SBI enters into alliance with American Express

India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and American Express have entered into alliance to expand AmEx card acceptance in India.
"State Bank of India, the largest bank as well as largest merchant acquiring bank in the country, and American Express ...Today announced a partnership to significantly expand American Express card acceptance among merchants in India, both in offline (Card Present) and online (Card not Present) space," SBI said in a statement.
The partnership will enable SBI to provide acceptance of all major cards including AmEx by its merchants and American Express to deliver more value to its card members with enhanced acceptance across categories, it added.

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ManpowerGroup ties-up with Professional Diversity Network * ManpowerGroup Solutions today said it has formed an exclusive partnership with the Professional Diversity Network, a developer and operator of online networks that provide access to employment opportunities for diverse professionals.
The partnership with Professional Diversity Network will provide ManpowerGroup Solutions access to more than 12 million candidates who self-identify as diverse.

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IWTMA to organise 'Windergy India 2017' conference * On the occasion of Global Wind Day, the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA) said it will organise a three-day long exhibition and conference 'Windergy India 2017' in January next year.

"Windergy India 2017 will seek to bring all stakeholders together to not only celebrate the three decades of wind power in India, but also determine the strategy for a future in which renewables play a major role," IWTMA Chairman Sarvesh Kumar said in a statement.
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Glenfiddich appoints Thinkstr, PPR as agency partners in India * Premium spirits maker William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd, which owns and markets single malt Scotch whisky brand Glenfiddich, today announced appointment of Thinkstr and PPR South Asia as its agency partners in India.
Kone partners IBM to launch elevator hackathon
* Kone India, which is into elevator and escalator business, has tied up with IBM and HackerEarth to launch Hackathon to encourage developers to come up with ideas for smart elevators and enhance user safety.

KONE today said in a statement that it has launched 'SmartElevator Challenge' for developers and hackathon enthusiasts in association with IBM & HackerEarth.
"The goal of the Hackathon is to encourage developers to come up with ideas for smart elevators to enhance user safety & experience and develop utility tools for KONE by applying open ideation using IBM's Watson IoT plaform," it said.
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MobiKwik eyes USD 400 mn GMV from food segment in 2017 * Indian mobile wallet company MobiKwik today said the gross merchandise value (GMV) of its food vertical would reach USD 400 million by the end of 2017 as it expands its reach in the online and offline segments across the country.

Restaurants that have already gone cashless with MobiKwik include Dominos, Burger King, Sagar Ratna, Sarvana Bhavan and Olive among others, the company said.
The company also powers payments at Zomato, Swiggy, Food Panda, Faasos and others.
"We are observing massive growth throughout the food sector. Be it online food ordering or eating out at an outlet, masses in India are developing a habit of paying cashless within seconds," MobiKwik Chief Business Officer Vineet Singh said.
Food vertical will be one of the key growth drivers for the company this year, he added.