Daily News Digest- 17th Sep'14

Thought of the Day:

Today in History:

Following made the Headlines:

India:

• Fewer Business Jets in Delhi as Lobbying Ebbs: Call it the backlash against crony capitalism, but it appears that the avowedly business-friendly Narendra Modi government isn't all that keen to offer its hospitality to corporate India. One sign of this lies in the sharp reduction in private jet flights across the country. India Inc, many august members of which are ardent supporters of the current NDA dispensation, doesn't seem to be making too many trips to New Delhi to pay respects. Aircraft movements by private jets in June and July, soon after the Modi government was sworn in on May 26, fell more than 7% from the year earlier. General aviation charters are measured in terms of aircraft movements -two of them for every takeoff and landing. During the corresponding months in 2013, such movements jumped 28% and 21%, respectively, from the year earlier. During the same period in 2009, the first two months of the second UPA government, such movements had tellingly shot up 41% in June and 52% in July from the year before. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati's office is typical in this respect. Officials who didn't want to be named said requests for meetings from at least 25 senior members of the corporate world were politely refused for one reason or the other. Various other ministries have similarly declined pleas for appointments, which has led to the drop in private jet operations across the country, officials said. Before any meeting is granted, officials check the antecedents of the person concerned.

• Pop-up Ads: They Know What You Browsed Last Second: It follows you in less than 100 milliseconds, it's created via a process that mimics super-fast, automated stock market trading -and this global phenomenon has arrived in India big time. Welcome to `programmatic', a trade jargon that means web ads that feed off your consumer profile and follow you as you surf -within 100 milliseconds of your exiting an e-commerce site. This is how it works as you surf: Say, you are mulling over a pair of pink trousers in an e-commerce site, you don't buy it, but as you exit, following you in seconds is a pop-up ad extolling pink trousers, never mind that you may now be immersed in, say, a philosophy journal's website. Programmatic buying is huge in the US, a $7.4-billion annual business. In India, it's already worth around ₹ 2,000 crore, about two-thirds of the annual . 3,500-crore digital advertising spend. Digital ad spend, trade pundits say, is headed for 30-35% annual growth and programmatic buying will account for a large share. Real-time consumer tracking has already pushed traditional online ad placements to second position in India because it gets more people to buy . E-commerce executives say the click rate and conversion rate (proportion of people who buy after clicking on an ad), are roughly 10% and 25%, respectively for programmatic buying.For plain vanilla online ads, the figures are around 1% and 5%.That's a huge difference. Programmatic buying is way more complicated than placing ads on web sites. It involves trading desks and auctions, all happening in super quick time. The online merchant uses a mapping software to create a profile based on your e-commerce browsing in the site. That profile goes to one of the many Ad Exchanges, technology plat forms allowing buying and selling of space online. Google, unsurprisingly , runs the biggest exchange. Many others, including Facebook, operates them too.

• Flying, with no Place to Land: The ongoing price wars between airlines have revealed a desperation that’s fast blurring the lines in the Indian aviation market — between premium and budget products, local and foreign carriers, domestic and overseas travel, and even the rigidly demarcated, economy and business class. SpiceJet fired the first salvo this year by offering a 50% discount in January, a 75% cut in February, 30% in March, ₹1 fares in April and many such discounts — 20 flash sales this year, to be precise. Soon, other budget carriers followed, and sometimes the likes of AirAsia India, which started flying in June, bettered the offers. Air India and Jet Air ways too joined with their goodie bags later. “The price wars and especially the blurring lines between low-cost and full service ensure that new airlines coming in will have little pricing power and limited room to introduce a radically new product into the market,” said an airline executive who didn’t wish to be named. Foreign carriers too have joined the war. So, while Singaporean LCCs Tiger Airways and Scoot Airlines this month offered fares of about S$800 (₹ 38,400) for flights to destinations such as Sydney, customers also got base fares as low as ₹7,700 from premium carriers such as Emirates to destinations like Jeddah. Qatar Airways recently wrote to travel agents offering a 25% discount on tickets. The idea behind flash sales is to sell seats that would otherwise go empty. Flight seats are perishable: once an aircraft doors are closed for take-off, a seat is lost forever. Also, even in the busiest of travel seasons, 10-20% of flights on an average go empty.

• SpiceJet Tops Flight Occupancy In August too: Budget carrier SpiceJet topped flight occupancy figures for the third straight month in August, although it ceded the No.2 spot to Jet Airways after ousting it in July. SpiceJet managed on average to fill 82.5% of its flights during the month, according to DGCA data. In comparison, market leader IndiGo just managed to fill 74.8% of its flights. SpiceJet has been filling its planes by dint of its repeated flash sales across its network.The airline's rationale as explained recently by COO Sanjiv Kapoor is that “it's a crime to fly empty seats“ SpiceJet in July posted industry-best load factor figure 79.4% during July. In June too, it had the industry's highest seat occupancy levels at 81.4%.

• M&M, Peugeot May Ride Scooters Together: After a choppy start in the two-wheeler space, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India's largest utility vehicle maker, is in talks with European automobile major -PSA Peugeot Citroen, for a tie-up in the scooter space, three people close to the development told ET. M&M has been engaged in a discussion with Peugeot for several months. The discussions revolve around sharing technology and a distribution tie-up across geographies, both in Europe and India and other emerging markets. “M&M's keen interest lies in vehicle platform, hybrid and electric technology and for Peugeot it may be to get a toe-hold into India through two wheelers at a relatively lower cost and expand later into the car segment. There is a growing market for premium twowheelers in the country and Peugeot scooters could be ideal fit for present and for the future,“ said one of the three people in the know of development requesting anonymity.

• Rains, Taxes Take Fizz Out of SABMiller: The India unit of SABMiller, the world’s second-largest brewer, posted a wider loss and its smallest sales growth in three years in the last fiscal year, amid higher taxes that drove up prices and hurt by an early and prolonged monsoon. Sales at the maker of Haywards, Foster’s and Knock Out beer rose a marginal 0.5% in the year through March to ₹ 3,363 crore, according to SABMiller India’s filings with the Registrar of Companies. Net loss widened to ₹ 100 crore from ₹ 88 crore, while sales volume dropped 6.8% to 5.1 million hectoliters. While the London-headquartered beer giant maintained that its performance was “in line with the industry growth”, it noted that it had been hit by price increase taken across 18 states and commodity cost inflation. “Industry growth last year was mostly influenced by two factors — steep excise tax increase in a few major states and one of the strongest monsoons over the last 20 years. But it is more of an aberration in the long term,” said Darioush Afzali, marketing director of SABMiller India. But prospects are upbeat now after an encouraging last three months, he said.

• Forget Red Fort, How about Trip to Chorbazaar: When Geetika Lal, an architect based in Chennai, travelled to Gurgaon for six months to work on a project for her firm, she wanted some local experience, but had no friends there. One day on Facebook she located SeekSherpa, a travel startup that offers micro tours and local activities across the country . “I reached out asking for a local person. They arranged a local guide, Nikunj, who took me to a small street food corner in Gurgaon, which I would never have found myself,“ she said. “This time I will be going back to Delhi, and have spoken to them to explore Old Delhi.“ With more and more western and Indian travellers seeking local, unique experiences, a number of travel startups such as Padhaaro, Tushky .com, `Be The Local' and SeekSherpa are cropping up, offering the local flavor of a place beyond standardized tourist itineraries with local people acting as guides. “Our platform help the traveller experience a local culture at a close range, and also gives an opportunity to local people to package their services to travellers to give them a unique experience,“ said Dhruv Raj Gupta, 23, cofoun der of Delhi-based SeekSherpa. While national players such as Padhaaro, Tushky .com and SeekSherpa offer micro tours, local attractions, cuisines and hobby activities for tourists across the country , by crowdsourcing local guides, `Be The Local' offer unique experiences in Mumbai like a tour of the Dharavi slum.

• Inasra to Raise $15-25 m for Boosting Growth: Inasra Technologies, which owns and operates hotel booking website Stayzilla.com is looking to raise its second round of institutional funding, estimated at between $15 million to $25 million (₹ 92-152 crore), at a time when travel-related ventures have once again caught the attention of risk capital investors. If successful, the round will follow the yet undisclosed funding raised by the Chennai-based company from Matrix Partners India in October last year. It had also raised seed funding of $5,00,000 from the Indian Angel Network in March 2012. Sources indicated that Stayzilla could dilute 15-20% stake in this round of financing. Unlike other online travel ventures, such as Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip.com and Yatra.com, Stayzilla focuses on room bookings, majority of which come from tier-II and tier-III cities. It competes with ventures such as MyGuestHouse, in which MakeMyTrip has a substantial stake, and IndiaHotelReview. Stayzilla confirmed that it was in talks with investors to fuel its further expansion. “We don't have an urgency to raise funds. The only thing that is driving interest in rais ing capital, is that by December, we could be doing 3,000-5,000 room nights a day in a market, where we can target 50,000 nights in two years,“ said founder and CEO Yogendra Vasupal. Other co-founders of the venture include Rupal Surana and Sachit Sanghi.Stayzilla claims to have a network of over 16,000 hotels, spread across almost 1,100 towns and cities in India. The company is believed to record about 1,800 bookings per day now, compared with 350 a day in September last year.Its gross bookings are also growing at 50% on a month-on-month basis, with a run rate of ₹ 70 crore.

• Bangalore-based Electronic Cluster Raises Rs 14 crore: A new cluster in Bangalore's Electronic City has raised Rs 14 crore from the central and state governments to help start-ups and small enterprises design, test and develop electronic devices. The electronic manufacturing clus Rs 10 crore from the center has received ` tral government and Rs 2 crore each from its 25-odd member-companies and the state government. Spread over 30,000 square feet, the common facilities will include equipment to test products for their tolerance in temperature and humidity ,and will be made available to the mem ber-companies at a discounted price.

• Adani breaks into top 10 rich club as wealth jumps 152%: A sharp 152% jump in his wealth saw Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani break into the list of 10 richest Indians even as Mukesh Ambani retained the pole position, according to a latest report. Adani blazed into the top league riding on the runaway share prices of his companies in recent past, pegging his wealth at Rs 44,000 crore, said Hurun Report, published by a China-based luxury publishing and events group, tracking the uber rich. Ambani's wealth swelled 37% to 1.65 lakh crore, while Sun Pharma chief Dilip Shanghvi toppled LN Mittal of ArcelorMittal for the second position. Sanghvi's recent blockbuster acquisitions reaped a 43% rally in his wealth, which stood at 1.29 lakh crore. Mittal declined 4% to Rs 97,000 crore.

• Social commerce ready to enter next level: Facebook drew first blood a couple of months ago. Twitter too began testing a “buy” button, where users in the US can make purchases through a tweet. Social commerce — marrying social interactions with e-commerce — is ready to enter the next level. And industry insiders say, it could only get bigger and bolder in the coming months. Nitin Chhabra of e-commerce consultancy, Ace Turtle, says that getting into e-tailing seems the obvious next step for social media companies. “Their only model to monetize was through advertising. This makes for a logical next step. There are less than 20 million people buying online in India. If this can help get more people to transact online, it will be healthy for the e-commerce industry,” says Chhabra. Online industry insiders feel the new model won’t possibly compete with existing e commerce players. Entrepreneur Sanjeev Bikhchandani says that a lot depends on how orders are routed. “If the orders are routed to existing ecommerce companies, it may not compete with them,” he says. Jabong founder Praveen Sinha says while e-commerce players like him can use social commerce platforms to sell, selling on social networks is likely to benefit smaller businesses. “It isn’t a day zero winner. There is a process by which it will evolve. The intent of the user on social media is not to buy, but it can definitely be a channel to sell things like T-shirts or event tickets. For small business owners, like say, someone selling pickles from home, it will be simpler to create a platform to sell online,” says Sinha.

• Why the Alibaba model does not work in India: Chinese business- to- business (B2B) e- commerce giant Alibaba is making waves with its muchanticipated $22- billion initial public offer, but Indian retailers are in no hurry to explore the B2B e- commerce space. While global competitors Amazon and Walmart are looking to explore B2B online in India, traditional Indian retailers like the Future group and Reliance Retail and e- commerce players such as Snapdeal and Flipkart have no immediate plans in this area. Amazon declined to comment on its plans. Walmart is running a cash- and- carry ecommerce pilot and is set to roll out full services before the end of this year. Others like the Future group think differently. “ We are aretailer that deals with consumers, there is no reason we should get into the B2B space. Others are getting into it because regulations stop them from entering the B2C ( business- toconsumer) segment,” said Kishore Biyani, chief executive of the Future group. German major Metro, which operates cash- and- carry stores in India, did not comment on its e- commerce plans. Industry sources said Metro might hold back because of policy ambiguity and challenges around the logistics and the business model in e- commerce. Metro has said India is a focus market and it plans to set up 50 stores in the country by 2020. Walmart has also announced similar expansion plans. Reliance Retail, which is competing all the way with Walmart in India, did not comment on its cash- and- carry ecommerce plans. However, experts argued it could well offer online wholesale to compete with Walmart, which had 20 stores across 19 cities. Reliance Retail has crossed Walmart in the number of cash- and- carry stores in the country. Leading e- commerce marketplace player Snapdeal said it would not launch a separate B2B portal. However, for many product categories on the website like hardware, furniture, catering supply, Snapdeal processes bulk orders. Sources at Flipkart said the company had no plans to venture into B2B and would continue to focus on the B2C segment.

• Amadeus plans India entry this year, scouts for firms to invest in: UK-based technology venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd plans to enter the Indian market and is looking to invest $5-10 million in Indian companies. It will invest in Indian firms that focus on mobile technology, financial services, digital media and online services. “The Indian market right now is at a tipping point and there’s a lot of maturity in the market, particularly in the online services space,” said Jason Pinto, a partner at the London-based firm. The firm is also looking to open an India office soon and will hire someone to head the India efforts, said Pinto. The firm “hopes to launch in India this year”, he added without giving details. Amadeus Capital Partners, co-founded by European technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser, who built Acorn Computers, has around £500 million under management. It has backed over 85 companies since its inception in 1997. The India focus comes as part of the Amadeus IV Digital Prosperity Fund, which had its first close in July last year at $75 million, and is focused on emerging markets. South African telecommunications company MTN Group is one of the corporate investors in this fund. Amadeus Capital Partners also expects more investment from other institutional and corporate investors.

• Air India in $600 mn deal for sale and leaseback of five Dreamliners: State-run Air India Ltd, which has a debt of Rs.40,000 crore, has struck a deal with German lender Deutsche Bank AG and the UK’s Investec Bank for selling and leasing back five Boeing B787 Dreamliner planes in a $600 million deal. According to two Air India executives, who asked not to be identified, Deutsche Bank will buy four planes while Investec will buy one. Emails sent on Monday to the two lenders remained unanswered at the time of going to press. A sale and leaseback is common in the airline business. Airlines sell their planes to a lender, a process that helps them generate revenue, and then lease the same planes for a fee. “Sale and leaseback of planes will give us upfront liquidity. Besides liquidity, the balance sheet of airline will also look strong,” said one of the Air India executives.

• Raj Jain to replace Ravi Dhariwal as Times group CEO: Raj Jain, chief executive officer at Bharti Retail Ltd, multi-brand retail venture of Bharti Enterprises, is set to replace Ravindra Dhariwal at India’s largest media company Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL). Dhariwal is the CEO (publishing) and executive director at the company that publishes The Times of India and The Economic Times newspapers. Two people familiar with the development said Jain will join BCCL in a couple of months. “Jain is a great choice. He has had an illustrious career. He has worked for HUL (Hindustan Unilever Ltd) and was head of Whirpool India and later Wal-Mart too,” said one of the persons mentioned above. The two people asked not to be identified because the announcement is yet to be made. Jain, 54, is the former head of Wal-Mart India. He has also worked for Hindustan Unilever Ltd, which he joined as a management trainee in 1980. He spent 10 years at Whirlpool Corp. Jain joined Wal-Mart in China in 2006.

International:

• Nancy Pedot Exits Comptoir des Cotonniers: Nancy Pedot is stepping down as chief executive officer of the Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse Tam Tam fashion chains after less than a year in the job. Parent Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., which also owns Uniqlo and Link Theory, said Pedot decided to leave the group to pursue other career opportunities. Her next move could not immediately be learned. Until a successor is named, Nobuo Domae, senior group officer at Fast Retailing and co-ceo of Fast Retailing France, is to take over Pedot’s functions.

• DFS to Enter Europe: DFS Group is entering Europe, with plans to open its first upscale T Galleria store in Venice in mid-2016. The Hong Kong-based retailer, which is majority owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has secured a hot property in the city, a 13th-century building called Fondaco dei Tedeschi, overlooking the Grand Canal and in a strategic location near the Rialto Bridge. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Philippe Schaus, DFS chairman and chief executive officer, during a presentation of the project in Venice, referring to the historical meaning and expanse of the building, which is owned by the Benetton family’s holding Edizione Srl.

• Wildfox Opens First Store on Sunset Plaza: Wildfox is putting a girlish touch on its burgeoning retail empire.In its new store on Sunset Plaza, the first in a chain stretching from the U.S. to Japan, the fast-growing young contemporary brand is conjuring a Millennial’s dream closet sequestered inside a French chateau. Awash in pink, the 2,000-square-foot space that was unveiled last week houses hardbound copies of Jane Austen novels that remind shoppers of the inspiration for the fall collection, which prominently features roses, as seen in the flower crowns topping mannequins’ heads. Pink-tinted chandeliers cast a warm glow on the brass furniture, such as the four-poster bed, a vintage Mastercraft table bearing an array of screen-printed Ts and shelves of sunglasses that users can customize exclusively in the store. The metallic-coated sepia wallpaper in the dressing room is a collage of photos from past look books and ad campaigns. An Art Deco credenza doubles as the cash register and a display for jewelry by Chanel and Leenabell.

• Scotch & Soda Names Ari Hoffman: Ari Hoffman has a new gig. The executive, who left Benetton as president and chief executive officer of its U.S. operations at the end of July, has been named chief executive officer of Scotch & Soda USA. Hoffman succeeds Tony Strippoli, who recently left the company. “I am pleased to welcome Ari Hoffman to Scotch & Soda,” said Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg, ceo of the Amsterdam-based brand. “Ari brings with him 30 years of experience in fashion in the USA, as former U.S. ceo of Yves Saint Laurent, Lacoste, Gant and most recently Benetton. We look forward to working together in order to grow our business.” Scotch & Soda offers men’s and women’s apparel targeted to modern-minded urban customers. It operates 110 stores around the world and has 7,000 wholesale accounts as well as a Web site.

• Ole Henriksen Names Suzanne Dawson: Suzanne Dawson has been named chief executive officer for Ole Henriksen and senior vice president at Kendo Brands. Dawson succeeds Alexandra Kole in the ceo role and will report to David Suliteanu, ceo of Kendo Brands. Kole will remain a consultant for the company. Most recently, Dawson was chief marketing officer for Murad, and before that, had spent 11 years with Aveda. “Suzanne Dawson’s experience in building successful global brands in the skin-care, hair-care and beauty categories will be a tremendous asset to Ole Henriksen and Kendo overall as we continue to grow our brands, innovate and expand our offering,” said Suliteanu. 

• Mandarina Duck Names New CEO: Recently restructured Mandarina Duck has tapped Dirk Vosswinkel as its new chief executive officer. He succeeds Ferdinando Pandolfi. Vosswinkel, who has 20 years of experience at brands including Guess and Samsonite, returns to Mandarina Duck, where he was general manager of the label’s German branch from 2003 to 2007. Vosswinkel expressed his belief in the potential of the brand in the accessories market and said that his first goal was to relaunch and position Mandarina Duck globally with plans to expand its distribution through its existing channels, such as travel retail and e-commerce, and additional windows in strategic cities and department stores around the world. The development of the Asian and American market is also a priority, as well as a new communication strategy and innovative products “to bridge the potential gap created with our consumers over the years.”

• L’Oréal Shuffles Execs in Travel Retail: Changes are afoot in L’Oréal’s burgeoning travel-retail activity. The French beauty giant said Tuesday Richard Cymberg was appointed clients management director for L’Oréal Group Travel Retail, a newly created position. The role is global and encompasses each of the company’s brands and divisions. Cymberg has held numerous positions at L’Oréal, including most recently president and executive director of L’Oréal Korea and travel retail Americas zone manager, according to his LinkedIn profile. His appointment is already in effect.

Tech:

• MediaTek Pins Hopes on Android One to Grow Base: Smartphone chipmaker MediaTek will leverage its Android One partnership with Google and use India as a springboard to scale up its presence in the developed markets of US and Europe, where rival Qualcomm has a dominant position. As part of a broader plan with Google, an array of smartphones, including those supporting LTE, a standard for highspeed mobile data, will be launched in India as the associated network develops towards the beginning of next year, Mohit Bhushan, vice president and general manager, US corporate marketing for MediaTek, told ET. “We’re striving to get into the West and get a piece of that action by showing our growth as a premium (chipset) supplier,” Bhushan said. MediaTek is the first chipset supplier that Google tied up with for smartphones on the Android One platform, launched on Monday. Micromax, Karbonn and Spice each introduced a smartphone with a 4.5-inch screen, dual-sim, 5-mega pixel camera and 1 GB RAM, priced at ₹ 6,499, ₹ 6,399 and ₹ 6,299, respectively, using MediaTek’s quad-core processor. The leading chip supplier for Chinese smartphones, MediaTek aims to penetrate carrierled Western markets and at the same time move ahead of the competition in India, Indonesia and the Philippines with Android One, Google’s major initiative to offer rich smartphone experience on low-cost devices with set hardware and software standards across handset makers.

• Amazon Begins Login and Pay in Europe: Amazon will today open its Login and Pay With Amazon system in Europe, the streamlined payment and checkout solution that made its debut in the U.S. in October. The tool allows for consumers to use their Amazon credentials when purchasing from non-Amazon sites, eliminating the need to reregister and input personal information every time a consumer shops at a different e-tailer. The multichannel service is optimized to work across desktops, smartphones and tablets, and with a few clicks, allows users to purchase from Web sites with their Amazon information. Existing U.S. partners for the system are AllSaints, Guess and Giorgio Armani, as well as in-flight Internet provider Gogo. In the U.K., participating retailers include AllSaints, Secretsales.com, Moss Bros., Printed.com, Overclockers UK, FulhamBrassOnline and Paddock Spares. Engelhorn, Babyartikel, Moebelisten, Klimaworld and Hirschel-Cosmetic use the product throughout Germany.

• Instagram to Roll Out Ads in the UK Soon: As promised back in June, Instagram is preparing to show ads for UK users soon. Instagram also plans to begin displaying ads in Canada and Australia later this year. We’ve reached out to Facebook to ask about the timing for those countries as well. Advertising first showed up for US Instagram users last November, with Michael Kors earning the dubious honor of running the first sponsored post.

• Facebook Expands Analytics Tools for App Developers: Facebook today announced improved analytics tools for app developers. The company is introducing options for measuring the performance of apps among specific groups of people as well as ways to track retention of users. Label cohorts let developers categorize groups of people who use their app. They can then measure factors like revenue or time spent in the app, as well as A/B test various tactics. Next, Facebook now lets developers track how people use their apps, based on when they installed it. The new App Event retention charts show what percentage of people took an action for any number of days after installing the app (assuming you’re logging App Events with Facebook), up to 14 weeks after the install date. The theory is that this data will let developers see which changes they made resulted in an engagement shift. They can then run ads or make other changes based on what they learned. App Insights already lets developers measure Facebook integrations, traffic sources and specific events taken within their apps. Now they can improve the performance of their app even further, or at least get the data to see if they can do so.

• After Nuvepro, Mindtree Plans to Spin off Digital Surveillance Venture: Information technology firm Mindtree says its sees “tremendous” opportunity for its second incubation idea in digital surveillance space as it can put an end to the conventional style of monitoring CCTV feeds for long hours. The Bangalore-based company plans to spin off the idea that offers proactive rather than reactive surveillance into an independent firm over the next six months, top executives said. The company has invested about $1.5 million (about ₹ 9 crore) in incubating the idea. “We started working on the idea in around May-June 2011,” said Sharmila Saha, vice-president and head of digital surveillance products at Mindtree. “The Mumbai attacks (of November 26, 2008) gave us the impetus that something needs to be done. Late 2012 is when we started approaching the market with our solutions.” Mindtree had earlier successfully spun off Nuvepro into a cloud computing company. Digital surveillance has brought revenues of about $900,000 to Mindtree, according to company executives. Saha and her team of four executives worked on the second incubation idea for over six months before pitching it to the management in early 2012. The team submitted the idea under the company's “5 by 50“ programme, an entrepreneurial initiative under which Mindtree selects five ideas given by its employees that have the potential generate $50 million in revenue in five years. A month after submitting the idea, Saha's team got a boost after Council of Scientific and Industrial Research funded the project with a loan of ₹ 4 crore.

• Big Blue Eyes Indian Big Data, Analytics Startups: In the American crime drama series Person of Interest, a machine predicts whether a person can be a victim or a perpetrator of a crime. Then it's up to a data scientist to find that person and prevent any violent acts. This may sound like science fiction but Thiruvananthapuram-based big data startup Senzit is trying to turn this into reality .Its digital recording solution captures and archives live events from crime scenes. It then mines hidden insights, patterns and unknown correlations from the vast amount of data that can be collated this way . International Business Machines, the world's biggest computer-services provider, is taking a keen interest. Senzit is one among at least 100 startups in India that IBM is partnering as it looks to tap cutting-edge innovations in areas such as big data analytics and Internet of Things--devices communicating with each other intelligently . “There is a tectonic shift in the way IBM is looking at startups. It is no more about donating software, keeping them happy and feeling good that your conscience is clear,“ said Karthik Padmanabhan, ecosystem development leader for IBM in India and South Asia. “We are now working with them from a joint innovation perspective. Big data is the nerve centre and Indian startups are beginning to play a big role.“ Padmanabhan said after the Bay Area and New York in the US, the third biggest cluster for social, mobility, analytics and big data technologies is Bangalore, followed by London and Beijing. Big Blue's Innovation Centre in Bangalore is partnering with 100 big data and Internet of Things startups across India.Experts said IBM started engaging with these startups five months back as these technologies are strategic for clients such as retailers Walmart, Tesco and banking and financial services firms Barclays and RBS.

• Cops set to launch Delhi's first virtual police station: This is one police station that you won't have to visit physically .`Housed' at the Crime Branch, it will be accessible to people only on mobile and computers and will help them register e-FIRs in case their cars and bikes are stolen. Delhi Police is ready to set up its first e-police station to deal exclusively with vehicle thefts. The move comes as part of its plan to record these thefts online.On July 13, TOI had first reported about the project and that a related app was in the works. The Crime Branch will be the nodal unit for completing all tasks related to the virtual police station. “It will be as good as a police station with a station head and investigating officers. Prompt action will be taken on each complaint,“ a senior policeman said. A team of senior Crime Branch officers has been assigned to the project. The digitally signed FIRs will be generated as soon as a victim fills in his details and writes his complaint at the virtual police station. The app will use the one-time password system for verifying the complainant's identity. Once the FIR is generated, a copy will be sent to the victim's email-address. The FIR will also be automatically sent to the PCR and area SHO concerned.Moreover, it will be subsequently sent to all SHOs of Delhi and all district superintendents of police in the country for investigation purposes. The initiative is seen a big relief to people most of whom never get the cars back after these are stolen.However, they still have to run from pillar to post to get an untraced report to claim insurance.