Also in this letter:
■ Snap appoints Pulkit Trivedi as India MD
■ Uber brings back ride-sharing
■ Ola Electric files for PLI Scheme
■ Infosys to roll out 80% of variable pay for Q1
Chandrayaan-3 makes it to the moon
After a 40-day journey, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-3 made a successful touchdown with its lander Vikram near the moon’s south pole, marking the country’s second attempt to reach uncharted lunar territory. The lander was named after Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme.
This comes merely days after Russia’s first moon mission in nearly half a century tragically ended in a crash within the same lunar region.
India is the first country to achieve a south-pole landing on the moon and joins the ranks of the United States, China and the former Soviet Union (now Russia) as the fourth nation to master the technology for a soft lunar landing.
Why was the landing difficult? Rough terrain was one of the complications for a south pole landing. ISRO scientists said they made adjustments that made it more likely the current mission would stick to its landing. That includes a system to broaden the potential landing zone. The lander has also been equipped with more fuel and sturdier legs for impact.
Picture of lunar surface, taken by the Vikram lander
Also read | Chandrayaan-3: Meet the architects behind India’s Moon mission
‘Smooth sailing is continuing’: The spacecraft’s lander Vikram detached from its propulsion module last week and has been sending back images of the moon’s surface since entering lunar orbit on August 5. A day ahead of the landing, the ISRO said on social media the landing was proceeding on schedule and that its mission control complex was “buzzed with energy & excitement”.
13 space stocks add $2.5 billion m-cap: Stocks of 13 companies that supply equipment ranging from electronics components to metal gears used in a rocket’s communication and navigation have added more than $2.5 billion in market value this week, ahead of the lunar touchdown of Chandrayaan-3, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Also read | From tiny outhouse to the Moon: How this ‘Rocket Boy’ put India on the space map
:%20Chandrayaan-3%20Mission:%20A%20view%20of%20the%20Chandrayaan-3%20land....jpg "New Delhi, Aug 23 (ANI): Chandrayaan-3 Mission: A view of the Chandrayaan-3 land...")
Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander seen approaching the lunar surface
Failures and heartbreaks: India’s previous attempt to land on the lunar south pole failed in 2019. Chandrayaan-2 successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander and rover were destroyed in a crash near where the Chandrayaan-3 made a touchdown.
Reactions: Spacetech startups and investors in the sector cheered India’s successful landing on the moon’s south pole.
Pranav Pai, founding partner of 3one4 Capital said that ISRO’s achievement with Chandrayaan 3 will be spoken “about for perpetuity, and this will inspire many more of India’s best students to become part of the technology revolution in the country.”
“The ability to harness resources from the moon would be a gamechanger for humanity, considering it is almost 20 times more efficient to tap resources from moon than earth for building a thriving Low Earth Orbit (LEO) economy, especially the potential resources of the south pole of the moon which is yet unexplored,” Skyroot Aerospace co-founder and CEO Pawan Kumar Chandana told ET.
Snap appoints Google veteran Pulkit Trivedi as India managing director
Snapchat parent Snap Inc on Wednesday named Google executive Pulkit Trivedi as India managing director, the first such appointment for the messaging app as it looks to double down on efforts to monetise its offerings in the country.
Who is Pulkit Trivedi? Trivedi joins Snap from Google, where he was the director of Google Pay for the India business team. Pulkit has also worked with large tech companies such as Meta, Microsoft and Intel.
His role at Snap: In a statement, Snap said that Trivedi will be responsible for leading Snap’s Indian operations, including driving revenue, supporting partners and nurturing the creator ecosystem. Growth, market development, partnerships, content and creator ecosystem teams will now report directly to Trivedi.
Betting big on India: Speaking to ET on Wednesday, Snap’s Asia Pacific president Ajit Mohan said, “India is one of Snap’s most critically important markets globally given extraordinary community growth, appetite for content, creator engagement and technology adoption in two exciting areas where we are doing work at the frontier: AR and AI.”
In April, Snap cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel told us in an interview that Snapchat had doubled its user base in India. Spiegel highlighted how shoring up advertising revenue will now be at the centre of the social media company’s strategy in the country.
Uber brings back ride-sharing; launches ‘Group Rides’ for users
Cab aggregator Uber has launched a new ride-sharing option called ‘Group Rides’ in India, which allows customers to share rides and split the fare with up to three co-passengers headed to the same destination. This comes more than three years after Uber had suspended its Pool service in India in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Different from Uber Pool: The key differentiator between Pool and Group Rides is that with the latter, customers choose their co-passengers. In the Pool option, the platform matched passengers with other people heading in the same direction. Nitish Bhushan, director of central operations, Uber India, said the move is part of Uber’s efforts to make travel more affordable and seamless.
How does it work? Users can add friends by sharing ride details over messaging apps, and the friends, in turn, can add their pickup locations after joining the journey.
No impact on driver earnings: Uber said customers can save up to 30% of their cab fare with Group Rides, adding that drivers’ earnings will not be negatively impacted — they will earn the same amount as they would in Uber Go or Uber Premier rides, based on the route they take.
Ola Electric files for PLI Scheme
Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal
Ola Electric has applied for certification to claim incentives under the government’s Rs 25,938 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, floated by the ministry of heavy industries (MHI) to promote local manufacturing.
Dig deeper: Ola Electric is the third company to seek PLI sops after Tata Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra. The certification for Ola is still under process. According to a senior official, the company can start claiming incentives from the day it receives a certification for sales.
Catch up quick: Launched in April 2020, the PLI scheme aims to boost local manufacturing by giving incentives on products made in India.
Parameters to get the certification: Automakers are required to have 50% domestic value addition in products to be eligible for subsidies. Tata Motors received certification from ARAI for its Tiago EV earlier this month, and Mahindra Last Mile Mobility got its certificate for its electric three-wheeler in June 2023.
EV firms seek executives from legacy auto firms: Meanwhile, we reported on Wednesday, citing industry experts, that EV firms are going all out to attract senior executives from legacy automobile firms, as a significant talent churn is underway within the nascent but ascendant EV industry.
Infosys to roll out 80% of variable pay for Q1
Infosys plans to roll out 80% of variable pay on average to employees for the quarter ended June. The money will be disbursed along with this month’s salary.
Details: The average payout at the organisation level is at 80% for the first quarter of FY24, according to an email sent to employees. Individual payout percentages will differ based on individual performance and contribution for the quarter, it said.
Increment under ‘active consideration’: This comes as India’s second-largest IT firm paid 60% of the variable pay last quarter on average. The company has also not rolled out annual hikes for employees for FY23. Previous hikes were paid in July 2022. During the first quarter post-earnings conference, chief financial officer Nilanjan Roy said rolling out annual increments was under “active consideration”.
What TCS did: In January, Tata Consultancy Services had announced annual hikes with effect from April, including 12-15% for “exceptional” performers. It also assured 100% variable pay for 70% of the staff.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Megha Mishra in Mumbai and Erick Massey in New Delhi.
