In Brief: HCL president C Vijayakumar joins WEF-led IT governors community as chairman; Cryptocurrency not banned in India, says RBI

Global technology firm HCL Technologies announced that C Vijayakumar, president, and CEO, HCL has been named as chairman of the IT industry governor’s community of the World Economic Forum.  Vijayakumar will work towards prioritising dialogue and action around the issues impacting the industry’s future progress like talent re-skilling, data governance, security and privacy, a responsible proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), amongst others, HCL said in a statement. The announcement was made during the Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 

Also Read: HCL Tech Q2 revenue up 6.7%; eyes 17% topline growth for FY20

Credit Saison partners Capital Float to offer digital financing to SMEs

Tokyo-based financial services company Credit Saison has joined hands with Capital Float, to deliver working capital financing to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across India. The companies have developed a model jointly where both the companies will contribute capital to deliver last-mile credit to MSMEs across the country, the companies said in a joint statement. “Credit Saison plans to invest significantly in India and build a loan book of $1 billion in India over the next few years, a significant part of which will flow into the MSME sector,” Kosuke Mori, MD, Credit Saison Asia Pacific said.

RBI says cryptocurrency not banned in India

The Reserve Bank of India has said in the Supreme Court that it has not banned cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. According to the central bank’s defence, the 2018 circular on cryptocurrency was issued to protect regulated entities from associated risks, the Economic Times reported. RBI’s advocate Shyam Divan argued that there was no formal ban on cryptocurrencies under any law in India. 

 Alibaba launches Yoli 

Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba has launched Yoli, an affiliate e-commerce platform, The Entrackr reported. Yoli has been operational for eight months now and claims to offer deals across online companies including Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, Paytm Mall, Tata Cliq, Purplle, Firstcry, Bigbasket and Snapdeal, the report said. The app has over a million downloads and a rating of 4.4, according to the data available on Google Play Store.

Also read: Alibaba to invest $177 mn in Paytm E-Commerce, hike stake to 62%