The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will begin by the end of this year to offer the facility of issuing Aadhaar cards to NRIs with Indian passports without the mandatory 180 days waiting period. “UIDAI systems are being readied for the facility and necessary legal measures are to be notified soon,” UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey told a newswire service. “We are working to make the appropriate technological changes and we will provide an appointment facility where people outside the country also can apply for a time slot and specify the place they would like to go to get their Aadhaar made...as soon as they come to India they can, very conveniently, go and get their Aadhaar made,” he added. Meanwhile, the UIDAI — which has made operational two more Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) in Bhopal and Chennai after the fourth centre in Hisar was launched recently — is confident of meeting its target of opening 114 such centres across the country in the coming months.

The UIDAI is setting up Aadhaar Seva Kendras, which is similar to the concept of Passport Seva Kendras, covering 53 cities across the country at an estimated project cost of INR 4 billion (EUR 50 million). These Aadhaar centres, meant to facilitate enrolment, updation and other activities, are UIDAI’s own and operate in addition to thousands of centres currently being run by banks and post offices, as well as in government premises (offering similar Aadhaar services).

Encouraged by the recent announcement by the Indian government to allow single brand stores in the country, Apple plans to set up up to three brick-and-mortar outlets in India besides an online store as the iPhone maker looks to further cement its position in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.

According to reports, Apple has conveyed to the government its plans to set up physical as well as an online store, in line with its ‘global experience’ centres for Apple-branded products. The move comes at a time when global smartphone manufacturers have reiterated their commitment to the Indian market and are looking to significantly ramp up their manufacturing capabilities in the country.

Apple, which works with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in India, currently makes iPhone 6S and 7 here. One of the sources said Apple is looking at assembling more models in the country. Apple did not respond to a query on this issue. While the company has remained mum on the locations of its stores, reports suggest that Mumbai could become home to India’s maiden Apple retail store. India is looking to galvanise smartphone manufacturing and position itself as a global hub, dishing out incentives to sweeten the deal for international brands. A recent report by industry body IAMAI had pointed out that India’s mobile manufacturing lacks scale and depth despite its ambition to become global production hub, and the country needs to “think big” by manufacturing at scale, producing high-end phones, and incentivising exports. The report says that last year, India exported mobile handsets worth USD 1.4 billion compared to USD 2.7 billion in 2012-13.The production of mobile handsets had reached 225 million units in 2017-18 and India has the potential to manufacture one billion handsets annually, it had said.

Tech start-up incubator T-Hub and the Government of Telangana have set up T-Angel to address the challenges of early-stage funding. Lets Venture, a Bengaluru-based funding platform with 6,500 investors, will support the programme. Other angel investors and angel investment groups in the ecosystem would also explore investment opportunities. “About 30 start-ups will be inducted into the three-month maiden cohort shortly. We're planning to hold three-four cohorts in a year,” Ravi Narayan, CEO of T-Hub, was quoted as saying in a newspaper report. “We will select start-ups working on tech solutions for healthcare, real estate, entertainment, sports, education and finance. The first batch would commence on October 20. Applications will open on August 29 and the start-ups can submit entries by September 30,” he said.

The top 10 of the 30 start-ups in the cohort will receive funding. They will be listed on Lets Venture’s investment platform, which has helped over 190 start-ups raise over USD 85 million in the last six years.“The batch of 30 start-ups will need to go through regular interventions through bootcamps and dedicated mentoring to build a strong investment case, which help them eventually to raise capital,” he said.

Tech giant Google has signed a statement of intent with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) for rolling out ‘Build for Digital India’ programme. The programme will offer a platform to engineering students to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions that address key social problems, a release said. As part of the programme, engineering students across the country will be invited to present their ideas and solutions in areas like healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, women safety, smart mobility and transportation, environment, accessibility and disability and digital literacy.

Applicants will take part in online and offline learning opportunities on key technologies such as Machine Learning (ML), Cloud and Android that will be offered through Google’s Developer Student Club network and other Google Developer networks, it said. Google will also offer mentorship sessions in product design, strategy and technology to the most promising products and prototypes. “This initiative will not only motivate the college students across India to innovate but will also produce some good technology solutions for some major social challenges of India,” the statement quoted IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Karan Bhatia, vice president, Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, said advanced new technologies like ML and artificial intelligence can help address at scale some of the toughest social challenges that India faces today.“We are pleased to be partnering with MeitY to reach, inspire and equip today’s young engineers with the technical and entrepreneurial skills and the mentorship they need to turn their bright ideas into tomorrow’s breakthrough solutions,” he added.