Flipkart's largest unit posts hefty revenue growth, cuts losses

Any reduction in losses could mean the return of investor confidence, something Flipkart needs badly

Breaking News : Flipkart India Pvt Ltd, the largest unit of India's biggest e-commerce marketplace, was able to increase revenues by 43 per cent and cut losses by over 34 per cent in the financial year 2015-16 as investors began to mount pressure to see tangible results.

The Flipkart unit posted a revenue of Rs 13,177 crore for the 12 months that ended March 2016, compared to the Rs 9,226 crore in revenue it posted in the year ago period. Losses shrunk to Rs 544.6 crore, from Rs 826.7 crore in the corresponding periods, according to regulatory documents filed by the company.

While losses for its cash-and-carry business were down, it was offset by the higher losses posted by Flipkart's marketplace arm, bringing the total loss of the company to Rs 2,850 crore. The combined revenue for the two units stood at Rs 15,129 crore for the financial year.

Flipkart has set up a complex holding structure, with several entities listed in Singapore, making it hard to ascertain the exact revenue and loss figures.

Despite hefty growth in revenues in the previous financial year, investors continued to punish Flipkart's valuation. After a series of markdowns by mutual fund investors, Morgan Stanley set a valuation of just $5.58 billion for the three months that ended September. Flipkart had enjoyed a peak valuation of $15.2 billion, making it among the top valued start-ups in the world.Read more.

Now pay for fuel, LPG at Bharat Petroleum pumps using Ola Money

Driver partners and consumers will be able to pay for their fuel and LPG requirements with Ola Money

Breaking News : Ola Money, the digital payment solution from Ola, will be accepted at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) fuel pumps and LPG distributors across the country, the company announced on Monday.

Acceptance of Ola Money in a prominent public utility such as BPCL is another step by Ola towards supporting the government's vision of a cashless 'Digital India', Ola Money Senior Vice-President Pallav Singh said in a statement here.

With the increased recharge limit on wallets from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 until December 30, Ola Money is better positioned to facilitate convenient cashless transactions for citizens and merchants alike, the statement said.

With over 13,000 fuel stations and close to 4,500 LPG outlets, BPCL serves lakhs of people on a daily basis, it added. Read more.

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IT hiring at 10-year low, Infosys takes campus hires as interns

They'll be paid a stipend and assessed before taken on payrolls as it faces worst growth in a decade

Breaking News : India’s second largest software exporter Infosys Ltd is offering paid internship to campus hires before taking them on rolls, a move that that would impact new jobs across the IT sector when hiring by technology services companies is already at a ten-year low.

The Indian technology services sector is facing its worst growth period in close to a decade as they see clients reducing budgets on traditional outsourcing work, which is not being offset by growth in newer areas such as digital and cloud. In addition, routine maintenance work of customer applications or IT infrastructure, where freshers are normally deployed have been taken over by automation or robots.

With use of automation, these companies are shifting their employees from projects, where their jobs have become redundant and training them on skills to match new requirements. Infosys and its cross town rival Wipro shifted more than 8000 employees from projects to other roles due to automation during the first half of this fiscal.

“It was a surprise for us that they came with the internship roles before taking our students as trainees,” says a placement head of a college, who did not want to be named. “The job market this year has been bad. We agreed to it as we have no option.”

Infosys, among the pioneers to reach out to campuses through its Campus Connect programme says it provides a limited number of internships to students as they serve as an attractive proposition for potential employees. Read more about hiring by Top 5 IT Firms.

Facing sedition charge, Cong leader Ramya refuses to apologise for Pak comment

Facing sedition charge, Cong leader Ramya refuses to apologise for Pak comment

The Kannada actor and Congress member Ramya, who is accused of sedition over her remarks of praising the people of Pakistan after a recent visit, said on Tuesday that there is “no question of apologising.”

She said, "BJP will not do anything to repeal the law, because they are using it to their advantage", Congress leader Ramya on Tuesday refused to apologise for her statement that "Pakistan is a good country, not hell."

The 33-year-old Divya Spandana visited Islamabad to attend Saarc Young Parliamentarians Conference, responded to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement, “Going to Pakistan is like going to hell,” with “Pakistan is not hell, people there are just like us. They treated us very well.”

She made the remarks during a rally in her former constituency Mandya, saying how the people of Pakistan went out of their way on making her stay and comfortable after they got to know that she is from India.

Her comments outraged K Vittal Gowda, an advocate from Karnataka, who lodged a “sedition case” in Kodagu in southern Karnataka, around 250 km from state capital Bengaluru.(more)