Nasscom, BlockSmiths, Quatrro to form special interest group on blockchain

Information technology (IT) industry body Nasscom has partnered BlockSmiths and Quatrro to set up a special interest group (SIG) for blockchain technology in Delhi-NCR.

The SIG will educate and inform the public along with working on various Blockchain use cases in both fin-tech and non-fintech industries, BlockSmiths said in a statement.

The SIG also has representation from over 15 member organisations like Axis Bank, Nagarro, Deloitte, Nokia, Genpact and NIIT.

Blockchain is like a huge, decentralised ledger for bitcoin (digital currency) that records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so that it cannot be tampered with.

It allows secure, peer-to-peer transactions that can be verified without any centralised authority. Banks and other financial institutions are increasingly investing in blockchain technology as it cuts down their costs and makes their operations faster and more transparent.

Bullitt brings Kodak smartphone to India for Rs 19,990. The UK-based Bullitt Group, the licence holder for Land Rover, JCB and Kodak brands for phones and audio products, has launched 'Kodak Ektra' smartphone in India for Rs 19,990.

The photography-led smartphone is designed for those with a passion for photography, from enthusiasts to experts, it said in a statement.

The device, which is already available in the US and Europe, will be available in India from July 18 on e-commerce platform, Flipkart.

BITS Pilani partners UpGrad to upskill IT professionals and to launch an online educational programme in Big Data Engineering.

The programme will train students in the areas like Batch Processing, Real Time Data Processing, and Big Data Analytics, UpGrad said in a statement.

Estimates suggest that Big Data and analytics is poised to grow at 26 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to $16 billion by 2025, creating a need for almost a million data engineers.

The 11-month online programme, which would require 8-10 hours weekly commitment, will be launched in November 2017.