Repercussions of Netflix in India

According to Deloitte Digital Media 2015 report, an average mobile web user in India consumes about 6.2 hours of media daily which includes 102 minutes of mobile media and 79 minutes of online (desktop) media consumption. As data networks improve in India, it is expected that users would start using higher levels of data. The contribution from on-demand entertainment services is estimated to grow to more than 74% by 2020.

Leveraging this trend, Netflix made its much awaited grand entry in India. While the youth couldn’t get enough of ‘Netflix and Chill’ on social media – the bubble busted slowly, revealing the Netflix’s debated future in India.

Free content phenomenon in India

In the last few years, Indian consumers are seen enjoying a wider selection of great free content, with the flexibility to watch whenever and wherever they want. Free content from players such as Hotstar, SonyLiv, and a number of YouTube content creators such as TVF Play, Culture Machine’s Blush, and All India Bakchod (AIB) has changed the way Indians viewers consume content.

The privilege of free content leaves the newly launched Netflix with several major challenges. With consumer preferences of opting for content during the course of travel and with facilities like YouTube offline which allows consumers to view free downloaded content without internet connection, a paid subscription from Netflix would not be a preferred choice for many.

However, Netflix has a different story to say. Netflix official spokesperson informed IndianMediaBook, “We find people are willing to pay a fair price for great content, delivered without hassle whenever they want it as opposed to resorting to illegal methods. Our push to secure global rights and release all originals simultaneously to our global members will help address piracy by those who simply want access to the latest movies and TV shows.”

Additionally, consuming content while commuting requires a strong internet connection – which is still a major issue in India, leaving Netflix in a major fix. Not to mention the great Indian evil of piracy. Indian consumers tend to download all content through torrents – leaving very less opportunity for paid content.

The launch of YouTube Red – a paid content service by YouTube too failed to excite Indian consumers. Could this be the fate of Netflix too?

The subscription and content game

Netflix will be available in three subscription packages—- Rs 500, Rs 650 and Rs 800, with a free subscription for the first month. However, the charges for multi-screen viewing privilege will be separate.

In India Netflix will showcase its original TV series such as Marvel’s Daredevil, Marco Polo and Narcos, as well as Netflix original movies, documentaries, stand-up comedies and kids TV shows in addition to a broad variety of licensed programming.

Lack of Hindi and vernacular content proves to be yet another drawback for our new entrant. While Netflix might pick up with the high end English content market – penetrating the regional market (which forms a huge chunk) will be a task.

Presently, Netflix is the world¹s leading Internet television network with over 70 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 125 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films.

In 2016, the company plans to release 31 new and returning original series, two dozen original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials and 30 original kids’ series – available at the same time to members everywhere.

The question here is – where does India fit in these plans?

Looking into the crystal ball

Looking at raking a profit in the very first year – shouldn’t be something that Netflix counts on. Rather the content provider could rely on the popular managerial theory of surviving in upcoming markets basis the profit created in the established ones.

Had Netflix entered two year ago – it would hold chance to a golden opportunity with no competition from platforms such as HotStar and SonyLiv. Now however, the content giant will have to plan with precision to crack the code.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

people love ads on Facebook more than on TV: Neuro-Insight

Advertisements on the social networking site Facebook act as a teaser similar to a movie trailer and are more strongly associated with the brand than the ads on television, a study has found.

The research by Facebook and marketing agency Neuro-Insight found how consumers respond to television ads that they have already seen either on Facebook or on TV, SocialTimes reported.

The findings showed that while printed ads on Facebook were able to increase the brand impact, people who watch advertisements on television were more likely to make purchase decisions after viewing the ad on day two.

For the study, Neuro-Insight divided a group of 100 Facebook users in the US — between the ages of 21 and 54 — into two groups.

The agency used two different types of ads during testing: video ads originally produced for TV and video ads that were optimised for Facebook — with the latter shorter in length and including branding early on.

One group watched a TV show with ads on the first day, while the other browsed their Facebook News Feeds.

On the second day, both groups watched the same ads during a TV show.

During the test, participants in each group wore EEG caps that measured responses correlated with real behaviour from different parts of their brains.

The study found that participants who were primed with the TV ad performed below the 50th percentile for memory encoding while participants who were primed with the ad on Facebook scored above average for memory encoding.

When participants were primed with the optimised videos on Facebook, they were more strongly associated with the brand than the repurposed TV ads, producing the greatest change in the memory encoding metric, it added.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

MIB removes 250 towns of West Bengal from DAS Phase III

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued the fourth list for phase III of the urban Digital Addressable System (DAS) highlighting the urban areas to be covered.

According to updated list, the ministry has removed 250 towns from the West Bengal region and leaving DAS phase III to cover only 1, 055, 469 cities instead of 2, 001, 845.

Third list was issued in November for following states, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Telengana, and the Union Territory of Daman & Diu.

While in October, the second list included Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakahd, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar,and Puducherry.

DAS Phase III was supposed to cover 38, 799, 094 cities and towns. But after making changes, according to updated list, it will now cover 33, 358, 571 towns and cities.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

MIB asks broadcasters to ensure no analogue transmission in phase III

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB)has released a statement, advising the broadcasters to ensure that no analogue signals are transmitted in areas covered under the phase-III of the cable sector digitisation drive, without affecting the same signals in phase-IV areas.

The ministry said that keeping in view the cut-off date of 31^st December 2015 for phase-III of the drive, a meeting chaired by I&B Secretary Sunil Arora was held on 30^thDecember to take stock of the situation of digitisation in urban areas falling in phase-III region.

The Task Force assessed the progress of digitisation as being very positive and noted that seeding has taken place in most of the notified urban areas with set-top boxes.

The seeding-dark area were only around 400 out of more than 6,000 urban areas, many of which had population below 1,000 while the rest were in areas having population of less than 5,000.

Further, the seeding figures as shared in the meeting indicated a high level of seeding in the country, to the extent of more than 75 per cent, excluding Tamil Nadu where certain legal matters have restricted the process of digitisation, the statement said. This figure was expected to be higher when all the registered Multiple System Operators (MSOs) provide their final figures, it added.

Examining the various aspects, the ministry decided there was absolutely no requirement for extension of the cut-off date.

Broadcasters were advised to ensure that no analogue signals are transmitted in phase-III areas after 31^st December but without affecting analogue signals in phase-IV areas, the statement added.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Free Basics – Pandora’s box that refuses to close

Launch of Free Basics in India has been a subject of major controversy. In the latest development, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India asked Reliance Communications to suspend its Free Basics service till it is approved. It also extended the deadline for submission for comments for and against Free Basics till January 7, 2016.

Free Basics in India

The facility was launched in India in September, 2015; just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Facebook’s headquarters at founder Mark Zuckerberg’s invitation. With Free Basics, Facebook aims at creating an opportunity for Indian developers to make their services and websites available free of cost to those who cannot afford internet access.

Free Basics was launched in India by Facebook in partnership with Reliance Communications. The service offers free internet on mobile phones giving access to 33 websites initially and then increasing it to 80 websites across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa.

Errors in the system

A loop hole in the system lies in its offerings as the free access is limited only to partner websites and applications, and fails to offer equal and unbiased access to all services.

Free Basics is a re-launch of the internet.org that could not leave a mark. It is a tool that offers free access to information through portals on news, travel, job listings, and health services. The service was launched two years ago across countries like Asia, Africa and Latin America through partnership globally in partnership with operators such as Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm.

The service has been launched in the countries that have brands willing to offer services removing data charges and offering free content across selective portals.

Free Basics –favor v/s against

Group of activists which favors net neutrality has been disapproving of Free Basics. The net neutrality activists claim that startups would be severely impacted if zero-rated programmes like Free Basics are allowed in India, since zero-rating doesn’t create a level-playing field. The community has been trying their level best in reaching out to masses with editorial and news pieces.

Additionally, celebrity figures such as Vishal Dadlani and AIB too came forward to speak against Free Baiscs and urging Indian citizens to come forward and vote against it.

They question Free Basics’ interest against Net neutrality as that would mean taking away consumers right to access free and unbiased internet for all.

Facebook has been at the receiving end from net neutrality supporters from the very beginning, especially the ‘Save the Internet’ crusaders; it launched ‘Send a Mail to TRAI to Save Free Basics’ campaign probing users to send signed emails to TRAI for scrapping Free Basics.

Facebook however, is seen promoting Free Basics with double-page newspaper advertisements for days, as also through TV, billboards and online forums.

Following Facebook’s ferocious campaign, Advertising Standards Council of India received several complaints against the social media giant’s print and outdoor ads, since it speaks against net neutrality.

With Free Basics’ argument getting fiercer by the day, one can only expect more dramatic twists and turns. One a completely different note, if you’re reading this story – it’s because there is no Free Basics in India, yet.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Landmark Group launches e-commerce portal Landmark Shops

Dubai based retail and hospitality conglomerate Landmark Group announced the launch of its e-commerce arm Landmark Shops. The new e-commerce portal aimed at making shopping household Landmark Group brands simpler, easier and more convenient.

Speaking on the launch, Kabir Lumba, Managing Director, Lifestyle, said, “We’re extremely delighted to launch LandmarkShops.in. Both Max and Lifestyle have a strong loyal customer base by the virtues of the customer experience, product offering and brand equity they have established over the years. With Landmarkshops.in we look forward to expanding the market of these brands by making them accessible to customers across the country, including the cities where these brands have yet not established a physical presence, as well as by offering customers the ease of shopping their favourite brands from the convenience of their own homes, 24X7”.

Landmark Group in India has been keen to not only maintain the level of growth but also tap into newer segments and expand its customer-base. E-Commerce definitely substantiates this strategy in India. Customers can browse and shop products across women, men and kids’ apparel, footwear, accessories and beauty products.

Commenting on the development, Savitar Jagtiani, Business Head, E-commerce, Landmarkshops, said, “LandmarkShops has grown immensely in the UAE over the last 3 years. We grew by 208 per cent YoY in our second year and already crossed 100 per cent in the first half of year three. The Indian E-commerce market is both massive and hyper-competitive. By sticking to our strengths the power of our brands and Group, millions of customers, Landmark Rewards loyalty program with over 10M members and always delivering a world-class customer experience — we plan on growing rapidly, achieving profitability as soon as possible and creating a new generation of happy customers along the way.”

Lifestyle and Max have grown immensely over the years to become household brands that customers love. Shoppers can now buy from the brands’ extensive offerings 24/7 on LandmarkShops.in, from the comfort of their homes. The convenience of shopping with Cash on Delivery is an added benefit. Customers can also experience lightning-fast 1-click shopping with FastPay. It makes checking out much faster and the process much simpler.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

BroEx strengthens its position with acquisition

Real Estate broking in India has picked up multiple folds in the last decade. With real estate prices touching the skies portals have been trying their best to offer best competitive prices. Brokers often face tough time closing deals for clients who are on a lookout for a developed society where everything is available within the premises, they hardly know anything around.

The only way to survive has been though helping consumers save time and every possible penny. Lately lot of new brands have been seeing foraying into the real estate business trying to offer additional services.

Taking a step ahead, BroEx, the real estate brokers, got associated with Housejoy, entering the home services space. The newly launched service will enable the consumers to book services from qualified, verified professionals for all home needs from anywhere, anytime.

Housejoy professionals will provide services such as Home Cleaning, Electrical Installation & Repair, Plumbing, In-home Beauty Services, In-home Fitness, Laundry, Mobile & Laptop Repair, Pest Control, Carpenter Services, and Painting& More.

Sharing views on the development, Pallav Pandey – Founder & CEO of BroEx, said, “We are pleased to associate with Housejoy. Today, many people shift base from one city to another because of job commitments. BroEx help them find their dream houses along with various other Household services from Housejoy. BroEx is the fastest growing start -up in its space and is helping in organising the Real Estate sector.”

With this association BroEx users will provide additional benefits to the clients along with helping them to find their dream houses. It will also enable Housejoy consumers with resolution to several home-maintenance problems in the shortest possible time and to complete satisfaction.

Consumers need to simply choose a service on the Housejoy app to schedule a date and time and use the exclusive coupon code given by BroEx broker to get Rs. 350 off on the service. Housejoy is functional in 11 cities and is soon going to launch in one more cities.

Commenting on the association, Saran Chatterjee, CEO at Housejoy said, “Brokers are the first point of contact for people when they move into a new city. Along with helping them find a perfect home, they also help people settle-in in their new abodes in the smoothest way possible, which involves providing handyman services, appliance installations, repair work etc. By partnering with BroEx, which is the biggest network of real estate brokers in India, we are helping them fulfil the needs of the customer’s right when they need it the most. We are extremely positive about this alliance and are looking forward to serving people in the most efficient manner possible.’’

BroEx, a mobile application, helps real estate brokers to find inventories and requirements with trusted brokers in and beyond their network. It allows them to serve their customers better and close deals faster. BroEx platform keeps brokers updated with the current developments in the industry. The application is available on Google Play Store and Apple AppStore, with about 70,000 real estate agents Pan-India on the platform.

By recommending Housejoy services and offering their clients a discount coupon will the brokers to maintain and nourish their relationship with their clients. After finding a house, getting in touch with house hold service providers is the next important thing. BroEx users shall fulfil this by referring them to Housejoy’s services.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Freecharge’s Kunal Shah appointed as Chairman at IAMAI

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced the appointment of Kunal Shah as the Chairman, replacing Nishant Rao, who moved to Freshdesk as COO.

Aimed at building a business that turned recharges in to rewarding experiences for its consumers, Shah has Co-Founded, FreeCharge in 2010, it was however, later acquired by Snapdeal.

Apart from Shah, Vishwas Patel CEO, CCAvenue as the new treasurer by IAMAI. Patel launched CCAvenue in September 2001. It provides payment gateway services to thousands of eMerchants across the world.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

LinkedIn elevates Akshay Kothari as India Country Manager

LinkedIn the professional networking platform announced the appointment of Akshay Kothari as Country Manager for India, with immediate effect. Kothari will report to Olivier Legrand, Managing Director, LinkedIn, Asia Pacific (APAC) region, and join the company’s APAC senior management team.

“India continues to be a strategic market for LinkedIn. While we have come a long way over the past 6 years in the country, we still have a long runway of opportunities to deliver even more compelling experiences and value for our members and clients. Akshay’s successful track record as an entrepreneur, leader and product executive will be a boost to our efforts, as he leads our team to the next stage of growth in India,” commented Legrand.

Kothari replaced Nishant Rao, who quit the company in October last year to join cloud-based customer support software firm Freshdesk as its Chief Operating Officer.

He joined LinkedIn in 2013 when Pulse, the company he Co-Founded and was CEO for almost 3 years, was acquired by LinkedIn. Since then, based out of LinkedIn’s global headquarters in Mountain View, California, he has led several major product and content initiatives, including Pulse.

Speaking on his new role, Kothari said, “This new role also brings me back ‘full-circle’ to India, a high-growth market where there are opportunities abound to create even more value for our members and clients. Ultimately, my dream for LinkedIn is to play an even more significant role in helping to transform professionals and businesses in India, and showcase their success to the rest of the world.”

Faida.com’s new business model; a good move?

Start ups in India have been a trend and have successfully come a long way. It started off with brands offering basic services in particular areas and has now moved to offering them across states and categories. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Start-up India Stand Up India’ initiative more and more young entrepreneurs are trying to foray into their dream projects, each one competing hard to make it big.

Following the suit, product exchange portal Faida.com restructured its business model adding a cash component to it. With the new model consumers can now buy and sell products instead of only getting them listed and exchanged on the portal.

Speaking exclusively to IndianMediaBook, Vipul Paliwal, Co –Founder, Faida said, “We believe that change is good and people want to refresh their home and surroundings at regular intervals. Faida.com has now gone a step ahead and broadened its horizon by introducing the exchange facility along with buy and sell.”

The portal is currently available in 8 major cities and by end of this quarter will extend its services to 16 cities combined with other several tier 2 and 3 cities. It also plans to launch its mobile app so as to target new users from various demographic segments.

The company has 40,000 products listed and is currently present across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgoan, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Indore and Chandigarh. Faida has been amongst initial ones in India to introduce the principle of exchange programs.

Angel Investments

A year ago, the portal raised USD one million dollar Angel funding from New York based Right Gems which has been utilized in expanding their business which is completely supported by promotions extensively through Social Media channels.

“We have been expanding our business constantly and it is backed with marketing initiatives in 8 major cities and shall now start looking forward to our second round of funding. We shall soon be offering a revolutionary concept of online where people can get new items in exchange of old for various categories and usage” expressed Paliwal.

Earlier Business Model

Faida followed the Marketplace model where it focused on getting people with common interests / products to exchange together. The added advantage that the model provided is the safe legal aspect of the business as they were technically not responsible. The people meet amongst themselves and mutually decide if they want to go ahead after checking the condition of the product in question. They finally mutually transfer ownership. When the users have exchanged the items they can go back to the website and inform the deal is done to earn points and with these points they can get interesting Faida merchandises.

The cashless transaction factor worked well for the brand. A sense of trust and belief within their clients were developed with additional feature of chatting, so that the buyer and the seller could sort out their in-differences through it.

Having entered the new business model of buying and selling categories Faida for sure will need to relook at its strategies so as to win through steep competition from brands like Quikr, OLX. What happens next is indeed going to be a must watch.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Startup of the Week: Gapoon takes home maintenance sector online, will it work?

Relocating for professional needs has always been one of the toughest decisions.Post relocation blues further add to the depression one faces on day to day basis. However, if the search for home maintenance facility such as electrician, plumber etc if simplified does surely take away a part major hurdles.

Having been through similar circumstances, 4 IITians decided to finally come up with a personalised online solution. The new portal known as Gapoon helps one connect with the local tradesman.

Sharing his experience, exclusively with IndianMediaBook, Apoorva Mishra, CEO, Gapoon, said, “I had lived in various towns and cities and there was one common problem with each place – it was incredibly hard to find a good vendor for home maintenance. Every time I shifted houses, I would have to find a new local electrician, a plumber, someone to clean the house and so on. As a working professional, this became a drain on my time and resources, and I realized that several others were also facing the same problem.”

Gapoon eases the process and helps consumers hire professionals such as plumbers, electricians, computer repairmen, house cleaners, pest control, appliance repairmen, painters, and carpenters.

The inception of Gapoon

Post graduating from IIT Kanpur in 2013, Mishra’s professional choices needed him to move his base to Bangalore. That’s when he faced several hurdles and a tough time.

He realized the need of a reliable service provider that could be availed at a single click. Considering the importance of plumbers or electricians as good as doctors Mishra believes it is better to trust someone, who could rather deal with all your problems, regardless of which part of town you are in. That led to the birth of Gapoon in March 2015.

“Three of my close friends from IIT Kanpur were also in Bangalore during this time. And they were keen on combining our mutual strengths and making it a reality.” added Mishra.

The venture is angel funded as of now. Since the start, Gapoon’s strategy has been to increase the profitability and reduce the cash burn to as low as possible.

“Therefore, we plan our marketing, expansion and resources very carefully. As a result of our efforts, we stand asa 75 per cent gross profitable company today,” added Mishra.

The scope & opportunity

We live in a society and home maintenance is a basic requirement. Thus, undoubtedly the scope is huge in this space. The question is how far will consumersbe willing to struggle through multiple vendors and compromise on quality. This is where home maintenance providers like Gapoon enter the picture.

“Service providers like Gapoon are gaining ground – because we offer simple, easy solutions, reliable quality and warranty as well. The market is yet quite unorganized, but we are headed towards organizing at least a part of it, expressed Mishra.

According to Mishra, there is a huge scope for startups in this space. Commenting on the opportunity for startups, Mishra said, “It is a big space and there is space for a lot of people. Snapdeal recently conducted a case study regarding the size of home maintenance service industry in India. With 3 Billion+ jobs completed annually, it has been called one of the largest disorganized markets in India. So that gives a perspective on the expected opportunity in this space. The question is how many startups will be able to sustain the same level of quality of service they start off with.”

The online space does have a strong role to play, since it enables better connectivity and ease of operations. A majority of it is online. Most people today are always mobile and have much lesser time for home maintenance. Hence, it makes perfect sense for these solutions to be available online.

The challenges

The online home maintenance sector is unorganized, thus the first challenge is to find well-trained professionals as service provider partners. Team Gapoon spent more than a few months roaming the streets to find proficient vendors. Language barriers made this job extra demanding.

The second biggest challenge is retaining the loyalty of your vendors and customers, and matching them in the best possible way. To overcome with such challenges, Gapoon opted for analgorithm that matches the vendor to a particular requirement, and this is a constant learning algorithm.

Mishra informed that being a B2C market, reaching out to target customers and marketing with budget constraints for any start-up are one of the biggest challenges. But as the product is evolving, Gapoon has come up with effective ways and have implemented standard operating procedures to overcome such challenges.

The team Gapoon

The core team of Gapoon consists of 8 people and work force of 150 vendors. It has developed an in-house fully automatic lead dispatch system called CMS (Central Management System) through which it can electronically trace all the leads in each step until completion. Apart from this, there is a designated operations team headed by Nikhil Gupta, COO, which overlooks vendor on-boarding, quality control etc. Ankita Asai as CMO is responsible for the marketing operations and Ankit Bindal as CTO is taking care of technical operations at Gapoon.

The mechanism

At present Gapoon is based out of Bangalore.In nine months, the venture has managed to serve over 9000 customers and is planning toexpand its reach to other cities including Tier II cities in the next few quarters.

Mishra informed that Gapoon follows a very strict selection procedure for its service partners wherein they are selectively recruited, with their backgrounds verified andthen well trained. Once selected, we identify all the attributes such as location preference, job type etc. The venture collects fixed commission per transacted job in the on-demand service model.

Gapoon follows two revenue models. First is the marketplace model where a fix percentage commission has been charged from vendors per job.

Another one is the subscription model, GMC, where the users pay a fix cover cost for their preferred package.

The vision

Currently Gapoon is looking out for service portfolio expansion for which they might look forward to mergers. However, this is not the primary focus as of now.

On the business end, Gapoon recently introduced the Gapoon Maintenance Cover which is a subscription-based package model. Prior to this, the venture was running through a beta phase, and has now signed up with a substantial number of people. It intends to develop this product over the next few months.

“Geographically, we are looking at expanding to 5 cities in the coming quarters. We are in parallel working on service portfolio expansion. With our unique ability to control the service quality along with the addition of Gapoon Maintenance Cover (GMC – A Subscription based model), we are confident of capturing market across the country in coming months. GMC Packages also covers costs for any spare parts under Rs 200, and a warranty of 30 days on its service, which have been Gapoon’s standard value offerings, concluded Mishra.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Siti Cable Network acquires 76 per cent stake in Mumbai based MSO SCOD 18

Siti Cable Network plans to acquire 76 per cent stake in Mumbai based MSO SCOD 18 Networking Pvt Ltd.

With this move the brand will raise up to Rs 680 crore through issuance of warrants and optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs).

There are other MSOs in which Siti Cable plans to pick up stakes which includes:

100 per cent stake in Variety Entertainment Pvt Ltd, 51 per cent stake in Sai Star Digital Media Pvt Ltd, 51 per cent stake in Bargachh Digital Communication Network Pvt Ltd, 51 per cent stake in Krishna Teja Digital Entertainment Pvt Ltd.  49 per cent equity stake each in Siti Faction Pvt Ltd and Siti Jony Digital Cable Network Pvt Ltd

CEOs, startup founders to join Modi for ‘Startup India Movement’

Startup founders, venture capitalists, angel investors and CEOs will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 to launch the ‘Startup India Movement’, informed the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

As many as 1,500 startup founders from across the country will convene at the event aimed at celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth.

“The closing session will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will formally launch the initiative and unveil the Startup Action Plan,” said a ministry statement.

As indicated by Modi in his radio programme Mann ki Baat, the event will unveil the full action plan for the ‘Startup India Movement’, highlighting the schemes and initiatives the government will take to address various aspects needed to develop a conducivestartup ecosystem in India.

The day-long workshop will feature panel discussions on “Unleashing Entrepreneurship and Innovation: What do Indian Startups Need to Grow and Prosper”, “Celebrating Women: Stories of Innovative Women Entrepreneurs”, “How digitisation will change India’s future”, “Making Indian Healthcare Leapfrog” and “Financial inclusion is within reach”.

As a special feature, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha will chair a panel discussion on “Show me the money: How do we capitalise entrepreneurship”, the statement said.

“A unique question and answer session titled ‘Face-to-Face with Policy makers’ is also being organised wherein secretaries of key government ministries and departments will answer questions on how government will be creating an enabling ecosystem forStartups,” the statement said.

Questions will be answered by secretaries from the departments of revenue, human resource development, corporate affairs, financial services, economic affairs, science and technology, biotechnology, electronics and information technology, micro, small and medium enterprises and skill development.

Uber founder Travis Kalanick, Softbank CEO and founder Masayoshi Son and WeWork founder Adam Nuemann will feature in interactive talks.

Internet giant Google’s session titled “Launchpad Accelerator” will involve live pitches to potential investors from early stage startups, the statement said.

Live telecast of the event is planned in IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIITs, central universities and youth groups in as many as 350 districts across the nation.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in association with Invest India, iSpirt, YourStory, NASSCOM, SheThePeople.tv and Kairos Society along with the youth wings of industry bodies FICCI and CII are organising the event.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital

Twitter planning 10,000-character limit for tweets

Want to convey more to your friends and policymakers on Twitter? Soon, you may be able to tweet in 10,000 characters on the micro-blogging site.

According to media reports, Twitter is building a new feature that will allow users to tweet longer than its traditional 140-character limit.

The company is currently considering a 10,000-character limit, recode.net reported, adding that Twitter may launch this feature toward the end of the first quarter.

This is the character limit the company uses for its Direct Messages product.

According to the report, it is also possible that the 10,000-character feature may change before it is finally rolled out.

There is, however, no official launch date set so far.

“Twitter is currently testing a version of the product in which tweets appear the same way they do now, displaying just 140 characters, with some kind of call to action that there is more content you can’t see,” recode.net said, quoting sources.

Clicking on the tweets will then expand them to reveal more content.

The 140-character limit has been around as long as Twitter has and has become part of the product’s personality.

Twitter is also working on the idea of changing its reverse chronological timeline.

The micro-blogging site is experimenting with a Facebook-type way of sorting your timeline where tweets are sorted by relevance and not in reverse chronological order as it happens now.

According to motherboard.vice.com, Twitter is working with algorithms similar to the ones Facebook uses to order items on your news feed.

“This is an experiment. We’re continuing to explore ways to surface the best content for people using Twitter,” a company spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Twitter has been hinting towards an algorithmic-driven news feed for more than a year.

The test is part of CEO Jack Dorsey’s promise for bold changes to Twitter to help get it out of its slow growth, Wall Street Journal reported.

“You will see us continue to question our reverse chronological timeline, and all the work it takes to build one by finding and following accounts,” Dorsey said earlier this year.

“We continue to show a questioning of our fundamentals in order to make the product easier and more accessible to more people,” he added.

The reverse chronological timeline has been fundamental to Twitter since it began nine years ago and has made sense for a real-time service.

Source: IndianMediaBook - Digital