Makkad G's 10101: Makkad G's 10101 | 01.08

Makkad G's 10101

1nformation 0n 1ndian 0nline 1ndustry

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

Version 01.08

Hello!

Here's your issue of Makkad G's 10101 for November 16 – November 30, 2007.

Do visit http://makkadgs10101.blogspot.com/ for previous issues.

Happy reading and weekending!

Makkad G

Talk of the Town

Pinstorm wins Yatra's online advertising account worth Rs 8-10 crore

Travel portal Yatra.com has selected Mumbai-based search engine marketing agency Pinstorm to handle its online advertising duties. Nikhil Rungta, head of marketing, Yatra, has put the account size at Rs 8-10 crore. Read More

Cleartrip introduces 'Flights + Hotel Search'

Travel portal Cleartrip.com has introduced a new feature called 'Flights plus Hotel Search' that allows users to search and book roundtrip flights and hotel-stay while monitoring their overall budget. Read More

Info Edge (Naukri) to expand its operations in Middle East

Info Edge India, which owns Naukri.com, JeevanSathi.com and 99acres.com, plans to expand its operations in the Middle East. The company currently has two offices in Dubai and now it is seeking permission to start businesses in other countries in the region. Read More

Yahoo Mail made accessible to visually impaired users

Yahoo India Research and Development has made its new Yahoo Mail Classic accessible to visually impaired users. With the new initiative Yahoo India hopes to bring a large community of people with various disabilities on to the internet bandwagon. Read More

Sulekha.com to spend Rs 4 crore in 6 months on TV, print advertising

Sulekha.com, an online social networking and local commerce website, plans to spend about $1 million (Rs 4 crore) over a six-month brand-building exercise involving television commercials and print advertisements. Read More

Zapak to launch Gameplex Championship in 5 cities

Zapak Digital Entertainment, which owns the online gaming portal Zapak.com, has announced Zapak Gameplex Championship to be played at Zapak Gameplexes across five cities — Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The Championship begins on 23rd November and will be held every Friday till 14th December 2007. Read More

Arzoo.com offers mobile handset on booking India to US air ticket

Travel portal Arzoo.com has launched a new scheme under which customers who book India to US air tickets from Arzoo.com will get a free mobile handset that works in the US and can make free unlimited calls in the US, at a rental fee of Rs 99 per day. Read More

EBay India allows sellers to offer EMI option to their buyers

eBay India, a leading online marketplace, has added new features to its online payment gateway, called Paisa Pay, to enhance buyer confidence, improve buyer experience and simplify 'seller to buyer' communication while completing a transaction. According to the company, sellers on eBay can now offer EMI as a payment method to their buyers. Read More

WebSight!-Spin the Web. Explore!

TaxIndiaOnline to provide answers to tax related queries

TaxIndiaOnline.com, a premier tax portal, has partnered with Ammas.com, a leading knowledge exchange platform, to provide answers to users' queries in tax laws, custom duties, export-import issues and FEMA (foreign exchange management act).

JobGypsy.com to provide insider's information about employers

Pune-based entrepreneurs Swapnil Takalkar and Ravi N have launched JobGypsy.com, an online employer reviews portal that aims to provide user written insider's information about various employers. JobGypsy also has user forums where people can discuss issues related with their organizations.

IndiaVideo.org to highlight cultural diversity of India

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has partnered with Thiruvananthapuram-based Invis Multimedia to launch IndiaVideo.org, an online video encyclopaedia that will highlight the cultural diversity of India.

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

RouteGuru.com launched to help users reach their destination

Navolve Technologies has launched RouteGuru.com that provides its users a detailed description of the route they can take to reach a destination in the 'shortest possible time.'

Zoomtra Fare Calendar shows airfares to iGoogle users

Travel search engine Zoomtra.com, a part of Smile Interactive Technologies Group, has launched Zoomtra Airfare Calendar, a Google Gadget that shows its users the lowest airfares for each day of the month between cities chosen by the user. Once loaded, this gadget is automatically displayed on the users' personalized iGoogle page.

Reserve Bank launches financial education site for children

Reserve Bank of India has launched a financial education site RBI.org.in/FinancialEducation that aims to teach basics of banking, finance and central banking to children. According to RBI, the website will soon have information useful to other target groups, such as, women, rural and urban poor, defence personnel and senior citizens.

Times Financial launches Window2India for NRIs

Times Financial Services, a part of Times Internet Limited (Indiatimes), has launched Window2India.com, an e-commerce and services portal for the non-resident Indians.Head, Web Business

NDTV Convergence relaunches its cricket site cricketNDTV.com

NDTV Convergence has relaunched its cricket site, cricketNDTV.com. The new site offers live coverage of the game and includes interactive graphs to showcase details and statistics of the live match at a glance.

MetroMela.com launched to help users find city-centric information

Hyderabad-based MetroMela Internet Services has launched MetroMela.com, a city-centric website that aims to help users find relevant local information, share reviews and get the 'best deals running in town'. The website currently offers its services for users in seven cities — Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mysore, Vizag and Cochin.

eTravelStores plans to enter India by 1st or 2nd quarter of 2008

US-based travel technology company eTravelStores is planning to enter the Indian market by first or second quarter of 2008 as a technology player as well as a consumer brand.

Nexus-Link.Un.Link

WPP acquires 75% stake in Quasar Media

WPP Digital has acquired 75 per cent stake in the digital media services company Quasar Media, a subsidiary of Smile Interactive Technology Group. According to Quasar, the company will continue to be managed by its founding team, led by Harish Bahl and Manish Vij. WPP Digital is a part of WPP, a leading advertising and marketing services firm which operates in more than 100 countries.

HT buys DesiMartini for less than 10 million USD, The bubble Cometh?

Just woke up to this news, Firefly eVentures (The new, wholly owned Internet subsidiary of HT Media Ltd) has acquired social networking site Desimartini.com. Terms have not being disclosed, though HT Media has said it was for less than $10 million (Rs 39.3 crore).

Webchutney gets investment from Capital 18

Capital18, a part of Network18, has invested in the interactive marketing company Webchutney. Founded by Sidharth Rao and Sudesh Samaria in 1999, Webchutney currently has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and employs over 100 people.

Aravind Sampathkumaran joins AskLaila as CPO

Local search engine AskLaila.com has appointed Aravind Sampathkumaran as its chief product officer. Prior to joining AskLaila, Sampathkumaran was group product manager, Windows Live at Microsoft Corporation.

Michael Bala joins HP Snapfish India as Country Manager

Hewlett Packard has appointment Michael M Bala as country manager for its online photo service HP Snapfish in India. Prior to joining HP Snapfish, Michael Bala was business head at ClickJobs.com, a BharatMatrimony group company.

Sumant Kasliwal joins Microsoft India as head of online services

Microsoft India has appointed Sumant Kasliwal as head of business planning and strategy, Online Services Group. Prior to joining Microsoft India, Kasliwal was VP, Interactive, STAR India where he was running the operations of Indya.com as business head.

TutorVista acquires Edurite Technologies

TutorVista.com, a leading online tutoring and test preparation company, has acquired Edurite Technologies, a domain expert in the domestic education segment and developer of education course materials. The acquisition is expected to help TutorVista jumpstart its operations in India.

Rediff iShare offers video content from Zoom TV

Rediff.com's video sharing platform iShare and The Times Group's lifestyle and entertainment channel Zoom have partnered to enable internet users enjoy popular content of Zoom TV on Rediff iShare. According to Rediff, this is the first non-exclusive content partnership for Rediff iShare.

T N Prabhu appointed COO of UTV's New Media Ventures

Media and entertainment company UTV Software Communications has appointed T N Prabhu as chief operating officer of United New Media Ventures, which will carry out UTV's digital media initiatives. Prior to joining UTV, Prabhu was director at The Walt Disney Internet Group. He has also worked at Times Internet (Indiatimes), Rediff, Cyber Media and The Hindu.

G N Bajpai joins Apnaloan as independent director

Apnaloan.com has appointed Ghyanendra Nath Bajpai as a non-executive independent director on its Board. G N Bajpai was chairman of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) till his retirement in 2005. He has also served as chairman of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.

WOW-Worth 'O' Watch!