Espresso: Wipro veteran joins Google Cloud, Intel unveils Arc

Bhanumurthy Ballapuram joins Google Cloud

Google Cloud has appointed Bhanumurthy Ballapuram as Vice President of Japan and Asia-Pacific region, according to the company.

He will report to John Jester, Vice President of Customer Experience. Prior to his new role, Bhanumurthy worked with Wipro for nearly three decades. He left the company in June after serving as its Chief Operating Officer for five years.

Intel unveils Arc for gaming segment

Intel has unveiled a new brand called Arc as part of its strategic focus on frictionless gaming, and content creation for gamers and creators.

Intel Arc will cover hardware, software and services, and span multiple hardware generations. Its first generation of products will be called ‘Alchemist’, and are based on the X^e high-performance gaming microarchitecture.

Intel is taking on Nvidia and AMD in the gaming arena with features, like ray tracing (a rendering technique that can produce realistic lighting effects), to boost performance.

SpiceJet's cargo and logistics subsidiary

Airline SpiceJet will transfer its cargo and logistics business to a new subsidiary, SpiceXpress and Logistics. The logistics platform, which has a network of 68 domestic and over 110 international destinations, will operate as a separate business from October 1, 2021.

"The logistics business has been valued at Rs 2,555.77 crore based on an independent valuation exercise by the company," said Spicejet in a stock exchange filing. The transfer will make it easier for the company “to rapidly grow its innovative logistics platform as a service business model,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet.

Wacker Chemie signs up HCL Technologies

HCL Technologies has signed a five-year IT transformation deal with Wacker Chemie, a chemicals company in Germany, to establish a digital workplace and improve its service delivery.

“Wacker was looking to transform its current sourcing model with a long-term ‘Next Generation Managed Service’ sourcing model,” said Dirk Ramhorst, CIO and CDO of Wacker Chemie.

HCL will use AI-enabled virtual assistants to drive efficiencies for Wacker, which operates 26 production sites globally, according to a press statement from HCL Technologies.

SUN TV's first quarter results

Sun TV reported a consolidated profit of Rs 365.03 crore in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2022. This was 25 percent lower on a sequential basis, and 42 percent higher than a year ago.

Its total income of Rs 818.9 crore in the first quarter of FY 2022 was 21.4 percent higher than a year ago, and marginally lower than the previous quarter.

Starfin wins Bank of Baroda contract

Starfin India, a subsidiary of BLS International, won a contract with Bank of Baroda to support the financial inclusion mission of the Indian government, and be its national business correspondent (BC) to deliver last mile banking services across India.

“Our tech-enabled expertise will help to provide end-to-end banking services to the unserved population of India across various parts of the country,” said Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director of BLS International.

BLS International Services works as a tech-enabled services partner for governments across the world.