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VSNL to set up cyber cafes at railway stations
MUMBAI: Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) is setting up cyber cafes at major railway stations across the country to create user-friendly public internet access points.
The company, which has been awarded franchisee rights for running of cyber cafes at 68 locations, plans to make all of them operational in the next few weeks. The first of this was inaugurated at the Bangalore railway station by VSNL president of broadband and retail business Shashi Kalathil.
Speaking on the occasion, Kalathil said, “This effort will enable VSNL implement the promise made in the Union Railway budget of setting up such cyber cafes across the leading railway stations in the country. We are keen on making internet easily available so that passengers can stay connected even while on the move.”
All Tata Indicom dial-up internet and broadband subscribers can use this facility by using their existing accounts. “Each of these cybercafes will be equipped with 10-20 high end multimedia PCs with flat panel monitors and will be open 24 X 7. Travellers can now avail Internet browsing and gaming facilities at very affordable rates. We also plan to offer other value added services like printing, scanning, mobile charging and CD writing through these cafes. Passengers can also use the cyber cafes for making onward bookings, checking their bank statements, tracking their investment portfolio and making ISD calls at affordable prices,” VSNL said.
Tata Indicom will also create select areas in the railway station that are Wi Fi enabled, allowing passengers to experience the internet on their laptop or Wi-Fi enabled PDAs.
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Canva acquires animation and AI startups Cavalry and MangoAI
The deals strengthen Canva’s push into enterprise and AI-led design workflows
AUSTRALIA: Global visual communication platform Canva has stepped up its acquisition drive, buying UK-based 2D animation platform Cavalry and US-based AI startup MangoAI to deepen its AI-powered creative stack.
Cavalry, whose tools are used by brands including Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix, will strengthen Canva’s motion design capabilities. The deal builds on Canva’s 2024 acquisition of Affinity, which has crossed four million downloads since launch. With Cavalry, Canva now counts seven Europe-based acquisitions, underscoring its global expansion strategy.
MangoAI, an early-stage startup focused on video advertising optimisation, will integrate its reinforcement learning systems into Canva AI. The move aims to enable brands to generate personalised marketing content in real time, cutting production cycles while improving campaign performance. MangoAI co-founder Vinith Misra will join Canva as reinforcement learning lead in its research lab.
Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said the acquisitions reflect the company’s ambition to make professional-grade creative tools more accessible without sidelining human creativity. The goal, he said, is to bring everything from vector to motion design into a single, integrated suite.
The company now reports 265 million active users, including 31 million paid subscribers, and $4 billion in annualised revenue, up 36 per cent year on year. The latest buys further position Canva against rivals such as Adobe and Apple’s Creator Studio as it pushes deeper into enterprise workflows.
Canva head of pro design marketing Liam Fisher, said AI is intended to act as a creative assistant rather than a replacement, reinforcing the primacy of craft and individual design judgement.
