A Tale of Twin Rejections and a New Romeo

First Yahoo rejected Microsoft's bid in a bid to increase the offer bid now big daddy Microsoft rejects Yahoo rejection. Ouch! so much rejection where is all the chemistry of love gone. Well the Yahoo Microsoft soap opera gets a new hero this Valentine in media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Murdroch's flirtation in the web space started a while ago and today Murdoch's News Corp is almost a giant owning properties such as social networking major

MySpace.com

. Mudroch is believed to be wooing Yahoo and maybe even trying to ward off tech giant Microsoft's overtures.

The Yahoo Microsoft saga seems to be getting interesting by the day. Is Yahoo bargaining for more? Is Microsoft being stingy? Is Google finally going to wake up from its hypnotic spell? Can the likes of Mudroch really make a difference? There seem no clear answers.

Security Alert - Afilias and CERT-In Tieup
We are living in digital times plugged into the World Wide Web. One of the most crucial aspects of the web is the domain registry (the registry that registers domain names like.com, .in, amongst others) Entire brand, intellectual properties are built around this and it is perhaps a very important area. This week Afilias, one of the largest provider of registry services, announced a tie-up with Indian Computer Emergency Team (CERT-In). The agreement is for sharing critical information and resources to enhance cyber-security in India and worldwide, increase awareness of important security issues and to cooperate in emergency response to critical threats.

As part of the agreement between Cert-In and Afilias, the two organizations will form a joint committee and agree to share best practices related to security threats to improve security of the infrastructure of the Internet. In addition, both organizations have agreed to collaborate on emergency response initiatives to tackle emerging cyber-security problems, to take proactive measures that can help protect consumers, and to participate in joint education and outreach initiatives on key security issues.

Spanco Telesystems acquires Singapore firm
The Indian conquest of overseas firms continues. Spanco Telesystems, one of the leading telecom integration and back office services in India announced the acquisition of Great IT Private Ltd this week. Great IT owns exclusive rights to provide complete technology and IT infrastructure to Great Wheel Corporation. Spanco expects to generate revenues of more than $ 200 million in the next 6 to 7 years besides indirect revenues through various other opportunities, which will come up in the similar segment and in the countries of operation. Spanco in turn will invest around $ 40 million in the next 2 years.

Book your tickets on your phone
MakeMyTrip this week launched its m-commerce platform, which enables travelers to search, book, pay and receive their ticket on their mobile phone. There is no need of a printout even and the sms with the PNR no. Serves the purpose. Makemytrip claims this to be the first of its kind initiative in India.

India is currently witnessing an online travel boom estimated to be worth $ 6 billion by 2010. Low cost carriers, proliferation of the Internet and the growing acceptance of e-commerce over the last few years, are key factors that have contributed the emergence of this sector as a formidable force in the overall travel industry. With more mobile phone users than Internet this further boosts revenues and convenience for the traveler.

(Puneet Mehrotra writes on technology issues www.thebusinessedition.com)