logo
Utilise tech to ensure timely darshan for devotees: EO

Utilise tech to ensure timely darshan for devotees: EO

Hans India6 days ago
Tirumala: TTD Executive Officer J Syamala Rao emphasised the need to utilise technology to ensure devotees get timely darshan of Sri Venkateswara Swamy.
In a virtual meeting held on Tuesday with TCS representatives and TTD IT officials, along with Additional EO Ch Venkayya Chowdary, the EO stressed enhancing darshan systems for different queues like Sarva Darshan, Special Entry Darshan and Divya Darshan.
He directed officials to adopt QR codes and facial recognition for faster verification of pilgrims, replacing manual checks and also highlighted the need to educate devotees to report at their allocated time slots to avoid delays and improve crowd management.
TCS representatives presented a detailed analysis via PowerPoint, showcasing the time taken by pilgrims at various stages from entry into the queue, waiting in compartments, to exit after darshan. The EO instructed regular meetings and a strategic action plan to enhance efficiency through technology. TTD GM (IT) Sesha Reddy, Dy GM (IT) Venkateswara Naidu, and other officials participated in the meeting.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

HCLTech starts the year strong, but margins raise worry
HCLTech starts the year strong, but margins raise worry

Mint

time6 hours ago

  • Mint

HCLTech starts the year strong, but margins raise worry

HCL Technologies Ltd reported better-than-expected revenue in the June quarter and now sees full-year growth at 3-5% against 2-5% earlier, but the management lowering its full-year profitability by 100 basis points was a sore spot. On Monday, the country's third-largest information technology (IT) services company reported $3.55 billion revenue for the June quarter, up 1.34% sequentially. The performance exceeded expectations of 37 analysts polled by Bloomberg, who expected HCLTech to report $3.53 billion in revenue. This was its best first quarter in six years. HCLTech performed better than larger peer Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in a lumpy first quarter because of its Europe business, and expects a stable FY26 despite lingering macroeconomic uncertainty. TCS ended the first quarter with $7.42 billion in revenue, down 0.59% sequentially. The Noida-headquartered company's management sounded confident. 'We observed that the environment remains stable from an overall perspective, with some variations across specific verticals. It also did not deteriorate as feared at the start of the quarter,' said C Vijayakumar, chief executive of HCLTech, as part of his prepared remarks during the company's post-earnings press conference on Monday. Vijayakumar's commentary is in contrast to TCS chief executive K. Krithivasan, who called out delays in decision-making and project starts with respect to discretionary investments. The HCLTech management narrowed its revenue guidance for the full year. The company now expects revenue growth between 3% and 5% in constant currency terms, higher than its 2% guidance on the lower end it had called out in April. Constant currency does not take currency fluctuations into account. While TCS's Krithivasan said that non-essential tech spending, which is crucial in boosting revenue of homegrown IT outsourcers, must be back once uncertainty lifts, Vijayakumar was optimistic of growth along expected lines. 'We are optimistic about meeting a revised guidance supported by our superior revenue growth and positive booking expectations for the upcoming quarters,' said Vijayakumar. For now, most of the company's incremental business of $47 million came from businesses based in Europe, which contributed 87% of it. HCL gets almost a third of its business from Europe. In terms of verticals, much of the incremental revenue came from banks and financial institutions, which makes up a little more than a fifth of the company's business and is its largest cash cow. HCLTech got $766 million from financial institutions last quarter. However, there were bigger causes of concern. The Noida-based IT outsourcer reported $450 million in net profit, down 9.3% sequentially. This was the company's second successive quarter of net profit decline. HCLTech's operating margins also raised concerns. Its profitability declined 160 basis points to 16.9% during the quarter. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. The company even reduced its operating margin band to 17-18% for the full year as against its 18-19% target in April. Chief financial officer Shiv Walia called it one-time impact, attributing the drop to a bunch of factors, adding 'specialized hiring as well as skill and location mismatch and a one-off impact of customer bankruptcy' caused the margins to drop, among other smaller factors. While the software products business is historically its primary margin booster, operating margins for this vertical declined 190 basis points sequentially to end at 22.4% for the June quarter. Notably, HCLTech is one of the few large IT outsourcers that has a sizeable reliance on selling and licensing revenue of software products. Its revenue from its software business fell 4.6% on a quarterly basis to $330 million; still, the bigger impact of this arm is on the company's operating margins. Unlike TCS, HCLTech reduced headcount in the quarter. The company cut staff by 269 in the April-June 2025 period to end with 223,151, whereas TCS added 5,090 people in the first three months of the fiscal to end with 613,069 employees. Two of the country's three largest IT outsourcers adding headcount implies better signs ahead. More headcount in an IT services company means more demand for IT services and vice-versa. This increase in headcount comes on the backdrop of a tariff war started by US president Donald Trump coupled with geopolitical uncertainties. Both have put IT spends of large companies, many of whom count HCLTech as their IT vendor, in limbo. The company also highlighted a restructuring plan that was put in place. 'The restructuring consists of two components. One is a lot of facilities that we are not utilizing, mostly in locations outside India, is something which we believe we should optimize, because we have not been using some of these facilities, especially some of it related to our acquisitions,' said Vijayakumar. He also mentioned that the headcount would be cut because of the programme, in order to get to the company's 18-19% operating margin aspiration. 'The second is also that there will be some talent ramp-down that has happened, especially in some of the geographies outside India,' said Vijayakumar, adding that the upper end of its guidance factored a cost component to its restructuring programme. Like TCS, HCLTech did not call out orders or revenue from Gen AI, but announced a dividend of ₹ 12 per share. The company's shares fell 1.41% to close at ₹ 1,614 on Monday. The 30-share benchmark BSE Sensex index closed 0.3% lower at 82,253.46 points. The earnings were announced after market hours.

Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoints, but Amazon's 6-page memos are legendary and every employee must obey
Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoints, but Amazon's 6-page memos are legendary and every employee must obey

Time of India

time8 hours ago

  • Time of India

Jeff Bezos banned PowerPoints, but Amazon's 6-page memos are legendary and every employee must obey

At most companies, meetings kick off with quick chats or PowerPoint slides, but at Amazon , there was writing and a lot of reading, as per a report. Jeff Bezos Replaced PPT Slides With Six-Page Memo Under Jeff Bezos' leadership, Amazon built a famously rigorous 'reading culture' centered around drafting six-page memos , according to Business Insider. These densely packed documents became a signature of how business decisions, new ideas, and major product strategies were communicated at one of the world's most influential companies, as per the report. Steve Huynh, a former principal engineer at Amazon, shared that, "I spent on the order of like 1-4 hours every day reading while I was a principal engineer," and added, "What an amazing culture that I think that almost every other company should replicate if they could," as quoted by Business Insider. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 이걸 발견한 후로 다른 모든 게임을 하지 않게 됐어요! 레이드 섀도우 레전드 설치하기 Undo He shared that, "I got really really good at just reading these documents to get up to speed," and explained that reading enough six-page memos taught him to express himself in the same format, according to the report. ALSO READ: Jim Cramer doubles down on Jensen Huang: Own Nvidia, don't trade it, says stock's up 42,000% since his pick Live Events Amazon's Internal Communication Built on Memo Culture Huynh joined Amazon in 2006, back when the company had only recently turned a profit and Bezos was still CEO, according to the report. Huynh highlighted that the e-commerce giant's approach of writing and reading the 6-page memos was part of its "secret sauce" and revealed that Amazon employees' writing was often constrained to the format during his tenure at the company, whether it was a business strategy, system design, or press release, as reported by Business Insider. Bezos had started this culture of memo-writing from the top down, and the Amazon founder insisted on dense, direct memos in 10-point font, as reported by Business Insider. In Bezos' 2017 letter to shareholders, he had written that "we don't do PowerPoint," instead opting for these six-pagers, and added, "Not surprisingly, the quality of these memos varies widely," as quoted in the report. While speaking on the Lex Fridman Podcast in 2023, Bezos shared that Amazon employees read these memos together before meetings and also explained why he didn't ask employees to read the memos in advance, according to Business Insider. He said, "The problem is people don't have time to do that, and they end up coming to the meeting having only skimmed the memo, or maybe not read it at all," and added that, "They're also bluffing like they're in college, having pretended to do the reading," as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: Elon Musk calls Warren Buffett boring, but secretly begged him to invest in Tesla Andy Jassy Pitched AWS with 30 Drafts of Six-Page Memo During a 2017 talk at the University of Washington, his successor and Amazon's current CEO, Andy Jassy, who has worked at the firm since 1997, described writing his own memo when first pitching what would become Amazon Web Services, as reported by Business Insider. Jassy recalled, "I remember this six-page narrative, we called it a vision doc. We asked for 57 people, which felt so ballsy at the time. I was so nervous, I wrote 30 drafts of this paper, and Jeff didn't blink," as quoted in the report. Memo Culture Lives On Even under his own leadership, Jassy has continued the culture of memo-writing, reported Business Insider. In his 2024 letter to shareholders, he had revealed that only a six-page allotment made the memos "much easier for the audience to engage with and ask the right 'why' questions," as quoted in the Business Insider report. FAQs Who created Amazon's memo culture ? Jeff Bezos started it, and Andy Jassy has continued it as CEO, as per the Business Insider report. Can other companies copy this culture? Huynh says it's possible, but it requires top-down discipline and consistency.

The Great Indian IT Crash: Why You, An Engineer, Still Can't Find A Job
The Great Indian IT Crash: Why You, An Engineer, Still Can't Find A Job

NDTV

time11 hours ago

  • NDTV

The Great Indian IT Crash: Why You, An Engineer, Still Can't Find A Job

Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, the man who helped create AI, suggested that in the face of AI, entry-level jobs in the tech industry are plummeting. His advice is not to lose sight of ordinary jobs. Hinton half-jokingly (but also seriously) suggested plumbing as a future-proof career. Why? Because it's physical, not digital; it requires hands-on, practical problem-solving in the real world; and it's extremely difficult to automate or outsource. Hinton's advice isn't just about pipes - it's a wake-up call. TL;DR? Hold On Guys Yes, this article is a bit of a long read. But if you are a young techie (or hoping to be one), or even just standing at the edge of the job market, don't roll your eyes and go away, muttering "too long, didn't read (TL;DR)". Stick with me till the end. This isn't just another article - it's about your career. Just your entire future. Here We Go, Then It was the techie world's heyday. I still remember covering a glitzy event at the Taj Mumbai back in 2004. TCS had just become India's first billion-dollar IT company. Two of my young cousins were flying off to the US on L-1 visas, armed with nothing more than some decent C++ skills and a folder full of dreams. For families in Delhi, Dubai or Dhanbad, landing an IT job back then wasn't just employment, it was validation. Twenty-odd years ago, grabbing an entry-level gig at Infosys or Wipro was the holy grail for Indian engineers. You got a stable salary and a work visa if you were lucky. Campuses ran like conveyor belts, producing Level 1 coders who could slide right into testing software or logging support tickets. I saw this boom period up close. India's IT giants weren't just exporting talent. They were importing global respect. I once visited the Infosys campus in Mysore, where dozens of young Americans were being trained in tech skills they'd have paid a fortune to learn back home. The tables had turned, and for a while, India was at the centre of the digital universe But today? That conveyor belt is screeching. In some places, it's practically stalled. The jobs that once launched millions of careers are quietly vanishing. Yes, welcome to the slow, silent collapse of the entry-level IT job. This is not just a desi drama. It is unfolding on a global stage. And this shake-up is just getting started. India: From Campus Hires To Cautious Silence For decades, India's $245-billion-huge IT industry thrived on volume. Fresh grads from engineering colleges filled Level 1 (L1) roles: basic coding, software maintenance, tech support - low-risk tasks that big global firms outsourced en masse. The system worked. India became the back office of the world. But AI is now rapidly upending that system. Here's what the Indian tech media reported in recent days: Wipro, which hired 38,000 freshers in FY23, is down to just 10,000 in FY25. TCS added only 625 employees in Q4 FY25. Infosys has delayed fresher onboarding for over a year. A TeamLease Digital survey suggests that only 1.6 lakh freshers will find jobs in FY25, compared to 2.3 lakh just two years ago. This isn't a talent problem. It's a tech disruption problem. AI: The Great Equaliser (And Eliminator) AI is reshaping what it means to be "skilled". Tools like GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT and other agentic platforms are taking over tasks once assigned to entry-level engineers - from writing boilerplate code to basic bug fixing. A media report quoted Mohit Saxena, CTO at InMobi, as saying: "AI has lowered the bar for becoming an average engineer. But at the same time, it's raised the bar for becoming a great one." What it means is that if you are not adapting, you are fading into oblivion. AI is not just helping elite engineers work faster, it is replacing low-end roles outright. And it is clear it is doing it quietly, line by line, task by task. Double Trouble For Indian Techies Indian tech workers in the US are facing a twin problem. As AI-powered automation sweeps through the industry, they are facing a twin trouble: widespread layoffs and mounting immigration uncertainty. Add rising political hostility to the mix, and the future looks anything but stable. For years, Indian professionals have been the silent engines behind America's tech boom - coding, analysing and keeping systems running. But now, things are changing fast. The rules are shifting and the safety net they once relied on is starting to fray. The Rise Of GCCs While big Indian IT firms like Wipro and Infosys are slowing down on hiring freshers, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are quietly stepping up - but on their own terms. These centres are the tech and innovation hubs of global giants like Goldman Sachs, Siemens and Walmart. Unlike traditional IT companies, they're not hiring in bulk. They are being choosy, focusing on smaller, high-skilled teams rather than mass recruitment. They are filtering for quality over quantity. They are recruiting from tier-1 institutions such as IITs, IIITs, and NITs. Internships have become their recruitment pipelines. No internship, no entry. What they want are thinkers, not coders; not JIRA (developers, testers or support staff) ticket handlers, but problem solvers who understand customer logic, regulatory frameworks, and domain-specific tech stacks. In a recent article, Neeti Sharma of TeamLease Digital explains, "The combination of engineering, technology and domain is what GCCs look for." The bar is high and rising. Not Just An Indian Crisis The unemployment rate for computer science graduates in the US is 7.5% - nearly double the national average of 4.1%. According to The Times, some British tech graduates are applying to 1,000 jobs just to land an interview. Bloomberg reports that AI could replace over 50% of tasks done by market research analysts and sales reps. For managers, it's under 25%. So if you are young and entry-level, AI is more likely to replace you than your boss. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 is even starker: as many as 40% of global employers plan to reduce the workforce due to AI. The report says that 170 million new jobs will be created this decade - but 75 million jobs will vanish. And the new roles being created require entirely new skillsets. The message is clear: adapt or be automated. Teaching 2015 In 2025 Our classrooms are our biggest problem. Various reports suggest that less than 12% of Indian engineering colleges currently offer full-time coursework in AI, data science, or machine learning. According to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), only 7% of faculty have any hands-on experience with generative AI tools. This mismatch is reflected in hiring data, too. The India Skills Report 2025 states that just 47% of engineering graduates are considered "employable" in the tech industry. The truth is that most campuses are preparing students for jobs that AI is already doing better now. Experts argue that this isn't just a skills mismatch - it is a potential social crisis. Imagine a family investing Rs 10-15 lakh in a student's B. Tech education, hostel, coaching and job prep. Now imagine that student sitting jobless for 18 months post-graduation, watching classmates pivot to gig work, delivery jobs or sales roles in unrelated sectors. It is happening. In Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, you will find PG hostels full of jobless coders, waiting, scrolling job portals. Wondering what happened to the IT dream. This is a story of a generation staring up at a ladder that no longer reaches the sky. Yet, all is not lost. Glimmer Of Hope? AI is not just killing jobs. It is creating new ones, just not in the old roles. There is an exploding demand for AI support roles, such as prompt engineers, junior AI trainers, chatbot testers, model auditors, so on and so forth. Many of these don't require elite degrees or several years of experience, but just curiosity, adaptability and a willingness to learn new tools. A post on the 'Indian Workplace' subreddit highlights the ordeal of a young software graduate "stuck in a loop" - submitting hundreds of job applications but receiving no callbacks. The post, which quickly resonated with thousands of users, captures the quiet despair shared by many young graduates and junior developers navigating today's overcrowded and AI-disrupted job market. It's not just an isolated complaint, it reflects a broader reality: fierce competition, shrinking roles and fewer clear entry points into the tech world. So What Needs to Change? Start with the curriculum. AI and machine learning should be core, not electives. Students need to learn systems thinking, prompt writing and real-world context, not just syntax. Expand degree-plus-internship models that let students earn and learn alongside real tech work. It's not just about skills, it's about confidence too. Skilling missions must scale. India's FutureSkills PRIME is a start, but we need a national AI readiness push with funding, incentives and commitment from startups to MNCs. Bring startup labs to campuses. Real tools, real prototypes, real failures. Replace handwritten exams with hackathons. Redefine "entry-level". Forget old L1 jobs. Think AI trainers, prompt engineers, ethics testers, and data labourers. If you are a student, know this: AI isn't your enemy - it's your co-pilot. Stackable micro-degrees, no-code tools, problem-solving skills - anyone from anywhere can thrive. The old career ladder may be broken. But the highway to new-age tech roles is wide open. Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store