News Roundup: Microsoft To Sack 55, IPL SMS Game

Software giant Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) plans to trim its workforce in India by 1%, impacting 55 staffers among the 5,500 people on the rolls, reports Business Standard. It’s part of the company’s move to cut 5,000 jobs globally.

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6UP, an SMS game that IPL viewers can participate in while watching the popular cricket league, is in the centre of a storm after India’s sports minister said the game, which rewards those who accurately predicts the sequence in which runs will be scored in an over, amounted to “betting”. Gambling is illegal in India. Mint has examined the legal nuances of the debate, and makes a key point: “At the core of the debate whether the game constitutes gambling is the question of whether it takes skill to predict the scoring sequence in the following over, or luck.” Lawyers consulted by Mint are divided (as always) on the matter.

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Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s largest telco by subscribers, is now India’s biggest music company by revenues, deputy CEO Sanjay Kapoor told PTI. According to Kapoor, Airtel has more revenues from music than industry leader Saregama, which had revenues of Rs150 crore for the fiscal ended 31 March 2008. That Airtel, a telco that shares revenue earned from value added services such as caller tunes and music on demand with music labels, makes more money from the business than owners of that content, speaks volumes about 1) how dramatically the music business–especially the distribution–has changed, and 2) how nurturing every revenue stream can pay rich dividends.

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Movie channels are enjoying a surge in popularity owing to the tussle between Bollywood producers and multiplexes that has kept new films away from theatres, according to this BS story. Several film channels are introducing new programming packages to attract viewers during this drought of filmed entertainment.

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