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Rajkot police in Gujarat on Thursday arrested four government officials including a town planning officer (TPO) in connection with the devastating fire at TRP game zone here that claimed 27 lives last week. TPO M D Sagathia, assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former station officer of Kalavad Road fire station Rohit Vigora were arrested, said an official. "Four government officials have been arrested," confirmed state Director General of Police Vikas Sahay. The government has already suspended Joshi and Vigora. At least nine persons have been arrested in the case so far.

Mumbai: Five of India’s leading IT services companies – Infosys, TCS, Wipro, LTI Mindtree, HCL Tech – have witnessed a cumulative net exit of 25,000 women in the one year ended March, an analysis of headcount data put together by staffing firm Xpheno showed.The growth in the diversity ratio of these firms has also slumped to negligible levels post the Covid-19 pandemic despite a spurt in absolute numbers, data showed.An analysis of the diversity ratio shows that the total number of women employed by this cohort grew from an estimated 374,000 at the start of pandemic (March 2020) to 540,000 in March 2023, but fell to 515,000 at the end of FY24.While the number of women employees in these firms increased by about 141,000, or 38%, between 2020 and 2024, the diversity ratio in this cohort grew by a minor 0.9 percentage points during this period, indicating a comparable jump in hiring of male employees as well.“Such parallel growth in intake scale will continue to drive constant and flat gender ratios as we are witnessing now,” said Shincy Morris, business head - direct hiring at Xpheno.The average diversity ratio in the January-March 2024 quarter at 34.26%, in fact, fell 0.6 percentage points from 34.32% a year earlier.The pre-pandemic years between 2018 and 2020 saw a stronger 1.56 percentage points growth in diversity in the five IT firms, data showed.The increase in women professionals in the workforce post pandemic is largely an outcome of an overall increase in hiring volume across genders and not due to an increase in the diversity ratio, experts said.TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech and LTI Mindtree did not respond to ET’s query until press time Thursday.Data shared by Avtar group, a leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) solutions company, shows a stark drop-off in women reaching leadership roles in the Indian IT industry– the diversity ratio at the senior level at 17% is less than half of 35% at the entry level.“This lack of progression can be discouraging for ambitious women,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president of Avtar group. “Imagine dedicating yourself to a field, only to face constant hurdles to advancement and fair compensation. Feeling undervalued and passed over for promotions can be incredibly demotivating.”Attrition of women in the tech sector is higher at 26% compared with the overall attrition of women across industry sectors at 21%, according to Avtar’s data.“The pressure to excel in a demanding field while also managing personal commitments leads to burnout, which results in high attrition,” Saundarya said. “Clearly, the lack of advancement opportunities is discouraging for new hires from diverse backgrounds,” she added.Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of programmes to attract and retain high potential women in the workforce in the tech sector.Avtar’s data shows that post-pandemic, the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) intent has grown from 73% to 77%.However, several surveys also show that there are deep-rooted biases and challenges that are still hindering women’s advancement.According to a recent survey by ANSR, a consulting firm, women in the tech industry experience discrimination across multiple dimensions, including representation, decision making, recognition, and opportunities.“It is crucial that these programmes have the buy-ins of the CEOs. Hiring a bunch of people who are ‘different’ candidates does not guarantee inclusion,” Saundarya said.Krishna Vij, business head at Teamlease Digital, said, “Tackling the gender gap in leadership positions is crucial. This can be achieved by implementing policies that support women during pivotal life stages, such as offering flexible work arrangements, mentorship programs, and promoting return-to-work initiatives for those re-entering the workforce after a career hiatus.”

PE firm TPG Asia on Thursday sold its entire stake in wire and cable manufacturer RR Kabel through block deals, according to exchange data.TPG Asia offloaded about 5% stake or just over 56 lakh shares at around Rs 1,701 apiece. This valued the deal at around Rs 958 crore.Marquee funds, including Edelweiss MF, Tata MF, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, ICICI Pru MF, Blackstone Aqua, Reliance Nippon Life, and HDFC Standard Life, among others, bought stakes in the transaction.TPG Asia had acquired around 21% stake in RR Kabel five years before the IPO, which was launched in late 2023. Since then, the PE firm gradually cut stake in the company.RR Kabel made its debut at the bourses in September last year with a decent premium of around 14% over the issue price. Since then, the stock has returned about 44% to investors.The company is a leading player in the Indian consumer electrical industry comprising wires and cables and fast-moving electrical goods (FMEG), with an operating history of over 20 years in India.The company has posted industry-leading revenue growth of 43% between FY21 and FY23, supported by market share gains in a highly competitive wires and cables space, thanks to its expanding retail presence, launching of new products, and sticky relationship with electricians that play a pivotal role in product sale.In addition, it has been able to penetrate well in the export market and the export revenue doubled in the last two fiscal years.In FY24, revenue grew by 19% over FY23, driven by expanded distribution, e-commerce growth, successful new product launches, and the brand transition from Luminous to RR Signature.Meanwhile, gross margins, too, improved in FY24 compared to FY23 due to continuous improvements in product mix and procurement efficiencies.On Thursday, shares of RR Kabel closed 0.3% lower at Rs 1,718.8 on the NSE.

Nifty ended Thursday with declines of 216.05 points 1% at 22,488.65 led by strong selling pressure in most sectors. The 50-stock index fell for the fifth straight session and is now trading below the crucial 21-day Exponential Moving Average (21EMA)."The recent decline has disrupted the positive momentum, with Nifty falling below its crucial short-term moving average, the 20 DEMA. A decisive break of the 22,400 level could trigger a further drop to the 22,000-22,150 zone. We suggest aligning trades accordingly and adopting a hedged approach," Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President, Research at Religare Broking.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Jatin Gedia, SharekhanNifty witnessed a gap down opening and continued to drift lower during the day to close around the lows for the day. It closed in the negative down ~216 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty is in the process of retracing the rise it has witnessed 22,054–23,111. The Nifty has now reached the support cluster of 22,460–22,500, where support parameters in the form of the 20-day moving average and the 50% Fibonacci retracement level are placed. We expect the Nifty to hold this crucial support zone and start the recovery process. In case of a breach the next support is placed at 22,313–22,300.Rupak De, LKP SecuritiesThe Nifty has remained volatile during the session with predominant bearishness. The sentiment for the short-term remains weak as the index slipped below the critical 21-day Exponential Moving Average (21EMA). Call writing activity was significant at 22,500. Therefore, to witness a meaningful recovery, Nifty needs to sustain above 22,500. However, failure to move above 22,500 might attract fresh selling in the market, potentially driving the index towards 22,300/22,100.Ashwin Ramani, SAMCO SecuritiesThe long short ratio (LSR) of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) fell to 49.50% on May 29 from 53.96% on May 28 as they liquidated some existing long positions in Index futures. The Put-Call ratio (PCR) known as the sentiment indicator, has fallen to 0.52 at the close on Thursday, indicating call writers’ dominance. Five trading sessions back the PCR had made a high of 1.34.Nifty has given a consecutive lower close (close below previous day low) on the daily chart. Strong call writing which is a mark of bear activity, was observed at the 22,500 Strike in Nifty. The call writers still have sizable positions at the 22,500 Strike and the option activity at this strike will provide cues about Nifty’s future direction.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

While a substantial share of contract workers, both male and female, quit within the first three months of employment, married women receiving provident fund were thrice as likely to remain in their jobs as those without this benefit and single women receiving ESIC (Employee State Insurance Corporation) benefits are 48% more likely to stay in their jobs compared with peers who don’t, according to a new report. Both single and married women who are paid performance incentives are more likely to retain their jobs than women who don’t. These are some of the insights of a study by Quess Corp, India’s largest private sector employer, and The Udaiti Foundation. The findings of the study, which analysed data of 1.6 million Quess employees over four years, are significant in the face of the high turnover the staffing industry struggles with and India’s low female labour participation rate.“The availability of a skilled workforce is a challenge in hiring (women). Policymakers must focus on preventing girl children from dropping out at the high school level to fix the skill gap,” said Guruprasad Srinivasan, CEO, Quess Corp, adding that ensuring some part of companies’ CSR funds go towards educating and upskilling girls at the basic level could help address this. Srinivasan expects the implementation of the new labour code to help improve the participation of women in the workforce, with micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) also having to increase benefits to employees under it. Hiring female employees, he said, was a bigger challenge than retention. Almost one out of every two associates who quit do so in the first three months of employment, underlining the importance of support in that period to stem attrition. The turnover rate among female contract workers is slightly higher than that of their male counterparts, with the exception of IT and services industries, the study, titled “From Rhetoric to Action- Creating Gender Inclusive Workplaces” found, which may be indicative of better retention programmes or work environment in the latter. For both genders, jobs with salary above Rs 15,000 were associated with better retention rates and associates who continued beyond the first 3-4 months tended to remain employed for close to a year or more. Among female workers, marital status, it was found, did not influence retention. Just under a fifth of Quess’s more than 500,000 contract workers are women and a third are less than 25 years, while 65% are single. Across genders, associates who were 40 years and above were more likely to stay on their jobs compared to younger workers. When they do leave, the top reason was “better career opportunities,” cited by close to half (43%) of all associates. However, this plays out in different ways among men and women and according to sector. A higher share of women than men cited “family issue” and “medical issue” as reasons for departure, the latter accounting for 17% of resignation reasons among women, with pregnancy-related complications being the top concern. Additionally, female employees appear to be more concerned about the distance of their work location compared to their male counterparts. Within sectors, in telecom, female employees expressed “relatively higher concerns about manager behaviour compared to their male counterparts,” while in electronics manufacturing services, work location was a common concern among female employees with most of manufacturing jobs located outside cities, said the study.Women also prefer jobs where the fixed component is more than the variable, said Srinivasan. “Women have shown higher workforce participation in sectors like IT and BFSI, where the fixed pay is higher. However, in sectors where variable pay is a bigger component, it is difficult for the women to justify migrating to a new city for lower returns,” he added.