Highlights in general
- State Bank of India (SBI) creates history with the merger of five smaller banks (SBBJ, SBH, SBM, SBP and BMB) on April 1, 2017; joins the global Top 50 Club with 550+ million customers, 59,000 ATM’s and 24,000 branches, 725+ million accounts and 180+ million transactions / day
- Emmanuel Macron elected French President – youngest in decades – on May 7, 2017
- Ransomware virus impacts computers in nearly 100 nations on May 13, 2017
- US pulls out of Paris climate accord on June 1, 2017
- UK election on June 8, 2017 brings Theresa May back but as minority government!
- Indian origin doctor Leo Vardakar elected Ireland’s PM on June 13, 2017
- Google fined $ 2.7 Billion by EU on June 27, 2017
- World’s first ATM turns 50 on June 27, 2017
- India getting ready for GST on June 30, 2017 midnight
Science & Technology
- India’s “South Asia Satellite” launched by ISRO on May 5, 2017; ISRO also launches heavy satellite (more than 4,000 Kg) on June 3, 2017, 31 satellites in one go including the Cartosat 17 satellite on June 23, 2017
Products
- Lenovo launches Moto G5 in India in April 2017
- Microsoft launches Windows 10S and Surface Laptop on May 2, 2017
- Nokia 3310 launched in India at a special price of Rs 3,310 on May 16, 2017
- Google launches Android O on May 18, 2017
- Apple announces upgrade to iOS, Mac Sierra and upgraded 10.5″ iPad Pro, new iMac powered by Intel’s Kaby Lake processors and home music system HomePod on June 5, 2017
- Nokia 5 & Nokia 6 launched in India on June 14; actual sales from July 14, 2017
- Apple iPhone turns ten on June 29, 2017
Markets
- HPE Services and CSC merge to become DXC Technology on Apr 3, 2017
- Tesla market capitalization exceeds GM in April 2017
- NASDAQ touched 6,000 first time ever on April 24, 2017
- India’s tock market indices BSE index Sensex and NSE index NIFTY reach record levels (29,500 and 9,100 respectively) on March 15, 2017 post State Election results; Sensex touched 21,000 in May 2017!
- Cisco acquires SD-WAN Startup viptela on May 1, 2017 for $ 610 million, analytics startup Saggezza on May 4, 2017 (founded by India-born Arvind Kapur and Socka Suppiah) and AI start-up MindMeld for $125 Million on May 11, 2017
- Apple buys AI firm Lattice Data on May 13, 2017 for $ 200 million
- Verizon completes acquisition of Yahoo on June 12, 2017
- Amazon buys Whole Foods for $ 13.7 Billion on June 16, 2017
Indian IT Companies
- FlipKart acquires eBay India operations in April 2017
- IT companies’ talk of layoff causes fear psychosis with employees talking of “labour union” in May 2017
- India’s IT services major Wipro changes its multi-colored sunflower logo after 19 years in May 2017
- Mobile wallet leader PayTM becomes a “payment bank” on May 23, 2017
- Happiest Minds acquires US-based OSSCube on June 1, 2017 in the digital transformation space
- FreshDesk (SaaS-based Sales Force automation leader) becomes FreshWorks from June 8, 2017
- Tejas Networks IPO oversubscribed 2 times on June 15, 2017
MNC Companies in India
- Apple Accelerator to support iOS development by Indian developers starts operations in April 2017
- SAP invests $ 50 m in Bangalore innovation center; to hire 2,500 in 2 years
- Shell announces a new a Tech Center in Bangalore (the third center globally after U.K. and Netherlands) on Apr 1, 2017
- Panasonic setting up R&D unit in Bangalore in association with Tata Elxsi
- Time, starts Center of Excellence in Bangalore in April 2017
- Apple starts assembling iPhone SE in Wistron facility in Bangalore in May 2017
- Panasonic sets up Center of Excellence in partnership with TCS in India in May 2017
- General Motors decides to close down India ops; Volvo decides to start India operations, Kia Motors is talking of starting India operations – all in May 2017
- Intel to invest ₹ 1,100 Cr in its Bangalore R & D Center as per June announcement
- Bosch announces IOT-focused AI Research center in Bangalore on June 18, 2017; Bosch to hire 3,000 engineers in India in Year 2017
- Assembled-in-India iPhones reach stores in India in June 2017
Education & Research
- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is the 8th among the Top 10 global small universities (Best Small Universities in the World for 2017, Times Higher Education Ranking); tops the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) 2017 list announced on April 3, 2017 for the second time
- India-born MIT Professor Anantha Chandrakasan named Dean of MIT School of Engineering in June 2017
People
- Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky visits India in March 2017 and talks positively about Indian market
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PayTM Founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma in Times 100 “Most influential” 2017 list
- Australian PM and Bangladesh PM visit India in April 2017
- Mukesh Ambani in Forbes “game changers list” 2017
- Indian PM Modi meets US President Trump on June 26, 2017
Telecom
- Tata DoCoMo imbroglio got over by April end with High Court ruling
- Idea and Vodafone India merge on Mar 19, 2017 to create the largest telecom operator in India with 400 million customers
Start-up scene
- Mobile wallet leader PayTM becomes a “payment bank” on May 23, 2017
- SoftBank invests $ 1.4 Billion in PayTM and joins PayTM board in May 2017
- Airbnb buying California-based Indian founded Trolly on June 16, 2017
- Uber founder leaves the company on June 21, 2017
Interesting mobile Apps
- Universal mobile banking App BHIM gets AADHAAR support; launched by PM on April 14, 2017
Interesting numbers
- India has 1170 mobile phone and 24 million landline subscribers on March 31, 2017 (TRAI Press release 37/2017 dated May 19, 2017)
- 17 million Zomato users’ data was lost in May 2017
- On May 22, 2017 Xiaomi sells 250,000 RedMi 4 phones in 8 minutes!
- Delhi registered car population crosses ten million in June 2017
Facebook user base touches 2 billion in June 2017
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