Bengaluru auto rickshaws ply despite strike against bike taxis; behind internet shutdowns in India

Auto rickshaws offered services during peak hours in Bengaluru despite being on a strike against ‘illegal’ bike taxis. The fight between city unions and ride-hailing companies has intensified in recent times. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

■ Blume’s portfolio firms to have Indian accounts ■ Disney to sack another 4,000 employees ■ Infographic Insight: STEM courses a hit among graduates Autorickshaw drivers , particularly during peak hours. The drivers had earlier decided to go on a strike on Monday and Tuesday to protest against bike taxis, operated by ride-hailing apps like Uber and Swiggy-backed Rapido. Nearly all the unions were participating to get the state government’s attention ahead of the state elections.

Auto drivers allege that regular petrol bikes are being used to ferry passengers, which is illegal as bike taxis can only ply in the city if they are electric vehicles. “Bike taxis are extremely unsafe. Maharashtra and Delhi have already banned them,” Rudramurthy TM, general secretary of Auto Rickshaw Drivers Union (ARDU) told us.

“We have obtained a stay against them in the Karnataka High Court, so now they’re operating illegally. We have been raising this issue since 2017. This has been a long fight.

” L Hemanth Kumar, the additional commissioner of the transport department, told us that Rapido is operating white-board two-wheelers as bike taxis, which is a violation of the regulations. But there was a and the transport department was also pursuing the case to get the stay vacated. The case will be coming up before the court on March 29, he said.

Recently, multiple states have banned bike taxis in their cities. The in February directing all tech companies like Uber and Rapido to stop their operations. Rapido and the Maharashtra government regarding the legitimacy of the service.

More than due to a state-wide internet shutdown as government authorities continue with their manhunt for Amritpal Singh — a radical preacher with the Khalistani separatist group Waris Punjab De. However, this is not the first time that authorities have imposed a shutdown of this scale. ETtech looks at the nature of internet shutdowns and their significance According to Internet Society, a US non-profit advocacy organisation, an internet shutdown disrupts internet-based communications, rendering them inaccessible or effectively unavailable for a specific population, location, or mode of access such as mobile internet in the case of Punjab.

One of the major reasons for implementing an internet shutdown is to maintain a law and order situation in an area facing conflict or protests. With internet and smartphone penetration, the flow of information is rapid and unverified on most occasions. This leads to the spread of misinformation and even fake news.

In the case of Punjab, too, Singh has a large number of followers who can be mobilised quickly through different digital communication channels. So, the authorities imposed and then extended the shutdown. The Internet Freedom Foundation, an Indian non-profit digital advocacy group, said the shutdown indicates a lack of administrative discretion and points towards internet shutdowns being ordered as a mere formality, rather than a necessity.

Early-stage startup investor after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. To further diversify banking risk, Blume’s portfolio companies will now be asked to maintain multiple accounts to park funds, and invest money in term deposits to the extent there is insurance cover, Bloomberg cited partner Ashish Fafadia as saying. “I am ready to implement all things rigorously which otherwise used to be requests or guidance,” Fafadia added.

He further said that the venture capital firm would actively discourage startups from investing in any money market instruments with durations longer than three to six months. Meanwhile, the firm on Monday announced the as investment partners. The capital firm had in December last year announced the , its biggest so far.

Entertainment giant in April to cut costs. As per a , Disney may sack at least 4,000 current employees in April. However, it is unclear whether the company will lay off employees in small batches or thousands at once.

This will be the second round of job cuts for the entertainment giant this year after The company is exploring “options” for Hulu, the streaming service that specialises in general-entertainment shows and is owned two-thirds by Disney and one-third by Comcast Corp, the report said citing sources. We reported on March 9 that following the non-renewal of the deal. This could potentially lead to higher subscriber churn for the OTT platform that also lost out on the digital rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) – the richest tournament in the sport.

Experts told us that Disney+ Hotstar will find it tough to add new users in the coming quarters. Companies across the board have taken to multiple rounds of layoffs to conserve cash amid rising interest rates and global economic headwinds While on top of the 11,000 it sacked in November last year, and expanding a cost-cutting effort. As per data collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, tertiary students in Malaysia and Tunisia are among the most likely to graduate in a STEM field, with between 43.

5% and nearly 40% of students there receiving a respective degree, out of all countries where recent data was available. STEM courses refer to those in the epistemes of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. With , India is producing the most graduates in the field due to its population of around 1.

4 billion people — the largest in the world. United Arab Emirates, Germany, Belarus, and South Korea are among other countries where over 30% of students are likely to be STEM graduates. .