The former Infosys business process outsourcing head's visiting card for his recently launched start-up, Antworks, says he's the 'chief everything officer'.
Udaan - India's largest business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce company - has laid off about 180 employees, or 4-5 per cent of its workforce of 4,000, in a move to drive cost efficiency, revealed sources. They said the layoffs have happened across various department functions. The layoffs have happened at a time when the Bengaluru-based firm is trying to turn into a publicly listed entity in 18-24 months.
The spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has made Indian companies persist with their policy of banning overseas trips and allowing only essential travel within India. The IT services firms, which had planned to ask their employees to return to the workplace, are also waiting and watching the Covid-19 situation before fully opening up their offices. Large conglomerates like the Tatas, Birla, JSW and Reliance are continuing with the mandatory social distancing and masking policies within their office premises.
The PE biggie has committed to pumping money into Jio Platforms, Byju's and Reliance Retail so far this year - all marquee names in their respective sectors.
Falling valuations, slowing funding rounds and faltering investor sentiment seem to have prompted many start-ups to lay off employees in a bid to conserve cash. The latest to do so is SoftBank-backed Cars24, a leading e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, which has laid off over 600 staff, according to sources in the know. The move, they said, is aimed at conserving cash amid cautious investor sentiment and a slowdown in funding.
The company, which is part of tech giant Microsoft, has about 1,200 employees in India. It, however, did not comment on the impact of the job cuts on its India operations.
US tech giant IBM is betting big on the India growth story and plans to open more software development centres in the country as it looks to partner with the government in its digitisation journey, its chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna said on Friday. On a visit to India, Krishna met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar to discuss deeper collaboration including skilling and workforce development. The firm that originally designed the technology and system behind ATMs, barcodes and the US social security net, is greatly enthused with the speed at which the Indian government is willing to make decisions and where it is moving, he told a select media briefing.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his ministry, and chemicals and fertilisers minister D V Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union council of ministers now stands at six.
Remember, the security of your job primarily depends on two major factors -- how relevant you are for the organisation and how the organisation is aligned to its stakeholders (investors, clients and employees)
In the start-up world, hitting the $1-billion mark, which accords the "Unicorn" tag, is a milestone. Enterprises typically reach the milestone only by series C or series D, or three to four funding rounds later. Zeta achieved it at the first one. On May 25, the six-year-old banking tech firm raised $250 million from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, at a post-money valuation of $1.45 billion. "This is the first time we have raised institutional money," Zeta co-founder Bhavin Turakhia beamed on the conference call. This trajectory is uncommon in start-ups.
Across the country, companies have stepped up their act to contain the crisis. IT and other new economy firms seem to have taken a lead.
The new entrants are young, enterprising Chinese men and women who want to tap into the promising Indian market.
Thank you, Mr Prime Minister, for bringing colour to our colourless, drab, despair-ridden lives.
Four Tech Mahindra employees approached the labour commission in Karnataka
The Kanakia group, from which Mapletree did the purchase, had bought the plot from India Tube Mills and Metal Industries for Rs 363 crore in 2018.
A grouping of Indian and Indian-origin professionals working with tech giants like Google, Uber, Amazon and Facebook have written an open letter against the new religion-based citizenship law and the planned national register of citizens, terming them as "fascist". The letter by 'TechAgainstFascism' on online publishing platform Medium also urged the leaders to refuse to shut off the Internet at the "government's whim" and to ensure that content moderation is not skewing pro-government.
The assignment was earlier given to global audit firm EY. But it has now been reassigned owing to 'certain conflict of interest', the Bengaluru-based company said.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of ride-hailing firm Ola who disrupted the electric scooters market in the country, is planning to launch an electric sports car in 2024. The plan will put it in competition with Indian players, such as the Tata group and Mahindra & Mahindra, and global giants like Tesla and Hyundai. Aggarwal, recently, took a group of reporters to the firm's design studio at the Ola campus in Bengaluru where his teams are working on several EVs, including scooters, motorcycles, sedans, and SUVs - and even robotaxis.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked the third most-valued IT services brand globally, after Accenture and IBM, according to a report by Brand Finance. Four Indian IT services companies -- TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro -- secured spots in the top-10 global tally.
India's second-largest IT services company Infosys on Wednesday said its consolidated net profit grew by 20.5 per cent to Rs 4,845 crore for the September quarter, and it has raised revenue forecast to 2-3 per cent for FY21. Infosys had clocked a net profit of Rs 4,019 crore in the same period last fiscal, Infosys said in a regulatory filing.
JLR is developing its own autonomous car technologies, which could one day trickle into Tata's more affordable people carriers.
Hiranandnani's new venture is well-timed, but it will face heavy competition from both international majors and domestic peers like Adani Group.
HR Guru Mayank Rautela offers practical advice.
Tech giant Apple on Monday said it is undertaking a detailed investigation following the violent incident at its supplier Wistron's Narasapura facility in Karnataka last week.
Records of millions of car owners are mined to generate leads, pitch sales and get feedback to develop vehicles, says Ajay Modi.
Among other things, the company is considering monetising the Global Village tech park located off Mysore Road in Bengaluru, for which private equity major Blackstone was said to have shown interest.
Fresher hiring is expected to more than double compared to last year.
'The future is about autonomy and tanking.'
Apple Inc is commencing assembly of its iPhone 12 model in the country, a move that is expected to help the US tech giant further consolidate its position in the burgeoning smartphone market in India. Apple has partnered with third-party manufacturers like Foxconn and Wistron to make some of its phones in India. These include iPhone SE, iPhone 10R and iPhone 11.
'For all of us at Amazon, it is 'Bharat first'.' 'We are keeping the Indian customer at the centre of what we are doing.'
Unacademy on Monday said it has raised $440 million (about Rs 3,270.8 crore) in funding from a clutch of investors including Temasek, General Atlantic, and Softbank Vision Fund, valuing the edtech major at $3.44 billion. The investment is expected to help Unacademy expand its offerings, deepen its presence and compete more aggressively against rivals such as Byju's in the burgeoning ed-tech space in India that has been witnessing strong uptake amid the pandemic. The series H round was led by Temasek, with super pro-rata participation from General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and Softbank Vision Fund, a statement said.
IT major Infosys on Tuesday said it has seen no major impact on client deliverables due to the ongoing pandemic, and has been working proactively with clients to mitigate any potential impact. The Bengaluru-based company has also enabled vaccination for 14,150 employees and their family members through its centres, and is in the process of setting up additional facilities across its campuses in India. Besides, Infosys is providing financial support, exploring training and job opportunities for the next of kin and offering necessary assistance to support dependents of deceased staff members.
The Qatar Investment Authority deal follows Byju's raising money from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which was also the first direct investment by the Canadian pension fund in an Indian start-up. In March, Byju's had raised $540 million at a valuation on $5.4 billion, making it the most-valued ed-tech company in the world.
In the last couple of months, top Indian IT services providers, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech have announced setting up cyber threat management centres in the US and Europe.
The hotels in the pipeline will include a range of Marriott brand portfolios such as JW Marriott, Tribute Portfolio and Sheraton.
We have lost the front and the back yards. So, the only place left for us is the balcony. People buy flats with French windows and spacious balconies that can be used creatively, says the My Sunny Balcony team.
'When resources are few; when frugality demands repairing a broken thing rather than replacing it with a brand new and expensive option, enterprising commoners in rural and urban India improvise on a daily basis and solve their problems with whatever they have,' observes Shivanand Kanavi.
The Indian retail segment has its own uniqueness and the country is one of the most exciting markets globally that is poised to grow to over a trillion dollars by 2025, according to Walmart Inc President and CEO Doug McMillon. Speaking at the Converge@Walmart event, McMillon noted that given the diversity of the Indian market, the company has to "think local and execute locally". "India is such a diverse market, it's not one country in some ways and so we have to think local and execute locally, and it has its own rules, and so, we've got to comply with those rules," he said.
The size of the Indian financial services market could touch around $340 billion in the next few years.
Recruiters are now in search of candidates with soft skills alongside tech-based knowledge, says Ambrish Sinha.
