Telstra ropes in ex-Infoscion Upendra Kohli as new India MD

Australian telecom and and media company Telstra today said it has appointed Upendra Kohli to the newly created role of Country Managing Director for its India operations.
Based in Bangalore, Kohli will develop and execute Telstra's overall strategy for the Indian sub-continent and will be responsible for customer relationships throughout the country, it said in a statement.
He will also drive relations with all BPO and IT service providers globally and work across the company to help coordinate the various strategic relationships Telstra has in India, it added. Kohli joins Telstra from Infosys, where he most recently led the South-East Asia and MEA regions.

* * * * * *
XebiaLabs raises USD 12 million
* Automation company XebiaLabs today said it has completed a fund raised of USD 12 million growth equity investment by Washington DC-based fund Updata Partners.

Established in June 2009, XebiaLabs is an offshoot of Xebia Group, which offers specialised software development and consultancy services to verticals like health and fitness, banking, finance, travel and retail.
Post transaction, Updata general partners Carter Griffin and James Socas will join XebiaLabs' six-person board along with founder and Chairman Daan Teunissen, CEO Coert Baart and independent directors Alex Pinchev and Wim Heijting, Xebia CEO Anand Sahay said. Michel den Braver will serve as board observer and advisor.

* * * * * *
HDFC Securities implements Oracle's SuperCluster * Software services major Oracle today said stock broking firm HDFC Securities has implemented its SuperCluster to help ensure high availability for its online trading platform and support its rapidly growing customer base and daily transaction load.
The company had purchased the Oracle SuperCluster in August 2012, it said in a release.
Oracle SuperCluster has accelerated throughput performance by 3 times, increased online trading speed by up to 60 per cent and enabled HDFC to produce reports 67 per cent faster while reducing risk and cutting data center costs.

* * * * * *
Startup village to give Rs 1 lakh to young entrepreneurs * Startup village near Kochi is joining hands with a non profit organisation which promotes innovations with social impact, where young social entrepreneurs can pitch social business ideas to win Rs 1 lakh and gain access to expert guidance and funding.
The Startup Village is joining hands with Villgro to launch the pitch session on August 29 for social entrepreneurs to present their ideas before a panel of experts and get Villgro's mentoring and funding.
The 'enterprise-stage' winner of the pitch session will get prize money of Rs 100,000 and the 'idea-stage' winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000.