Chennai launches India's first gig workers' pod
The gig workers' pod, probably the first in the country, was established by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). It is made indigenously with a minimalist Scandinavian design and boasts facilities such as air conditioning, seating for 25 people, drinking water, and a washroom.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
7 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Swiss-Belgian choco giant launches its first Indian GCC in Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: Barry Callebaut, the Swiss-Belgian chocolate and cocoa giant, has inaugurated its first Global Capability Centre (GCC) in India. Located in the Orbit building, Hyderabad, the centre was launched by Special Chief Secretary Jayesh Ranjan on Thursday. The world's largest processor of cocoa, Barry Callebaut, employs around 13,000 people globally. Its new Hyderabad GCC joins three existing tech hubs in Malaysia, Poland and Mexico. Speaking to TNIE, Ranjan said the company has onboarded 150 employees initially and plans to scale up to 500 in the coming months. Barry Callebaut had considered Mumbai and Bengaluru before finalising Hyderabad. 'The city stood out for its talent pool and favourable sentiment among employees for relocation,' Ranjan said. He also urged the company to explore manufacturing expansion in South India. 'Their production facilities are currently in the west and north. With demand for chocolates growing in the south, setting up a unit here makes strategic sense,' he added. Barry Callebaut also operates a Chocolate Academy in Mumbai, which trains professionals in chocolate-making. The academy's head, present at the launch, confirmed plans to host skill development programmes, masterclasses and hackathons in Hyderabad, strengthening the city's culinary and confectionery ecosystem, according to a press release.
Mint
11 hours ago
- Mint
The dollars crown is slipping, and fast
Dollar index at three-year lows Scandinavian currencies are star performers Safe-haven currency strength a headache for central banks (Updates story first published on Thursday, adds Middle-East news, updates prices, changes dateline) By Dhara Ranasinghe and Amanda Cooper LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - The dollar has sunk to its lowest in three years as rapidly changing U.S. trade policy unsettles markets and expectations build for Federal Reserve rate cuts, fuelling outflows from the world's biggest economy. While the dollar was higher on Friday, lifted by safe haven flows as Israel launched a strike on Iran, it was still set for its biggest weekly drop in a month. It is also down almost 10% against a basket of major currencies this year, leaving other countries grappling with unanticipated FX moves that are having a knock-on impact on economic growth and inflation. "There's clearly solid dollar selling," said Kit Juckes, chief FX strategist at Societe Generale. Here's a look at some of the biggest movers: Scandinavia's currencies are the standout performers against the dollar so far in 2025. The Swedish crown is up 15%, its best performance at this point in the year against the U.S. currency in at least 50 years. Norway's crown is up 13%, its best run since 2008. Highlighting just how much of this strength stems from dollar weakness, Sweden's crown is up only 4.5% against the euro and Norway's just 2% . Sweden is expected to cut rates this month as inflation and its economy slow, yet its currency shows no signs of weakening. In Norway, lower oil prices often temper the crown, but that dynamic has also been upended by its relationship with the dollar. The euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen are also among the biggest beneficiaries of the dollar's fall from grace, up roughly 10% each so far this year. But this comes at a price. Swiss inflation turned negative in May, marking the first decline in consumer prices for more than four years. The surge in the franc reduces the price of imported goods, and piles pressure on the central bank to cut rates back below 0%. European Central Bank rate setters will also have a wary eye on the single currency, which at around $1.1533 is near its highest since 2021. "In my heart-of-hearts we are going to get to $1.20 but we shouldn't get there too fast because it's deflationary," said SocGen's Juckes. Even after the recent surge, the yen remains down roughly 30% from end-2020 levels, leaving Japan to try to balance the negatives of a stronger currency with the need to demonstrate in trade talks with Washington that it is not seeking an unfair advantage from its longer-term weakness. For years, Asian investors parked trillions of dollars in U.S. assets such as Treasuries. U.S. President Donald Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" fired the starting gun for that capital to start flowing back to the world's manufacturing powerhouses, boosting their currencies. Taiwan's dollar surged 10% over two days in May and is up nearly 10% this year, while the Korean won has gained around 8%. Singapore's dollar, Malaysia's ringgit and Thailand's baht are all up 6% too, but China's yuan - arguably the most exposed to tariffs - has only appreciated by about 2% offshore, hemmed in by the central bank's guardrails around its onshore counterpart. China wasn't labelled a manipulator in the U.S. Treasury's latest currency report, but the lag in the yuan will not have gone unnoticed in Washington. Argentina's peso is an outlier, down around 15% against the dollar and one of this year's weakest performers. The reasons are domestic with the introduction of a new exchange rate regime in April allowing the peso to float freely within a gradually expanding band that started between 1,000-1,400 pesos per dollar. Still, the chaotic crash feared by some has been avoided and a recent $20 billion loan agreement with the IMF is positive. In contrast, Mexico's peso, which was under particular pressure at the start of the year from U.S. trade policy, has bounced back to near its strongest levels since August. While it could gain further if tariff spats are resolved, it is also sensitive to the U.S. economic outlook. Softer data has raised the prospect of Bank of England rate cuts and capped sterling's recent rally to more than three-year highs against the dollar. The pound is up almost 9% this year and analysts say foreign buyers may be rushing to snap up UK Plc before any further dollar weakness makes future transactions more expensive. More than $10 billion in bids for British companies were announced on Monday, this year's busiest day, according to Dealogic data. Analysts do, however, expect sterling to underperform other major currencies bar the dollar, given fiscal worries and weakening growth. "Sterling is less appealing than others (currencies) and the macro risks are elevated," said Lloyds FX strategist Nick Kennedy. (Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe and Amanda Cooper, Additional reporting by Karin Strohecker, Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Time of India
UP's GCC policy push to turn state into office hub, create 2 lakh jobs
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The UP Cabinet approval of the Uttar Pradesh Global Capability Centres (GCC) Policy will help in establishing the state as a hub for office space and also in generating over 2 lakh high-paying jobs over the next five years, say industry state has announced a 30–50% front-end subsidy on land cost, a 25% capital subsidy up to Rs 10 crore for Level-1 and Rs 25 crore for advanced GCCs , and 100% stamp duty exemption.'The incentives will be based on the performance of the company with a focus on job creation, export growth, and technology innovation. The process of availing the benefits of these incentives will also be streamlined by the state government to reduce the administrative burden on the companies,' said Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, Minister for Industrial Development, Export Promotion, NRI and Investment Promotion, Government of Uttar experts say that the surge in corporate leasing is being propelled by access to a skilled talent pool, improved infrastructure, metro expansions, new expressways, and the development of large-scale commercial complexes.'The approval by the state cabinet will further accelerate this momentum by transforming the region into a hub for office space and innovation,' said Santosh Agarwal, Executive Director at Alpha approved policy has broadly categorised two kinds of GCCs: Level 1 and Advanced (Unnat) GCCs, depending upon investment and employment policy has defined Level 1 GCCs as those which undertake a minimum capital investment of Rs 15–20 crore or create employment for 100–200 people depending upon the city in (Unnat) GCCs have been defined as those with a minimum capital investment of Rs 50–75 crore and which create employment for at least 300–500 employees depending upon the city.'For the real estate sector, this opens up a significant opportunity to develop world-class office infrastructure, co-working ecosystems, and integrated urban spaces. We foresee a surge in demand for Grade A commercial real estate, complemented by residential and social infrastructure,' said Abhishek Trehan, Executive Director, Trehan government has also provided an interest subsidy of 5% on construction and purchase of plant and machinery; a 20% subsidy on operating expenditure; payroll subsidy up to Rs 20 crore; subsidy on recruitment of new employees; EPFO refund; and support for creation of internship opportunities.'The government's move marks a shift from being a cost-based outsourcing destination to becoming a value-driven global business hub. By addressing core operational levers like infrastructure, talent, and ease of doing business, the policy creates the right environment for multinationals to think long term,' said Yash Garg, Director, M3M state government will also provide technical and regulatory support to GCCs. Under the regulatory support, exemptions will be provided under various Acts for five years, including pollution, maternity, factories, among others.
