Zomato acquired Blinkit for Rs 4,447 crore in all-stock deal
Zomato (Online food delivery platform) has announced the acquisition of Blink Commerce (Blinkit), earlier known as Grofers India. The company’s Board of Directors approved a proposal to acquire cash-strapped quick commerce company Blinkit for Rs 4,447 crore. Last year, Zomato extended USD 50 million loans to Grofers India Private Limited. Zomato already owned more than a 9 percent stake in Blinkit (earlier Grofers). While the earlier Blinkit deal value was around $700 million, the drop in Zomato’s share price reduced it to $568 million.
About the Blinkit:
Blinkit is a quick commerce marketplace delivering groceries and other essentials to customers within minutes (an average delivery time of 15 minutes in the month of May). Blinkit was rebranded from Grofers after a pivot to quick commerce last year. Their erstwhile business model was next-day grocery delivery.
Important Takeaways For All Competitive Exams:
Zomato Founded: July 2008;
Zomato Founders: Deepinder Goyal; Pankaj Chaddah
Zomato Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana
Mukesh Ambani Resigns, Akash Ambani is New Jio Chairman
Mukesh Ambani’s eldest son Akash Ambani will take over as chairman of Jio Infocomm’s board, the digital division of Reliance industries, in what is viewed as the 65-year-old billionaire’s succession planning. Mukesh Ambani has resigned as the company director effective from 27 June.
Pankaj Mohan Pawar was among the other selections made, and his five-year term as managing director began on 27 June. KV Chowdary and Raminder Singh Gujral were named independent directors.
Mukesh Ambani will continue to serve as chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and as the chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd, the parent firm of all Jio digital services brands, including Reliance Jio Infocomm. Broadly, Reliance operates under three main business segments, petrochemicals and oil refining, retail, and digital services, which includes telecom.

Odisha govt bags first prize in National MSME Award 2022
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Department, Government of Odisha has been awarded first prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to States/UTs for outstanding contribution in the promotion and Development of MSME Sector” by virtue of various developmental initiatives taken up for the development of MSMEs. Bihar and Haryana were second and third respectively.
Other awardees:
Kalahandi has been awarded third prize in the category “National MSME Award 2022 to Aspirational districts for outstanding contribution in the promotion and Development of MSME Sector” as the sectoral development was in the line of award parameters, according to an official statement issued by the state government.
Similarly, Sumeet Mohanty M/s Saferisk Insurance Brokers Private Limited, Bhubaneswar has been awarded first prize in the category “Award for Service Entrepreneurship – Service Small Enterprise (Overall)”.
In addition, Sibabrata Rout M/s Amarnath Pest Management Technology, Cuttack has also been awarded third prize in the category “Award for Service Entrepreneurship – Service Micro Enterprise (Overall)”.
About the awards:
Awards to States and UTs and Aspirational Districts for their contribution to the MSME, parameters like sector-specific policies & their performance, the efficacy of Facilitation Council, Grievance redressal, Y-o-Y growth of MSME budget, growth of MSME credit, implementation of the cluster approach, Udyam Registration, skill development programs, and awareness conducted, etc. were taken into account.
NITI Aayog releases a report on India’s Gig Economy
A report titled “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy” was released by NITI Aayog. Suman Bery, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, and Dr K Rajeswara Rao, special secretary, released the report. The study, which is a first of its kind, offers in-depth viewpoints and suggestions on the gig-platform economy in India. CEO Amitabh Kant emphasised the industry’s potential to generate jobs in light of India’s growing urbanisation, and widespread access to the internet, digital technology, and cellphones.
Key points:
The report offers a comprehensive methodical approach to calculating the sector’s current size and potential for employment creation.
It examines the benefits and drawbacks of this developing industry, shows international best practices for social security programmes, and outlines plans for skill development and job creation for various worker categories in the industry.
About the Report:
According to the research, the gig economy employed 77 lakh (7.7 million) employees in 2020–21.
They made up 1.5 percent of India’s total labour force or 2.6 percent of the non-agricultural workforce.
By 2029–2030, there will be 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers in the gig economy. By 2029–2030, it is anticipated that gig workers will account for 6.7 percent of India’s non-agricultural workforce and 4.1 percent of all income.
Currently, medium-skilled occupations make up approximately 47% of gig labour, high skilled jobs make up about 22%, and low-skilled jobs make up about 31%.
The trend indicates that the concentration of workers with medium skills is gradually decreasing while it is rising for those with low and high skills.
The report suggests connecting self-employed people in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., with platforms in order to enable them to sell their products to larger markets in towns and cities to accelerate access to finance through products specifically designed for platform workers.
The report recommends platform-led transformational and outcome-based skilling, improving social inclusion through programmes that educate workers and their families about gender issues and accessibility, and extending social security measures in partnership as envisioned by the Code on Social Security 2020.
Other suggestions include conducting a second census exercise to calculate the size of the gig and platform workforce and gathering data during official censuses (Periodic Labour Force Survey) to identify gig workers.
Important Takeaway for All Competitive Exams:
Chairperson of NITI Aayog: PM Narendra Modi
Vice chairman of NITI Aayog: Suman Bery
Iran, Argentina applies to join China and Russia in BRICS club
Iran has submitted an application to become a member in the group of emerging economies known as the BRICS. Iran’s membership in the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, “would result in added values for both sides,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Argentina had also applied to join the group. Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, currently in Europe, has in recent days reiterated his desire for Argentina to join BRICS.
Russia has long been pushing to forge closer ties with Asia, South America and the Middle East, but it has intensified its efforts recently to weather sanctions imposed by Europe, the United States and other countries over its invasion on Ukraine.
What is BRICS?
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC (without South Africa) in 2001, claiming that by 2050 the four BRIC economies would come to dominate the global economy by 2050. South Africa was added to the list in 2010.
Ben Silbermann: CEO of Pinterest, steps down from post
Pinterest Inc. announced that Chief Executive Officer Ben Silbermann would step down and give Google Commerce Executive Bill Ready control of the social media site. With Ready‘s appointment, Silbermann‘s 12-year leadership of the company, which began in 2010 when he co-founded it, comes to an end. According to the business, he will now assume the newly created position of executive chairman and keep his board seat, while Ready will also join the board.
KEY POINTS:
The news highlighted a shift in focus at Pinterest away from its advertising-based business model and drove the company’s shares higher by 9% in after-hours trading.
Ready, a 42-year-old executive, joins the business after spending the previous two years overseeing commerce and payment operations at the Alphabet Inc.-owned search juggernaut. At PayPal, Ready also served in senior executive positions.
Since then, Pinterest has rapidly expanded and presently has more than 430 million active monthly users.
Ready will be paid a $400,000 yearly salary and be qualified for a stock option award that would allow him to purchase nearly 8.6 million Class A shares.
Global Airwards Best Drone Organization Award wins by IG Drones
The Delhi-based leading Drone enterprise platform company IG Drones has been felicitated with the “Best Drone Organization – Start-up Category” by Airwards. IG Drones has been selected for the award for its approach of helping local communities and giving access to technology to various stakeholders during natural disasters and calamities.
About the IG Drones:
IG Drones is developing new technology-based disaster response and mitigation to increase the efficiency and efficacy of first responders’ aid in emergency response and catastrophe mapping. Using drone and GIS technology, they’ve saved hundreds of thousands of lives throughout national disasters such as the Assam Floods, Amphan Cyclone, Fani Cyclone, and Jajpur Flood in Odisha, Maharashtra Flood, and Uttarakhand CloudBurst.
About the Airwards programme:
Airwards is the first panoptic global awards programme of its kind dedicated to identifying, recognising and championing the breadth of positive drone use cases from around the world which are innovative, safe and having a real-world impact. Over 120 global submissions were judged by 38 drone experts and business leaders to award this year’s 18 Airwards main category winners. Announced during the second-ever Airwards Winners’ Week (23-31 May 2022), the winners have been recognised by Airwards as the pinnacle in innovative, responsible, and impactful projects made possible with drones.
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