1) Quiet movement, loud impact
Indian IT giants Wipro and Infosys have taken a strong stand against the hustle culture in the industry. Wipro has fired 300 employees while Infosys sent out an email announcing strict actions against 'two-timers'. On the other hand, food delivery startup Swiggy has enabled its employees to take up gigs beyond work hours. Other dimensions of this unfolding saga include quiet quitting—in response to the hostile working environment employees resort to doing the bare minimum—and quiet firing—where employers create the said hostile work environment. Here's a story that connects all the dots of this not-so-quiet shuffle. Read more
2) Star of Northeast India
On February 5, 1992, Rajendra Chamaria, Vice Chairman and MD, Star Cement Ltd., was abducted by the ultras from his residence in Banderdewa, Arunachal Pradesh. After a week of hectic rescue operations by the state government, the entrepreneur was freed. He counts the years he has lived since then as a bonus. 2001 was one such bonus year because a 'star' was born. Chamaria set up the Cement Manufacturing Company (CMCL) in Arunachal Pradesh, and over the next few years, started rolling out cement under the brand name ‘Star’. “There was no looking back since then,” says Chamaria. Star Cement is the largest player by sales and production in Northeast India with 80 percent of sales coming from the region. Now it wants to spread across India. Read more
3) Saviour for cooperative banks
Anshumman Joshi became a businessman when he was 14 years old. The first venture was reselling mobiles out of the UK, employing a local there, and making some 300 quid as commission from various mobile companies. At 18 years old, he launched a second business—offering cheap air tickets with a focus on markets such as Canada and the UK, with backend offices in India. In the two decades since, Joshi has gone on to serve a jail sentence, float a political party, and become a chairman at a cooperative bank. Now Joshi’s Dhanvarsha group wants to buy out the publicly owned Dhanlaxmi Bank, a bank with an asset book of over Rs 14,000 crore. Read more