In Brief: Tata Group to launch payments network; Uber gets new mobility head

The Tata Group, with support from financial services company Tata Capital and IT services firm TCS, reportedly has plans to build a mass market, pan-India retail payments network. With this, the Mumbai-based conglomerate joins Reliance and State Bank of India’s bid to challenge the non-profit monopoly of National Payments Corporation of India, which controls UPI and IMPS, The Economic Times reported. The financial daily, citing sources, said that the 152-year-old conglomerate looks to build a Super App to integrate the corporation's multiple consumer offerings on one digital platform. 

Uber hires Amazon veteran to lead mobility business in India

Ride hailing major Uber said it has appointed Amazon veteran Manikandan Thangarathnam as the senior director to lead all rider and platform engineering teams in Bengaluru. With 20 years of experience, his last stint was for 13 years at Amazon, where he led the engineering team for the Amazon Appstore and helped bootstrap the firm’s Chennai office, a statement said. 

The company, which announced last month that it would hire 140 engineers, said it would rope in an additional 85 people across the country.

Google Widevine picks Tata Elxsi as certified 3PL partner

Design and technology services firm Tata Elxsi has been chosen as the 3PL certification partner for Google Widevine to provide content protection for broadcast, media, consumer electronics and automotive applications. The partnership will help Tata Elxsi expand its offerings and provide development, integration and certification service for Widevine solutions, ensuring faster time-to-market for their revenue generating services, a statement said. Google Widevine is a DRM encryption scheme to securely license, distribute and protect playback on video on any consumer device. 

Paytm Mall announces shopping festival

Days before ecommerce firms Flipkart and Amazon begin their festive sales, Paytm Mall has announced its own eight-day shopping festival from October 16. The sale, according to a statement, will focus on showcasing products from MSMEs, Made in India brands and government-run emporiums, along with international brands. About 5,500 brands are expected to participate in the sale, it added.