Story of the small-town boy who helped Nandan Nilekani build IndiaStack (and other top stories of the day)

Nikhil Kumar, Co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Setu, created a line of products that would eventually transform the way India interacted with the internet.

Over the years, Nikhil has come to be known not just for his expertise in code, but his knack for going after problems until they are resolved. He calls it the “art of creation” – the ability to find patterns to further define the problems clearly, and then find solutions for it.

"When you are a coder, you own a small part of the solution. I enjoy myself more while defining the problem, and owning the complete problem myself. I choose solving the full problem versus writing some code and solving a small part," he tells YourStory.

When in late 2016, India saw the demonetisation drive kicking in, Nikhil worked closely with fintech players like Paytm, Freecharge, Razorpay, PhonePe, and Google Pay, to build UPI and BHIM.

A secret warrior at IndiaStack who helped make UPI a reality, the young engineer speaks of his work so far and the invaluable inputs Nandan Nilekani provided as a mentor.

How ABB is strengthening its bond in Indian startup ecosystem

In recent years, Indian startups have been receiving increased attention from across the world. Being the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, India has also become a hotspot for research and development. Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), the 130-year-old Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation, has now come forward to enhance its commitment to the Indian startup ecosystem.

Meet the women fighting for human rights in India

Every year, December 10 is observed as Human Rights Day, the day in 1948 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - a comprehensive document that talks about the rights everyone is entitled to as a human being. In India, and across the world, the past year has been all about standing up for the rights of groups that face structural inequality.

Regional content accounted for 40 pc of Hotstar traffic 

India's leading video-streaming platform Hotstar released the third edition of its India Watch Report today. The annual study, which tracks video consumption patterns of India's OTT users, found that regional content contributed to 40 percent of all videos streamed on Hotstar in 2019. This was primarily driven by non-metro users, who lapped up the platform's rich bouquet of Indian language shows and films.

Tamil Nadu farmers repurpose borewells for rainwater harvesting

A toddler’s death was a wake-up call on the need to regulate abandoned borewells in Tamil Nadu. In the past 15 years, at least 10 children have lost their lives in the southern state after getting trapped in unused borewells. To avoid such incidents in the future, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) has passed orders to convert abandoned dry open wells and borewells across the state into rainwater harvesting (RWH) structures on a war footing.

Vishal Sikka joins Oracle's board of directors

Former Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, who recently launched his AI startup Vianai Systems, has been nominated to the board of directors of global technology major Oracle. Sikka, 52, is among the world's leading experts in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning and would be helping Oracle in the business value and adapt to change.

These 15 Indian brands are taking the world by storm

From Kirloskars and Hero Cycles to Killer jeans and Medimix, these Indian brands are showing that they are at par with many foreign brands. As we approach the end of 2019, SMBStory lists the top 15 Indian brands that are contributing to the growing $2.30 trillion economy.

HC declines linking of FB, WhatsApp accounts with Aadhaar

The Delhi High Court on Monday declined to order linking of social media accounts with Aadhaar, PAN or voter ID card for weeding out fake accounts, saying it would lead to data of genuine account holders, who are much more in number, going "unnecessarily" to foreign countries.

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