Startup news and updates: daily roundup (Aug 4, 2022)

Hiring activity in India in July 2022 at an all-time high

The Naukri.com JobSpeak, a monthly index that captures hiring activity based on the job listings on its portal, touched 3,170 in July 2022, which reflects positive business sentiment in the country, and perhaps, early signs of economic revival.

The index reached its all-time high due to increased hiring activity in hospitality, insurance, banking/financial, education/teaching/training, and real estate/property sectors, compared to the previous year.

The previous high was 3,074 in February 2022, according to a press release. 

In terms of monthly growth, the insurance sector recorded the highest growth (21%), followed by the oil and gas/power (18%), and the IT/software industry (16%) last month.

Annually, all the metro cities recorded a surge in hiring activity in July, but Kolkata topped the charts with a growth of 42%, followed by Mumbai (36%) and Delhi-NCR (25%). Among the emerging cities, Coimbatore raced ahead with a 70% annual and 31% monthly growth.

Hiring activity levels were the highest for top management positions (over 16 years of experience) at an annual growth rate of 32%, followed by a demand for professionals with 13-16 years of experience at 31%.

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IT ministry to conduct quarterly compliance audits of social media firms

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) will conduct audits of social media companies once every three months to verify if their compliance is in line with the IT Rules 2021.

The ministry will verify if the grievances raised to the social media companies are reported correctly to the government and if the action taken by them is in response to the grievances under the rules laid down.

At present, social media companies are mandated to disclose their compliance with the IT Rules 2021 every month, including their responses to the grievances filed. The government has proposed to set up an appellate panel that would be able to override the social media companies’ decisions about the takedown or moderation of posts on these platforms.

The government will set up one or more grievance appellate committees to handle the appeals by users against the decisions of the grievance officers appointed by the social media platforms, according to the draft of the proposed amendments to the IT Rules 2021.

Digital radio tech adoption can spur radio segment revenue: ICEA-EY report

The adoption of digital radio technology would enable the radio segment revenues to double to Rs 12,300 crore within five years, as per a report by India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) and EY.

The report highlighted that digital radio broadcasting can help the FM radio segment bolster revenues, and prove to be beneficial for all the sector stakeholders, including broadcasters, listeners, advertisers and regulators.

"This comes at a time when the FM radio segment has been struggling to generate robust revenues over the past few years," ICEA said in a statement.

The offtake of digital radio technology will spur segmental radio revenue, doubling it within five years to Rs 12,300 crore.

It would lead to more advertising inventory to sell with the ability to charge higher rates based on segmented audiences. Given that the digital radio system can provide listenership data, broadcasters can build trust and eventually grow revenues, it said.

From the perspective of the listeners, the report showed that the options of channels would grow significantly.

Around four times more channels are possible within the same frequency, offering more options for listeners.

Quality would also be enhanced as it provides a better listening experience than analogue transmission.

ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said digital technologies would go a long way in widening the network of broadcast infrastructure in the country.

The number of radio stations would grow multifold from less than 300 currently to over 1,100 without any additional spectrum.

(With inputs from PTI.)

(This story will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)