Nitin Kumar &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

Stories by Nitin Kumar &Amp; Peerzada Abrar

Amazon India Head Quits

Amazon India Head Quits

Rediff.com   7 Aug 2024

Manish Tiwary plans to take up a new role at another firm.

Why EV sales set roads on fire in July

Why EV sales set roads on fire in July

Rediff.com   2 Aug 2024

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in July touched 178,948 units, marking the highest monthly sales this financial year. This represents a 27.9 per cent increase from June, which saw 139,905 units sold, according to the Vahan data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The strong performance in July contributed to more than one million being sold in the first seven months of the calendar year.

Tiger Deaths Decline By 29 Percent

Tiger Deaths Decline By 29 Percent

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2024

2023 was the worst for the tiger population, recording the highest number of mortalities in a decade with 178 tigers dying.

Area for critical minerals mining expanded

Area for critical minerals mining expanded

Rediff.com   19 Jul 2024

The Centre has increased the area granted to individual players by more than four fold in order to boost mining of critical minerals. Issuing an order on Tuesday, the government said, for mining leases, the area has been expanded from the current limit of 10 sq km to 50 sq km. For prospecting licences (granted in the case of composite licence), the limit has been increased from 25 sq km to 100 sq km.

Byju's may move NCLAT against insolvency order

Byju's may move NCLAT against insolvency order

Rediff.com   18 Jul 2024

Edtech company Byju's parent Think & Learn will challenge the National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT's) order on insolvency proceedings and may approach the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in the next few days, a source claimed. With the NCLT appointing Pankaj Srivastava as the interim resolution professional (IRP), time is running out for Byju's as the committee of creditors (CoC) begins to be formed.

Google Unveils AI For India's Developers

Google Unveils AI For India's Developers

Rediff.com   18 Jul 2024

Developers in India now have expanded access to Google's powerful AI models with the 2 million token context window in Gemini 1.5 Pro and Gemma 2, the next generation of open models.

Ola Electric likely to drive in IPO at a lower valuation of $4.5 billion

Ola Electric likely to drive in IPO at a lower valuation of $4.5 billion

Rediff.com   17 Jul 2024

Ola Electric, the SoftBank-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker, is likely to pursue a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), marking about 18 per cent decrease from its last funding round valuation of around $5.5 billion, according to industry sources. The Bhavish Aggarwal-founded firm aims to file for the IPO by next month, according to people familiar with the matter. "The strategy is to price the IPO attractively for investors, fostering long-term growth and wealth creation," said a source.

Gig workers Bill: Unease among startups

Gig workers Bill: Unease among startups

Rediff.com   15 Jul 2024

A group comprising top tech startups and unicorns has raised several "serious concerns" over a platform-based gig workers Bill proposed by the Karnataka government, saying it would hurt the ease of doing business. They told the state government the Bill in its current form would hamper operations and increase regulatory and compliance burden on the nascent gig and startup economy, according to sources.

EMPS 2024: OEMs can claim incentives twice a month, Aadhaar mandatory

EMPS 2024: OEMs can claim incentives twice a month, Aadhaar mandatory

Rediff.com   11 Jul 2024

The government has taken a slew of steps to boost the sales of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers under its Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, which includes allowing manufacturers to upload claims twice a month and gives them a 120-day window to submit it. The Rs 500-crore scheme -- which had replaced the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme-- comes to an end on July 31st.

Ola Maps navigating beyond 'western apps'

Ola Maps navigating beyond 'western apps'

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2024

Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and chief executive officer of Ola, is encouraging developers to switch from Google Maps to Ola Maps. Ola is offering developers a year of free access to Ola Maps on the company's Krutrim Cloud and over Rs 100 crore in free credits. This initiative comes after Ola replaced Google Maps with its own Ola Maps, leading to annual savings of around Rs 100 crore.

EMPS 2024: Only 3.6% vehicle sales target met

EMPS 2024: Only 3.6% vehicle sales target met

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2024

The Rs 500-crore Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, introduced by the Centre to provide incentives to the electric mobility industry, will conclude on July 31 with barely 3.6 per cent of the targeted vehicle sales achieved so far. This is in stark contrast to the earlier flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, which exceeded its sales targets. According to data from the Ministry of Heavy Industry (MHI), only 13,499 of the 372,215 targeted vehicles have been sold under the EMPS scheme.

Unacademy hands pink slips to 250 more employees

Unacademy hands pink slips to 250 more employees

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2024

Edtech firm Unacademy has laid off 250 people across verticals, according to people familiar with the matter, reducing its employee strength by 50 per cent from what it was two years ago. Of those, 100 are from core functions such as marketing, business, and product, while the rest are from sales.

Why EV Sales Dropped To 14%

Why EV Sales Dropped To 14%

Rediff.com   2 Jul 2024

So far this year, around 839,545 electric vehicles have been sold, accounting for approximately 6.69% of the total 12,541,684 vehicles sold.

Aim to make India core in global energy revolution: Ola Electric

Aim to make India core in global energy revolution: Ola Electric

Rediff.com   1 Jul 2024

In March 2021, Ola Electric founder Bhavish Aggarwal was seen surveying an empty 500-acre land surrounded by shoe factories, temples, bakery shops, coconut trees and dusty roads in Pochampalli town of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu. Many excavators and workers were busy at the construction site to build the Ola Futurefactory for electric vehicles.

Byju failed because he didn't listen to anyone: Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal

Byju failed because he didn't listen to anyone: Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal

Rediff.com   29 Jun 2024

Byju Raveendran, the founder of the beleaguered ed-tech firm Byju's, put himself on a pedestal and stopped listening to anyone, said Gaurav Munjal, the chief executive officer of edtech firm Unacademy. Munjal highlighted the importance of 'blunt feedback'. In a post on X, he alleged that Byju's founder stopped listening and failed to have people who could give him the right feedback.

India's maiden critical mineral auctions: Who are the participants?

India's maiden critical mineral auctions: Who are the participants?

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2024

India on Monday announced the results for the country's first critical mineral auction. Amid the tepid response from big players, the list of successful bidders included some lesser known names. A total of five companies secured bids for six critical mineral blocks of graphite, manganese, phosphorite, lithium, and rare earth elements with auction premiums ranging from 13.05 per cent to 400 per cent.

Mining majors give a miss to country's maiden critical minerals auction

Mining majors give a miss to country's maiden critical minerals auction

Rediff.com   25 Jun 2024

The maiden, critical mineral auction in India has failed to enthuse the mining industry, with the first tranche achieving less than a 50 per cent success rate and the auction of several mines was cancelled owing to low response. The results, announced by the Ministry of Mines on Monday, showed that six lesser-known companies emerged as preferred bidders. Among these were Agrasen Sponge, Kundan Gold Mines, Dalmia Bharat Refractories, Sagar Stone Industries, and Maiki South Mining.

2nd rights issue: Byju's moves K'taka HC against NCLT order

2nd rights issue: Byju's moves K'taka HC against NCLT order

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2024

Beleaguered edtech firm Byju's has moved the Karnataka high court challenging the order of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) restraining it from going ahead with the second rights issue. The plea is likely to come up for hearing on Monday. The orders of NCLT were expected to be challenged before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Paris Olympics Will Be HOT!

Paris Olympics Will Be HOT!

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2024

Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.

'There's a noticeable trend towards blending Western and Indian styles'

'There's a noticeable trend towards blending Western and Indian styles'

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2024

'The demand for international fashion labels, particularly from tier-II cities and beyond, has seen a notable uptick.'