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MNCs are leading the open source movement in IndiaAnand J & Shalina Pillai
Bengaluru: Contributing code to the open source world is regarded increasingly as a badge of honour. Yet, Indian IT services companies lag in embracing the open source code culture, shows data from open source code re-pository GitHub.
Among GitHub’s 75,000 engineers from India, IT ser-vices & ITES (IT enabled ser-vices) companies have the highest numbers on the plat-form, but most of the open source contributions were made by employees working for technology product com-panies and MNCs in India.
GitHub is a platform where developers host and review codes, manage projects, and even build open source soft-ware along with other commu-nity members. Open source, which refers to software whose source code (the medium in which programmers create and modify software) is freely available on the internet, has become a major trend in soft-ware development today. It stands in contrast to proprie-tary commercial software whose source code is usually a closely guarded secret.
India’s Aadhaar technolo-gies have extensively used open source codes. Several products of Google, including mobile operating software Android and artificial intel-ligence (AI) engine Tensor-Flow, and Facebook’s AI en-gine Torch use open source codes extensively while still being proprietary software. These companies also open up their platforms for third-party players to develop prod-ucts on top of their products. Amazon’s Alexa is also an open platform and third-par-
ty developers can modify it or use in their own devices.
While the IT/ITES sector contributed the most number of developers at 41%, when it came to open source contribu-tions, the percentage fell to 22% among the top 200 con-tributors. Amazon in India had the highest number of registered users on Github, followed by Cognizant, TCS and Microsoft. However, when it came to contribu-tions, the top five were Ama-zon, Microsoft, Google, ThoughtWorks and Flipkart.
“Through open source, or-ganisations are revealing the kind of technology they have
built and the people working on the problem. It’s a bid to woo relevant top-notch talent into their teams,” says Vi-nodh Ravindranath, CTO of Belong, a technology startup that works with corporates for talent acquisition. Belong sourced the GitHub data for TOI. Belong looked at top con-tributors from the most active 5,000 developers on the GitHub platform.
The GitHub data also shows that the overall contri-bution from employees of smaller companies is much higher than from those in larger companies. As many as 67% of the top 200 contrib-
utors work for product andservices companies with lessthan 200 employees. It alsoshows the low participationof women – just 6% of regis-tered users.
“In smaller companies,there are budget constraints,and the employees have tofind solutions themselves. Inlarge companies that havelarge teams, the individualstend not to be productivityoriented,” says Mohan Ku-mar, executive director at VCfirm Norwest Ventures. Instartups, the employees haveto contribute more, and hencethey go on platforms wherethey can learn more and fast-er. “It does not say anythingabout the capabilities of em-ployees. At services firms, thetendency is to satisfy clients,the focus is not on innova-tion,” Kumar says.
Most of the top 200 con-tributors came from tier-2universities. Less than 14%came from premier institu-tions such as IITs, NITs andBITS. The top five contribu-tors belonged to BITS Pilani,VIT (Vellore), IIT-Kharagpur,Anna University and VTU(Visvesvaraya TechnologicalUniversity, Kar nataka)in that order.
TOP CONTRIBUTORS FROM INDIA TO GITHUB
AMAZON
FLIPKART
THOUGHTWORKS
MICROSOFT
Almost everyone who is a software developer now needs to be on GitHub. It
took over Google Code as the primary open source platform due to its user-friendly interface. The one advantage of making a lot of contributions is that it helps getting hired by companies. A lot of hiring by new-age companies, especially startups, happens through the platform” - KIRAN JONNALAGADDA, CO-FOUNDER, HASGEEK, A PLATFORM THAT CREATES EVENTS AND ONLINE SPACES FOR CODERS TO DISCUSS TECHNOLOGY (HASGEEK HAS ALL ITS SOFTWARE ON GITHUB)
GitHub allows you to showcase your work, and people who like it can use it.
The platform also helps if you are looking for a peer-driven validation about your code – if you want help and insights or feedback on it. It’s good to see a lot of young people in college or just starting work in India coming onto this platform. You get exposed to a lot of software and eventually learn how to and how not to write a code” - SHARATH SATISH, EMPLOYEE AT THOUGHTWORKS, AND FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR ON GITHUBSource: Belong
What is open source software?It is software whose source
code – the fundamental component of a computer program created by a programmer – is freely available on the internet. It allows others to modify, improve and share the software. This is in contrast to proprietary commercial software whose source code is a closely guarded secret.
Belagavi: Aerospace manu-facturing company Aequs isopening up its 250-acre specialeconomic zone (SEZ) for ITand IT-enabled companies.The SEZ, located at Hattaragi,35 km from Belagavi, has sofar focused on aerospace com-ponent manufacturing.
Quest Global, the enginee-ring services company foun-ded by Aequs founder AravindMelligeri and his friend AjitPrabhu, has already establis-hed a presence in the SEZ. “Weare keeping the option open toother IT companies also to setup their units. There is an es-tablished infrastructure in thecampus. IT units will get facili-ties like common cafeteria,common healthcare facilities,bus facility between Belagaviand the SEZ,” Aequs mana-ging director for India, RajeevKaul, told TOI.
Kaul said most IT playersare forced to go to Bengaluru.Aequs wants to create an eco-system for IT in the north Kar-nataka region. Kaul said thereare many medium-scale IT pla-yers in the region but they arenot getting good infrastructure.
Kaul, who played a signifi-cant role in setting up the pre-cision engineering SEZ, said alot of skilled human force isavailable in the region. Mostnow go to Bengaluru given thelack of options in the region.“Our attempt is to stop migra-tion of skilled force, which isalso a goal of our chairmanand CEO Aravind Melligeri,”he said.
The move has been appre-ciated by IT players of Belaga-vi and surrounding areas. Ma-
noj Talreja, president of Bel-gaum IT Association, said itwould be fantastic if Aequs isready to give opportunity toset up software and hardwareunits in its campus.
Karnataka Small Scale In-dustries Development Corpo-ration (KSSIDC) had develo-ped an IT Park at Desur, 14 km
from Belagavi city, in 2010, butthere are no takers for thosesites due to lack of infrastruc-ture and connectivity.
When it comes to AequsSEZ, it has been located on Pu-ne-Bengaluru National High-way-4 and one could reach tothe spot hardly in 20-25 minu-tes drive.
Aequs to allow IT/ITescos in its Belagavi SEZ
Bengaluru: Aequs will ma-ke a capital investment of $22million this fiscal year, thecompany’s founder AravindMelligeri said. The moneywill go mostly into buyingmore machines for aerospacecomponent manufacturing.Atotal of about $100 million ofinvestment has already goneinto developing its BelagaviSEZ. Melligeri has diluted hisstake in engineering servicescompany Quest Global,which he co-founded with fri-end Ajit Prabhu, to raise mo-ney for Aequs. Quest is belie-ved to be valued at close to $1billion. Aequs has been evol-ving into an almost completeecosystem for aerospace com-ponent manufacturing. Thefacility does forging, machi-ning, surface treatment andassembly. It also now hostsmaterials suppliers – distri-butors of aluminium, steel,and titanium, distributors offasteners, cutting tools. Thisensures in-time supplies tothe other facilities. The SEZeven has training facilities.
The SEZ now has about 21operating units, occupying600,000 sqft. Five years ago,the space occupied was atenth of this. Revenue hasgrown from $10 million fiveyears ago, to about $100 mil-lion now.
Melligeri said the Indiaoperations is profitable on anet basis, but declined to pro-vide figures. On a global ba-sis, including the Frenchcompany SiRA it acquired in2016, the group expects to beprofitable this year.
Aequs has exited the auto-motive space, with the objec-tive of focusing on aerospace.“We see an opportunity to be aleader in aerospace,” Mellige-ri said. Aequs’ biggest custo-mers are Safran, UTC Aero-space Systems and Airbus. Itsupplies products like lan-ding gear components, fuse-lage components, pylon com-ponents, actuators, and engi-ne components. The over-wing door for all A321neos arebeing done by Aequs.
“Customers are very clearthey want to do more out ofIndia,” Melligeri said.
Firm will invest$22 million in FY18
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Following its pe-ers, the second largest telcoVodafone India on Tuesdayreported a steep 39.2 percent plunge in pre-tax profitat Rs 4,075 crore for the sixmonths to September as itsrevenue fell 15.8 per cent toRs 19,002 crore due to the fi-erce completion since theentry of Reliance Jio.
The company, which ison course to merge with thethird largest player Idea hadRs 22,579 crore in revenues,and an operational profit ofRs 6,704 crore a year ago,which is down 39.2 per cent.
Vodafone attributed thepoor set of numbers to thecontinuing price competi-tion from Jio and incum-bents, seasonality and hig-her GST rate.
Service revenue fell 15.8per cent to Rs 19,002 crore inH1 while Ebidta plunged39.2 per cent to Rs 4,075 crorefrom Rs 6,704 crore, it said ina statement.
This is despite the factthat the company hadstrong performance on costdelivering an Ebitda mar-gin of 21.4 per cent as “datausage quadrupled duringthe period” and had an ope-rating free cash flow of Rs1,543 crore. AGENCIES
Voda pre-taxprofit dips
over 39% to`̀4,075 crore
New Delhi: Online food orde-ring and delivery platformSwiggy on Tuesday announcedthe launch of Swiggy Access,an initiative to bring quality fo-od closer to consumers whileenabling business expansionfor its restaurant partners. Forthe restaurant partners, theseready-to-occupy kitchens willoffer them a basic setup withthe required amenities.
No rent or deposit will becharged for the premises, Swig-gy said in a statement.
Commenting on the initia-tive, Swiggy CEO SriharshaMajety said: “With Swiggy Ac-cess, we are diversifying localpalettes, bridging geographi-cal gaps in supply and solvingfor variety, quality and conve-nience of food.”= It is anotherstep towards giving the consu-mers what they come to Swiggyfor - great variety, delivered at alightning fast speed, he added.
“At the same time, it willenable our restaurant partnersto expand to newer neighbour-
hoods and a larger consumerbase, at a fraction of the expen-se,” Majety said. Restaurantpartners will also be able to le-verage the company's insightsto improve their food qualitythrough consistent consumerfeedback, Swiggy said. Additio-nally, it will also help them opti-mise their kitchens for factorslike stocks planning, demandforecasting, preparation timeand order edits, it added.
“Swiggy Access allows us
to enter a new delivery area andexpand consumer base in anuntapped locality by signifi-cantly reducing expenditureon infrastructure, overheadsand delivery,” Abdul Khadarfrom Keventers said.
The first Swiggy Access kit-chen in Bengaluru will servesignature dishes from LeonGrill, Keventers, Swiggy's pri-vate brands House of Dabbasand The Bowl Company, andPunjabi Rasoi . AGENCIES
Swiggy expands eateries’reach to remote areas
Voda attributed thepoor set ofnumbers to thecontinuing pricecompetition fromJio and incumbents,seasonality andhigher GST rate
Kolkata: Shares of footwearmajor Khadim India closedover 8 per cent lower than its is-sue price on the first day of lis-ting on the bourses on Tuesday .The company made a lacklusterdebut on the exchanges, ope-ning at Rs 727 on the BSE and atRs 730 on the NSE, down fromits issue price of Rs 750. Thescrip hit an intraday low of Rs677.30 on BSE and Rs 680 on theNSE. When contacted, KhadimCFO Ishani Ray said, “There isnothing to react on this.”
In terms of equity volume,5.30 lakh shares of the footwe-ar maker were traded on theBSE and 28.94 lakh shareschanged hands on the NSE du-ring the day. Weighed by a highinflation print and weaknessin Asian peers impacted thebourses on Tuesday .
Khadim India's Rs 543-croreIPO was subscribed 1.90 timesduring November 2-6. The priceband for the offer was fixed at Rs745-750 per share. The IPO com-prised fresh issue of equity sha-res aggregating up to Rs 50 cro-re, besides an offer for sale of upto 65,74,093 shares by existingshareholders. AGENCIES
Khadim Indiafalls over 8%
on debut
Mumbai: Indian telecom gi-ant Bharti Airtel sold a half-billion-dollar stake in its mo-bile tower business Tuesdayto help shrink its debts as itreels from a price war sparkedby rival Reliance Jio.
Airtel, which recently re-ported a 77 percent slump inquarterly profits, said in astatement that it had sold 83million shares worth 33.25 bil-lion rupees ($508 million) inBharti Infratel.
“Bharti Airtel will primar-ily use the proceeds from thissale to reduce its debt,” the com-pany said in a filing to the Bom-bay Stock Exchange in India’sfinancial capital Mumbai. Theshares were bought by globalinvestors and fund managers,the statement added. It came aday after Idea Cellular and Vo-dafone India announced thesale of 20,000 mobile phone tow-ers to American Tower Corpfor 78.5 billion rupees as it seeks
funds to fend off Jio, which isowned by India's richest man.Idea and Vodafone's Indian unitare currently merging in amove that will see them over-take Airtel as India's largesttelecoms operator with morethan 400 million subscribers.
India's multi-billion-dol-lar telecoms industry hasbeen in a state of flux sinceMukesh Ambani launchedJio in September 2016, prom-ising reduced tariffs andfree voice calls for life.
Jio’s arrival has sparkeda rush to market consolida-tion as competitors try tomatch the deep pockets ofJio, which is backed by Am-bani's hugely wealthy ener-gy-to-chemicals conglomer-ate Reliance Industries.
Last month Airtel re-ported that its consolidatednet profit for the quarterending September had fall-en 77 percent on-year. AFP
Bharti Airtel sells$508-million stake
amid Jio fight
Mumbai: Tata Global Beve-rages recorded a net profitfor the June-September qu-arter at Rs 154 crore higherby 11per cent as compared tothe corresponding quarterof the previous year.
Net revenues for the qu-arter stood at Rs 1,692 crore,up by 6 per cent from Rs 1621crore in the comparable qu-arter in 2016.
Operating profits wereup by 23 per cent to Rs 208crore compared to the corre-sponding quarter in the pre-vious year, due to improvedoperating performance, go-od cost management and lo-wer finance costs, the com-pany said in a statement.
“The company witnes-sed a good performance inits India business. While Ju-ly was a slow month due toGST, August and Septembersaw double digit growth,” LKrishnakumar, CFO of TataGlobal Beverages said. TheGroup has completed therestructuring of its Russiaoperations, resulting in thesale of two of the company'soverseas subsidiaries Sun-ty LLC and Tea Trade LLC,as on November 3. AGENCIES
Tata GlobalBeverages
Q2 profit up11% to ̀̀ 154cr
Panaji: Riding on the waveof digital transformation,the IT spending in India isforecast to hit $87.1 billion in2018 — an increase of 9.2 percent from $79.7 billion (esti-mated) this year, Gartnersaid on Tuesday.
Enterprise software andIT services continue to ex-hibit strong growth, with de-vices segment driving themajority of overall IT spend-ing in the country.
Projected to grow at 17.9
per cent in 2017, softwarespending will grow another15.3 per cent in 2018 to reach$5.7 billion. IT servicesspending is on pace to grow15.7 per cent in 2017 to reach$12.6 billion, an increase of13.8 per cent in 2018 to reach$14.3 billion.
“The IT buying landscapeis changing. Digital businesstransformation is creatingconnected platforms and newindustry revenue streams,”said Ganesh Ramamoorthy,managing vice-president atGartner India. IANS
IT spending to hit$87.1 billion in 2018
New Delhi: India’s annualwholesale price inflationpicked up in October to a six-month high, driven by fasterrises in prices of food andfuel products, governmentdata showed on Tuesday. In-dia’s annual wholesale priceinflation last month in-creased to 3.59 percent from ayear earlier from a provision-al 2.60 percent in September.Wholesale food prices in Oc-tober rose 3.23 percent year-on-year, compared with a 1.99percent rise a month earlier,the data showed. REUTERS
WPI inflationtouches 6-mthhigh in October
New Delhi: Uber India’s he-ad of public policy ShwetaRajpal Kohli has resignedfrom the company, a littleover a year after joining theUS-based firm.
Kohli had joined Uber In-dia in September last yearand was responsible for thecompany’s relations with po-licymakers, regulators, go-vernment officials, industrybodies and others.
Confirming the develop-ment, an Uber spokesper-son said, “Shweta has been agreat advocate for Uber andthe development of ridesha-ring in India. She has contri-buted immensely to buil-ding our reputation in In-dia, and we wish her everysuccess in future.”
The company has not na-med a replacement for Kohliyet and is scouting for candi-dates for the role.
“I'm extremely proud ofthe team we've built to pushforward progressive rides-haring reform measures inone of the fastest growingregions for the company. I'msure Uber will continue to
grow from strength tostrength in India and SouthAsia,” Kohli said in an e-ma-iled statement. Kohli will bejoining USD 8 billion tech-nology giant Salesforce-.com as its country director.The newly-created positionwill help the company ex-
pand its focus on India. Thisis the first time Salesforcehas created a leadership po-sition for public policy in In-dia, one of the world's fas-test cloud region.
For Uber, India is the se-cond-largest country of ope-rations after the US.
It has seen a stronggrowth in its operations herewith the number of comple-ted trips on its platform gro-wing to 41.3 million in Julythis year, from 19.2 million inJuly 2016, a jump of 115 percent. It is fighting an intensebattle for leadership in theIndian market with Soft-Bank-backed Ola. Interes-tingly, it has started talkswith SoftBank for a potentialinvestment that reports sug-gest could be worth as muchas USD 10 billion.
However, the world'smost funded startup has alsohad its share of troubles inthe Indian market.
The company was tempo-rarily banned in Delhi afterone of the drivers on its plat-form allegedly raped a wo-man passenger in 2014. PTI
Uber India policy headKohli quits in a year
Shweta has been a greatadvocate for Uber andthe development ofridesharing in India. She has contributedimmensely to buildingour reputation in India,and we wish her everysuccess in future, said acompany spokesperson
REACHING MORE: These ready-to-occupy kitchens will offer therestaurant partners a basic setup with the required amenities
STRONG GROWTH
CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOIBangaloreBS PubDate: 15-11-2017 Zone: Hubli Edition: 1 Page: HUB21 User: sitadri.dhara Time: 11-14-2017 20:33 Color: CMYK
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