Udacity Expands Services And Announces Scholarships In India

Online computer programming educator Udacity announced on Monday it would expand on the ground in India, the country where the service is growing the fastest.

Udacity’s free and nanodegree services are available worldwide, but with Monday’s announcement, the company will begin offering the service in rupees and expanding its staff in the country. Nanodegrees are credentials recognized by many companies, such as Google and Salesforce.

Courses will cost $9,800 rupees a month, which is about $50 less than the price in the United States of $200 per month.

“Udacity’s mission is to democratize education, and India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies,” said Udacity CEO Sebastian Thrun in an interview with TechCrunch.

Google and Tata Trust will each offer 500 full Android nanodegree scholarships to students in India. Google will also host a job fair in India for standout Nanodegree graduates and potential employers next year. Udacity said it is seeking to increase partnerships with more companies based in India.

Udacity’s foray into India is a logical step as the number of programmers in the country continues to surge. Currently India is home to the second largest programmer population in the world, a Udacity spokeswoman said. In general Udacity nanodegree students tend to be college graduates with some programming experience.

Thrun said Udacity plans to use the same “recipe” it has to achieve growth that it used in the United States.

“One of the big questions is can we get the same growth in India?” Thrun told TechCrunch. “We’re very optimistic we can.”

Google is in trouble in Russia.

The company has been found guilty of forcing Russian vendors to preload Android smartphone devices with Google apps and banning them from installing Russia's antitrust office said Google (GOOGL, Tech30) could be punished with a fine of up to 15% of its income in Russia for the violations.

It will issue details of the ruling later this month, including changes Google will have to make to its strategy in Russia.

"In particular, the agency can request [Google] to adjust contracts with vendors of mobile devices," said Alexei Dotsenko, a senior antitrust official.

Russia's investigation followed a complaint by Yandex (YNDX), the country's largest search engine.

Yandex is Google's biggest competitor in Russia, but its market share fell below 60% last year. The company accused Google of breaking the law to try to squeeze it further.

According to research from Gazprombank, around 86% of smartphones in Russia are powered by Android, which limits Yandex's ability to compete with Google in the mobile market.

Yandex welcomed the ruling, and its shares jumped nearly 7% Monday as the news emerged.

Google said it has not yet received the ruling.

Google is facing similar antitrust investigations in the European Union. The European Commission has been probing Google's business practices in fits and starts for five years. It launched a formal investigation into the Android app bundling issue in April.

An Aspect of Love, Alive in the Ice and Fire

In a package of minutes there is this We.

How beautiful.

Merry foreigners in our morning,

we laugh, we touch each other, 

are responsible props and posts.

A physical light is in the room.

Because the world is at the window

we cannot wonder very long.

You rise. Although

genial, you are in yourself again.

I observe

your direct and respectable stride.

You are direct and self-accepting as a lion

in Afrikan velvet. You are level, lean,

remote.

There is a moment in Camaraderie

when interruption is not to be understood.

I cannot bear an interruption.

This is the shining joy;

the time of not-to-end.

On the street we smile.

We go

in different directions

down the imperturbable street.