One Thing Today in Tech

On Monday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched e-RUPI, a cashless and contactless instrument for digital payments in the country. e-RUPI acts as an e-voucher based on a QR code or SMS string, which is delivered to the mobile phones of the beneficiaries. And in our tech conversation, Anshuman Bapna talks about his plan to train 100 million people on the crisis and the opportunity that is climate change, at Terra.do

Amazon has been fined a record €746 million, or $887 million by the European Union for violations related to ad targeting under the general data protection rules. Amazon will appeal. Google’s scientists may have created the first time crystal, which could potentially advance quantum computing. And in today’s tech conversation, Manav Garg, CEO of Eka Software talks about bringing the kind of support he never had to today’s entrepreneurs, at Together

Tata Sons is acquiring about 63.1 percent stake in Bangalore based telecom network gear maker Tejas Networks. The Tata group has signed an agreement to acquire 43.35 percent of Tejas for Rs 18.50 billion that triggered an open offer by Tata Sons to acquire shares of the company from the public. The acquisition strengthens the Tata group’s standing at a time when 5G wireless networks are rolling out around the world. And in our tech conversation, Shruti Kapoor explains how her AI bot Wingman helps salespeople close more deals faster

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine’s protection against severe cases of the disease holds steady after six months, according to new data released by the companies. The vaccine’s efficacy against those severe cases stayed high at 97 percent for the entire six-month stretch after people got their shots. And in our tech conversation today, Beerud Sheth talks about building Gupshup into a leader in the conversational AI space

Apple reported another set of record-breaking earnings results on Tuesday, but warned of supply constraints and that sales could be slowing down in the current quarter. The company had double-digit growth in many markets and “especially strong growth in emerging markets, including India, Latin America and Vietnam” for the June quarter, CEO Tim Cook told investors. And in our tech conversation today, Mayank Tiwari at ReshaMandi talks about digitalising the sericulture supply chain in India

Biocon Biologics, a fully integrated biosimilars company and a subsidiary of Biocon, has won an exclusive license from US-based Adagio Therapeutics to manufacture and commercialise an antibody treatment for Covid-19, based on the American company’s ADG20 monoclonal antibody, for India and some emerging markets. Byju’s is mopping up smaller competitors; and in today’s tech conversation, Venkatesh Peddi at Chiratae Ventures and Praveen Bhadada at Zinnov explain how Indian cloud software companies will get to $1 trillion in value

India is discussing a plan to create power islanding systems in several cities to protect critical infrastructure from potential attacks on the electricity grid, power minister Raj Kumar Singh said. Bengaluru, India’s tech capital, and Jamnagar, which has two of India’s largest oil refineries, are among the cities being assessed. And in today’s tech conversation, Nikhil Ramaswamy and Gokul NA at CynLr explain computer vision-based robotic automation

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed to investors that bitcoin will be a “big part” of the company’s future. Dorsey sees opportunities to integrate cryptocurrency into existing Twitter products and services. Reserve Bank of India is planning the phased implementation of India’s digital currency. And in today’s tech conversation, Priyanshu Mishra and Vidhyashankar Sriram at Crayon Data explain what AI can do with data on the shopping choices we make

Instagram is testing a new feature 'Collab' with creators in the UK and India to help them increase audience reach. Wipro announced new partnership with Celonis, an execution management company. Byju's, one of the world's biggest EdTech companies, has acquired Epic Creations for $500 million. And in our tech conversation, CTO Ajit Narayanan talks about bringing AI to consumers at online healthcare services company Mfine

Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos said it was his ‘best day ever’ on Tuesday, after he made a historic sub-orbital flight to space in a capsule, carried by a rocket—both built by his company Blue Origin. This was 21-year-old Blue Origin’s first human space flight. Swiggy raises $1.25 billion to go beyond food delivery. And in our tech conversation, part 2 of a chat with Sandeep Nailwal on the basics of Polygon's blockchain for Ethereum