Shivani Shinde, Viveat Susan Pinto &Amp; Raghavendra Kamath

Stories by Shivani Shinde, Viveat Susan Pinto &Amp; Raghavendra Kamath

NDTV promoter firm RRPR Holding transfers 99.5% shares to Adani's VCPL

NDTV promoter firm RRPR Holding transfers 99.5% shares to Adani's VCPL

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2022

News broadcaster New Delhi Television Ltd's (NDTV's) promoter firm RRPR Holding said on Monday that it had transferred shares constituting 99.5 per cent of its equity capital to Adani group-owned Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL). The transaction was done on Monday, RRPR Holding said in a disclosure to the stock exchanges, in consonance with a conversion notice, dated August 23, 2022, issued by VCPL. This follows the expiry of the two-year restraint imposed by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on November 26, it said.

In layoff season, Google may fire 10,000 'low performing' employees

In layoff season, Google may fire 10,000 'low performing' employees

Rediff.com   23 Nov 2022

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is likely to join the list of Big Tech companies going for large-scale layoffs. With this, almost the entire universe of FAANG - acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google - has now come under the layoff turbulence hitting tens of thousands of tech jobs around the world. Reports surfaced on Tuesday about the Mountain View (California)-headquartered tech giant planning to fire around 10,000 employees.

Indian PC mkt dips 11.7% in Q3CY22; demand to be slow for next 2 qtrs: IDC

Indian PC mkt dips 11.7% in Q3CY22; demand to be slow for next 2 qtrs: IDC

Rediff.com   18 Nov 2022

India's traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations declined by 11.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q3CY22 (Jul-Sep) after 8 consecutive quarters of growth despite strong shipments of 3.9 million units, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. All segments declined except the government, which grew by 91.5 per cent YoY on the back of government orders, leading to strong growth in the third consecutive quarter. While the desktop and workstation categories grew by 23.4 per cent and 17.6 per cent YoY respectively, the notebook category declined by 19.5 per cent YoY.

Pandemic boom to layoff season: How Big Tech, start-ups got it wrong

Pandemic boom to layoff season: How Big Tech, start-ups got it wrong

Rediff.com   17 Nov 2022

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, summed it up well as he explained the reason for the company sacking 13 per cent of its employees. He said no one predicted that the boom for digital services during the Covid pandemic would die out. "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended.

After 10 years: Infosys may overtake Cognizant on revenue front

After 10 years: Infosys may overtake Cognizant on revenue front

Rediff.com   11 Nov 2022

Slowing growth and execution challenges for Cognizant (CTSH) may well allow Infosys to overtake the former after a decade. Cognizant had marched ahead of Infosys in terms of revenue in the first quarter of financial year 2012-13. The Nasdaq-listed IT services firm's performance in Q3 and the guidance for Q4 and full-year 2022 suggest that it could take time for Cognizant to see the expected improvement in performance from its decision to restructure.

Meta Platforms' India staffers on edge over layoff media reports

Meta Platforms' India staffers on edge over layoff media reports

Rediff.com   8 Nov 2022

US media reports that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, could be the latest technology giant to downsize its workforce have triggered trepidation among its 300-400 employees in India, according to people familiar with the matter. "We have not heard much about the impact (of downsizing) on India. "It's a wait-and-watch situation. Certainly, there is uncertainty," said a source.

Boycott calls force advertisers, celebrities to increase safeguards

Boycott calls force advertisers, celebrities to increase safeguards

Rediff.com   7 Nov 2022

American writer HP Lovecraft famously said that the oldest and strongest of fears is the fear of the unknown. For present-day advertisers and celebrities, this fear is showing up in the response they receive from social media to their brand communication. This is something AU Small Finance Bank and online food delivery platform Zomato recently experienced with their advertisements.

Google pauses in-house billing system in India on antitrust directive

Google pauses in-house billing system in India on antitrust directive

Rediff.com   2 Nov 2022

Google has said that it is pausing enforcement of Google Play billing system (GPBS) for developers in India. This comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of Rs 2,275 crore in two cases and an immediate cease-and-desist order of its policies of running the Android Mobile device and Play Store ecosystem. In a statement, the company said, "Following the CCI's recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play's billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India.

Zee, Sony to sell 3 Hindi channels to address CCI concerns

Zee, Sony to sell 3 Hindi channels to address CCI concerns

Rediff.com   27 Oct 2022

Sony India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) have agreed to sell three Hindi channels--Big Magic, Zee Action and Zee Classic--to address anti-competition concerns arising out of their proposed merger. The broadcasters submitted their proposal to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which gave a conditional approval on October 4. On Wednesday, the CCI made public its detailed 58-page order, specifying the channels that would be dropped.

Talent Cloud will address moonlighting: TCS

Talent Cloud will address moonlighting: TCS

Rediff.com   24 Oct 2022

In the future of work, companies will have to embrace terms like moonlighting, gig work, flexi work as 'on-demand talent in a Cloud' can be a reality, says Milind Lakkad, chief human resource officer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). In some form or the other, gig work, flexiworking - and even moonlighting - will have to be welcomed by companies, says Lakkad. As a first step towards embracing these, TCS is trying to bring all these opportunities for its own employees within the company.

'AI is going to be used as a weapon by the bad guys'

'AI is going to be used as a weapon by the bad guys'

Rediff.com   17 Oct 2022

'This is a race where every technology can be used by the bad guys and good guys.'

Realty goldmine or citizen minefield, Dharavi makeover gets wiggle room

Realty goldmine or citizen minefield, Dharavi makeover gets wiggle room

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2022

Shankar Prajapati, a 57-year-old potter in Dharavi, has given up hope of getting a bigger house for his family. He lives cheek by jowl in a hutment measuring 200 square (sq.) feet (ft) in the nondescript shanty town. "We have surrendered to our fate. We cannot wait forever for better accommodation. "Perhaps we are not meant to dream big," despairs Prajapati. Raju Korde, president, Dharavi Redevelopment Committee, and a local resident, agrees with Prajapati.

Unicorns feel funding winter chill; see fall in numbers

Unicorns feel funding winter chill; see fall in numbers

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2022

The drying up of funds for a number of start-ups is affecting the firms' unicorn status across the globe. The past six months have seen the valuations of 147 unicorns drop, of which 71 were from the US and 29 from China, according to the latest Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2022. Eighty-one unicorns from across the globe saw their valuations drop below $1 billion-the threshold for a start-up to be labelled unicorn-from last year.

Infosys again faces legal action for age and gender discrimination in US

Infosys again faces legal action for age and gender discrimination in US

Rediff.com   8 Oct 2022

Infosys Technologies is being sued again by a former senior employee for discrimination on the basis of age, gender and ethnicity while hiring in the US. The suit filed by Jill Prejean, vice-president of talent acquisition, has alleged that the company discriminated and retaliated when she tried to point out the discriminatory actions. Infosys' motion to dismiss the claims made by Prejean was rejected by a judge from the United States District Court Southern District of New York.

Wipro asks employees to report to office at least three days a week

Wipro asks employees to report to office at least three days a week

Rediff.com   5 Oct 2022

Wipro on Tuesday asked its employees to be in office at least three days a week. It has informed its employees that offices will be open for four days a week, starting October 10. In an e-mail to its employees, Wipro said: "Starting October 10, Wipro's office will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays. We will not be open on Wednesdays." The company said in the e-mail, seen by Business Standard, that the move will "help us enjoy the camaraderie and team spirit of connecting in person while maintaining hybrid work flexibility".

Ad spends likely to get double-digit boost as festive cheer returns

Ad spends likely to get double-digit boost as festive cheer returns

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2022

After losing two festive seasons to Covid-led restrictions, 2022 is seeing an uninhibited celebration of festivals. This is pushing up discretionary spend, which is attracting advertisers and brands, who are ready to capitalise on the momentum. The festive season has begun with Onam and Ganesh Chathurthi held earlier this month in Kerala and Maharashtra, respectively.

Moonlighters beware: Companies may start using digital tools to track them

Moonlighters beware: Companies may start using digital tools to track them

Rediff.com   30 Sep 2022

India Inc is not in the dark about moonlighting employees. According to a forensic accountant, companies can easily turn to experts and deploy digital tools that can be used to check if an employee is doing a second job or not - reaffirming fears of many who are wary of the practice in the context of the recent sacking of moonlighters by IT major Wipro. Arpinder Singh, global markets and India leader, forensic and integrity services, EY, said that EY had been involved with several companies to gauge moonlighting.

IT industry logged 25% attrition in FY22, trend to continue: Report

IT industry logged 25% attrition in FY22, trend to continue: Report

Rediff.com   30 Sep 2022

The Indian IT industry recorded 25.2 per cent employee attrition in FY22 and that pain will continue as it loses talent to other industries, said a report by TeamLease. The attrition in the contract staffing industry is predicted to touch at least 50 per cent in FY23 compared to 49 per cent in FY22, said the report called 'Brain Drain: Tackling the great talent exodus in IT sector'. Company policies, payment and work flexibility is making talent move, as non-technology firms step up demand. "Tech talent in non-tech companies will see 3X growth in the coming years, opening up approx 1 million new tech jobs by 2025.

500,000 Homes, Worth Rs 4.48 Trillion, Stuck In 7 Metros

500,000 Homes, Worth Rs 4.48 Trillion, Stuck In 7 Metros

Rediff.com   26 Sep 2022

The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.

TCS asks employees to work in office for at least three days a week

TCS asks employees to work in office for at least three days a week

Rediff.com   23 Sep 2022

India's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is mandating its employees to be back in office for three days a week. Teams will have to work with their team leaders, and the human resources team which three day's best suits them. In an email that went out to employees over the past two days, which Business Standard has seen, said: "As part of our return to office initiative, all TCSers are expected to work from office at least three days in a week."