South Asia News

NEW DELHI : India’s top banks are looking to hire aggressively from the batch of 2024 in engineering, business and graduate colleges to complement hiring from the market, augment digital initiatives and compensate for losses in front-line sales staff. According to bankers and executives at some of the large engineering and management colleges, compensation could range from ₹8 lakh to ₹40 lakh, depending on the roles on offer.

EY go ahead of its peers with a top line of about Rs 11,400 crore. Combined revenues of EY, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC crossed Rs 32,700 crore last year, highlighting the expansion in the scope of services being offered by the Big 4 in a country that ranks among the top three in the world on the number of listed firms. Traditionally, the Big 4 firms have primarily been associated with audit and tax services, while the MBB (McKinsey, BCG and Bain) were the undisputed leaders in strategy consulting. Over the past few years, however, the Big 4 have quickly transformed into high-demand advisory and technology services firms, with consulting and technology emerging as the most rapidly expanding revenue streams in the post-Covid era.

₹200 per cylinder. Diesel consumption reported during September was higher by 0.4% on month and up by 3.8% YoY. Demand remained strong in the mobility sector as evident from the data of e-way bill generation and daily average highway toll transactions.

Mastercard and IT major Bizom today announced a collaboration to extend a holistic digital supply chain financing solution to over 75 lakh micro retailers and 2 lakh distributors of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. Small retailers and distributors in India face several challenges including supply chain disruptions, inventory management, payment issues, limited technical skills and lack of access to capital, that impacts their business operations and growth prospects. According to recent reports, out of over 64 million MSMEs in India, only 14 per cent have access to formal credit. The partnership between Mastercard and Bizom will aim to address this gap and help retailers to grow their business. Mastercard Inc is the second-largest payment-processing corporation worldwide.

India and South Asia Samiran Gupta has resigned, according to an update on his LinkedIn account. Gupta joined X in February 2022 before Elon Musk acquired the company. He continued on his job after Musk fired over 80 per cent of employees in India in November. Gupta's updated profile on Linkedin shows that he served the company till September 2023.

Michael Rubin has said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made a huge mistake by alleging that India had links with the killing of Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and said that the premier has not been able to back his allegations. «Prime Minister Trudeau I think has made a huge mistake. He has made allegations in a manner which he hasn't been able to back.

GRE (Graduate Record Examination) test. The GRE testing time has been nearly halved, now taking less than two hours, a significant reduction from the previous nearly four-hour duration. The GRE is widely accepted across various graduate and professional programs, including STEM, business, and law. It assesses cognitive skills that form the foundation of success in various fields of study and professions.We're on WhatsApp! Join the ET NRI Channel here This streamlined GRE experience is part of ETS's ongoing commitment to enhance the testing process for students while maintaining the integrity and reliability of GRE scores, which institutions worldwide rely on. Additionally, official GRE scores will now be delivered to test takers in just 8-10 days post-examination, further expediting the application process. The key changes in the GRE:

Oil India Limited (OIL) and private sector producers contributed 0.28 MMT and 0.60 MMT, data released by the Oil Ministry showed. PPAC data shows that diesel demand dropped by 3 per cent on the month, although it was 5 per cent above the same month last year and 9 per cent above August 2019, according to S&P Global.

IBM. Speaking at the flagship IBM Think conference in Mumbai, on Tuesday, Paul Burton, general manager, IBM Asia Pacific, and Sandip Patel, managing director, IBM India and South Asia, said that skill gaps and talent scarcity are also driving larger investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

Digital Commerce (ONDC) is set to disrupt digital commerce in the B2B space, especially in the retail, financial services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, as per a report by Deloitte. ONDC, a government initiative, aims to create an interoperable marketplace for small and medium-scale sellers and democratising the ecommerce market. The buyer and seller can be on different platforms and still trade as long as their platforms are on the ONDC network. Commenting on the report, Sathish Gopalaiah, president, consulting, Deloitte South Asia, said that India's upcoming growth phase will be marked by empowered consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), which aligns with ONDO's goals. “With a unique proposition built around agility, security and profitability at the same time, ONDC streamlines value chains, bridges gaps and endorses innovation, paving the way for the next generation to explore novel paths,” he said. Currently, ecommerce contributes to 4.3% of the retail commerce sector and ONDC is expected to boost the sector, especially in manufacturing, agriculture and financial services. ONDC paves the way for brands to connect with retailers and help distributors find new markets.

New Delhi: The national capital and the adjoining region (Delhi-NCR) reported a 65% year-on-year increase in retail leasing across investment-grade malls, high streets and stand-alone developments in the first six months of calendar year 2023, real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia said in a report released Thursday. The city recorded a retail supply of 0.22 million square feet (msf) between January and June, while total leasing during the period stood at 0.70msf compared to 0.42msf a year ago. Fashion and apparel retailers led retail leasing activity in the region with a share of 47%, followed by luxury at 13%, and food and beverage.

Bawaal is facing criticism for its portrayal of the Holocaust, with a Jewish organisation, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, urging Amazon Prime to remove the film from its platform. The organisation contends that the movie "trivialises" the suffering and systematic murder of millions" during the Holocaust.

New Delhi: India has the potential to develop a $40-$100 billion space industry by 2040 on the back of rising space budget, increased number of launch services from the country, entry of private players and startups, and boom in India’s satellite internet market, consultancy firm Arthur D. Little said in its latest report. Currently, India’s space industry is valued at $8 billion with a 2% share in the global space economy.

New Delhi: India has the potential to develop a $40-$100 billion space industry by 2040 on the back of a rising space budget, increased number of launch services from the country, entry of private players and startups, and a boom in the country's satellite internet market, consultancy firm Arthur D. Little said in its latest report. Currently, India’s space industry is valued at $8 billion with a 2% share in the global space economy.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has appointed Manoj Kohli as Senior Advisor to the organisation. In his new role as Kohli will leverage his expertise in technology, telecommunications, renewables and digital sectors. His industry experience and strategic expertise is expected to help strengthen Deloitte’s presence in South Asia.

Bidding for sale of non-core assets of state-run telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) has failed to gather “adequate response”, against an expectation of raising at least Rs 470 crore through land assets, Business Standard reported.