Weekend Bites: Akasa pilots, Netflix, Byju's woes, AI's fear and loathing
In which we munch over the week's platter of news and views
 "Weekend Bites: Akasa pilots, Netflix, Byju's woes, AI's fear and loathing")
How disruptive can this be?
What if the employer happens to be an airline, and the resigning employee as crucial as someone who flies planes?
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Story of the week…
This could have been a great time to be Akasa. With 20 planes in its fleet, out of 76 ordered, and another order for 100 planes being negotiated, it could have grabbed market share.
Instead, it is locked in a battle with 43 of its pilots who have resigned and want to leave immediately without serving their notice periods. Akasa’s lawyer said in the Delhi High Court the airline might have to stop operations unless the pilots served their notice periods.
The very next day, Akasa’s CEO, Vinay Dube, said there was no chance of the airline shutting down. In a letter to employees, he said there were enough pilots at various phases of their training to fly more than 30 aircraft. In the short term, the airline will fly less and give up market share, but that was that.
The fledgling Akasa Air approached the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the aviation regulator, DGCA, to take action against pilots who left the airline without serving the mandatory notice period.
The DGCA said it could not interfere in the employment agreement which itself contains the mechanism of termination of pilots.
On Wednesday, the high court said the DGCA did have the authority to act against pilots who were not in compliance with the Civil Aviation Requirements.
We have definitely not heard the last of the matter. Not even in this newsletter. You will find more in the audio-visual section.
In other news…
Starting October 1, foreign companies such as Netflix, Spotify, and Hotstar, which provide digital services to users in India, will have to pay 18 per cent GST regardless of business or personal consumption. Until now, foreign firms providing service to non-GST registered recipients such as the central and state governments and individuals for any purpose other than business were exempt from the tax.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is considering a regulatory framework for large unlisted companies that may have systemic implications. This will replace the current “light-touch” regulation. The issue has gained significance amid recent suspected incidents of corporate governance lapses in startups, including edtech major Byju’s. More on Byju’s later in this newsletter.
Vedanta Ltd said on Friday it would spin off and list six of its businesses to fuel growth. The six units being planned to be listed are Vedanta Aluminium, Vedanta Oil & Gas, Vedanta Power, Vedanta Steel and Ferrous Materials, Vedanta Base Metals, and Vedanta Limited.
The same day, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Vedanta Resources, parent of Vedanta Ltd, and placed it on credit watch with negative implications.
M S Swaminathan, who transformed India from an importer of grains into one of the largest producers of wheat and rice, died Thursday. He was 98. Dr Swaminathan’s contribution goes beyond merely improving yields.
Tech that: Word from the world of technology and start-ups
The profitability of Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Apple (MAMAA), twice the S&P 500 average of 10 per cent, has increasingly come to be seen as flowing from the abuse of market power, writes T N Ninan.
Byju’s has decided to lay off 4,000 employees, 11 per cent of its workforce, during the next few weeks as it grapples with a severe funding crunch, battles with lenders, and a markdown in valuation.
The edtech major also rolled out a new social media policy prohibiting employees from communicating with the media.
Watch it: From The Morning Show
Air India and IndiGo have together ordered more than 1,100 new planes. Their delivery will start soon in small numbers, and big numbers will begin to arrive from 2025. With that, a scramble for pilots could start, given that each plane requires 12 to 14 pilots for regular operations. Are there enough pilots in India?
Find out here. On your way, you will also get to know why junk food could be the new cigarette.
What is Suveen obsessing over?
ChatGPT, the chatbot loved and loathed in equal measure, can now inspire more love and loathing. Its maker, Open AI, said on Monday it was rolling out new voice and image capabilities in ChatGPT. This offers a new, more intuitive interface by allowing you to have a voice conversation. You can also show ChatGPT what you are talking about.
Open AI said you could snap a picture of a landmark while travelling and have a live conversation about what makes it interesting. Or you could snap pictures of your fridge and pantry to figure out what is for dinner. After dinner, help your child with a math problem by taking a photo, circling the problem set, and having it share hints with both of you.
You can now use voice to engage in a back-and-forth conversation with your assistant. Speak with it on the go, request a bedtime story for your family, or settle a dinner-table debate.
On Wednesday, Open AI said ChatGPT could now browse the internet for “current and authoritative information” and links to sources. It will no longer be confined to information dated before September 2021.
More love. More loathing.
This is Suveen signing off. Please send tips, comments, news, or views about anything from a fight for pilots to those who are loved and loathed to suveen.sinha@bsmail.in.
(Suveen Sinha is Chief Content Editor at Business Standard)