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HCL Technologies reported a 6.2% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,350 crore for the October-December 2023 quarter—its highest ever on a quarterly basis. The IT services firm also reported the lowest-ever attrition in the last seven years.

Conversely, top IT companies—TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Tech—revealed a headcount drop of 50,875 on a consolidated basis in the first nine months of  FY24.

Also, Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which owns and operates retail chain Dmart, reported a 17% rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 690.41 crore for Q3 FY24. Its revenue from operations grew 17.31% to Rs 13,572.47 crore.

In other news, the number of ‘affluent’ Indians—or those earning more than $10,000 (Rs 8.3 lakh) per annum—may cross 100 million in four years from 60 million currently, according to a report by Goldman Sachs.

The report also cited a nearly 3X increase in the number of demat accounts since January 2020. It also listed Titan, Apollo, Phoenix, Makemytrip, Zomato, Devyani, Sapphire, and Eicher as ‘top ideas’ on the bourses.

ICYMI: The Rubik’s cube turns 50.

Oh, and meet Professor Sachida Nand Tripathi of IIT Kanpur who won the Infosys Prize 2023 for deploying large-scale air pollution sensor networks and using Machine Learning to obtain that information.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Early life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy
• The perfect Lohri stay in Punjab
• Eating Awadhi food like the kings

Here’s your trivia for today: On the banks of which river was the Harappa settlement of the Indus Valley Civilisation located?

Books

Early life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s An Uncommon Love–The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy traces the early years of the Murthys as a couple, the birth of Infosys, and their struggles and challenges as they traverse different journeys—in life and career– and yet remain steadfast when it comes to their ideals, principles, and strength of character.

Uncommon love:

• The book, which took two years to write, was the result of many Zoom calls, and Divakaruni staying with the Murthys in Bengaluru to understand their lives and to listen first-hand to their memories, right from their first meeting in 1974.
• An incident, in particular, stands out—Donn Liles, who headed Data Basics Corporation, was a temperamental client who made Narayana Murthy sleep on a large box in the storeroom, surrounded by cartons, though his home had four bedrooms.
• The book also follows Sudha’s journey as a philanthropist, a teacher, and a writer. In a sense, she was reinventing herself in different areas from the ground up.

Travel and Leisure

The perfect Lohri stay in Punjab

Nawanpind Sardaran is a village in the heartland of Punjab that best showcases the state’s rural and rustic beauty. Home to about 750 people, the pind (village in Punjabi) combines pastoral beauty and cultural richness. It has made a mark on the rural tourism map by winning the Union Ministry of Tourism’s Best Tourism Village of India 2023 award.

Village experience:

• The village, which dates back to the late 19th century, was founded by Narain Singh. He built a ‘haveli’ as not just his living quarters but to also store produce and agricultural implements, and interact with farm workers.
• The red-brick façade has all the characteristics of a traditional Punjabi kothi; it blends Punjabi aesthetics with colonial architecture.
• “Apart from no-itinerary stays, we can arrange visits to the dairy farm, teach culinary enthusiasts how to cook authentic Punjabi food like maa ki daal or kale chane, or organise tractor, tonga or gadha rides,” says Singh’s great-grandaughter Gurmeet Rai Sangha.

Wine and Food

Eating Awadhi food like the kings

Nothing speaks Awadh more than kebabs that melt in your mouth and lamb meat that would fall off the bone if you just whispered to it. At ITC Gardenia’s Kebabs and Kurries, it’s a week-long celebration of everything Awadh, as celebrated chef Mohammed Shareef showcases the best of the region’s cuisine.

Royal feast: 

• Hari Mirch Matar ke Kebab falls apart as soon as you put it in your mouth, its pea mould revealing a nutty surprise. It doesn’t pack the green chilli’s heat but lets it simmer a little after you’ve had the morsel.
• Chef Shareef’s favourite though is Dum ki Raan. It’s the most performative and visually appealing dish—serving the whole leg of spring lamb encased in Sheermal dough.
• But nothing screams ‘royal’ more than Zauk e Shahi—unsweetened rabri containing small gulab jamuns, as soft as a pillow, that you can rest your palate on. They, too, rely on honey, baked and crystalised to give both the sweet and the bitter

News & updates

• Unannounced: OpenAI has opened the door to military applications of its technologies. While the policy previously prohibited the use of its products for the purposes of “military and warfare,” that language has now disappeared, and OpenAI did not deny that it was now open to military uses.
• No takers: Artifact, the news app created by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, is shutting down just a year after launch. The app used an AI-driven approach to suggest news that users might like to read.
• Taking caution: US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration, said it wanted to analyse data from inspections of an initial group of 40 of the roughly 170 grounded jets before it decided whether to lift the flying ban it imposed following a harrowing mid-air blowout of a fuselage section on an Alaska Airlines flight.

On the banks of which river was the Harappa settlement of the Indus Valley Civilisation located?

Answer: Ravi river.

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