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Reddit and states that no vacation or sick days can be taken from November 25 to December 31, which is the company’s busiest season of the year. This strict policy has led to debates about fairness and worker well-being, with many employees feeling the company is showing little empathy for its staff. While some companies offer flexible time off and rest periods, this policy has left many workers feeling overworked and undervalued.

maternity leave under Indian laws which is considered as a paid leave. However, not many women are aware about the amount of salary they will get, maximum number of leave allowed and for how many children the maternity benefit is allowed. The maternity leave is governed by The Maternity Benefits Act, 1961 and The Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act, 2016. ET Wealth decodes the benefits the woman can get as per both the acts.

Seema Devi and Suman Hooda of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) in Outer North District in Delhi, located and rescued 104 missing children over the past nine months. Their efforts took them across remote areas in Haryana, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, where they faced numerous obstacles, including language barriers, unfamiliar locations, and the challenge of families not having recent photographs of the children. Despite these difficulties, they reunited these children with their families.

Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name.Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S.

APAC) investors, with 68% expecting regional economic growth to positively impact real estate markets, mentioned Colliers’ Asia Pacific Report: 2025 Global Investor Outlook. As APAC investors prepare for a lower interest rate environment and narrowing pricing gaps, institutional investments in India’s real estate sector are expected to gain further momentum in 2025. The report highlights significant cross-border investment opportunities, particularly in the office and logistics sectors, with 67% of APAC investors planning to allocate capital to the region in 2025, it said. The report stated that the region is anticipated to commit over 30% of their total assets under management (AUM) to real estate over the forthcoming five years.In terms of sector focus for 2025, 61% of investors are directing their capital towards industrial and logistics, office, and multi-family/build-to-rent properties.Among those prioritizing office investments, 61% are specifically targeting core and core-plus assets within Central Business Districts (CBD). Furthermore, nearly 90% of respondents project that ESG-compliant office properties will achieve a valuation premium in the next three years.

Boszhira Valley in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, a breathtaking window into Earth’s ancient history. Here, towering limestone formations stand as silent witnesses to an ocean that existed millions of years ago. This valley was once the floor of the mighty Tethys Ocean, an ancient water body believed to be the ancestor of today’s seas and oceans. Over 10 million years, the ocean disappeared, leaving behind stunning white and yellow limestone cliffs and otherworldly landscapes that contrast beautifully with the endless blue sky.

Alphabet's Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with rivals and take other measures — including possibly selling Android — to end its monopoly on online search, prosecutors argued to a judge on Wednesday. The measures presented by the Department of Justice are part of a landmark case in Washington which has the potential to reshape how users find information. They would be in place for up to a decade, enforced via a court-appointed committee to remedy what the judge overseeing the case deemed an illegal monopoly in search and related advertising in the US, where Google processes 90% of searches.

Pune NCP president Deepak Mankar reacted to the exit poll predictions for the state and exuded confidence in the BJP-led Mahayuti's victory saying, that the alliance will secure 180 seats and sweep all the 8 seats in Pune district. Speaking to about the exit polls, Mankar said, «The whole atmosphere stands in support of the Mahayuti in Maharashtra. We work on the ground level and that is why we know that the public supports the work that we do. It will be disclosed in these elections. I think Mahayuti will get 180 seats here. Our candidates have done good work in their constituencies. In Pune also, Mahayuti will win all the 8 seats.» Meanwhile, Pune Collector Suhas Diwase also spoke to ANI ahead of counting day and said, that the administration is fully prepared and that the necessary barricading has been completed at the counting centres.

Sagar Adani, the nephew of industrialist Gautam Adani, and six others in connection with an alleged bribery and fraud scheme linked to a renewable energy project in India. Prosecutors allege that the defendants, including Gautam Adani, conspired to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure contracts for developing India's largest solar power plant. The Adani Group has denied the allegations, terming them baseless. The company has stated that it will explore “all possible legal recourse” to address the charges.

Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be US attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name. Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition US military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Joe Biden. She has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers. Bondi is from Tampa and spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor. She was Florida's first female attorney general.

Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the ex-leader against impeachment, as US attorney general on Thursday following firebrand Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from the running. Gaetz's retreat amid sexual misconduct allegations signaled limits to Trump's power, even as the president-elect prepares to retake the White House with his Republican Party also in control of both chambers of Congress. The nomination of Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who served as a surrogate during the 2024 campaign and pushed to de-legitimize vote counting in swing state Pennsylvania in 2020, could be seen as a useful tool for Trump in his attempt to settle personal grievances.

Zepto, which has raised another $350 million in new funding from prominent domestic investors, aims to become a company with a majority Indian ownership, chief executive Aadit Palicha said. Zepto is not an “Amazon or Walmart” but an Indian firm with plans to go public on Indian bourses, Palicha said in an interview with ET. He said the four-year old firm is not hurting kiranas or mom-and-pop stores — an allegation that Zepto and other quick-commerce firms are facing — and is a “net-job creator to the country’s consumption story". Founded by Stanford University dropouts Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, Zepto has emerged as one of the fastest-growing consumer internet firms in India, fuelled by $1.4 billion that it raised in the last five-six months.

Zepto has raised an additional $350 million in funding from Indian high net-worth individuals (HNIs), family offices, and leading financial institutions. The fundraise was led by Motilal Oswal’s private wealth division, the company said in a statement. This adds to the $1 billion war chest Zepto has amassed over the past few months to take on rivals like Zomato’s Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and others. ET first reported in October about Zepto looking to onboard local investors with a mandate of raising $150 million. Subsequently, we reported on November 15 that the round had doubled in size as the quick commerce firm sought to boost local shareholding and investor interest in the sector was at a peak.

People aware of the ongoing downsizing drive within Ola Electric said the company has cut 300-400 jobs, or under 10% of the workforce, over the past few months. The numbers would go up and as many as 500 employees may be impacted as the process is still ongoing, according to one of the people. «There is an emphasis on profitability and workforce optimisation is in line with that goal,» said a person close to the company.

AI regulations. Stringent regulations such as the proposed EU Artificial Intelligence Act could potentially undermine the global competitiveness of European AI startups, likely pushing more companies to shift to place like the United States —a seismic blow to Europe’s tech ecosystem, ET has learnt after speaking with multiple industry executives, global founders, and investors at the Slush 2024 event in Helsinki. “The reality is that the regulations here are far removed from the reality of how businesses operate,” said Andreas Klinger, founder of Prototype Capital, an early-stage solo general partner fund based in Berlin. “If we look at the high-risk aspects, everyone will agree, but things get muddier very quickly. I invest in artificial intelligence startups, so I have a good sense of what is likely to happen.”

generative AI came into the spotlight – is stabilising. Staffing experts are noticing a plateauing in the need for specialist prompt engineers, with businesses seeking AI engineers with a broader skill set as techniques like retrieval augment generation or grounding, fine-tuning, and continual pre-training are seeing increasing innovation and relevance, and tools to automate prompt optimisation are emerging. Prompt engineers are people who optimise prompts to ensure accurate and desirable output from Gen AI models. “Prompt engineering and demand for prompt engineers is by scope and nature highly seasonal and short-termed,” said Krishna Gautam, business head — direct hiring — at specialist staffing firm Xpheno. “The role's eventual output is to enhance the intuitive capabilities of the AI, including the ability to autonomously frame, test and calibrate prompts. Given this specific nature of the stack, prompt engineering will eventually phase out itself from being a significant part of the AI capacity matrix of enterprises.”

Piyush Goyal Thursday said that India will be cautious in its opening up process till the time it is an emerging economy and it has to maintain a balance between protecting the needs of industry and the different levels of economic development of other countries and non-market economies when it comes to investment. At an event organised by the UK-India Business Council, he also said that India is going to bring out a new legal framework to ensure data privacy that would encourage free flow of data among trusted partners. “Till we are yet an emerging economy or a developed economy, I'll certainly need to have a little bit more caution in my opening up process,” Goyal said.

The prime minister, who arrived in Guyana on the final leg of his three-nation visit, is the first Indian head of the state to visit the country in more than 50 years. «For the world to move forward, the biggest mantra is 'Democracy First, Humanity First'. The spirit of democracy first teaches us to take everyone along and participate in everyone's development. Humanity First guides our decision-making. When we make Humanity First the basis of our decision-making, the results are also ones which benefit humanity,» he said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions targeting Russia's largest remaining non-sanctioned bank would further diminish Russia's military effort and «will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade U.S. sanctions and fund and equip its military.» In addition, more than 50 internationally connected Russian banks, 40 Russian securities registrars, and 15 Russian finance officials were hit with sanctions.

Gandhamardhan hills in Odisha, the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress on Thursday demanded clarification on whether the company has any plan to go for mining in that region. The Adani Group, however, said the purpose for land acquisition is to enrich the local ecology through afforestation and there is no commercial intent. Gandhamardan Hill Range spanning Bargarh and Balangir districts was declared as a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) in 2023 when the BJD was in power. BHS is an area with unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems with rich biodiversity. «The government should speak out on the purpose of the Adani Group acquiring land near Gandhamardhan Hills, which reserves an estimated 207 million tons of bauxite. Since the state government is silent on the matter, suspicion of the people grows,» said Bolangir's BJD MLA Kalikesh Singh Deo.

rehabilitating older children and providing them with a new direction in life, was jointly organized by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), and the Uttar Pradesh Women and Child Development Department at the Mars Auditorium of Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow on Thursday. The main goal of the conference was to create awareness among the public about adopting children who are either orphaned or lack family support, educating people on the legal process of foster care. According to a press release, Speakers highlighted the importance of sensitivity and acceptance in the society for rehabilitating such children and giving them a sense of belonging. Union minister of state for women and child development, Savitri Thakur, UP’s minister for women welfare, child development and nutrition, Baby Rani Maurya, and State Women's Commission Chairperson, Babita Chauhan, shared their thoughts on the theme «Rehabilitating Older Children through Care and Nurturing.»