Also in the letter:
■ Love, delivered in 10-minutes
■ DPDP feedback deadline extended
■ Modi-Trump boost tech ties
Sachin Bansal assumes chairman role at Navi, appoints new CEOs
Sachin Bansal, founder, Navi Technologies
Sachin Bansal will become executive chairman at Navi Group, overseeing strategy while stepping away from daily operations. The group includes the lending arm Navi Finserv and the tech unit Navi Technologies.
L-R, Rajiv Naresh, CEO, Navi Technologies & Abhishek Dwivedi, CEO, Navi Finserv
Meet the new CEOs: At a board meeting on Friday, the Navi board approved the appointment of Abhishek Dwivedi as CEO of Navi Finserv and Rajiv Naresh as CEO of Navi Technologies. Both have been with the group since its inception.
Quote, unquote: “As the group’s operations have expanded, it has become more challenging to manage everything on my own,” Bansal, cofounder of Navi Group, told ET in an exclusive interaction.
He will focus on identifying growth opportunities for Navi, leading mergers and acquisitions, and strengthening the company’s compliance and risk management frameworks.
Recap:
Financials:
- At the end of December 2024, Navi Finserv had a loan book of Rs 7,700 crore.
- It posted profits of Rs 192 crore between April 2024 and December 2024.
- Its total income stood at Rs 1770 crore between April 2024 and December 2024.
Infosys mass layoffs complaint referred to Karnataka’s labour ministry
The central government’s Ministry of Labour and Employment instructed Karnataka’s labour ministry to take “urgent” action to address a complaint alleging that IT firm Infosys had unlawfully terminated trainees.
What’s happening?
- Karnataka’s labour department officials visited Infosys campuses in Bengaluru and Mysuru to evaluate the situation.
- The officials discussed the hiring and training processes and the business projections that led to the terminations with company representatives.
Context:
- Last week, Infosys terminated around 700 trainees.
- These trainees were among those hired two-and-a-half years ago but onboarded last October.
- The company attributed the layoffs to failing an internal assessment programme.
Tell me more:
- Following the incident, the IT employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) filed a formal complaint with the labour ministry, terming it “illegal” and “unethical.”
- NITES had called for strict penalties against the company, an immediate investigation, a restraining order to prevent further terminations, and the reinstatement of all terminated employees with compensation for wrongful dismissal.
Also Read: Infosys layoffs, pay hikes, and expansion: Key updates
For Valentine’s Day, quick commerce lets you press all the right buttons
Leading quick commerce platforms have upped the spice quotient on Valentine’s Day by selling ‘naughty gifts’—from handcuffs and ribbed strokers to tingling lubes, edible body paints, Durex Lights Off eye masks, and Volcano massagers.
V-day special:
- One platform has a ‘Feel the Intimacy’ page under its Valentine’s Week section that offers to deliver ‘sensual picks to set the mood’ across smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound within 10 minutes, powered by brands such as Reckitt Benckiser’s Durex condoms and Lindt chocolates.
- Another platform has ‘Kiss Day’ specials powered by global chocolate maker Hershey’s.
Spicing it up:
- Companies such as Bold Care, which sells men’s sexual health and wellness products, and intimacy brand MyMuse are seeing increasing sales and investor interest.
- Bold Care, for instance, saw around a 30% uptick in sales of condoms, lubes, and delay sprays since Monday, compared to business-as-usual (BAU) days.
- Ditto for MyMuse, which saw a 2.5x spike in daily sales compared to BAU in the leadup to V-Day.
Ideal channel: Quick commerce has emerged as the perfect channel for these brands, catering to consumers seeking a discreet purchase experience.
IT ministry issues official notice on extension of time for draft DPDP Rules feedback
In an official notice, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) extended the deadline for submitting feedback on the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025 to March 5.
The initial deadline was on February 18.
Details:
- Under the new rules, MeitY has proposed that data fiduciaries must implement measures to ensure verifiable parental consent is obtained before processing any child’s personal data.
- The executive rules have also kept the possibility open for the return of data localisation provisions for certain types of personal data.
- It has also proposed categorising data fiduciaries into three groups—ecommerce companies, gaming intermediaries, and social media firms.
In case of a breach:
- Data fiduciaries must notify the Data Protection Board within 72 hours.
- Organisations will need to inform the user of details of the breach in a “concise, clear and plain manner and without delay through the user account or any mode of communication” provided by the user.
- Organisations must inform the board about the breach’s nature and extent, people or events responsible, remedial actions taken, and how affected users were notified.
AI, semiconductors, quantum: Modi-Trump talks deepen tech ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump at the White House for trade discussions. Both leaders agreed to strengthen collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI), one of the world’s fastest-growing technologies.
Tell me more: The leaders announced the launch of the US-India TRUST initiative, which aims to strengthen collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector.
The catch: Despite the global push for ethical and inclusive AI, the US remains outside the Paris Agreement on AI—a pact signed by 60 nations, including India, France, and China, to ensure the technology is developed safely and responsibly.
TikTok returns on Apple, Google app stores as Donald Trump delays ban
TikTok returned to US Apple and Google app stores on Thursday after President Donald Trump pushed its ban to April 5, assuring companies that they would not face fines for hosting or distributing the Chinese app.
Look back: Trump’s executive order last month delayed the ban on TikTok for 75 days, temporarily allowing China’s ByteDance-owned company to continue its operations in the US.
Also Read: ETtech Explainer | TikTok ban: how did this begin and what’s next?
