Archives January 2023

Ola, electric vehicle maker, has announced the launch of a new customer subscription plan, Ola Care Subscription. The Ola Care Subscription offers two plans: Ola Care and Ola Care+. Both the plans are aimed at offering after-sales service to customers of its electric vehicles (EVs).
Ola Care pricing and benefits
Ola Care is priced at Rs 1,999 per year, while Ola Care+ will cost Rs 2,999 annually. The relatively cheaper Ola Care plan offers services such as free labour on service, theft assistance helpline, and roadside and puncture assistance. In Ola Care+, customers will also get annual comprehensive diagnostic, free home service and pick-up/drop, free consumables, and 24/7 doctor & ambulance service, along with all the Ola Care benefits.
Both the plans offer customers access to Ola’s service network which the company claims is equipped to cater to customers at the convenience of their doorstep or at their nearest Ola Experience Centres.
For an annual subscription, Ola takes care of scooter diagnostic, towing and puncture assistance and theft assistance for free. The company also provides care during breakdowns with 24×7 ambulance service, online doctor consultation, taxi for an onward journey, hotel accommodation in case of a breakdown outside city limits and vehicle custody services for user comfort.
In addition to the Zero-labour charges, Ola has also announced that it has waived any convenience fee on doorstep services, including pick-up and drop.

Twelve South Korean websites attacked by a Chinese hacking group remain unable to be accessed five days after the incident, industry sources said. The Chinese attackers, identifying themselves as Xiaoqiying, hacked into the websites of 12 academic organizations and institutions Sunday, including the Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy, the Korean Archaeological Society and the Korean Academy of Basic Medicine & Health Science.
The attack took place in the middle of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday that began last Saturday, reports Yonhap news agency.
According to the Korean internet safety watchdog, the hackers used the SQL injection technique to exploit a security vulnerability in the websites’ software and corrupt the database contents.
After the breach, most of the attacked websites showed an error page or a warning message by the hacking group.
“We are working on determining the exact cause of the case and restoring the damage, but it takes some time,” said an official from the cybersecurity authorities, asking for anonymity.
The South Korean government is now looking into some 40 files disclosed by the Chinese hacking group Thursday. The group claimed it had stolen the data from South Korea’s government and public institutions.
It also said it had successfully compromised the computer networks of 70 South Korean educational institutions around the Lunar New Year holiday that ran from Saturday to Tuesday.

India’s gaming sector had a mixed 2022. While there seems to be a prolonged funding winter; the government’s recognition to the e-sports industry as a legitimate sport has brought in cheer. In December last year, esports was integrated with mainline sports disciplines in India by the government. It was recognised as a part of a multisport event and came under the ambit of the Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. In the past few years, the online gaming sector in the country has witnessed significant growth. The industry is looking forward to favourable policy, especially in terms of taxation in the upcoming budget. The industry expects some sops on taxation and clarity regarding GST in the upcoming Budget.
Here’s wishlist from two of the biggest players in the industry:
Sai Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of MPL
“2023 is already shaping up to be a watershed moment for the gaming industry. With the government releasing draft online gaming rules earlier this month, the burgeoning sector will see a lot more success this year. In addition to this, the industry hopes to get clarity in a few areas. The first is the GST mechanism on online gaming. We hope the government provides clarity on the tax slab applicable on skill gaming. Another relates to the AVGC fund set up as part of the AVGC Promotion Task Force announced in last year’s budget. Access to financial support, as envisaged under this, will be a tremendous boost to young talented developers and designers, and will accelerate the push to ‘Create in India’ and take made-in-India games to the world. We believe that India’s online gaming industry can truly lead the charge in the global digital economy and a uniform, progressive policy can be the wind in its sails.”
Paavan Nanda, co-founder of WinZO
“The online gaming industry has the potential to scale rapidly and become a significant contributor to the Government’s vision of a trillion-dollar digital economy. The industry is currently in its nascent stage, and needs stability and clarity from a tax and compliance perspective. The proposed 28 percent GST on the Gross Gaming Value of all games played, over the current 18 percent on the commission of the gaming companies, would have an existential impact on the segment. Further, a reduction in the TDS threshold, from the current winnings exceeding INR 10,000, could also impede the growth of the industry. The TDS liability on winnings above 10,000 already stands at 30% under the Income-tax Act of 1961. The increase in GST and TDS cumulatively would completely wipe out the homegrown industry that has the potential to be the largest next generation of exports of consumer tech products made in India for the world. In this budget announcement, we are hoping to see a continuation of the current GST slab and TDS threshold as a sharp increase in tax will deter growth, sink early-stage startups further into losses and overall make the industry unviable. A clear and supportive tax policy will not only generate revenues for the exchequer but will also create great value in the long run for the country and the gaming ecosystem. In last year’s budget, the government recognised the gaming sector as one of the potential segments for job creation in India and set up the Animation, Visual effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) promotion task force to realise the potential of the segment. We are hoping for the announcement of constructive action in that direction to give a boost to the gaming industry,” Paavan Nanda, co-founder of WinZO.

Budget for 2023-24 is scheduled to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The government is likely to extend fiscal incentives new industries in the forthcoming budget as it looks to expand production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to cover more high-employment potential sectors. The scheme aims to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive and create global champions in manufacturing. It is specifically designed to boost domestic manufacturing in sunrise and strategic sectors, curb cheaper imports and reduce import bills and improve cost competitiveness of domestically manufactured goods. Little surprising that PLI scheme finds mention in wishlist of all hardware and accessory makers in the country.
Amit Khatri, Co-founder, Noise
India is emerging as one of the strongest economies globally largely owing to the entrepreneurial spirit that prevails in the country and continued efforts of the Government to insulate the impact of global headwinds. From being the third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China, India can truly leapfrog as a startup capital of the world with the introduction of the next generation of reforms that are focused on increasing access to funds for entrepreneurs.
The PLI scheme has been a game changer in accelerating India’s vision of being ‘Atmanirbhar’ as part of the Make in India initiative. Creating an ecosystem for manufacturing of components as part of the Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters Scheme, can help homegrown brands contribute to making India the global electronics manufacturing hub. India has emerged to become the largest market for smartwatches and the expected PLI scheme for the high-end components manufacturing will further boost efforts to develop a complete ecosystem for electronic manufacturing in the country. Being one of the first homegrown brands to localize the production of smart wearables in India, adequate support towards the initiative would lead us to ramp up our Make in India efforts and contribute effectively towards this mission.
Alok Dubey, Chief Finance Officer, Acer India
“Budget 2023-24 would probably be the most challenging one that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be tabling on February 1, 2023. I think that this year’s budget should give digital infrastructure and skills a high priority. Although India may have a positive view of “digital” and technology, more needs to be done to support the country’s digital-first strategy as it aspires to become a USD 5 trillion economy. The government’s commitment to digital skill development and its alignment with the IT sector, and the PLI scheme targeted at helping manufacturers of IT hardware and computer servers need to receive equal weight in this year’s budget. Government policy could be changed to promote the development of talent and skills. The tech industry requires a talented and skilled workforce. The government may provide funding for programmes to modernise educational buildings with state-of-the-art R&D capabilities.”
Vipul Singh, CEO and cofounder, Aereo
“Over the past year, the Indian drone manufacturing industry has flourished due to various policy reforms and schemes like the INR 120 crore PLI scheme for drones and drone components. This year, we expect dedicated incentives for drone service startups. For B2B drone operations to reach their maximum potential in 2023, restructuring the PLI scheme is the need of the hour. The 2023 union budget must introduce MSME-focussed incentives as they constitute around 90% of companies in this sector. Apart from drone manufacturing, benefits to the drone services sector are necessary for the success of Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS) under Drone Shakti. Incentivizing the drone service sector impacts high-skilled employment in the country. We are seeing surging demand for drone services in the country. Thus, we need a technically proficient workforce to fulfil this demand. Additionally, with this year’s budget, we are expecting benefits towards indigenization and native R&D. This is of paramount importance to reduce our dependency on foreign OEMs. An additional 10% PLI benefit for companies with more than 50% indigenous Intellectual Property will encourage the innovative companies to innovate more and OEMs to indigenize further to reduce the dependency on imports. It will help propel Make-in-India and put the Indian drone industry on a self-sustaining trajectory.”
Kuldeep Malhotra, Deputy MD, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India
“The union government is continuously working and finding solutions to achieve its 2070 sustainability target. Keeping the same in view, we hope that in the upcoming budget, the government will introduce better and more attractive incentives, aimed at promoting the green economy. Besides this, we expect that government interventions and policy changes like tax rebates for meeting set environmental standards, certifications, green taxes on harmful environmental activities, and subsidies on the use of green products can go a long way in furthering the agenda of sustainability.”

Vikas Bajaj, President, AIFI (Association of Indian Forging Industry)
“All MSMEs, including the forging industry are expecting a good, progressive and balanced budget this year. The industry also monitors significant announcements from this budget to promote investment in this space, as well as favourable regulatory actions to provide a suitable climate for manufacturing sector. Additionally, steel import duties should be reduced to compensate for the existing deficit and uncompetitive Indian steel pricing. Furthermore, the government should prioritise regulating inflation and reducing the cost of raw materials and fuel. Existing incentives must be enhanced to boost exports. There is also a need to expedite the GST refund system to give liquidity to the industries. As part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Indian companies should be eligible for a duty structure benefit. The government has made continued efforts to simplify and streamline Indian tax regulations, and the industry anticipates consistency in tax and regulatory policies, as well as their interpretation, this year. I believe that the government should fix industry income rates for at least five years so that industrialists can make long-term financial plans and suitable investment decisions in their industries”.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is almost here, with February 1 the day these phones are due to be unveiled. We’ve learned a lot about what to expect from the new phone series, but there are still plenty of things we still need to know about the Galaxy S23. 

This is set to be a huge date in the smartphone scene calendar, particularly for Samsung: these handsets are likely to be some the most high-profile Samsung and Android phones of 2023.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has the potential be one of the best phones of 2023, and there’s not long to wait for it, as Samsung is set to unveil the S23 series at Galaxy Unpacked 2023 on February 1.

We’re expecting to see the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S23 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus as well, but the Ultra will be the top model, and the one with the very best specs and features.

Privacy and Apple go hand in hand – it has for years now, and its recent video starring Nick Mohammad from Ted Lasso to promote Data Privacy week was inspired.

However, with today (January 28) being Data Privacy Day, it’s important to look at other features that you can use with your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to help protect your data.

The long-rumored Apple AR/VR headset might possibly, at last, be launching later this year – and we’ve got a new set of leaks around app development for it, hinting that everyone will be able to create augmented reality experiences on this device.

According to sources speaking to The Information (opens in new tab) (via MacRumors (opens in new tab)), Apple is working on software development tools to make the app creation process as straightforward as possible. The more apps get built, the more appealing the headset will be.

The best air fryers aren’t just for dinners and savory snacks. You can make a host of sweet treats and desserts in an air fryer, too, and they’re often easier, quicker and less messy. 

One such simple, not to mention cheap, dessert is this bread pudding recipe (opens in new tab) from tiffycooks on TikTok. Taiwanese-born Tiffy has been blogging about recipes and food inspired by her heritage since 2020, and she specializes in easy recipes designed to bring joy to cooking. 

This time next week, the Samsung Galaxy S23 phones will have been officially unveiled, which means we won’t have any more leaks around the handsets to report on – such as the full specs sheet that just appeared on the web, for example.

Posted by reliable tipster Roland Quandt (opens in new tab), the specs sheet covers all three phones – the standard S23, the S23 Plus, and the S23 Ultra – and gives us a rundown of everything from the battery capacities to the camera modules.