Espresso: FinMin summons Infy, ZyCoV-D gets DGCA nod
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Finance ministry summons Infosys CEO
The Ministry of Finance has summoned Infosys CEO Salil Parekh on August 23 to explain why the glitches in the income tax (I-T) e-filing portal are unresolved even after 2.5 months.
Infosys had won the contract to build a next-generation I-T filing system in 2019. The portal went live on June 7, and the glitches began to surface a day later. Following this, Infosys had met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
On Sunday, the Income Tax Department tweeted that the portal was inaccessible on Aug 21 and 22.
Zydus Cadila gets approval for ZyCoV-D
Zydus Cadila has got Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for ZyCoV-D from the Drug Controller General of India. This makes it the first COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents in the 12 years to 18 years age group.
ZyCoV-D is a needle-free vaccine administered using The PharmaJet, a needle free applicator, for painless intra-dermal vaccine delivery. The three-dose vaccine is administered first on day zero, day 28, and then on day 56.
In a press statement, Zydus Cadila said the vaccine has been developed on the Plasmid DNA platform for human use to ensure ZyCoV-D doesn’t have any problem associated with vector-based immunity. "The Plasmid DNA platform also allows generating new constructs quickly to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring," the company added.
Dentsu’s restructuring
Media and digital marketing company Dentsu India has unified its customer experience management (CXM) business after restructuring its creative and media business in India.
Anubhav Sonthalia will lead Dentsu CXM in India as its CEO. The move brings Dentsu's data transformation, digital transformation, and CX Consulting under one unit in India to create a specialised practice under the Merkle brand.
The CXM business will build customer experiences through data, design and technology transformations. It will partner with companies like Adobe, AWS, Google Cloud, and Salesforce.
Accenture completes Novetta buyout
Accenture Federal Services, a subsidiary of Accenture, has completed its acquisition of advanced analytics company Novetta. It had announced its intent to acquire Novetta and its 1,300 employees on June 1, 2021.
Novetta applies insights and disruptive technologies to transform how defence, intelligence, and law enforcement organisations use data to empower their workforces, Accenture said in a press statement.
Novetta President and CEO Tiffanny Gates will lead the national security portfolio of Accenture Federal Services.
Bitcoin nears $50,000 again
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency in the world, neared the $50,000 mark again.
According to data from Coinbase, the cryptocurrency traded at $48,642 at 8.15 pm (GMT +5:30) on August 22, 2021. Bitcoin’s price lingered close to the high of $49,836 on August 21, as it recovered from the hit when Chinese regulators banned financial and payment institutions dealing with cryptocurrency services.
Microsoft invests in OYO
Microsoft has invested $5 billion in Oyo, valuing the budget hotels brand at $9.6 billion.
TechCrunch had earlier reported that the investment may involve Oyo’s shift to use Microsoft cloud services. Oyo plans to file for an IPO (initial public offering) later this year, it reported.
Edited by Kunal Talgeri