Arindam Majumder, Twesh Mishra, Shreya Jai &Amp; Shivani Shinde

Stories by Arindam Majumder, Twesh Mishra, Shreya Jai &Amp; Shivani Shinde

Cabin crew, guards among 1,600 Air India employees opting for VRS

Cabin crew, guards among 1,600 Air India employees opting for VRS

Rediff.com   1 Jul 2022

More than 1,600 employees of Air India, the former state-run carrier now owned by the Tata group, have opted for voluntary retirement under a scheme announced on June 1. These employees comprise 22 per cent of permanent staff (around 7,000). The airline has a total employee strength of around 10,800, including those on contract.

States add 1.1 million families to un-electrified list

States add 1.1 million families to un-electrified list

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2022

Two years after the Centre's flagship village electrification scheme Saubhagya concluded with the government claiming 99.9 per cent success, several states have added close to 1.1 million rural households that remain to be connected to the electricity grid. This new list includes earlier unwilling households that have now agreed to have a metered connection and also those built or discovered in the states' surveys since 2019. Assam and Uttar Pradesh are the states that have the majority of such new additions.

'The opportunity for tech is massive'

'The opportunity for tech is massive'

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2022

'A lot of the emphasis when we hire graduates is the learning for these new technologies -- whether it's cloud and digital data analytics, cybersecurity, or IoT, but also some of the new ones, such as Metaverse or other newer areas.'

'The concept of 'One Infosys' will be crucial'

'The concept of 'One Infosys' will be crucial'

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2022

'We spent considerable time re-skilling all the employees, and then we created a new focus called the 'One Infosys'.'

Google executive warns against sharing of citizen data

Google executive warns against sharing of citizen data

Rediff.com   23 Jun 2022

Google's chief privacy officer, Keith Enright, has warned policymakers that frequent and large-scale sharing of citizen data, even if anonymized, can damage users' privacy. Pointing to research that shows data sets lose their anonymity if shared consistently over time, he said: "I would encourage policymakers and companies to be extremely circumspect while proceeding in that direction." Anonymization is a technique that removes or modifies personally identifiable information, resulting in data that cannot be associated with any one individual.

Game Streaming the Next Hot Career?

Game Streaming the Next Hot Career?

Rediff.com   23 Jun 2022

Game streaming is becoming a serious professional choice for youth, as it allows them to make good money.

Adani among 11 bidders in race for CIL's Rs 3,100-cr coal import tender

Adani among 11 bidders in race for CIL's Rs 3,100-cr coal import tender

Rediff.com   22 Jun 2022

Eleven bidders, including Adani Enterprises, have shown interest in the first-ever coal import tender issued by national miner Coal India (CIL). Recently, state-owned NTPC awarded 6.25 million tonnes (mt) of imported coal tender worth Rs 8,300 crore to Adani Enterprises. CIL, in a public statement on Tuesday, said: "The prominent Indian agencies among them (11 coal importers) were Adani Enterprises, Mohit Minerals, and Chettinad Logistics. "A couple of coal exporting agencies from abroad, including one from Indonesia, have also shown interest," it said.

Peak power demand in India drops 12.5% as monsoon picks up pace

Peak power demand in India drops 12.5% as monsoon picks up pace

Rediff.com   22 Jun 2022

With the cooling down of heatwaves as the monsoon spreads across the country, power demand has fallen by 12.5 per cent from the start of this month till Monday. Peak power demand of the country had touched a record of 210 Gw last week, mostly due to rising temperatures and opening up of the economy. Compared with the beginning of this month, almost all states have seen a fall in power demand. Punjab, however, is an exception where the power demand on Monday was 17 per cent higher than on June 1.

Agnipath: Veterans fail to find govt jobs after retirement

Agnipath: Veterans fail to find govt jobs after retirement

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2022

Even as Union ministers allay misgivings over Agnipath, figures show a meagre 2.4 per cent of the ex-servicemen who applied for a government job could get one as the Centre and the states have been unable to recruit against the reserved quotas. Public sector undertakings (PSUs), ministries, and officials of Sainik Boards have blamed it on the lack of skill among ex-servicemen. They say veterans' inability to qualify in selection exams is one of reasons for this. Also, non-recognition of qualifications obtained from the military are reasons why their recruitment has remained significantly low, pushing them towards low-skill jobs.

Restaurant to jewellery, brands make a beeline for metaverse

Restaurant to jewellery, brands make a beeline for metaverse

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2022

'We're seeing major Bollywood celebrities, fashion icons, and even movie studios all wanting to build Metaverse experiences'

'Ranchi incident is a learning experience'

'Ranchi incident is a learning experience'

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2022

'We should have calmed down the child. We will do an internal analysis on that.'

How to stay secure as cybercrime runs rampant in India

How to stay secure as cybercrime runs rampant in India

Rediff.com   14 Jun 2022

Like software-as-a-service (SaaS), CaaS has emerged as a well-orchestrated ecosystem for cybercriminals.

Dropout Who Built $100 Mn PhysicsWallah

Dropout Who Built $100 Mn PhysicsWallah

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2022

'With our focus and strategy we can solve at least 20 per cent per cent of India's education problems.'

Drone start-ups: Adani to Ambani, billionaire Indians race for supremacy

Drone start-ups: Adani to Ambani, billionaire Indians race for supremacy

Rediff.com   13 Jun 2022

An opportunity to enter a burgeoning sector at a low valuation and favourable policies are propelling some of India's largest corporate groups to scoop up drone start-ups. "Indian corporations lost the race in aerospace and space tech. "No one wants to miss the bus this time. "These are seasoned businessmen and they realise that the market cap of tech companies with problem-solving capabilities will exponentially rise in future," says Vipul Singh, CEO of Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS).

A lot has changed since decades-old IT Act: Tata's Chandra

A lot has changed since decades-old IT Act: Tata's Chandra

Rediff.com   10 Jun 2022

N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Sons, believes that the Digital India Act is a necessity. "The Digital India Act is a necessity because so much has changed over the decades since the original Information Technology (IT) Act was put in place. I am glad the government is developing a participative approach to developing the Digital Act," he said, while answering shareholders at TCS' 27th annual general meeting. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar a few months ago had said that the government would shortly roll out the Digital India Act - a renewed policy for the digital ecosystem and cyberspace in the country.

Will TCS Enter The Metaverse?

Will TCS Enter The Metaverse?

Rediff.com   7 Jun 2022

'At present Metaverse is a hype cycle.' 'If it succeeds, then I would like to see TCS there, too.'

Air India offers VRS in first move to prune headcount

Air India offers VRS in first move to prune headcount

Rediff.com   2 Jun 2022

Tata-owned Air India has launched a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for its employees- in the airline's first drive to reduce headcount. The salt-to-steel conglomerate acquired the carrier last year. As of November 2019, the airline had 9,426 permanent employees.

'I'm waiting for my appointment letter'

'I'm waiting for my appointment letter'

Rediff.com   30 May 2022

Hundreds of pilots are staring at a long wait to get the job of their dreams after completing the course, the cost of which runs to Rs 1 crore.

Coal India production slower than the captive mines

Coal India production slower than the captive mines

Rediff.com   30 May 2022

Coal production by Coal India (CIL) has grown slower than the captive mines, awarded over the last six years. During 2020-22, production from the captive mines jumped by 38.5 per cent while CIL saw a tepid growth of 3.4 per cent, according to government data. In terms of dispatch to the power sector, captive mines have raced ahead, witnessing a growth of 72 per cent compared to 15 per cent for CIL. For the current fiscal year, CIL's production is expected to be around 565 million tonnes.

How Infosys regained its mojo, improved employee morale under Salil Parekh

How Infosys regained its mojo, improved employee morale under Salil Parekh

Rediff.com   26 May 2022

In 2017, when Infosys announced that Salil Parekh would be its next chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), very few in the industry or the analyst community doubted his ability to bring the company back to a healthy growth trajectory, improve morale within the company and, more importantly, win the promoters' trust and investor confidence. There were reasons for this confidence. He was not only the deputy CEO of the Paris-headquartered IT services major Capgemini, but also one of the only non-European faces on the executive board of the company.