Business

Chennai, Jan 16 (IANS) Hiring by Indian start-ups declined by 44 per cent during the last quarter of 2022 as compared to the first quarter that year, said human resources consultancy company CIEL HR Services.

According to a study by the company, hirings among Indian start-ups had been on a steady decline.

"The hiring experienced a 44 per cent decline in hiring in Q4 compared to Q1 of 2022," the company said.

With the start-up sector witnessing turbulent times, attrition continued to be a major roadblock for the players.

Despite high attrition rates, the average median tenure increased to 1.9 years in start-ups vis-a-vis 1.7 years 6 months back. However, it is still not on par with other sectors like ITES (5.8 years), FMCG (4.1 years) and MSME Manufacturing (3.6 years), the study notes.

The study further stated that 64 per cent of the respondents (start-up employees) are willing to move to a "stable job". Amongst these respondents, 47 per cent have stated job security as a concern to move to another job, followed by reasons like no work-life balance (27 per cent) and Better Pay in established firms (26 per cent).

Commenting on this, Aditya Narayan Mishra, Managing Director & CEO of CIEL HR Services, said, "India continues to be the front-runner of the Startup ecosystem despite the current threatening economic uncertainties. This downfall is only for a transient period, it will push the start-ups to be more serious in their overall operations and set new thresholds."

"In this context, we see startups preferring onsite work, with 94 per cent of job openings looking for awork from office'. Startups are on the lookout for highly productive and skilled talent that can adapt quickly to the changes and stay ahead of the curve," Mishra said.

As to the gender diversity in the start-up sector, the study notes that the women representation is at 24 per cent amongst start-ups with a negligible 11 per cent representation in leadership positions.

"Lack of flexibility, shift-away from remote working culture and inadequate support for childcare and eldercare needs continue to be hindrances for women to sustain and progress in the start-up ecosystem," the report notes.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Jan 16 (IANS) Elon-musk owned Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, has revealed in an interview that the company is constantly improving its Model S.

In a recent interview with Ryan McCaffrey's podcast, Ride The Lightning, Holzhausen said that it felt like he was working on the Model S every day, reports Teslarati.

"Even though we've just done a refresh, and it's a big improvement on the car, we're still looking at how we continue to make it better," Holzhausen said.

Talking about the 2021 Model S refresh, the chief designer said that it was something he and the team knew they wanted to do and took the chance to enhance manufacturability.

Holzhausen also said that doing a refresh with both the interior and exterior took a "fair amount of time."

Moreover, he described Model S as a timeless car and mentioned that the team wanted to be "really specific about the improvements."

The automaker has been making improvements to its flagship design since launching it in 2012, the report said.

--IANS
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Chennai, Jan 16 (IANS) Private sector Federal Bank closed the third quarter of FY23 with a net profit of Rs 803.61 crore.

According to the bank, for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 it had earned a net profit of Rs 803.61 crore (Q3FY21 Rs 521.73 crore) on a total income of Rs 4,967.25 crore (Rs 3,926.75 crore).

Net Interest Income for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 grew by 27.14 per cent to Rs 1,956.53 crore from Rs 1,538.90 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Other Income of the bank grew to Rs 534.00 crore from Rs 484.19 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

The net interest margin increased by 22 bps to reach 3.49 per cent, Federal Bank said.

According to Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director & CEO, an all-round strong operating performance has helped us deliver the highest ever quarterly profit of about Rs 804 crore.

"Credit Cost has improved on the back of continued strong asset quality, with GNPA (gross non performing assets) and NNPA (Net NPA) at 2.43 per cent and 0.73 per cent respectively. Broad based asset growth of 19 per cent, coupled with core revenue profile has yielded a higher ROA, currently at 1.33 per cent," Srinivasan said.

--IANS
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New Delhi/Chennai, Jan 16 (IANS) India's wholesale price index-based (WPI) inflation for December 2022 fell to almost two-year low of 4.95 per cent, owing to sliding food and crude as well as petroleum prices.

WPI-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022.

Experts also said this would result in a fall in consumer price index inflation in Q4FY23.

"Fall in prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum and natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals & chemical products contributed to a slide in wholesale price index-based inflation," a statement issued by the Union Commerce Ministry said.

The WPI inflation slipped below the 5 per cent mark for the first time since February 2021, when it was at 4.83 per cent.

Reacting to the latest WPI percentage Suman Chowdhury, Chief Analytical Officer, Acuite Ratings & Research said it continues to drop rapidly and at 4.95 per cent for December 2022 has subsided below 5 per cent for the first time in 21 months.

"This is clearly driven by the moderation in global commodity prices, including that of food. The incremental relief is reflected in the disinflation of primary articles where prices saw a sequential contraction for successive two months at 1.93 per cent and 2.98 per cent in Nov-22 and Dec-22 respectively," Chowdhury said.

According to Chowdhury, it is also noteworthy that the sequential inflation in manufactured products has remained zero or in the negative zone since August 2022 reflecting a larger slowdown in manufactured goods at global level along with the correction in the input prices.

What's encouraging to see is the quicker drop in core WPI inflation which declined to 3.19 per cent in Dec-22 from 7.03 per cent in Sep-22.

"The sharper drop in wholesale inflation is likely to translate into a steady downtrend in headline CPI inflation in Q4FY23 unless any new surprises come up. While we continue to forecast another 25 bps of rate hike by MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) in Feb-23, the likelihood of a pause has increased with the latest CPI and WPI data prints," Chowdhury said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Homegrown Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) has got the final approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the company said on Monday.

As an entity under Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), PPBL has got the final authorisation to conduct bill payment and aggregation business as a BBPOU.

PPBL had been undertaking this activity so far under in-principle authorisation from the RBI.

"Our vision is to drive financial inclusion by offering users greater access to digital services. With this approval, we will further increase the adoption of digital payments by merchant billers and enable them with secure, fast and convenient transactions. Through the Paytm app, users can make convenient payments for their bills and benefit from automatic payment and reminder services," said a Paytm Payments Bank spokesperson.

Being an authorised operational unit, PPBL works in adherence to the standards set by Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU), i.e., NPCI Bharat Billpay Limited (NBBL).

Under the RBI's guidance, PPBL will display all agent institutions onboarded on its website and make concerted efforts to onboard more billers in the approved categories on the BBPS platform. This approval enables the Bank to become the single point access to all billers on all payment channels - digital and physical.

PPBL remained the largest UPI beneficiary bank for 19 months in a row with over 1,727 million transactions in December 2022, ahead of all major banks in the country.

With 386.5 million registered transactions, the bank is one of the top 10 remitter banks for UPI transactions according to NPCI's latest report.

PPBL is also one of the leading issuer and acquirer banks for National Electronics Toll Collection (NETC) FASTag.

As an Issuer Bank, PPBL registered 57.13 million transactions and as an acquirer, it registered 47.9 million transactions in November 2022.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Homegrown social media company ShareChat (Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd) has laid off 20 per cent of its workforce due to uncertain market conditions.

Backed by Twitter, Google, Snap and Tiger Global, ShareChat has about 2,300 employees, and the layoff will impact about 500 people at the company, according to reports.

"We are taking a very difficult decision today to part ways with around 20 per cent of our talented FTEs (full-time employees) to ensure the financial health and longevity of our company in the current uncertain macroeconomic environment," said Ankush Sachdeva in a note to the employees.


"In hindsight, we overestimated the market growth in the highs of 2021 and underestimated the duration and intensity of the global liquidity squeeze," he added.

In addition, the company also announced a financial package for the affected employees.

The compensation package includes a payout for the notice period as well as an additional 15 days of monthly gross salary for each completed year of full-time service.

Moreover, the CEO's note specifies a 100 per cent pro-rated bonus through December 31, 2022, as well as any unpaid bonuses as of the last working day.

In December 2022, ShareChat laid off less than 5 per cent of its employees after it shut down its fantasy sports platform called Jeet11.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Jan 10 (IANS) Automaker BMW has recalled over 14,000 electric vehicles for a software malfunction that may lead to a loss of power and an increased risk of a crash.

The recall covers iX SUVs and i4 and i7 sedans produced between October 14, 2021, and October 28, 2022.

The software issue relates to the high voltage battery electronic control unit, according to BMW.

"The high voltage battery electronic control unit (ECU) software may cause an interruption of electrical power," it said in the recall notice.

Specifically, a misdiagnosis can sporadically occur within the battery management electronics, which could cause the electronic control unit to reset.

"If a reset occurs, this could cause an interruption of electrical power," according to the company.

The owners of these cars can drive vehicles while waiting for a software update to fix the problem.

Last year, the automaker recalled a "small number" of 2022 i4 sedans and iX SUVs due to the risk of battery fires.

According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a short-circuit in a high voltage battery increased the risk of a fire.

The recall was issued after BMW became aware of "a non-US field incident involving a 2022 BMW i4 eDrive40".

In June last year, Ford Motor recalled nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E electric crossovers over battery safety concerns, and told dealers to temporarily halt selling the popular electric vehicle.

The battery issue affects Mach-Es that were built from May 27, 2020, through May 24, 2022, at the automaker's Mexico plant.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) In a path breaking update, Religare Enterprises Ltd on Friday
announced that in accordance with the terms of the sanction letters received from the OTS lenders, Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) along with RFL's parent company has entered into a Settlement Agreement on December 30 in connection with the OTS with all the 16
secured lenders (OTS Lenders) for full and final settlement with respect to all their outstanding dues of RFL.

The lenders are Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, SIDBI, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank, IDBI Bank Limited, Punjab & Sind Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, South Indian Bank, Karnataka Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, and Federal Bank Ltd.

The RFL shall ensure compliance to the terms and conditions of the said OTS Agreement.

Led by a new management and a professionally-run Board since 2018, the Religare Group
has been making positive strides to grow each of its individual entities and has worked
tirelessly in order to progress and provide stability backed by strong corporate governance at its core.

The RFL has been taking necessary corrective measures as advised by the Reserve Bank of India and it will seek removal of the CAP (Corrective Action Plan) in due course so that RFL can restart its lending business.

On this significant development, Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd, said: "This is a very positive and significant move in the history of our company. Our tireless efforts and representations to our lenders have shown positive results and we appreciate their backing and support at this critical juncture. This
move takes us closer to our vision of turning the Religare Group into a 360-degree financial services conglomerate."

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) India's fiscal deficit stood at Rs 9.78 lakh crore in the April-November period of 2022-23, which is 58.9 per cent of the Union Budget's target of Rs 16.61 lakh crore for the current fiscal, government data showed.

As per Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data, the revenue deficit stood at Rs 5.73 lakh crore, or 57.8 per cent, of the current fiscal's target of Rs 9.91 lakh crore.

The government's total expenditure was Rs 24.43 lakh crore, or 61.9 per cent, of the Budget's target of Rs 39.45 lakh crore, as per the data.

Fiscal deficit is the difference between the state's revenue and spending. It shows the shortfall in revenue.

--IANS
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Seoul, Dec 30 (IANS) Samsung Electronics on Friday announced that it has hired former chief design officer of Mercedes-Benz China, Hubert H. Lee, as executive vice-president (EVP) and head of its MX (Mobile eXperience) design team.

Lee brings more than two decades of design and leadership experience with him to Samsung, the tech giant said in a blogpost.

At Mercedes-Benz, Lee was credited with leading numerous design projects and won multiple awards for his leadership of the company's design teams in China and the United States.

In his new role at Samsung, Lee will oversee the MX design team, which is in-charge of creating Galaxy products like S Series, Z Series, Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Watch and more.

His innovative perspective will help "shape the look and feel of Galaxy, building on the distinct design ethos that users know and love", the company said.

"Samsung is known for building some of the world's most beautiful products with designs that have transformed the mobile industry," said Lee.

"I am excited to join a company that is on the bleeding edge of mobile innovation and lead the team responsible for creating new mobile experiences through the art of design," he added.

--IANS
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