Peerzada Abrar, Business Standard

Stories by Peerzada Abrar, Business Standard

Covid cases are being detected by accident

Covid cases are being detected by accident

Rediff.com   30 Apr 2022

'A patient visits for any other treatment, but a routine Covid test finds him to be positive.' 'Not only are they, but their whole family is also coming out to be positive.'

Strong rebound in India's job market post pandemic

Strong rebound in India's job market post pandemic

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2022

The job market saw an uptrend in the March quarter (Q1), with job interviews increasing 13.71 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to over 30 million, according to Apna.co, India's largest jobs and professional networking platform. It recorded a 42 per cent QoQ growth in its employer base. As a result of the second wave of Covid-19 last year, sectors such as healthcare, delivery, and e-commerce were booming while others had fairly low employment.

India will have over 250 unicorns by 2025

India will have over 250 unicorns by 2025

Rediff.com   19 Apr 2022

Since then, 129 startups have joined this star status, of which 100 were added from January 2019, generating a total value of $535 billion. Entrepreneurs are building bigger enterprises at a faster rate -- 50 per cent of the 130 companies reached unicorn status in the first five years after their initial institutional fundraising.

Not big players, but small brands catering to the needs of India: CAIT

Not big players, but small brands catering to the needs of India: CAIT

Rediff.com   18 Apr 2022

Thousands of small brands are ruling the consumer market despite the predatory pricing and deep discounting by foreign e-commerce companies and efforts of certain FMCG companies to sideline the distributor network, said the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents about 70 million traders in the country. "If the government gives support policies to non-corporate sector and tighten the e-commerce companies to obey the policy and the law both in letter and spirit, the retail trade of the country is bound to blossom in pursuance of the vision of PM Narendra Modi for Make in India and Atmnirbhar Bharat," said CAIT national president BC Bhartia and secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to focus more on long-term strategy

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to focus more on long-term strategy

Rediff.com   13 Apr 2022

Ola founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal will step back from day-to-day operations to focus more on engineering functions, team building, and products, apart from focusing on long-term strategic projects, such as two-wheelers, cars, and innovations in quick commerce and international expansion. "I'll be spending more time with all engineering functions, team building, and on products," said Aggarwal in an internal note, adding, "I'll also be increasing my focus on our longer-term strategic projects, including new two-wheeler products, our car project, innovations in quick commerce, electrifying ride-hailing, our cell research and development (R&D), international expansion, building our Pune technology (tech) centre, and Futurefoundry UK." To drive scale, speed, and quality, Aggarwal said he is expanding Ola Group's chief financial officer (CFO) G R Arun Kumar's role to help him steer 'day-to-day operations' across the group.

SoftBank-backed Meesho lays off 150 employees from grocery vertical

SoftBank-backed Meesho lays off 150 employees from grocery vertical

Rediff.com   12 Apr 2022

SoftBank-backed internet commerce firm Meesho has downsized its grocery vertical Meesho SuperStore (formerly Farmiso) in an attempt to drive efficiency. The Bengaluru-based firm did not reveal the number of laid-off employees. However, the company officials said that about 150 employees have been laid off.

Zomato, Swiggy hit by hour-long technical glitch on April 6

Zomato, Swiggy hit by hour-long technical glitch on April 6

Rediff.com   7 Apr 2022

Food delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy reported a nationwide outage on Wednesday. Both the platforms witnessed technical glitches and were unresponsive for almost an hour. Downdetector, a platform that collects status reports from a series of sources, recorded about 3,619 reports of outage against Zomato at 2:05 PM and about 771 reports of outage against Swiggy at around 2:21 PM. According to the sources, the outage was caused by Amazon Web Services (AWS), a cloud-services platform, which runs both platforms. Though Swiggy and Zomato are working now, some customers reported that the issue has not been solved completely and they are not able to place orders and there are payment related issues.

How IBM's Bengaluru unit is priming companies for cyberattacks

How IBM's Bengaluru unit is priming companies for cyberattacks

Rediff.com   27 Mar 2022

Located in a small township in the eastern part of Bengaluru is IBM's new Security Command Centre, which is surrounded by offices of multinational tech companies. This unit is the centrepiece of IBM's multi-million dollar investment to help businesses prepare for the growing threat of cyberattacks across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This facility is the first of its kind in the region. It helps train in cybersecurity response techniques through highly realistic and simulated cyberattacks.

'Paytm's business will continue'

'Paytm's business will continue'

Rediff.com   23 Mar 2022

'We now understand things that we have to correct.'

'Wise to invest in quality large-cap and mid-cap stocks'

'Wise to invest in quality large-cap and mid-cap stocks'

Rediff.com   7 Mar 2022

'Earning expectations remain strong.'

80D Limit Available? Opt For Health Check-up

80D Limit Available? Opt For Health Check-up

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2022

You can avail of tax deduction on expenses incurred on preventive health check-ups. This provision is beneficial to younger people who don't exhaust their Section 80D limit with their health insurance premium.

Edtech: What Parents Need To Know

Edtech: What Parents Need To Know

Rediff.com   15 Jan 2022

'Why is the government asking parents to be careful rather than coming up with strict rules and regulations for the companies?'

Amazon challenges CCI over suspension of 2019 Future deal

Amazon challenges CCI over suspension of 2019 Future deal

Rediff.com   10 Jan 2022

Amazon has filed a legal challenge at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) suspension of the US e-commerce giant's 2019 deal with Future Retail (FRL). Amazon has challenged the CCI order on at least five grounds, and the matter is likely to be listed this week, according to the sources. Parallelly, Amazon's Indian unit has approached the Supreme Court against a halt on an arbitration case against Future Retail's (FRL) asset sale to Reliance Industries (RIL).

Ecomm firms ramp up as Omicron forces customers online

Ecomm firms ramp up as Omicron forces customers online

Rediff.com   8 Jan 2022

Besides growing tech and digital enhancements, the firms are ramping up the hiring of more delivery partners and reinforcing existing Covid protocols.

Covaxin safe for children: Bharat Biotech

Covaxin safe for children: Bharat Biotech

Rediff.com   31 Dec 2021

Bharat Biotech is targeting to manufacture one billion doses of its intra-nasal vaccine in 2022 which is under clinical trials now.

The most ordered dish of 2021 is...

The most ordered dish of 2021 is...

Rediff.com   29 Dec 2021

Biryani was the top dish on Zomato and Swiggy followed by dosa and samosa.

'Antibodies induced by Covishield and Covaxin gradually increase and decrease'

'Antibodies induced by Covishield and Covaxin gradually increase and decrease'

Rediff.com   28 Dec 2021

'Antibodies remain in the blood for at least seven to nine months.'

Fintech unicorn Razorpay's value jumps to $7.5 bn; up 7.5x in 15 months

Fintech unicorn Razorpay's value jumps to $7.5 bn; up 7.5x in 15 months

Rediff.com   20 Dec 2021

Fintech unicorn Razorpay has raised $375 million in the Series F round of funding at a $7.5-billion valuation, making it India's second-most valuable start-up in this space, after Paytm. The company valuation has surged over seven times in 15 months, helping it push Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe to the third spot on the country's most-valuable fintech list. Razorpay's latest round of fundraising was led by Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, and TCV.

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

SoftBank-backed Ola raises $500-mn term loan

Rediff.com   17 Dec 2021

IPO-bound mobility platform Ola, said it has successfully raised $500 million via a Term Loan B (TLB) from marquee international institutional investors. This term loan has no impact on the valuation of Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola. The Bengaluru-based firm recently raised $139 million. This is part of a $1 billion funding round for which the company is in talks with investors, increasing its valuation to about $7.5 billion, according to the sources.

Why did Paytm stock drop by 8%?

Why did Paytm stock drop by 8%?

Rediff.com   16 Dec 2021

After dropping to a low of Rs 1,298 apiece, the stock finished at Rs 1,380, its lowest level since November 22, the second day of listing.