One Thing Today in Tech

Amazon India and Flipkart will likely take a hit if the consumer affairs department’s proposed changes—including a ban on flash sales and curbs on scaling up private labels—get the go-ahead. Also in the programme, Byju’s raises $50 million more; Facebook starts rolling out Live Audio Rooms; and Srikanth Sola, a cardiac surgeon turned entrepreneur discusses plans ahead at his venture Devic Earth.

Mohalla Tech, which operates one of India’s largest local language content-based social media and short video apps, Sharechat and Moj, respectively, is rewarding employees with a share buyback worth $19.1 million. Also in the programme, BharatPe is said to be raising $250 million at over $2.5 billion valuation; Google is working on a ‘find my device network’; and Kushal Nahata, co-founder and CEO of FarEye talks about the plans ahead for his logistics intelligence company that recently raised $100 million in fresh funding.

In today's programme, India’s top five IT services companies will hire 96,000 people in the current fiscal year, Nasscom—the IT industry’s lobby—said in a statement yesterday, after a report by Press Trust of India about automation-led job losses, citing a report by Bank of America. Apple CEO Tim Cook says Android has 47 times more malware versus iOS; India’s wealthy could invest $30 billion in tech startups; and Girish Menon, a partner at KPMG, talks about the potential of online gaming in India

Microsoft’s independent directors unanimously elected Satya Nadella to the role of board chair yesterday, expanding the CEO’s influence in the company. Nadella, who has been CEO of Microsoft since 2014, is one of the most well-known Indian executives leading America’s biggest technology companies. Also in this programme, Mumbai’s BrowserStack is valued at $4 billion after BOND investment; and Lendingkart’s Harshvardhan Lunia discusses his efforts to finance small businesses with more digital tech

Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine could be headed to India, with the Serum Institute of India manufacturing it. 200 million shots could become available from September to December, Times of India reports. Also in the programme, Microsoft’s Windows 11 leaks; startups Apna and Fampay raise big investments; and Piyush Shah, co-founder of InMobi, talks about group company Glance’s acquisition of ecommerce business Shop101

Novavax said yesterday that its recombinant nanoparticle protein-based Covid 19 vaccine, demonstrated 100 percent protection against moderate and severe disease and 90.4 percent efficacy overall, after Phase 3 trials. Also in this programme, Google has made its Workspace open to anyone with an account; and later, entrepreneur Harsha Moily talks about his new VC firm, and plans to invest $200 million in clean tech startups in India and Israel

Leading this briefing is news that America’s technology giants such as Apple and Amazon will have to sell or leave various businesses under wide-ranging antitrust rules proposed by US lawmakers on Friday. Also in this programme, Byju’s ongoing funding round values it higher than Paytm, and space technology startup Astrogate Labs’ CEO Nitish Singh talks about preparations for a satellite launch in March to demonstrate the company’s laser-based communications technologies.

Leading this briefing is news that Klarna Bank has raised $639 million in fresh equity funding in an investment led by SoftBank Group that values the Swedish fintech startup at $45.6 billion. Also in the programme, Tata Digital is said to be acquiring a majority stake in online pharmacy venture 1mg; and Yashraj Erande of BCG analyses the rise of digital banks in the Asia Pacific region.

Leading this briefing is news that El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, yesterday became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender. The country’s Bitcoin law was been approved by a ‘super majority’ Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s 39-year old president said on Twitter. Also in the programme, President Biden lifts US ban on TikTok; more women in India went online for STEM courses; and an interview with Shashank Kumar, co-founder and CEO of DeHaat on expansion plans at his agri-tech startup.

Leading today’s briefing is news that Infosys was panned yesterday after the new version of the income tax department’s e-filing portal that the IT company built didn’t work for many users. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter to pull up the company, and chairman Nandan Nilekani assured her the system would stabilise soon. Later on in the programme, Neil Shah, VP Research at Counterpoint Research analyses Apple’s aim of building user privacy into its long-term business strategy.