In Brief: Flipkart to set up hyperlocal delivery vertical; Mphasis, Baseload extend pact

Walmart-owned ecommerce company Flipkart plans to set up a separate vertical to enable 90-minute delivery of goods from local stores and its own small fulfilment centres, The Economic Times reported, citing sources. The vertical is expected to begin operations starting with the highly-competitive grocery delivery segment within a month, the report said. The Bengaluru-based firm will leverage the last-mile capabilities of logistics startup Shadowfax, in which it invested $60 million last year, to facilitate its entry into the segment, the report added.

Mphasis extends healthcare platform integration pact with BaseLoad

Bengaluru-based technology company Mphasis has extended its partnership with healthcare data service provider BaseLoad to reduce errors and duplication of records. Mphasis has integrated its healthcare benefits management platform Javelina with BaseLoad’s SureHit Now solution, which matches and corrects medical provider data, as per a statement. With the addition of BaseLoad’s provider key, the matching process returns updated, validated and fulfilled provider information reducing errors and duplication, it added.

Eight months on, ecomm firms yet to submit responses in green tribunal case

Ecommerce companies against whom a petition has been filed in the National Green Tribunal to stop them from using excessive plastic for packaging have either not submitted complete documents regarding the quantity of plastic consumption or have not responded to the communication from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), ETTech reported. The submission came in response to a plea submitted by 16-year-old Aditya Dubey, who approached the tribunal to stop ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart from using excessive plastic for packaging. 

HCL to hire 1,500 people for Sri Lanka delivery centre

Noida-based technology major HCL Technologies plans to create over 1,500 new local employment opportunities for both freshers and experienced professionals within the first eighteen months of operations at its delivery centre in Colombo, a statement said. In February, the company had signed an agreement with the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka to set up a global delivery centre in Colombo.

Microsoft updates education platform with new features

Microsoft has added new features to its Teams for Education platform to prepare students and teachers for new remote and hybrid learning formats in the upcoming school year, a statement said. These features include expanded audience view of up to 49 participants, custom backgrounds, class insights and virtual breakout rooms, it said.

Google seeks bids from startups for accelerator programme

Alphabet-owned search engine platform Google has sought applications from startups for the Google for Startups Accelerator, earlier called Launchpad Accelerator, which is set to begin from August. Startups in the healthtech, fintech, edutech, agritech, retail and software-as-a-solution (SaaS) sectors, working on solutions for the post Covid-19 world, can apply for the programme till June 30, a statement said. 

Hello World rolls out contactless co-living solution 

Nestaway Technologies subsidiary Hello World said that it has launched a contactless co-living solution called 360Life. It provides tenants with smart locks, non-sharing smart lock-enabled rooms and home offices to help them work from home safely with little human contact, as per a statement. Additionally, the company said it has slashed its rates by 25% and provided 2,000 live home tours in the past month to help customers with house hunting. 

UST Global rebrands engineering services unit 

Digital transformation solutions provider UST Global has rebranded its portfolio company Xpanxion International as BlueConch Technologies. The firm has been in the business of technology-focused product development and engineering services for over 23 years, as per a statement. In its new avatar, the company looks to leverage its proprietary engineering frameworks and technology expertise to improve customer experience by making products and platform engineering easy, it said.