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Amazon India head’s 5 ideas to take India’s digital economy to $1 trillion

New Delhi, Jan 14 () French energy giant Total SA's India head Alexis Thelemaque has been appointed as a director on the Board of billionaire Gautam Adani's gas retailing firm Adani Gas Ltd.
The appointment follows Total buying a 37.4 per cent stake in Adani Gas Ltd - the firm that retails gas to automobiles and households for an estimated Rs 5,700 crore.
"The Board of Directors of the company have, by way of circular resolution passed on January 14, 2020, appointed Alexis Thelemaque as an Additional Director (Non-Executive, Non-Independent)," Adani Gas said in a regulatory filing.
Thelemaque, who joined Total Group in France in 1993, is Chairman and Managing Director of Total Oil India Pvt Ltd.
Total, which in August 2018 exited a JV with Royal Dutch Shell in a 5 million tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Hazira in Gujarat, had in October last year announced the acquisition of the stake in Adani Gas.
This followed by a 50:50 joint venture the two had agreed upon in October 2018 for two LNG import terminals of Adani on the east and west coast of India as well as for setting up of 1,500 petrol pumps in the country over 10 years.
The French firm is the latest energy major seeking to expand its presence in India, which is the world's third-largest and the fastest-growing energy consumer. In August 2019, Reliance Industries said Saudi Arabian Oil Co will buy 20 per cent of its oil-to-chemical business at an enterprise value of USD 75 billion.
As part of the deal, Total will first make an open offer to buy a 25.2 per cent stake in Adani Gas. Depending upon the success in the open offer, it will buy a stake from Adani to take its holding to 37.4 per cent in the company.
Adani family holds a 74.8 per cent stake in Adani Gas and will dilute shares to the public to bring down its holding to 37.4 per cent - at par with Total.
Adani family will sell some stake in the open market to meet the listing norm of keeping public holding at 25 per cent.
Adani Total joint venture (JV), where the two groups hold 50 per cent stake each, is building a 5 million tonne LNG import terminal at Dhamra in Odisha and will potentially hold a 25 to 50 per cent interest in Gujarat government's Mundra import facility.
This JV would also supply 3 million tonnes per annum of LNG to India and Bangladesh.
Adani Gas, wherein Total and Adani would hold 37.4 per cent stake each, is targeting to set up 1,500 CNG stations to retail gas to automobiles and piped cooking gas to 6 million households. It will also set up 1,500 petrol pumps over 10 years.
As part of this partnership, Total will bring its LNG and retail expertise and will supply LNG to Adani Gas. Total and Adani will also establish a joint venture to market LNG in India and Bangladesh. ANZ BAL

Total India head on Adani Gas board

<ul><li>The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an advisory in April 2020 calling Zoom unsafe.</li><li>Zoom India Head, <keyword id="9465901" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sameer-raje">Sameer Raje</keyword>, tells Business Insider that the MHA’s advisory is factually incorrect.</li><li>He explains that Zoom is currently in conversation with the MHA and is hoping for a positive outcome soon.</li></ul>The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released an advisory note on the video-conferencing application Zoom not being safe. Sameer Raje, Head of India at Zoom, told Business Insider that the discussions are progressing quite well. “We expect the MHA to give some positive feedback very soon. We’re at advanced stages of discussion so it should change,” said Raje, explaining that 9-year-old company is sharing any and all prerequisite information that the ministry may need. US-based Zoom has been heavily scrutinised since its popularity boomed in a matter of three weeks from just 10 million participants a day to over 300 million from March to April when news of the coronavirus pandemic broke. The advisory is factually incorrect, says Zoom The <a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1615008">MHA</a> asserted that Zoom should not be used by government officers for official use based on an earlier advisory from Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). “Zoom is a not a safe platform and advisory of CERT-In on the same dated 6 February 2020 30 and March 2020 may kindly be referred,” said the ministry in its note. However, Raje points out that CERT-In never actually said that Zoom isn’t safe — it pointed out that Zoom has certain vulnerabilities, as is its responsibility for all applications that are currently in use in India. “Unfortunately, due to the misinformation out there, the MHA released its advisory which is factually incorrect. It is based on the CERT-In advisory citing that Zoom is unsafe to use, but CERT-In never said that,” he explained. India's nodal cybersecurity agency may not have said that Zoom is unsafe but it did point out that there are <a href="https://www.cert-in.org.in/s2cMainServlet?pageid=PUBVLNOTES02&amp;VLCODE=CIAD-2020-0011">multiple vulnerabilities on the platform</a>, which could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges or obtain sensitive information on the targeted system. “If you look at their advisory, nowhere does it say that Zoom is not safe for users. It says that please be secure, upgrade your applications, these are the vulnerabilities reported and these are the fixes,” said Raje. Zoom is working with MHA to change the narrative To Zoom’s credit — since the MHA’s advisory and the multiple incidents of ‘Zoom Bombing’ — it has introduced a number of measures to make the platform more secure like hiding meeting IDs and making it mandatory for schools to set meeting passwords. Earlier this month, Zoom announced that it will begin beta testing free end-to-end encryption for both free and paid users in July. However, there is a catch. End-to-end encryption only works if a person connects to a call using the Zoom client. As a communications platform, Zoom also allows the audio conferring lines to come in — and that’s where the encryption pattern changes, according to Raje. This means that since the call is no longer restricted to the Zoom platform, encryption at that end is not during the app’s purview. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/us-based-zoom-left-stunned-to-see-itself-in-list-of-flagged-chinese-apps/articleshow/76469726.cms">US-based Zoom app left stunned to see itself in list of flagged Chinese apps</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/made-in-india-app-say-namaste-video-conferencing-app-to-take-on-zoom/articleshow/76277547.cms">Say Namaste⁠ — a Mumbai startup is pitching itself as a challenger to Zoom</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/how-to/how-to-ensure-privacy-and-security-while-using-zoom/articleshow/75192771.cms">How to ensure privacy and security while using Zoom</a>

INTERVIEW: Zoom's India head believes he will able to convince the Home Ministry that the app is safe

<ul><li><keyword id="7694" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Gupta">Sanjay Gupta</keyword> is the new country manager and vice president of sales and operations for <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword>.</li><li>His appointment comes after Rajan Anandan, the VP for Google South East Asia and India, resigned in April.</li><li>Gupta is leaving his Star and <keyword id="149162" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Disney-India">Disney India</keyword>’s managing director position to lead Google.</li></ul>Google India has snagged Disney India’s former head, Sanjay Gupta as its new country manager and VP of sales and operations. “I am delighted to take on the challenge of leading and shaping Google’s charter in India. It is an exciting opportunity to leverage the power of technology to solve some of India’s unique challenges and make Internet an engine of economic growth for people and communities,” said Gupta. Gupta will take over his role at Google early next year. Rajan Anandan, the VP for Google South East Asia and India, resigned in April this year. Anandan was replaced by Vikas Agnihotri, country director of sales who took on the role of Google India’s interim MD. Gupta had earlier worked with top companies like Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel. His most recent stint was as the MD of Star and Disney India, where he also led the digital evolution of Hotstar. The IIM Kolkata-graduate was also an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering. “We are excited to combine Sanjay’s expertise, experience and leadership with our teams and build further on our existing efforts in this highly dynamic, competitive and exciting digital economy, looking to build a more helpful and inclusive Internet for everyone in India,” Scott Beaumont, President of APAC, Google said.

Google India will now be led by former Star and Disney India head Sanjay Gupta

Luxury carmaker <keyword id="6363321" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="audi" source="Orion">Audi</keyword> on Wednesday said it will increase prices of its model range by up to 1.7 %, with effect from January 1, 2023. The company said it is hiking the prices due to an increase in input and operational costs. "The primary objective of the company's business strategy focuses on a model that begets profitability and sustainability. The price correction is affected as a result of the rising supply-chain-related input and operational costs," <keyword id="5176836" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="audi-india-head" source="Orion">Audi India Head</keyword> Balbir Singh Dhillon said in a statement. The new price range for the company models is directed at maintaining the premium price positioning of the brand, ensuring sustainable growth of both the automaker and its dealer partners, he added. <keyword id="148913" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="audi-india" source="Orion">Audi India</keyword>'s current line-up includes the petrol-powered A4, A6, A8 L, Q3, Q5, Q7, Q8, S5 Sportback, RS 5 Sportback, and RSQ8. The electric vehicle portfolio under the e-Tron brand comprises the e-Tron 50, e-Tron 55, e-Tron Sportback 55, e-Tron GT and RS e-Tron GT. Mainstream passenger vehicle brands <keyword id="44883" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="maruti-suzuki" source="Orion">Maruti Suzuki</keyword> <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> and <keyword id="42747" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tata-motors" source="Orion">Tata Motors</keyword> have also announced plans to increase prices with effect from next month. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/maruti-suzuki-announces-price-hike-from-january-2023/articleshow/95941950.cms">Maruti Suzuki cars will get costlier from January 2023</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/tata-motors-mulling-price-hike-for-passenger-vehicles-from-next-month/articleshow/96003489.cms">Tata Motors mulling price hike for passenger vehicles from next month</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/byd-dominates-the-electric-car-market-in-q3-2022-with-6-cars-in-the-top-10/slidelist/95934797.cms">BYD dominates the electric car market in Q3 2022 with 6 cars in the top 10</a>

Audi to hike vehicle prices by up to 1.7% in India from January 2023

Ingolstadt, Luxury automaker <keyword id="19911529" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="audi" source="keywords">Audi</keyword> India is looking to commence local assembly of electric vehicles, a move which would help it roll out models at an affordable price helping expand its customer base in the country. The automaker currently imports its entire EV range comprising Q8 50 e-tron, Q8 55 e-tron, Q8 <keyword id="21011482" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sportback" source="keywords">Sportback</keyword> 50 e-tron, Q8 Sportback 55 e-tron, e-tron GT, and RS e-tron GT, into the country. It, however, assembles petrol models like Q3, Q3 Sportback, Q5, Q7, A4, and A6 at its Aurangabad (Maharashtra) based manufacturing plant. In an interaction with PTI here, Audi India Head Balbir <keyword id="20078416" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="singh-dhillon" source="keywords">Singh Dhillon</keyword> said the local manufacturing of EVs is a work in progress with active discussions going on with its global headquarters. "We are working with Audi AG very positively and hopefully at some point in time we will be able to announce this (local assembly of EV models)," he noted. When asked about the expected timeline of commencing the process, Dhillon did not share any specific date but stated that the India unit is discussing the matter with the global headquarters very "positively". "Hopefully we should have some solution at some point in time. That is the time when you can reach even more (set of customers) because then you will get the best advantage in terms of price point," he said. He further said, "I think the next 2-3 years will be very crucial (2024-2026). These years will see many more new electric cars coming at different price points. Then I think our reach to our existing customers or first-time buyers will go up." The company's current EV model lineup is priced over Rs 1 crore thus serving a very niche set of customers. Currently, cars imported into India as Completely Built Units (CBUs) attract customs duty ranging from 60 per cent to 100 per cent. The country's customs duty system treats electric cars and hydrocarbon-powered vehicles equally, imposing significant tariffs to encourage domestic manufacturing. Audi, globally, is looking to introduce multiple electric models in the next 2-3 years many of which would also come to India thus helping the Indian operations to choose which ones to localise. In order to rev up sales volume, Audi India would look out for models which sit below the current range in price terms. The company currently gets around 2 per cent of its total sales from EVs. It reported 89 per cent growth in retail sales in India at 7,931 units last year as compared with a total of 4,187 units in 2022. Audi on Monday evening globally premiered the Q6 e-tron, a new EV model which would sit below the Q8 e-tron range. To be manufactured at the company's Ingolstadt plant, the model is expected to roll out in various markets globally this year. It is also expected to make its way to Indian shores early next year. Dhillon said the model would help in widening the company's customer base in India. "That's the expectation that our penetration in electric mobility should go up with this model (Q6 e-tron)," he noted. Audi expects 50 per cent of its sales in India to come from electric vehicles by 2030. Globally, Audi has decided to become a fully electric vehicle manufacturer from 2033 onwards. The Q6 e-tron is the first production model on the company's <keyword id="21011483" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="premium-platform-electric" source="keywords">Premium Platform Electric</keyword> (<keyword id="19989989" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ppe" source="keywords">PPE</keyword>), marking the next step in the company's transformation into a provider of premium electric mobility. The electric SUV will be available to order from this month with deliveries expected to customers in the third quarter of 2024. The Q6 e-tron comes with a range of up to 625 kms. "The PPE shows how we are pooling expertise within the <keyword id="20139313" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="volkswagen-group" source="keywords">Volkswagen Group</keyword> and thus making electric mobility scalable," Audi AG Chairman of the Board of Management Gernot Dollner said. Thanks to the PPE, the company is able to launch high-volume models with high technical standards in different segments, he added.

Local production of EVs a work in progress: Audi India Head

<ul><li>This is the first time <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> is looking for a dedicated India Head.</li><li>The move could be a sign of seriousness around its payments platform.</li><li>WhatsApp has over 200 million monthly active users in India.</li></ul>It seems the move into payments services is bringing about changes in how WhatsApp operates in India. The company, for the first time, is looking for an India Head in the country, according to a job posting on <a href="https://m.facebook.com/careers/jobs/a0I1H00000LJmwzUAD/?location=mumbai">Facebook Careers</a> and WhatsApp's own jobs <a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/join/?dept=whatsapp&amp;id=a0I1H00000LJmwzUAD">page</a>. The company is seeking an "exceptional individual" to run its products, including its "interest in peer to peer payments" in the country. With over 200 million <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/280914/monthly-active-whatsapp-users-in-india/" data-type="tilCustomLink">monthly active users</a> on the platform from India, WhatsApp has always been serious about the country. However, it has never hired many employees here, even though its holding company, <keyword id="6354576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword>, has significant staff strength in India. The move into payments services though makes WhatsApp more than just an instant messaging app. WhatsApp's service runs on the Government's <keyword id="6358921" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="upi">UPI</keyword> platform and has already been under scrutiny from various parties. Hiring an India Head will help the company deal with future needs more effectively. In addition, it could be in anticipation of other payments platforms looking to enter the country. WhatsApp already has plenty of competition from the likes of PayTM and more, and Chinese WeChat has been expected to bring its payments services to India in future. The job posting also details that WhatsApp's India Head will report to the company's COO in <keyword id="2379" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="California">California</keyword>. Currently, that position is held by <keyword id="6423437" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="matthew-idema">Matthew Idema</keyword>, who used to be the VP of Product at Facebook earlier.

After payments service, WhatsApp is looking to hire an India Head

<ul><li>Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal Twitter account for his website was hacked early morning on Thursday.</li><li>The hacker behind the breach was asking users to donate Bitcoin to the PM's National Relief Fund.</li><li>The tweets have no been removed and Twitter is 'actively investigating' the issue. </li></ul>The Twitter handle of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal website was hacked on Thursday morning. And, just like with former US President Barack Obama, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and others who were hacked in July, the person behind the PM Modi's account was asking users to donate cryptocurrency — this time under the guise donating to the PM's <a href="https://pmnrf.gov.in/"><h3 style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 3px; padding-top: 4px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;">National Relief Fund</h3></a>. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76989235" title="Hackers took over dozens of high-profile Twitter accounts including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, and Apple and used them to post bitcoin scam links" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The tweets have now been removed from the social networking platform. <div type="image" title="modi tweet_edited" msid="77903050" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Screenshot of hacker&amp;#39;s tweets via PM Modi&amp;#39;s personal handle&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> A Twitter spokesperson <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-twitter-cyber-india-modi-idINKBN25T3GN?taid=5f50488146b85b0001f9be14&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter" data-type="tilCustomLink">has confirmed this incident</a>. Twitter said that the company is “aware of the activity” and have taken steps to secure the compromised account.

Facebook India head grilled by parliamentary committee for 3.5 hours

<ul><li>Mckinsey's Puneet Chandok will replace Bikram Bedi as AWS India head, according to sources.</li><li>Chandok was a partner at Mckinsey in his last role where he led the firm's technology, media and telecom (TMT), corporate business functions and outsourcing &amp; offshoring practices in Asia.</li><li>Before the last 11 years in Mckinsey, Chandok was the deputy general manager for Asia Pacific at <keyword id="10875" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IBM">IBM</keyword>.</li></ul>Amazon Web Services (AWS) may get a new India head very soon. The cloud platform has zeroed in on Puneet Chandok from Mckinsey and Company for the role, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneetchandok/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">sources told Business Insider</a>. An email sent to the company remained unanswered at the time of publishing. The story will be updated with the response, if any. The change of guard from Bikram Bedi to Puneet Chandok has come at a time when AWS is beefing up its operations in India, where the Seattle-based company had the largest growth in number of partners outside the US, <a href="https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/cloud-computing/bikram-singh-bedi-reveals-why-aws-occupies-the-pole-position-in-cloud-computing-market/64187669" data-type="tilCustomLink">according to Bikram Bedi</a> who has led the company in India for the two years since its launch in the country. Chandok was a partner at Mckinsey in his last role where he led the firm's technology, media and telecom (TMT), corporate business functions and outsourcing &amp; offshoring practices in Asia. Before the last 11 years in Mckinsey, Chandok was the deputy general manager for Asia Pacific at IBM, according to his LinkedIn profile. Chandok has an MBA in marketing, finance and systems from Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta), where he went from 2000 to 2002. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkarts-continued-deep-discounting-could-mean-more-trouble-in-the-future/articleshow/69552174.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Flipkart's continued deep discounting could mean more trouble in the future</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Web Services may appoint Mckinsey's Puneet Chandok as new India head

Technology company <keyword id="43706" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="honeywell" source="Orion">Honeywell</keyword> on Monday announced the appointment of <keyword id="1863390" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rajesh-rege" source="Orion">Rajesh Rege</keyword> as country president for <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. As the country leader, Rege will head Honeywell's India strategy that focuses on the company's growth pillars of shaping a diversified portfolio of products and solutions tailored to the India market. "Rajesh Rege joins a highly capable leadership team in Honeywell's High Growth Regions (HGR) and Honeywell India and will help build strong stakeholder engagements, offer innovative solutions to customers, and develop winning teams that can drive strong growth," <keyword id="5561650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ben-driggs" source="Orion">Ben Driggs</keyword>, President, HGR, Honeywell said in a statement. Rege will be responsible for the continued growth of India operations across Honeywell's four strategic business groups: Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies (HBT), Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT), Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS). Rege has more than 32 years of rich corporate experience and his last assignment was with Microsoft, where he was Executive Director, leading the Technology and Cloud Solutions business for India. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-steels-stock-on-a-gaining-spree-led-by-doubling-profits-huge-debt-reduction-and-hopes-from-the-union-budget/articleshow/89398818.cms">Tata Steel is on a gaining spree. Thanks to doubling profits, huge debt reduction, and hopes from the union budget</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/nhpc-is-hiring-133-engineers-with-minimum-salary-29600-check-out-eligibility-criteria/articleshow/89398415.cms">NHPC is hiring 133 engineers with a maximum salary of ₹1,19,500 – Checkout eligibility, last date and other details</a>

Honeywell appoints Rajesh Rege as new India head

Apart from PM Modi’s foreign jaunts, Raffale deal and the economic status of Dassault company; Indians on the net are busy discussing and debating something else. This time, it is not ‘my way or highway’ kind of a speech. They are seriously drawing up petitions, waking up those in net slumber to get up and vote for a level playing ground as far as <keyword id="6357247" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Internet">internet</keyword> usage is concerned. <keyword id="6391709" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Net-neutrality">Net Neutrality</keyword> is trending on Indian internet and how! 
 
Before we get to the discussion on the significance of net neutrality, it is important to understand why it became such a raging debate in India and US, while China and UK have largely remained aloof from this matter. In US, the Federal Communications Commission recently released detailed report on how it would regulate internet service providers as a public utility. Has this made things better? Well, for starters, the entire thing looks all set for a legal battle in the days to come. 
 
Right now net neutrality sounds perfectly delicious. More or less like a free meal which we have been savouring so far, without knowing it was free. Or, was it, really? 
 When the <keyword id="30356" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telecom-Regulatory-Authority-of-India">Telecom Regulatory Authority of India</keyword> and Government come together to make sure consumers cough up more to access a few services and apps, net neutrality may be understood better in experience than as a concept. But in more ways than one, how will it make any difference to the end user? Right now, those who are supporting net neutrality are the general public who are hooked to the net like it is their alternate form of existence. Like their alter ego lives somewhere in the hinterlands of net, and that they have to save it from being shot down. 
For a large section of society which is still out of the clutches of the internet, and smartphones; net neutrality doesn’t mean a thing. 
 
Again, for those whom it matters; net neutrality is some sort of a lifeline since they anticipate that the internet may not function as efficiently as it does now. Like a level playing field. And guess what, they are right to a large extent! 
 
UK has remained aloof to this entire net neutrality thing owing to the fact that internet itself is in knots over there. In simple words, it’s anarchic. Or, even better way of putting it would be to understand that UK, and other countries such as Japan, and South Korea etc have known that the consumers are well prepared to pay for a few services which can be far more efficient than the others. So, net neutrality falls flat in such cases. Things could change for better, but people may have to wake up before they are taken for a ride too far. 
 
In India, the wake up call has been sounded and various internet activists have been making sounds about retaining the net neutrality – which is about providing uniform space for communication using the internet. This means the service provider should allow equal speed access to all the sites as desired by the consumer/customer as he/she pleases without influencing the decision or forcing the person to change the course. 
 
If net neutrality is compromised with, it is bound to make some services costlier than the others by which way there would be huge disparity in the way ecommerce is growing in India. For instance, Flipkart has already said it would go with differential pricing. Same isn’t the case with Zomato which is still finding its feet in the net world. 
 
At a basic economic level, net neutrality makes sense for Indian market because it seems like it posts huge savings for the various age groups of people who access the net – through their phones or personal computers. Right now, one can buy a recharge pack at highly affordable prices. Differential pricing may actually kill this market, thus posting heavy loss to the telecom industry and mobile operators. 
 
The way things are proceeding, looks like the progress that was achieved through mobile portability or the sense of democracy that came with it, would be undone with net neutrality coming down. 
 
Tearing into the territory of ‘level playing field’ would be difficult since smartphone users are also aware of the economy boost they are providing. But, to understand that economy will find new ways to grow and will turn innovative to make new forays is a simple thing. Whether India will retain its net neutrality today only to undo it tomorrow is a million dollar question. Whatever may be the outcome of this battle; one thing would be clear. When it comes to internet, people rule the roost. 
Image: thinkstock

#NetNeutrality is trending: Is India heading 'towards' or 'beyond'?

A recent study found that only less than 3% of comments on venture capital blogs focusing on US financial and startup space are by women. While it is commonly understood that the proportion of women in the tech sector is low, this study showed that the engagement of women with the VC industry is even lower. Another recent study found that only about 15% of US companies receiving venture-capital investment included at least one woman in the executive team. If this is the case in a mature startup ecosystem like the US, one can imagine how inadequate the representation of women in a nascent startup ecosystem like the one in India, which is slowly catching up with the emerged markets in terms of cash flow to <keyword id="2783479" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="VC-funded-enterprises">VC-funded enterprises</keyword>. 
 
Of the top VC firms operating in India, Accel Partners India, Bessemer Venture Partner, Blume Ventures, Helion venture Partners, IDG VC India, Inventus Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Matrix Partners India, SAIF Partners and Sequoia Capital India have no women partners or managing directors while Kalaari Capital and Seedfund have just one each. 
 
Among reasons for the limited representation of women at the top strata of VC firms—and thus the nature of decisions that are made or not made in the country’s startup ecosystem, which will lead to wealth creation and drive growth in the long run—is the fact that the ‘men club’ that leads most VC firms tends to opt for people like them when it comes to recruiting talent. 
 
Secondly, since VC industry in India is at a nascent stage and is not well understood, women perceive VC jobs as something that belong to the area of hardcore finance and number crunching rather than a business model evaluation, and hence tend to stay away from it. 
 
Another reason is the lack of awareness at business school level, which results in very few women taking up internships at VC firms that will help them mould their career in the VC space at an early stage. 
 
Since Indian startup ecosystem is still at its cradle, even those women who would want to take up a corporate career have not got enough opportunity to see how investments in startups would turn around in the long run. Or how innovative ideas can give birth to multi-billion dollar companies in the future, unlike in mature markets like the US where there are ample examples of startups, which were bit players at certain point in time, emerging as corporate behemoths valued at billions of dollars. Mobile-app-based radio taxi aggregator Uber, which raised a recent funding round at a staggering valuation of $40 billion within five years of being launched, is just one example of startups turning billion dollar opportunities for VC firms. 
 
More cash flow to startups owned by women entrepreneurs will happen only when a larger percentage of decision makers at VC firms become women who would want to nurture fellow women as future corporate leaders. 
 
Another drag is lack of concentrated efforts from the government to nurture VC investments and support the startup ecosystem. Despite the ‘Make in India’ campaign, the recent Budget presented a miserly picture when it came to allocation to nurture startups. 
 
However, the silver lining is the new law announced by market regulator SEBI, mandating at least one woman on the board of publicly-listed companies though it exempted SMEs having equity share capital of up to Rs 10 crore and net worth not exceeding Rs 25 crore. 
 
Also, corporate India seems to be slowly awakening to the need for more women in the ranks of the top honchos. The Indian unit of telecom firm Vodafone recently said it increased the percentage of women employees in its workforce to 20 per cent currently from 14 per cent two years ago and will hire even more women across levels and functions. Group Executive Council of the Tata Group too is said to be planning to double the count of women to over 300,000 from 115,000 currently in its 540,000-strong workforce. 
 
One hopes VC players in the country, too, take a cue from the SEBI directive and what larger industry peers like Vodafone and Tata Group are trying to do bring about a change when it comes to ensuring women representation in the country’s investment space. 
Image: thinkstock

Venture capital and gender gap: Where is India headed?

<ul><li><keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, VP for Google South East Asia and India, has called it quits at the company. </li><li>While he will stay on at Google until the end of April, he will then be joining <keyword id="563136" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia-India">Sequoia India</keyword>, a top VC firm. </li><li>Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director, Sales will be replacing him as the interim MD at <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword>. </li></ul>Rajan Anandan, the VP for Google South East Asia and India, has resigned from the Internet giant to join the VC firm Sequoia Capital’s India and SEA wing. Anandan joins Sequoia as managing director and will be part of its leadership team. He will also lead Sequoia’s accelerator program Surge. Surge has on offer $1.5 million of seed capital along with “company-building workshops, global immersion trips and support from a community of exceptional founders”, according to an official blog from the company. “Rajan’s deep understanding of technology, significant operating expertise and a track record of growing tech businesses across the region will help Surge founders scale and build the transformational businesses of tomorrow,” said Shailendra J Singh, managing director at Sequoia, in a post on LinkedIn. While Anandan will stay on at Google until the end of April, the company has appointed Vikas Agnihotri, Country Director, Sales as the interim MD. Anandan has often been credited for having catapulted Google’s growth in India, over his tenure of eight years in the company. However, his entry into investments is not new. Anandan has been an active angel investor and also a member of the Indian Angel Network. Seen at many <keyword id="138263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> events in the National Capital, Anandan has invested in startups like Innov8, Lucideus, Buttercups etc. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-will-groom-these-10-indian-startups-that-use-ai-and-machine-learning/articleshow/68384856.cms">Google will groom these 10 Indian startups that use AI and machine learning</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-rajan-anandan-vp-google-india-says-that-it-is-the-beginning-of-the-indian-start-up-boom/articleshow/58144238.cms">Exclusive: Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India says that it is the Beginning of the Start-up Boom in India</a>

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