Weekend Bites: Another war, trouble in IT paradise, carmakers, 'those guys'

In which we munch over the week's platter of news and views

The primary responsibility for the mass murder and kidnapping of civilians must be with the perpetrators. Hamas long ago chose to retain its maximalist and terrorist vision for the Palestinian liberation struggle, as compared to other factions. Even in an open war, this would count as a brutal and counter-productive war crime. But there is enough blame to spread around, said our Editorial, An atrocity in Israel.
 
Last week, Israel came under the deadliest attack in the last 50 years by the Hamas. Israel quickly launched a counterattack, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, "We are at war".
 

Israel has bombarded Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes. Its retaliation and the subsequent violence have killed 2,600 people. Israel, which has vowed to crush Hamas, is now preparing for a possible ground offensive. Here are the updates.

With generator fuel running out, hospitals in the Gaza Strip run the risk of "turning into morgues", the International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Thursday.
 
A security alert has been issued in New Delhi in view of potential protests in the national capital amid the ongoing war.
 
India on Wednesday launched Operation Ajay to bring back Indians from Israel. 

 
What is Hamas and why did it launch an attack on Israel?
 
In other news…
 
IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal is in talks to buy a "sizable" stake in troubled airline SpiceJet, suggested media report on Friday, sending shares of SpiceJet soaring as much as 20 per cent.
 
The top four carmakers — Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors, and M&M — have lined up capacity expansion plans that entail a combined investment of Rs 1.75 trillion.
 
India’s retail inflation rate fell below the RBI’s upper tolerance level of 6 per cent for the first time in three months in September, while industrial production growth accelerated to a 14-month high in August, providing relief to the government.

 
Here are six charts that show India's inflation concern may not be over soon.
 
Amazon India says more than 80 per cent of its customers this festival season are logging in from non-metro cities. Smaller cities are growing differently from the metros in spending and income, according to an analysis of unit-level data from the Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Confidence Survey.
 
The 28-party INDIA bloc on Thursday shot off letters to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, flagging the "culpability" of social media platforms in "abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India". 

 
The International Olympic Committee has accepted the inclusion of cricket in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
 
Claudia Goldin became the third woman to receive the Nobel Prize in economics as the US professor was awarded for her research into the factors that explain pay gaps between men and women.
 
Tech that: Word from the world of technology and startups
 
With the headcounts at three of the top IT services firms dropping, it seems hiring at engineering campuses is getting into the slow lane. The headcounts fell despite a drastic decline in attrition.
 
TCS is reconsidering its popular 25/25 work model as it calls employees back to the office five days a week. 

 
Shares of Infosys slipped 4 per cent in Friday’s intra-day trade after the IT major lowered its FY24 revenue growth guidance. 
 
Watch it: From The Morning Show
 
The Election Commission on Monday announced the poll dates for five states. Of the five, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in one. With this, the bugle has been sounded and promises of freebies are flowing. Find out more here.
 
What is Suveen obsessing over?
 
In the 1969 crime caper, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, our two heroes are being chased by a group of men. Memorably, the two wonder: “Who are those guys?”

 
It is a sentence that often plays out inside Weekend Bites’ head, most recently while reading a newspaper report about the crazy levels house prices are scaling in Gurugram. It seems a 10,000-sq-ft apartment, which a few months ago was going for Rs 60 crore, not an amount to scoff at, is now fetching around Rs 100 crore, including the money spent on doing up the interiors.
 
Who are the guys buying these houses?
 
The answer, according to the buzz, is a combination of old and new money: New generations of business families and startup founders. 
 

From ultra-expensive apartments, let’s take a short drive to luxury cars. As my colleague, Sohini Das, reported in Friday’s Business Standard, it is all about giving the buyers something special. Mercedes, Audi and BMW are in the business of attracting discerning customers with curated experiences, which can soar as high as a Cessna over the Sahyadri mountain range.
 
This is Suveen signing off. Please send tips, comments, news, or views about anything from new wars to soaring Cessnas to suveen.sinha@bsmail.in.
 
(Suveen Sinha is Chief Content Editor at Business Standard)