Makkad G's 10101 | 01.06 | Oct 16-31, 2007

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Makkad G’s 10101

1nformation 0n 1ndian 0nline 1ndustry

(Beta…, Beti, Bhai, Behen. Every1’s invited!)

Version 01.06

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Hello!

Here’s your issue of Makkad G’s 10101 for October 16 – October 31, 2007.

Happy Reading.

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Makkad G

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Talk of the Town

Ad blocker tool challenges business model of online publishers

Wladimir Palant, a software developer based in Germany, has developed Adblock Plus, a Firefox add-on tool that blocks banner ads displayed on websites, challenging the current business model of many online ventures. Read More

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Cleartrip to start international booking within a month

Travel portal Cleartrip.com, which offers bookings of air travel and hotels, has said it will start international booking within a month as it expects to achieve a growth target of 300 per cent in the next fiscal. Read More

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CarWale to provide car research tools to Sulekha.com users

Auto portal CarWale.com has partnered with the general classifieds site Sulekha.com to provide car research and decision making tools to Sulekha.com users. Read More

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Travelguru hopes to book 1 million hotel room nights a year by 2009

Travelguru.com, an online travel portal specialising in hotel rooms booking, hopes to hit the target of 1 million room nights per year by 2009. The company currently records hotel sales of over 1000 room nights per day and claims to grow by 20 per cent month over month for the last several months. Read More

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Expedia.com may launch its India operations in Jan 2008

S-based Expedia Inc, which reportedly makes online bookings worth $20 billion (Rs 80,000 crore) a year on its Expedia.com travel portal, plans to start an exclusive website for India early next year to facilitate online purchases of tickets for domestic and international travel. Read More

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TutorVista receives $2.5 million from Manipal Education Group

TutorVista.com, a leading online tutoring and test preparation company, has received a strategic investment of $2.5 million by The Manipal Education Group. With this, Ranjan Pai, the CEO of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), has joined the TutorVista board as an independent Director. Read More

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Makaan.com to spend Rs 40 crore in 2 years, eyes 30% market share

People Interactive Group plans to spend Rs 40 crore in the next two years to promote and ramp up operations of its real estate portal Makaan.com. The company, which also owns Shaadi.com, and Fropper.com, is eyeing 30 per cent of India's online realty market in four years. Read More

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Yahoo, Shaadi, Orkut among winners of Genius of the Web awards

Web 18, a part of the Network 18 group, has announced the winners of the first Genius of the Web awards, which recognise outstanding achievements by companies that have done commendable work in the Indian online space. Yahoo.co.in, Shaadi.com and Orkut.com have won the award in the general portal, matrimonial and social networking categories respectively. Read More

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Extramarks in talks with VC firms to raise $5-million growth fund

Extramarks.com, an online education site that offers after-school academic support to Indian students of classes VI to XII based on the NCERT syllabus, plans to raise $5-million (around Rs 20 crore) venture capital fund to launch its services in UK and US and introduce syllabus for higher education and curricula of state educational boards. Read More

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Microsoft to launch Xbox LIVE in India on 5 Nov

Microsoft is planning to launch Xbox LIVE, an online gaming and entertainment service that enables users to connect their gaming consol Xbox to the internet and play games online, in India on 5th November with exclusive local entertainment content. Xbox LIVE is currently available in 25 countries across the world. India will be the 26th market to launch Xbox LIVE. Read More

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Picsquare looking for investment in the range of Rs 20-40 lakhs

Bangalore-based Picsquare.com, which has received investment under TiE-EAP (The Indus Entrepreneurs - Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme), is now looking for next round of investment in the range of Rs 20-40 lakhs. Picsquare, an online photo sharing and printing company, claims to have over 50,000 registered users who have uploaded more than a million photographs on the site till date. Read More

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CollegeMantra.com to help students find the 'right' college, course

Delhi-based start-up Mantra Consulting has launched CollegeMantra.com, an online college search portal that aims to help students find the 'right' college and course, network with students from that college to get inside information, compare colleges, view their ratings, and ask experts from specific fields to answer questions. Read More

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WebSight!-Spin the Web. Explore!

eRail.in makes life easy for IRCTC website users

New Delhi-based 5Map has launched eRail.in which presents information from the Indian Railways official ticket-booking site IRCTC.co.in in a more user-friendly way.

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LaunchPad-Just Born Online (I just love the Betas!)

AOL India launches local language portal in Hindi, Tamil

AOL India has launched its internet portal in Hindi and Tamil. According to the company, AOL Hindi will offer compelling content including news, comprehensive coverage of movies, astrology and Hindi literature.

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HolidayIQ launches interactive maps for 300 tourism destinations

Travel community portal HolidayIQ.com, in association with Yahoo India, has launched a new feature that provides detailed, interactive maps for about 300 Indian tourism destinations.

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90di.com aggregates travel data from railways, airlines in India

Ninety Degree Internet Software has launched 90di.com, a travel search engine that aggregates information from Indian Railways as well as all airlines in India. According to Ninety Degree, the website enables users to find the 'best' travel routes by combining different flights and trains between 4,000 places in India.

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Click.in launched in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam

Bangalore-based Greynium Information Technologies has made its online classifieds portal Click.in available in five Indian languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam - besides English.

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MSN India launches MSN Tabloid with focus on gossip, entertainment

MSN India has unveiled a new design for its website, MSN.co.in, which now allows users to choose a wide or narrow layout and change the colour of the webpage. MSN has also introduced an alternative version of its home page, MSN Tabloid, which focuses on gossip and entertainment related content.

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Komli launches contest to identify algorithms expert; winner to get Rs 2 lakh

Online advertising company Komli has launched algoGod contest that seeks to crown one expert as the Algorithms God. According to Komli, the participants would be asked to solve a common algorithms problem, and whoever is best will receive a cash prize of Rs 2,00,000. The winner of the contest can also get an opportunity to work with Komli.

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Kreeda Games unveils online mass multiplayer game Dance Mela

Kreeda Games India, an online mass multiplayer games company, has launched Dance Mela, touted as India’s first mass multiplayer online dance game. According to Quentin Staes Polet, CEO, Kreeda Games, the company plans to launch 3-4 online mass-multiplayer games in a year.

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Shaadi launches online wedding directory ShaadiPages.com

Matrimony portal Shaadi.com has launched ShaadiPages.com, an online wedding directory that seeks to provide to-be-married couples a one-stop-source for all their wedding requirements.

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Percept Knorigin launches ad network AdChakra.com

Interactive marketing agency Percept Knorigin has launched an ad network company called AdChakra Advertising Network. AdChakra's services would include search engine advertising and display advertising with campaign management and reporting facilities. The ad network company is based in India with offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.

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Web18 launches Hindi portal Josh18.com

Web 18, a part of the Network 18 group, has launched a Hindi language portal Josh18.com, which provides news, information, videos, stock markets related tips, book reviews and latest trends from the fields of fashion and technology. The website also provides a blogging platform for the Hindi speaking people to express and place themselves in the global arena.

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Rediff launches Durga Puja special micro site on its iShare platform

Rediff.com has launched a micro site iShare.Rediff.com/DurgaPuja to host the search for the best Dhakis (the ritual drummers) during this Durga Puja festival in Kolkata. The microsite will also allow users to share their Durga Puja videos and photographs capturing the spirit of the festival.

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TimesJobs launches great bosses contest

Jobs portal TimesJobs.com has launched BossMeter.net, an open contest where employees can nominate their boss in the great bosses’ list and ask their colleagues to vote. According to TimesJobs, the top five bosses with maximum votes and their nominators can win holiday vouchers and exciting prizes from TimesJobs.com.

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SkillIndia.com launched to facilitate low-end employment

The department of science and technology, government of India, has launched Skillindia.com to provide an online repository of information for vocational course and trades that have potential for both wage and self-employment. The portal also offers a virtual employment exchange where registered trainees can get access to low-end jobs in the market.

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Quasar Media eyes 20% of India's digital advertising market; launches Quasar Talk

Delhi-based interactive agency Quasar Media, which is a part of Smile Interactive, hopes to capture over 20 per cent of the total market share of digital advertising in India by the end of March 2008. Quasar Media has also announced the launch of Quasar Talk, a division in the company that will help clients better manage their social media marketing efforts.

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Rediff launches Diwali store on Rediff Shopping

Rediff.com has launched a Diwali store on its e-shopping platform Rediff Shopping to provide a one-stop shopping experience to Indians across the globe. According to the company, Rediff Shopping will also be offering its customers a special Rs 1000 gift voucher with every purchase.

Nexus-Link.Un.Link

Vijay Kumar joins Sify as chief financial officer

Sify Technologies Limited, a leader in consumer internet and enterprise services, has appointed M P Vijay Kumar as chief financial officer. In November 2006, Sify’s earlier CFO Durgesh Mehta had left the company following which Sify had appointed Pijush Kanti Das, president, Access Media, as officiating CFO.

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Id8labs acquires eDesignTree India; plans to launch operations in US

Bangalore-based interactive and digital marketing services company id8labs has acquired the business franchise of eDesignTree Inc in India. eDesignTree is an interactive marketing and communication solutions company operating independent profit centre in Philadelphia (US) and Bangalore. Id8labs is also partnering with eDesign Tree to launch id8labs Inc in the US. Amit Shrivastava, co-founder of eDesign Tree, would be taking over as the CEO of id8labs Inc.

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Printo receives investment of Rs 25 crore from Sequoia Capital

Bangalore-based Printo Document Services has received a strategic investment of Rs 25 crore from a leading venture capital firm Sequoia Capital Partners. Founded in 2006, Printo claims to be India's first branded retail chain for print and document services that leverages digital and internet technologies to deliver print products of international standards.

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Indyarocks.com to host K Capital's business workshops, knowledge forums

Social networking site Indyarocks.com has partnered with Knowledge Capital, a business forum organizer. According to Indyarocks, the partnership will enable the networking site to host all the events, including business workshops and knowledge forums, managed by K Capital.

WOW-Worth ‘O’ Watch!

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That’s all for now folks!

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Makkad–finding solutions-G

http://makkadgs10101.blogspot.com/

Makkad G's 10101 | 01.05 | Oct 1-15, 2007

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Makkad G’s 10101

1nformation 0n 1ndian 0nline 1ndustry

(Beta…, Beti, Bhai, Behen. Every1’s invited!)

Version 01.05

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Hello!

Here’s your issue of Makkad G’s 10101 for October 1 – October 15, 2007.

Happy Reading.

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Makkad G

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Talk of the Town

India's first website on parliamentary constituency

India's first local area portal based exclusively on one parliamentary constituency has been launched. http://localareaportal.org is a futuristic project of Digital Empowerment Foundation where the plan is to represent every such cluster from where people’s representative is chosen right from parliamentary to assembly up to district, block and panchayat level representative. Read More

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Yellojobs.com breaks-up with NDTVjobs to launch its own jobs site

Yellojobs.com has announced the end of its year-long relationship with NDTVjobs.com. According to Yellojobs, its online referral recruitment service that was earlier available from NDTVjobs.com will now be available from Yellojobs.com directly. Read More

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Publicis scouts for digital agency in India

Publicis Worldwide, which recently acquired Delhi-based Capital advertising, is now on the lookout for an online advertising agency to bolster its digital offering. Publicis Worldwide is the flagship agency of the Paris-based Publicis Groupe. Read More

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Guruji.com enables users to search for movie timing in 12 cities

Bangalore-based internet search engine Guruji.com has launched Guruji Movie Timing Search that allows users to search for movie timing along with contact details, reviews, and trailers across more than 325 theatres in 12 cities in India. Read More

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Yatra.com makes available its travel services on STAR's mobile portal

Online travel company Yatra.com has signed an arrangement with STAR India's Mobile Entertainment division to make available its travel services like air travel reservations, and hotel bookings on STAR's mobile portal PLUS. Read More

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Blogger commissioned by Penguin India to write a novel

Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, a young Mumbai-based blogger who writes her blog The Compulsive Confessor under the pseudonym EM, has been commissioned by Penguin India to write a semi-autobiographical novel. Read More

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India may launch ‘do-not-mail-me registry’ to tackle junk emails

The department of information technology, government of India, is considering to launch a ‘do-not-mail-me registry’ on the lines of ‘do-not-call me registry’ to tackle the menace of unwanted emails. Read More

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Consumer e-commerce market expected to cross Rs 9,000 crore by Mar 2008

According to a study conducted jointly by Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB, the consumer internet market in India is expected to grow by 30 per cent and touch Rs 9,210 crore by the end of March 2008, as against Rs 7,080 crore estimated for the fiscal year 2006-07. Read More

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MeghDoot enables users to send SMS in Hindi using English keypad

Delhi-based Tensor Technologies Pvt Ltd (TTPL), a technology company incubated at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, has partnered with ZestADZ, a mobile advertising marketplace, to launch an ad-supported Hindi SMS service called MeghDoot. Read More

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WebSight!-Spin the Web. Explore!

DimDim.com’s browser-based Web collaboration service

DimDim.com, a web collaboration start-up, has its service that allows users to share their desktop, show slides, as well as talk, listen, chat and broadcast via web cam. According to DimDim.com, its hosted service is available for free and can be easily used for small gatherings, to seminars with hundreds of attendees. DimDim is browser based so attendees don’t require a client download.

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LaunchPad-Just Born Online (I just love the Betas!)

GoYaar.com launches social search engine

GoYaar.com, a social networking site, has launched a social search engine and directory for India-focussed web content including blogs, audio podcasts, video, music, events, groups, bookmarks, and local business reviews and recommendations.

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Rediff iShare provides preview of audio-book on Gandhi's autobiography

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti (2nd Oct), Rediff.com in association with Karadi Tales Company, which produces an audio book series designed to develop reading and language skills in children, has launched an exclusive preview of the audio-book on the autobiography of M K Gandhi - 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' on its media sharing platform Rediff iShare.

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JaagoIndia.org launched to awaken India's youth on relevant social issues

Mumbai-based Jaago India Foundation has launched JaagoIndia.org that aims to awaken India's youth on relevant social issues, like water conservation, child malnutrition, education, female infanticide, drug abuse and global warming.

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Rediff iShare introduces new video player with full screen view

Rediff.com has introduced a new video and audio player to provide users a richer and entertaining experience on its social media sharing platform Rediff iShare. According to Rediff, the new video player offers fast buffering speed and allows the users to watch videos in full screen mode.

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Google launches Google SMS for mobile users in India

Google has launched beta version of a new service called Google SMS for mobile users in India. With Google SMS mobile messaging service, users can get business listings, movie showtimes and more by sending a text message to the shortcode 54664 from their mobile phones.

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Babajob.com launched to help poor people find jobs online

Bangalore-based start-up Babajob Services has launched Babajob.com and Babalife.com. While the former is a jobs site the later is a social networking site. But both seek to achieve the same purpose — to help poor people like maids, cooks, drivers and watchmen to find jobs through the power of social network. Founded by a former Microsoft employee Sean Blagsvedt, Babajob currently focuses on Bangalore, with plans to spread to other Indian cities and perhaps globally.

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Nautanki.tv launches online Marathi video channel Saptarangi

Online video channel Nautanki.tv has made its foray into regional Indian languages with the launch of Saptarangi, an online Marathi video channel that will have shows relating to Marathi Natak (theatre), literature, cinema, cookery, travel, religion and personalities.

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Web18 revamps its cricket site CricketNext.com

Web 18, a part of the Network18 group, has relaunched its cricket portal CricketNext.com to give it a new and sleek look with greater emphasis on content and interactivity. Stats Genie, a one-stop database of cricket statistics dating back to 1876, has also come back in a new avatar with increased emphasis on providing superior access to data spanning 131 years of cricket history.

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Mjunction launches auto eRetailing portal AutoJunction.in

Mjunction Services, a joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL, has launched an auto eRetailing portal AutoJunction.in that claims to bring a complete end-to-end car buying experience over the internet for buyers of new car in India.

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Nexus-Link.Un.Link

Kavi Madan, Subhash Ghosh join Buongiorno India as Vice President

Buongiorno Hong Kong, a leading provider of mobile entertainment, information, messaging and marketing services, has appointed Kavi Madan as vice president, new business initiatives, and Subhash R Ghosh as vice president, business operations, for India. Before joining Buongiorno, Kavi Madan was assistant vice president at Mauj Telecom, while Subhash Ghosh was director, mobile operations at Rediff.com.

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MakeMyTrip gets $15 million from Tiger Fund, SAIF, Helion, Sierra Ventures

Travel portal MakeMyTrip.com has received $8 million from Tiger Fund and $7 million from its three existing venture capital investors - SAIF Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Sierra Ventures, reports VC Circle.

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Travelguru acquires hotel-rooms consolidator Desiya.com

Travelguru.com, an online travel company specialising in hotel booking, is believed to have acquired online hotel-rooms consolidator Desiya.com, reports VC Circle. Gurgaon-based Desiya.com was founded in early 2005, and currently employs about 50 people.

WOW-Worth ‘O’ Watch!

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That’s all for now folks!

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Makkad–i am what I am-G

http://makkadgs10101.blogspot.com/