|In: Digital|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

ICRIER, one of India’s leading think tanks, along with Broadband India Forum have released findings of its study on ‘Estimating the Value of New Generation Internet based Application Services in India’.

Image Source – India Apps

As per the study, a 17% increase in the total internet traffic in India in 2015~16, contributed to an increase of Rs. 7 lakh crore in Gross Domestic Product [GDP], of which at least INR 1.4 lakh crores [US$ 20.4 billion] was due to Internet based app services.

This puts the Internet’s contribution to India’s GDP at about 5.6% in 2015~16. The contribution is estimated to grow to nearly 16% of the country’s GDP by 2020 or INR 36 lakh crores [USD 534 billion], of which apps will contribute about half.

The study was unveiled by Hon’ble Minister of Communications, Govt. of India, Shri Manoj Sinha in the presence of senior Government dignitaries from MeiTY, TRAI, Niti Aayog and champions of the broadband industry.

[L-R] Shri T.K. Arun, Senior Journalist; Shri T.V. Ramachandran, President, BIF; Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary DOT GOI; Shri Manoj Sinha, MOS (IC), Ministry of Communications and IT, GOI; Shri M.F. Farooqui, Chairman, BIF; Shri Anil Kaushal, Member, TRAI; Dr. Rajat Kathuria, Director and CE, ICRIER at the launch of a report by Broadband India Forum and ICRIER on ‘Estimating the Value of New Generation Internet based Application Services in India’

Dr. Rajat Kathuria, Director and Chief Executive, ICRIER said

With internet penetration and the start-up ecosystem achieving critical mass, we felt the time was right to study the micro level impact of the internet services and apps on the country and define interventions needed for long term growth. Interestingly, we found that the ecosystem’s contribution went beyond just economic into social areas such as mainstreaming the differently abled and enabling women safety among others.

The study, beyond econometric estimations, also captures in-depth case studies of 16 service/app companies capturing impact generation at a micro level in key sectors of travel, healthcare, education, entertainment, utilities, digital payments, social, navigation and Government services. Companies covered include Makemytrip, Practo, PayTM, Urbanclap, Netflix, Wynk, Byju’s, Truecaller, farMart and MP Mobile.

The case studies bring alive different aspects of impact created, such as potential for increased income and job creation, easy access to credible information and Government services, lowering costs for buyers & sellers, creating a platform for smaller businesses and individuals to market their products and services, popularizing the use of vernacular language and enabling women safety among others.

TV Ramachandran, President, Broadband India Forum said

Internet apps and services are disrupting traditional industries. Regulation, globally, is evolving to strike the right balance between protecting consumer/business interests and encouraging the ecosystem to innovate further. India needs to chart its own course from a policy/regulation perspective considering the significant higher impact on its economy. It needs to resist the temptation to follow global precedence or come up with defining laws without active stakeholder discussion.

The study also makes 10 recommendations on the demand and supply side to ensure long-term growth of the internet services and apps economy and its sustained contribution to India’s GDP.

About ICRIER

ICRIER is an autonomous, policy-oriented, not-for-profit, economic policy think tank. ICRIER’s main focus is to enhance the knowledge content of policy making by undertaking analytical research that is targeted at informing India’s policy makers and also at improving the interface with the global economy. It has been ranked amongst the top 3 Indian Think Tanks World Wide by the 2016 Global Think Tank Index Report, University of Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit ICRIER

|In: Books|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Be it movies or books, crime, detective and suspense category can give anyone goosebumps and an edge of the seat experience. How many of you got glued to the suspense portrayed in the 1990’s TV series Byomkesh Bakshi or have been on the edge of the seat while watching the Bollywood movie Bhoot. Like me, if you are also in awe with movies or books that fall into that category, then the book Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti by Nisha Singh might be of interest to you.

Image Source – Mystery

Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti is the second book by the author featuring the detective Bhrigu Mahesh and his friend Mahesh Sutte. Though it is the second book featuring the same characters, a good amount of detailing has been done in order to make the readers well-versed with them. The publisher is Partridge Publishing.

About the Author

Nisha Singh is the author of two books, namely ‘Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD- The Witch Of Sendukar’ and ‘Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti’. She is a crime fiction enthusiast who has written short stories for National Print Magazine and has contributed to a variety of online publications. Nisha is a prolific reader and writer and her stories have surprising endings. Nisha resides in Uttar Pradesh, India. You can read more about Nisha Singh here 

Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti : Trailer

The central character of the book Bhrigu Mahesh is a private detective and a retired policeman. On this second adventure, he is called to help by a hapless, retired clerk named Nataraj Bhakti. Nataraj Bhakti approaches the detective because he thinks that he is being haunted by the spirit of his dead wife, Damayanti. He along with Sutte, his friend and trusted lieutenant travel to the village in order to solve this mystery. There are series of twists and turns, including the murder of a lady that keeps the suspense alive and manages to treat the readers with an edge of a seat experience.

So, would the detective be able to crack the case? What would be main motive behind the murder and all such lingering questions form the crux of the story. Mystery, Murder, and Religion are three keywords that make Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti an intriguing read !!

Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti : Detailed Review

As mentioned earlier, the central character of the novel is Bhrigu Mahesh, an ex-policeman turned detective. On the request of Nataraj Bhakti, Bhrigu and Sutte travel to his village Krishna Dwar to investigate the case. Nataraj stays in a village that is very popular for its temples and owns a large ancestral home. Both Brigu and Sutte take accommodation at his place and witness the unusual/haunting activity themselves.

As expected there is a new twist in the story when a member from Bhakti’s family is murdered and at this juncture, Brigu & his team needs to take a vital decision on whether they should catch the killer or risk the destruction of many innocent lives. Who is the killer of that woman, what about the haunting of Damayanti and all such questions are answered over the course of time.

Being a thriller, it is very important that the story is told at the right pace, characters are introduced at the right time and suspense is unfolded in pieces so that it provides an edge of the seat experience! Though sometimes the story becomes a bit slow, especially in the first half of the book, it does catch up in the latter half. Detailing is given to each and every character in the story. Overall, Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti definitely scores high in all the three important categories.

While reading the story, you can easily visualize the characters and the story is etched in your minds since it is told in a very subtle manner. Though this is the second installment of the Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD series, characters of Sutte and Mahesh Bhrigu are created with the finest detail which was very important for first-time readers. Being a thriller, we cannot be a spoilsport by revealing the ending but one thing which we can expect is a sequel to this story since the ending might surprise some set of readers 🙂

Closing Thoughts

Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti is a well-etched thriller where each character is crafted to perfection. Being a thriller, it was very important that there are few characters in order to stick to the storyline and Nisha Singh has managed to deliver the same, that too with a punch! As you progress through the story, you might feel an adrenaline rush and anxiety about ‘What next’ 🙂 If you love reading thrillers, you should definitely not miss this one.

You can purchase Bhrigu Mahesh, PhD – The Return of Damayanti by Nisha Singh by clicking on the link below

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

|In: Infographic|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Your company has won a new contract and you are gearing to start the project. As a business project manager, before you chalk down the set of activities, tentative deliverables, roles & responsibilities of team members, risks, etc. it is very important to have a Kick-off meeting for the project. Kick-off meeting is an enthusiasm-generator for the customer and the team members involved in the project. As a project manager, you need to pull up your sleeves and plan activities using effective & productive project management tools so that you can focus on planning as well as execution.

One such platform is Wrike, a work management & collaboration platform used by high-performance teams. It is ideal for managing localized project teams as well as distritubuted teams. So, before you start working on your project planning, let’s have a look at some interesting tips for setting up a successful project kick-off!

10 Steps to a Kickass Project Kickoff: A Checklist for Project Managers

Infographic brought to you by Wrike business project manager

|In: Infographic|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Spam calls have been on the rise ever since the advent of mobile phones. In its strive towards protecting its users from unwanted calls and potential fraud, Truecaller released a report revealing the top 20 countries that have been most affected by spam calls in 2017.

Image Source – Spam Calls

One of the revelations that came from this report was that an overwhelming majority of spam calls were received by India. According to the report, India’s topped this list because its spam call issue majorly lies with operators and financial services, most of whom are seeking to provide special offers for free data, or unlimited calls.

Tying in for second place amongst top spam-plagued countries are The United States and Brazil. The report also divulges into common categories that tie all these spam calls together. These range over, operator, debt collection, bank, political, health, spam, telemarketing, financial service, scam and insurance.

top 100 spammers in each region for the month of May.

Category Key

  • Nuisance: Due to this being a broad spectrum of calls, it is generally calls that is unwanted, disturbance for users, harassment, pranks.
  • Telemarketing: Promotional calls from companies, surveys, political/robo calls, new client outreach for services, subscriptions, etc.
  • Operator: Telecom companies upselling data plans, promotions, etc.
  • Financial service: Banks, credit unions, credit card companies etc.
  • Scam: Fraud attempts, money swindling, unknown links, etc.
  • Insurance: Companies that specialize in selling different types of insurances.
  • Debt collection: Organizations that specialize in payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses, bounty hunters.
  • Political: Campaign calls to secure votes for parties, robocalls.
  • Health: Hospitals, private practices.

Further information can be found on the TrueCaller Blog

|In: EduTech|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

To assist professionals impacted by the recent job cuts in India, professional training company Simplilearn, has announced the launch of Bounce Back Scholarships. The company will offer free access to online self-paced courses in the most sought after domains to help IT professionals build skills in new technologies and prepare for jobs of the future.

These courses are created by industry experts and provide the perfect blend of foundational knowledge and industry experience required to prepare for job roles in the digital economy. The company will offer courses in domains such as cloud computing, big data, analytics, project management, digital marketing, cyber security and more.

Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO, Simplilearn said

Our goal at Simplilearn is to help professionals and enterprises adapt to the changing digital economy through the right delivery of upskilling programs.  Automation and newer technologies are forcing enterprises to re-look at their business and hiring strategies. The current environment has also led to enterprises looking for talent skilled in digital technologies. We hope the Bounce Back Scholarships will enable individuals to map their skill sets with these newer jobs and take charge of their careers.

The company is offering merit-based scholarships on all the courses that are delivered via online self-learning modules, excluding masters programs and courses covering examination fees. The last date to apply is August 31, 2017.

About Simplilearn

Simplilearn is the world’s largest provider of short term certification courses that addresses the unique learning needs of working professionals. Having trained over 4,00,000 professionals worldwide,  it provides unmatched customer experience, which handholds a customer-right from enrolling into an online course to getting Industry-recognized certificate in hand.  For more information, please visit SimpliLearn

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Datanet India, a sixteen year old Information Technology enabled Services Company, has launched the much needed District Factbooks for India which will provide the compiled publications of the latest district level socio-economic data. This data will be available for 560 out of 640 districts in India for over 15 categories. Datanet India is in the business of collecting and compiling district level data for past 15 years and has 720 web sites.

Source – Datanet India

Earlier these district level data, collected through government agencies, were not available on one platform and the government publications were published late. Datanet Factbook will help simplify the work process of collecting data by compiling all the data and making them available on one portal.

All passionate data-seekers would benefit from this one-stop data guide to make out easily where the district stands in the Indian platform. The statistical data, maps, graphs and charts shown offer the exhaustive information about a particular districts. Considering the potential usage of these District Factbooks, these are being made available online at its portal Datanet India Ebooks and are also being offered in print, eBook and web access formats to cover the vastly scattered users.

The socio-economic data is mainly used for the district level strategic planning and research by the policy makers, academicians, researchers and marketers to assess the status of a particular district on various socio-economic parameters. The data would further help in comparing different districts within a state and also with the nation.

Talking to the media about this launch, Co-founder and Director of Datanet India Dr. R.K. Thukral said

Datanet India has 720 websites and is into collecting data on India, its sectors, regions states and district and has been serving the socio-economic research fraternity in India and abroad for the last 16 years. The efforts of Datanet India have been recognized by Limca Book of Records for having the largest cluster of websites providing socio-economic statistical data.

Datanet India had ventured with its first web portal IndiaStat in 2000 and since then has increased its services many fold. IndiaStat, a prime website  of Datanet India which is the most comprehensive e-resource of socio-economic statistical data about India and its states, is now a cluster of 56 associate sites, out of which 19 web sites are sector-specific, 31 web sites are state-specific and 6 are region-specific.

In January 2010, the company introduced DistrictsOfIndia which provides socio-economic statistical information of 620 districts, out of 640 districts of India, as per census 2011. It had launched its portal ElectionsInIndia in 2013 which provides constituency-wise election data, since independence, for all the 543 parliamentary and 4120 assembly constituencies in India. Besides, the company has also published many publications related to pre and post – electoral analysis.

Dr. R. K Thukral, Co-founder and Director of Datanet India, added

The books on statistical data of Indian districts are few and far from comprehensiveness. Out of 640 these District Factbooks have been released for 560 districts and remaining 80 districts are under process. The categories covered in these fact books are Administrative Setup, Demographics, Economy, Market size, Life style, Infrastructure, Industries, Labor and Workforce, Agriculture, Education, Health, Environment and Pollution, Housing, Crime and Law, Social and Welfare Schemes, Electoral.

Datanet India’s services are being subscribed by all the IIMs, IITs, ICSSR & ICAR institutions. Other than these Indian Institutes almost all the Ivy League Universities from USA and Cambridge, Oxford & LSE from the UK are the few esteemed members. They claim that these District Factbooks will be useful for Academicians, Government Officials, Economic Researchers, Marketers, Media Professionals, Strategic Planners, NGOs, Consultants, Policy Makers, Libraries, Start-ups, and Political Scientists.

About Datanet India

Datanet India was established as an IT-enabled private limited company in February 2000 to render its services in the socio-economic information domain. As its core activity, Datanet collects, collates and compiles in ready to use socio-economic statistical data about India, its various sectors, regions, states and districts to make it available online. For more information, please visit Datanet India

|In: General|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

In pursuit of its green mission, Kumari Builders and Developers [earlier coverage here] is working towards obtaining ‘Platinum’ certification for its Kumari Amaranthine project in Bengaluru’s Bellandur area. The certification is in compliance with the Green Homes Rating System issued by the Indian Green Building Council [IGBC].

As a step towards this goal, Kumari Amaranthine, ready to be occupied by August 2018, is already pre-certified as a ‘Platinum-rated project’. It is one among the 17 Platinum-rated pre-certified projects in Karnataka. The IGBC Green Homes Rating System addresses green features under the following categories: site selection and planning, water conservation, energy efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design process.

The futuristic project embraces a green future with the clear aim to reduce, reuse and recycle. Kumari Amaranthine’s green features include roof gardens, solar panels and grey water recycling systems for effective energy, water and waste management.

Ashok Naidu, Director, Kumari Builders and Developers said

Having met all criteria under the IGBC categories and with an achievable target of 92 points out of 100, Kumari Amaranthine is well on its way to obtaining Platinum certification. We will leave no stone unturned in reaching this goal towards conserving the environment, while offering our customers a quality living space and ensuring that every family at Amaranthine does its bit for the environment.

What does the Platinum certification ensure?

To the environment it means long-term protection through the much-needed conservation of precious resources such as water and energy.

About 50,000 litres of water is saved every day at Kumari Amaranthine from recycling alone. An advanced Sewage Treatment Plant [STP] ensures that money is saved on buying additional water from water tankers, otherwise needed for car-wash, landscape watering, and use in toilet flush tanks. The project also has a separate grey water treatment plant which handles the used potable water. The recycled grey water can be used for domestic purposes.

The energy-saving measures adopted at Amaranthine include a 40KW in-house solar plant, energy-saving fittings and efficient distribution of power, among others. Moreover, the structures have been built with clay blocks – a 100% natural, green product that is non-toxic – and the windows fitted with glazed glass. Both clay blocks and glazed glass provide better insulation. It helps reduce the need, and therefore, costs of AC and other ventilation devices.

To every home owner, the Platinum certification would translate into direct savings on utility bills.

At Kumari Amaranthine the monthly water savings through recycling alone amounts to a whopping 15,00,000 litres. Water costs about 10 paisa per litre in Bengaluru, and hence the savings per home per month stands at about 1,500 rupees. This is for water saved through recycling alone. Water consumption is further reduced through low flow water fixtures, rain water harvesting and bore well recharge.

The clean and green energy generated from the solar plant combined with other energy-saving factors at Kumari Amaranthine leads to savings of up to another 1,500 rupees per month per home. This saving is as per calculations by EDGE, a unit of International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group.

|In: Infographic|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Leading global travel search engine, Skyscanner [earlier coverage here] has analysed two years’ worth of travel search data from over 60 million monthly users to answer the one questions that always puzzles travellers: When is the best time to book flights?

A recent survey of Indian travellers revealed 72% do not know when is the best time to book flights. Skyscanner’s survey further unveiled 69% of travellers incorrectly estimate the best air fares can be found less than 12 weeks before departure, when in fact the best deals are snapped up by travellers who plan in advance. Traveller’s eyeing up Bali for their summer trip can save up to 51% on flight tickets by booking 25 weeks in advance or risk paying 27% more than the average fare when they leave booking to the last minute.

The same trend appears for air fares to Indian traveller’s favourite summer destinations, traveller’s looking to vacation in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok can grab flights for 35% and 33% less than the average fare, respectively, when booking 24 weeks prior to departure.

Skyscanner recommends booking 24 weeks in advance for travellers venturing to Europe or the USA for their summer vacations for savings of 22% and 18%, respectively.

Skyscanner also revealed the most inexpensive months to travel to visit some of Indian travellers’ favourite locations. November is the cheapest month to travel to Bangkok when flights 10% cheaper than the average fare, while visa-friendly Bali can be best enjoyed in April with a 10% saving on the average fare.

Commenting on the findings, Reshmi Roy, Senior Growth Manager, Skyscanner India said

We hope Skyscanner’s data can provide travellers with clarity on how and when to get the best deal on flights and what to expect if booking is left to the last minute. After reviewing flight prices from the last two years, we can clearly see that it pays to plan. Booking at the right time can make a huge difference to one’s expenditure on their trip, up to 51% in some cases.

About SkyScanner

Skyscanner is a leading global travel search company providing free search of flights, hotels and car hire. Founded in 2003, Skyscanner helps meet the travel planning needs of over 50 million people each month. Skyscanner’s highly-rated free mobile apps have been downloaded over 40 million times. The privately-owned company employs over 700 staff and has ten global offices in Edinburgh, London, Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen, Miami, Barcelona, Glasgow, Sofia and Budapest. For more information, please visit Skyscanner