Espresso: Drone Rules 2021, Yahoo shuts news ops in India
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Liberalised rules for drone operations
The government has removed the need for security clearances before registration or licensing of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This is one of the liberalised guidelines of the new Drone Rules, 2021, released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Thursday.
UAS with maximum all-up-weight of up to 500 kilograms (kg) will be covered under the Drone Rules, 2021—up from 300 kg. The weight requirement is also applicable to drone taxis.
The MoCA had published the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Rules, 2021, in March 2021. However, it was perceived to be restrictive because the rules involved considerable paperwork, and required permissions for every drone flight. The Government has replaced it with the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021.
Yahoo India to shut news operations
Tech company Yahoo shut its news operations in India due to the new foreign direct investments (FDI) norms in the country, which limits foreign ownership in digital media companies to 26 percent.
"Yahoo Account, Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way, and will operate as usual,” the company said on its website. Yahoo Cricket, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, Entertainment, and MAKERS India, which constitute its content operations, stopped work in India from August 26, 2021.
In November 2020, American online publisher HuffPost also closed its operations in India.
Wockhardt ties up with Jiangxi Jemincare
Indian drug company Wockhardt’s subsidiary Wockhardt Bio has partnered with Chinese pharmaceutical company Jiangxi Jemincare Group to develop and sell its patented respiratory drug in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
Jemincare will pay Wockhardt upfront for the novel drug, WCK 4873 (Nafithromycin), which helps to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, and other respiratory tract infections.
Wockhardt will supply the product and manufacturing technology to Jemincare. It will receive royalties on net sales, and will be eligible for regulatory-linked milestone payments. Wockhardt will develop Nafithromycin for other markets, including India, where Phase III clinical study is going on.
Former SBI Chairman joins LTI board
Mid-sized IT firm LTI (L&T Infotech) appointed Rajnish Kumar, former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), as an independent director for a term of five years with effect from August 26, said the company in an exchange filing.
Kumar is a veteran banker with nearly four decades of service with SBI. He has previously served as the Chairman of SBI’s subsidiaries, including SBI Life Insurance Company Limited, SBI Foundation, SBI Capital Markets Limited, and SBI Cards & Payments Services Limited.
Wipro partners with DataRobot
Wipro has partnered with augmented intelligence company DataRobot to deliver scalable enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
The partnership will deliver augmented intelligence to help Wipro's customers become AI-driven enterprises, and accelerate their business impact by driving better value from data.
“Our approach is to simplify AI deployment in enterprises using a democratised methodology and utilising diverse skill sets to collaborate with our technology partners along with our Wipro Holmes AI platform,” said Harish Dwarkanhalli, President, Applications & Data, iDEAS, Wipro.
iGTB wins deal in Asia-Pacific region
Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the transaction banking arm of Intellect Design Arena, has won a deal with a leading Islamic bank in the Asia-Pacific region to digitise and streamline the bank's cash and trade transaction banking offerings.
The lender will use iGTB’s Digital Transaction Banking platform, which delivers a digital experience to grow the bank’s corporate customer base. The platform offers solutions for cash management, account services, trade finance, supply chain finance, collections and receivables, liquidity management, and virtual accounts.
With this deal, there are now 55 global banking groups that benefit from this platform, which handles 50 percent of the total corporate collections transactions across India, West Asia and Africa, according to a stock exchange filing from Intellect Design Arena.
Edited by Kunal Talgeri