The Department of Telecom (DoT) approved for the merger of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) with Bharti Airtel, subject to the condition that the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm furnishes Rs.7,200 crore worth bank guarantee. Both the companies are expected to submit an undertaking on matters related to court cases before the merger is taken on record. The merger will be taken on record after Airtel submits the bank guarantee of about Rs.6,000 crore for one-time spectrum charges and another Rs.1,200 crore for the spectrum that would be acquired from TTSL.

Tata Power and Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) signed a memorandum of understanding to set up integrated customer services and optimize value for customers. The pact will also cover common safeguard activities of underground assets (pipes and cables) including the right of way for activities like maintenance and laying of pipes and cables, routine patrolling of under and above ground assets.

BuyUcoin, second oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange company in India introduced a new and unique platform for wholesale cryptocurrency trading. This platform works on 'free trading model' which means it charges zero free on any trade. This wholesale platform also known as OTC (Over-the-counter) Desk allows users to trade on a large scale with low price fluctuations. This new platform will help to improve the problem of liquidity of cryptocurrency in Indian market.

Bhushan Patil, President of India's mobile payment and commerce platform, Paytm has quit the company. In March 2016, he had joined Paytm after serving five years at Alibaba.com. Recently, Paytm and Paytm Mall together could raise anywhere between $1-2 billion from investors.eBay, American multinational e-commerce corporation is preparing to make an investment in Paytm Mall.

Australian flight carrier, Qantas operated the world's first zero-waste commercial flight named QF739 from Sydney to Adelaide which disposed of all waste through compost, reuse or recycles. This airline has substituted over 1000 single-use plastic items with more environment-friendly items which have helped the airline to achieve zero-waste during a commercial flight. The Australian airline Qantas has planned to eliminate 100 million single-use plastics by the end of 2020 and also to reduce 75% of airline's waste by the end of 2021.

Indian Staffing Federation (ISF), the apex body for the flexi working industry said that the Indian tech industry will add another three million new jobs in the next five years. With the additions, the size of the country's tech army will be 7 million by 2023. It also said that the new jobs would come up in digital technology areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Internet of things (IOT), data science, analytics, big data, blockchain and augmented reality. Jobs would also be created in newer technology areas that are presently unknown but are expected to emerge and evolve in the next few years.

Bharti AXA General Insurance, the first company in the domestic non-life insurance industry has collaborated with web aggregator, Wishfin Insurance to sell 2-wheeler policies via social media messaging platform, WhatsApp. Bharti AXA General Insurance is a joint partnership between Bharti Enterprises and AXA, global insurance firm. It will sell the policies on Wishfin's insurance arm, Wishpolicy's website. Wishfin has launched 'Buy Two-Wheeler Insurance on WhatsApp' (that is available on Wishpolicy's website) through Wishfin Insurance. This policy is an instant, effortless and additional customer service option avaiable for the policyholders. Customers and policyholders can buy the 2-wheeler insurance on WhatsApp by giving a missed call to 8527844822.

Tata Trusts and Microsoft India have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly rejuvenate the handloom clusters in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country. Microsoft's Project ReWeave will help preserve traditional weaving forms by upskilling workers, designing and marketing merchandise, and creating sustainable livelihood options. Microsoft will also enable digital training through Project Sangam, a Microsoft Azure-based Learning Management System, which provides necessary training and tools to weaving communities to help them realise their full potential.

Financial Software Services (FSS) has launched FSS Voice Commerce which is a real-time voice banking platform to provide customers with personalized banking interactions. It uses machine-learning language processing techniques for analysis and synthesis of language and speech to deliver the service.This platform interfaces with any retail banking system to provide real-time information of accounts and balances.

Vipin Anand has taken charge as Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Prior to this, he was in charge of LIC's Western Zone, headquartered at Mumbai. During his service of more than 35 years with the organisation, Anand has handled several assignments in various capacities and departments across different locations in India.