BUSINESS
Netflix, WWE bank on India’s love for drama to fuel growth
Through WWE content, Netflix is looking to expand its base in India, a market that is becoming increasingly important for its growth
BUSINESS
India’s plan to remove 6% equalisation levy a shot in the arm for Google, Meta; ad spend set to surge
Scrapping the 6% equalisation levy could make advertising more affordable, particularly benefiting startups and small enterprises in India, experts said
BUSINESS
Nasscom welcomes FinMin's proposal to drop 6% equalisation levy, says positive for India-US trade talks
The Finance Bill 2025-26 proposes eliminating the 6 percent Equalisation Levy on online advertising services, effective April 1, 2025, a move that will benefit tech giants like Google, Meta.
TECHNOLOGY
PM Modi’s embrace of open-source AI signals a more democratic tech future, says Meta's Joel Kaplan
Meta's global affairs chief Kaplan said US President Trump and his administration are much more interested in expanding the freedom of expression online than the previous Joe Biden administration.
TECHNOLOGY
Cricket hasn’t had a breakout big-budget game, LightFury Games wants to change it with ‘E-Cricket’
E-Cricket is the first title from LightFury Games, developed in collaboration with Amazon Web Services. Set for an early 2026 debut, the real-time multiplayer social game is designed to be 'unpredictable'
STARTUP
PhonePe's Indus Appstore partners Xiaomi India to bolster its homegrown Google Play challenger
Xiaomi will pre-install Indus Appstore on devices sold in India and also replace its app marketplace GetApps on existing devices
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies COO Sudhir Kamath to step down
Sudhir Kamath is leaving Nazara Technologies after a two-and-a half year stint to relocate to his home town Delhi. He had joined the company in October 2022.
BUSINESS
Snapchat parent's India unit sees 28.6% revenue surge to Rs 101 crore in FY24
India is one of the largest markets for Snap Inc's messaging app Snapchat with a userbase of over 200 million users
TECHNOLOGY
Google debuts Gemma 3, claims its the most capable AI model to run on a single GPU
Gemma 3 open model will offer out-of-the-box support for over 35 languages and pretrained support for over 140 languages with a 128k-token context window. It also has the ability to analyse images, text, and short videos
BUSINESS
Innovation hub, high quality talent: Why Nielsen's Karthik Rao is betting big on India
Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao, CTO Anil Goel and Gracenote CEO Jared Grusd spoke about why they are bullish on India’s tech talent, the company's global-local product strategy, and the role of artificial intelligence in their products.
STARTUP
Felicity Games bags $3 million seed funding led by 3one4 Capital
Felicity Games plans to use the funds raised to expand its publishing infrastructure and deepen its relationships with Indian game studios.
BUSINESS
AIGF, EGF, and FIFS adopt ‘Code of Ethics’ to push for responsible real-money gaming
Nearly 200 real-money gaming companies are expected to adopt this framework, which aims to enforce consistent user safety standards across the industry.
TECHNOLOGY
Netflix to exclusively offer WWE programming in India from April 1
Netflix's plan to offer WWE content in India could help expand its member base in the country, a market that is becoming increasingly important for its future growth.
STARTUP
Nazara Technologies backs short drama video app ReelSaga
Nazara stated that the ReelSaga app will feature hundreds of vertically shot video series serialised into several one to two minute long episodes
BUSINESS
Nazara Technologies to sell 94.85% stake in OpenPlay to PokerBaazi parent firm
PokerBaazi parent Moonshine will integrate OpenPlay's rummy platform into its existing rummy offerings in a bid to expand its footprint in the fast-growing market.
INDIA
Tamil Nadu grants six-week extension for companies to comply with real-money gaming rules
Tamil Nadu had notified a set of state-specific regulations that introduced time and usage curbs on real-money gaming platforms earlier this month.
BUSINESS
Karnataka to introduce Chhattisgarh-like law to ban gambling, allow skill-based games: Priyank Kharge
Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the state is working towards creating a legal framework with the help of the industry and consultation with multiple internal stakeholders.
TECHNOLOGY
YouTube crosses 125 million paid subscribers; launches new cheaper Premium Lite plan
YouTube Premium Lite is currently available in the United States for $7.99 per month. It will enable users to watch most videos ad-free on the platform.
BUSINESS
Ola Electric receives Rs 73.7 crore incentives under PLI-Auto scheme, becoming the first 2W auto maker in India to qualify
The Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm, which offers Ola S1 range of electric scooters, is currently the market leader in the electric two-wheeler segment with a 28 percent share in February 2025.
TECHNOLOGY
YouTube to crack down on online gambling videos with stricter policies from March 19
YouTube videos can no longer include URLs, links embedded in images or text, visual displays including logos or verbal references to uncertified gambling websites or applications.
TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk's xAI rolls out Android app for Grok but some key features are missing
Grok's Android beta app lacks key features such as voice mode, which is currently garnering significant attention, as well as reasoning capabilities like the Think and DeepSearch features for now.
BUSINESS
UK-India FTA important, but not essential given robust bilateral trade: UK investment minister Poppy Gustafsson
The UK Minister for Investments, Poppy Gustafsson, said she hopes to see more young professionals traveling between the UK and India.
STARTUP
You need a credit score of over 750 to work at Kunal Shah's Cred
Cred, which caters to India's affluent consumers, currently allows only people with a credit score of 750 and above to sign up for its product.
TECHNOLOGY
Google restructures its government affairs & public policy team in India amid expansion push
India is Google's largest market in terms of user base for its products. The tech giant has also invested billions of dollars in the country to help bring hundreds of millions of people and local businesses online in recent years.
