guidance for fiscal Q3 revenue with a 37 percent increase in constant currency. The company raised its full-year projection, although the December quarter growth is expected at a slower, 27-28 percent range
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India to set up grievance appellate committees for social media; Twitter to revise user verification, may charge for it
India will set up multiple grievance appellate committees to oversee content moderation decisions of social media platform providers in the country, as the government looks to reign in content it deems unlawful. At Twitter, which is in a legal battle with the Indian government over orders to take down various accounts and tweets, new owner Elon Musk has plans to form a council to oversee content moderation, CNBC reports. Twitter may also charge a fee for user verification, according to the tech newsletter Platformer