BACK PAGE, P20 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 A LONG WAIT ENDS IN RAJKOT TEST NEW NORMAL IN VIOLATIONS OF US SANCTIONS Burden off my shoulders: Sarfaraz sizzles on debut HCLTech joins peers in asking employees to work from office Elon Musk’s X allowed terrorists to buy blue checkmarks HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XX 245, 32 PAGES, `12.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 72,050.38 ▲ 227.55 NIFTY: 21,910.75 ▲ 70.70 NIKKEI 225: 38,157.94 ▲ 454.62 HANG SENG: 15,944.63 ▲ 65.25 `/$: 83.04 ▼ 0.02 `/€: 89.14 ▼ 0.29 BRENT: $81.29 ▼ $.31 GOLD: `61,299.00 ▲ `50 IN THE NEWS EXPORTS GROW IN JAN DESPITE RED SEA DISRUPTIONS THE CHALLENGE TO global trade due to disruption in key shipping routes in the Red Sea region failed to dent the merchandise export performance with 3.12% yearon-year growth in shipments recorded in the month of January which in turn has lifted hopes for the coming months, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 PROMOTER GROUP OFFLOADS 1.8% STAKE IN VEDANTA FINSIDER INTERNATIONAL COMPANY, a promoter group company of Vedanta, has sold 65.52 million shares in the mining major valued at `1,737.16 crore through multiple block deals on Thursday, reports Rajesh Kurup. ■ PAGE 4 DAS: RBI VIGILANT ON LAST-MILE DISINFLATION THE RESERVE BANK of India is vigilant on the evolving price situation as a stable and low inflation will provide support for sustainable economic growth, governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday, reports Piyush Shukla. ■ PAGE 6 INDIA, UK HOLD TALKS TO BRIDGE FTA DIFFERENCES EFFORTS ARE ON at the high-level to iron out the differences in the India-UK FTA as the negotiations are at an advanced stage, a senior official said Thursday, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 FE S P E C I A L Grabbing attention: Back to basics Retail media is a pivotal marketing tool in the postcookie era ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 EC TO PUBLISH DETAILS BY MARCH 13 SC breaks the electoral bond Secret funding of polls called unconstitutional 6,566 BJP ANANTHAKRISHNAN G New Delhi, February 15 IN A HISTORIC verdict barelyweeks before the Lok Sabha polls are set to be notified, the Supreme Court struck down Thursday the Narendra Modi government’s 2018 electoral bondsschemeofanonymouspoliticalfunding. Highlighting that the “the information aboutfundingtoapoliticalpartyisessentialfor a voter to exercise their freedom to vote in an effective manner”, a five-judge Constitution bench,headedbyChiefJusticeDYChandrachud, said that changes made in the laws to implementtheschemewereunconstitutional. Holding the scheme“violative”of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expressionandrighttoinformation,thecourt didnotagreewiththeCentre'scontentionthat it was meant to bring about transparency and curb black moneyin political funding. In its two separate but unanimousverdicts spanning 232 pages,the court also directed the SBI,theauthorisedfinancialinstitutionunderthe scheme,tosubmitbyMarch6thedetailsofelectoralbondspurchasedsinceApril12,2019tilldate totheElectionCommissionwhichwillpublishthe informationonitsofficialwebsitebyMarch13. “SBI must disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties which shall includethedateofencashmentandthedenominationoftheelectoralbond,”thebenchsaid. On April 12, 2019, the SC, in an interim order, had asked political parties to submit details of donations via electoral bonds to the EC in a sealed cover to be kept in the safe custodyof the commission till furtherorders. The SC also directed that electoral bonds which are within the validity period of 15 days but have not been encashed bypolitical parties TOTAL VALUE OF 1,093 ELECTORAL BONDS SOLD FROM 774 2017-18 TO 2022-23 617 1,123 Cong TMC BJD DMK AAP 64 JD(U) 24 IN THE FIRING LINE ■ Of the 1,846 employees laid off this year, Flipkart accounted for the most at 1,100 AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, February 15 WITH NO SIGNS of thaw in the funding winter and startups focusing more on profitabilityratherthan growth,layoffs in the space continues. However, the pace seems to have slowed if the first one-anda-half month of the current year is taken as an indicator. So farthisyear,about seven companies havelaidoffabout1,800employees,asper data from layoffs.fyi,which is a sharp drop from the 4,000 people who got laid off during a similar period last year by 29 ■ Analysts say this may be as several firms have rightsized, so scope for layoffs may have reduced ■ Some of the global startups who have carried large-scale layoffs this year are Block and PayPal companies.Analysts said that this may be because several firms have rightsized themselves to an extent so the scope for big layoffs mayhave reduced to an extent. Of the 1,846 employees laid off this year, Flipkart accounted for the most at 1,100. The company said that this was a ■ Globally, approximately 34,500 have been sacked this year compared to 90,000 & 40,000 in Jan & Feb 2023, respectively result of a performance-based appraisal cycle,so not much should be read into it. BesidesFlipkart,IPO-boundSwiggycut 400 jobs,which is similar to what it did in the year-ago period. Continued on Page 17 Total amount 1,095 Others 7 firms have laid off 1,800 against 4,000 by 29 companies last year `11,450 cr 94 NCP Startup layoffs in the slow lane Source: Supreme Court; in ` cr Others: BRS: 384, YSRCP: 382, TDP: 147, Shiv Sena: 101, JD(S): 49, SP: 14, SAD: 7, AIADMK: 6, RJD: 3, JMM: 1, MGP: 1, SDF: 1 INSIDE Edit: Better late than never PAGE 8 Respect the court: BJP PAGE 20 Oppn welcomes verdict PAGE 20 Acase of too little, too late? PAGE 9 shallbereturnedbythepoliticalpartyorthepurchaser -- depending on who is in possession of the bond -- to the issuing bank which shall refundtheamounttothepurchaser’saccount. Continued on Page 17 Govt nod soon forTata’s `25K-crAssam chip unit JATIN GROVER New Delhi, February 15 RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR, MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS THE TATA GROUP'S `25,000-crore semiconductor packaging plant in Assam may soon receive government approval,becoming the first domestic firm to set up a chip plant in India under the government’s `76,000-crore incentive scheme. Once approved, it will be the INSIDE country's second major semiconductor project Tatas may to get the green light, spin off following Micron's Agratas $2.75 billion (`22,516 ■ PAGE 4 crore) ATMP project. Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday that the Tata Group's approval is in the final stages of evaluation. Once completed, it will be forwarded to the Cabinet for final clearance. In December, the group submitted an application through Tata Electronics to establish an Outsourced ASSAM IS SOON GOING TO HAVE A SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGING PLANT. IT IS A PROPOSAL THAT HAD TO BE EVALUATED Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Assam. Unlike Micron,which manufactures and packages its own chips,Tata Electronics will partner a semiconductor technology firm to provide these services to third-party companies. Continued on Page 17 GERMANY WORLD‘S THIRD-LARGEST ECONOMY NOW Japan slips into recession LEIKA KIHARA & TETSUSHI KAJIMOTO Tokyo, February 15 JAPANUNEXPECTEDLYSLIPPEDinto arecessionattheendoflastyear,losing its title as the world's third-biggest economy to Germany and raising doubts about when the central bank would begin to INSIDE exit its decadelong ultra-loose Recession monetarypolicy. fresh blow Someanalysts for Sunak are warning of ■ PAGE 7 another contractioninthecurrent quarterasweakdemandinChina,sluggish consumption and production haltsataunitofToyotaMotorallpoint to a challenging path to an economic recovery. “What's particularly striking is the sluggishnessinconsumptionandcapital expenditure that are key pillars of domestic demand,” said Yoshiki Shinke,senior executive economist at CHALLENGING PATH ■ Thursday's data means two nations in the G7 group, Japan & UK, are in a recession, although it is likely to be short-lived ■ Some analysts are warning of another contraction in the current quarter ■Japan’s GDP fell an annualised 0.4% in Oct-Dec after a 3.3% fall in previous quarter ■ Two consecutive quarters of contraction are considered recession Dai-ichiLifeResearchInstitute. “Theeconomywillcontinuetolack momentumforthetimebeingwithno key drivers of growth.” Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) fell an annualised 0.4% in the October-December periodaftera3.3%slumpinthepreviousquarter,governmentdatashowed on Thursday, confounding market forecastsfora1.4%increase. Two consecutive quarters of contraction are typically considered the definitionofatechnicalrecession. Britain's economy, too, fell into a recession in the second half of 2023,a tough backdrop ahead of this year's expected election for PM Rishi Sunak whohaspromisedtoboostgrowth. Continued on Page 17 HYDERABAD