[ad_1]
Also in this letter:
■ US lawsuit accuses TCS of favouring Indian and South Asian candidates
■ K’taka BJP MLA asks Centre to ban promotion of online gambling
■ HCLTech growth guidance ‘best’ among IT peers, says CFO
Govt looking to replicate UPI’s success in other areas: IT minister
The government is looking to develop several platforms like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to extend tech-driven good governance in the country, minister of electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
UPI of health: Vaishnaw told ET that the government was working with the National Digital Health Mission to roll out a UPI-like model, which would also be used for other areas such as logistics, agriculture and education.
These would be developed and democratised so they can be used by everyone, he added.
The idea, he said, was to put technology to use in such a way that it replicates the success seen by UPI, the Jan Dhan bank accounts, and the digital Direct Benefit Transfer schemes, among others.
Praise for CoWIN: It was because of the efficient utilisation of such a platform the government was able to roll out and implement the Covid-19 vaccination programme at such a short notice, he said.
“Our CoWIN platform enabled us to do 219 crore vaccinations in a short period of one year and 10 months. Large, powerful, rich countries are struggling with their vaccination programs even now,” he said.
Tech-led transformation: Technology has also helped the government establish better models of governance, he said.
“We repealed 1,500 archaic, useless laws which did not have any relevance. It is a huge step forward for building a society which is sustainable, growth-oriented, and brings a change in the common person’s life.”
US lawsuit accuses TCS of favouring Indian and South Asian candidates
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is facing a class action civil rights lawsuit in the US that alleges discriminatory hiring practices.
A class-action lawsuit is a type of lawsuit in which one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group.
Disgruntled former employee: Former employee Shawn Katz filed the lawsuit, which accuses TCS of discrimination in hiring on the basis of race and national origin, at the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, according to case details we accessed.
Katz alleged the IT major engaged in a pattern of discriminating against individuals who are not South Asian or Indian in hiring and employment decisions.
Katz, who worked with TCS for over nine years, claimed he was fired after not finding the right opportunities within the organisation due to a lack of assistance from the hiring teams that allocate projects to employees.
Details: The latest lawsuit accused TCS of “knowingly and intentionally creating and maintaining an overwhelmingly disproportionate workforce in the United States that consists of approximately 70% South Asian employees (primarily from India).”
It claimed that while only about 12% to 13% of the United States’ IT industry is South Asian, approximately 70% of TCS’ United States workforce is South Asian, mainly Indian employees who are in the US on work visas.
Deja vu: In 2018, a California district court ruled in favour of TCS in a similar lawsuit filed by three former employees.
A MESSAGE FROM ZS
ZS PRIZE healthcare challenge invites startups to solve for India
ZS, a global management consulting and technology firm, is inviting startups, students, innovators, and working professionals to apply for ZS PRIZE, an initiative to recognize, celebrate, and advance the most impactful tech-enabled healthcare innovations solving for India.
Here are some reasons why you should participate in ZS PRIZE:
- #SolveForIndia: Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to solve for India’s most pressing healthcare challenges and create real impact
- Prize money: ZS PRIZE has total prize amount to Rs 1.5 crore to be shared among the winners
- Eminent jury: Showcase solutions to a jury that boasts of some of the biggest names from the healthcare and tech industries
- Mentorship: In-depth expertise from within the healthcare industry through an in-built six-week mentorship program
- Recognition: Honour of winning the coveted ZS PRIZE and getting nation-wide recognition
Registrations will close late December 2022. Apply now.
ET Ecommerce Index
We’ve launched three indices – ET Ecommerce, ET Ecommerce Profitable, and ET Ecommerce Non-Profitable – to track the performance of recently listed tech firms. Here’s how they’ve fared so far.
K’taka BJP MLA asks Centre to ban promotion of online gambling
Former Karnataka law and education minister S Suresh Kumar has written to Union Ministers Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman, urging them to ban the promotion of online games involving real-money bets through advertisements and other forms of marketing, including text messages and mobile calls.
Driving the news: In separate letters, he wrote he was aware of the court rulings allowing online games of skill. But the government could nonetheless consider a ban on marketing by online gaming companies in the interest of protecting youngsters, he added.
Kumar urged the government to treat online gambling like alcohol and cigarettes with respect to advertising.
Case in SC: Karnataka recently moved the Supreme Court, challenging a high court judgement earlier this year that quashed some key amendments to the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, which sought to prohibit betting in online games.
TWEET OF THE DAY
HCLTech growth guidance ‘best’ among IT peers, says CFO
HCLTech’s 16-17% annual revenue growth guidance for its IT services business is still the “best” among tier-I Indian IT majors, its chief financial officer Prateek Aggarwal told us.
Catch up quick: HCLTech said on Thursday it may clock annual revenue growth at the lower end of its guided range, causing its stock to stock ended 6.5% lower on Friday’s close.
We reported on Monday morning, citing several analysts, that the commentary underscores the uncertainty that the whole industry may be facing.
Yes, but: “We are talking about a half percent kind of a number. Anybody will take 16.5% as the midpoint. It is really small to be very honest,” Aggarwal said.
On the macro front, he said major economies have not yet slipped into a recession, which is good news for the Indian IT sector. “The recession might hit in the second half of the calendar year 2023 and it is still a little way off to my mind,” he added.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Cofounders of Java Capital (from left): Vinod Shankar, Bhargavi V and Karteek Pulapaka
Java Capital launches Rs 75 crore seed-stage fund: Seed-stage fund Java Capital, which has backed firms including aerospace startup Agnikul Cosmos and fintech firm BharatX, has launched its first fund with a corpus of Rs 75 crore (about $9 million). The fund includes a green shoe option of Rs 25 crore. Java Capital has achieved its first close at Rs 30 crore and expects to conduct a final close in the next six months.
Paytm’s loan disbursals in Nov: Paytm parent One 97 Communications said on Monday it clocked an annualised loan disbursal run rate of $4.8 billion (Rs 39,000 crore) in November. The value of loans disbursed grew 374% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 6,292 crore ($774 million), while the number of loans disbursed grew 150% YoY to 6.8 million for the two months ended November 2022.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ We asked dozens of Indian gig workers about their future. They see none (Rest of World)
■ Microsoft takes stake in London Stock Exchange (WSJ)
■ Uncertainty, social media, and the radicalisation of the US (Wired)
[ad_2]
Source link