Musafir.com launches technology centre in Pune"

UAE-headquartered online travel firm Musafir.com today launched a technology centre in Pune as the company plans to double the strength of its tech team globally to over 100 by the year-end.The company's Pune centre will complement the technology and product teams that are already operating out of centres in Mumbai and UAE, Musafir.com said.The company currently has around 50 people in it's technology team in the three centres.Commenting on the development, Musafir.com Co-founder and CTO Albert Dias said: "Musafir.com was founded with the promise of a stellar user experience backed by the best technology".The establishment of the company's third technology centre in Pune reinforces our commitment to this promise, he added.

Electric vehicle development loses spark as consortium members decide to go solo"

India’s ambitious plan to build a consortium for electric mobility solutions has failed even before hitting the road. The five members in the group working on the project to jointly develop critical hardware for all-electric or hybrid vehicles have decided to go their own way.Mahindra and Ford were jointly working on the project.When asked by if the electric vehicle development consortium had achieved any breakthrough, CV Raman, Executive Director (Engineering), Maruti Suzuki India said: “There is no movement on that front.”The open-ended technical alliance entailed an investment of Rs 22-25 crore with the government to invest an equal amount under the faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric (FAME) vehicles.
Motor, transmission and batteries are the hardware part of an electric vehicle. However, the software is equally crucial as it the controls vehicle's critical systems like motor and battery. Hybrid or electric vehicles make use of on-board computers to distribute the right amount of power to the vehicle.

India tries to fix Iran trade payments as Trump hardens line"

India is exploring setting up a new payments mechanism for trade with Iran, after its old sanctions workaround broke down, as state banks remain fearful of handling payments from Tehran in case the United States imposes a fresh financial embargo.US President Donald Trump has denounced an agreement between Iran and major powers on its nuclear programme as a bad deal, and his administration has put Tehran "on notice" after the test-firing of a ballistic missile.Under previous Western sanctions, India had devised a barter-like scheme acceptable to Washington that allowed it to make some oil payments to Tehran in rupees through a small state bank,Indian companies were then able to receive payments for goods exported to Iran using the oil money held in non-convertible rupee balances at UCO, maintaining a trade lifeline between two countries with long historical ties.