Nasscom, the trade association for IT services and business process management companies, has made its pick of the top ten most innovative technology products and services startups for the year 2019, seeking out firms that have the potential to scale at speed. The ten startups, which have been picked from Nasscom’s Emerge 50 awards finalists, are from a wide range of sectors including Software as a Service, retail technology, healthcare, cyber security, internet of things etc.

The govt.  has offered to set up an exclusive enclave for Swedish companies and expatriates, complete with hospitals and educational institutions, as it seeks to woo investors from the European nation to boost the Make-in-India and start-up initiatives. The issue was discussed during the India-Sweden joint economic commission meeting, with commerce and industry minister suggesting the government was willing to offer land for setting up an “Investment Enclave” with plug-and-play infrastructure.

The Indian government is considering beefing up the technical regulation regime in an attempt to curb non-essential imports into the country. BIS, the nodal standards regulator has been tasked by the Commerce ministry to notify at least 5000 technical standards as against the 370 or so that is present currently. The idea is to allow imports of only those products that conform to technical regulation norms that are being drawn up by BIS. Many countries used standards as a non-tariff measure to regulate imports.

Following a push towards electric vehicles by the central government, India can become one of the largest EV markets in the world. A new analysis released by the World Economic Forum and Ola Mobility Institute shows there are ten states and union territories building a momentum for electric vehicle usage across manufacturing, infrastructure and services sectors. With many more states in the process of designing their EV policies, policymakers, businesses, etc

DoT is targeting spectrum auction in mid-March 2020, after its high-powered committee on spectrum pricing decided in favour of TRAI's recommended base price. "We are targeting March for spectrum auction for 5G and others. We will push for cabinet approval next month after taking Digital Communications Commission nod on prices. Our internal committee has cleared the TRAI base prices for all the bands, all processes are concurrently going on official sources said.

The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the Internet of Things (IoT), announced that LoRa Alliance Authorized Test House. TÜV Rheinland has opened a LoRaWAN Certification testing site in India, and that DEKRA will also offer local certification testing by the end of the year. Both company’s sites in India will provide local testing of LoRaWAN devices seeking to become LoRaWAN Certified.

India has proposed locating computing facilities inside the country if it is meant to protect its essential security interests and national interests at the ongoing negotiations of the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement. It is said that the participating countries may prevent cross-border transfer of information by electronic means, including personal information, only where it is “necessary to achieve a legitimate public policy objective” or “necessary for its essential security interests or national interests”.

To promote electric vehicles (EV), Power Minister approved amendments in guidelines and specifications for charging infrastructure. These revised guidelines and specifications shall supersede the earlier guidelines and standards. To address the range of issues of the EV owners, a phase-wise installation of a network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been envisaged in the new guidelines to ensure that at least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3 km X 3 km in the cities and one charging station at every 25 km on both sides of highways and roads. Read More

For downloading revised guidelines please click here

International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), the automotive R&D and testing agency under Government of India has launched a new testing and development facility in Manesar.  Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises inaugurated the new facility. As the agency claims, this new facility will help in bringing out the technical advantages of hybrid electric vehicles.

The transport ministry has issued draft guidelines for setting up authorised vehicle scrapping facilities, a move that will help legalise the industry in India. Entities setting up these facilities should meet the minimal technical requirements for collection and dismantling centres specified in guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board. Environment, quality management and occupational health and safety certification must be obtained within six months of starting operations.

Download Draft Guidelines for Vehicle Scrapping