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Good morning. At the same time as Elon Musk’s Starlink awaits government clearances to operate in India, its devices appear to be popping up in various parts of the country. In other news, a mostly unproductive winter session of parliament ends today; the one notable event is that the “one nation, one election” bill can be moved to a joint parliamentary committee. But first, one in three senior executives lie on their résumés!
Fact check
Even those on the very top lie of their résumés. KPMG carried out one million background checks on job applicants in India over a yr and located that 30 per cent of senior management and C-suite candidates had misrepresented themselves in the course of the recruitment process. As a bunch, executives had a discrepancy rate comparable to applicants in real estate and infrastructure — the industry with the best share of errant candidates (31 per cent). The common across different industries was 11 per cent.
This will not be excellent news for firms. On the senior executive level, they found candidates misstating the actual reason for leaving a job, not mentioning legal disputes, in addition to interpersonnel issues around how senior managers were treating their staff members.
Video interviews, that enduring post-pandemic legacy, also make it hard to evaluate candidates, especially on softer issues corresponding to alignment with the corporate’s culture and values. But technology is catching up, with digital tools that help detect interview impersonation (!) and document tampering. For senior managers, firms also conduct extensive background checks, gathering “human intelligence” to make sure the candidate is the precise fit for the job.
Job hunt experts and interview coaches emphasise the importance of crafting your résumé for the job description. But that only means highlighting the roles and accomplishments which are most relevant for the job, not adding falsehoods. Hiring is an expensive process for firms and rectifying incorrect decisions much more so. Consequently, the usage of sophisticated tools (now backed by AI) will only grow. Taking creative liberties with résumés can be counter-productive.
Do you could have a story about fantastical résumés or hilarious interviews? Write to us at indiabrief@ft.com or hit reply.
More news it is best to know
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Demand from AI for nuclear energy is booming.
Examine Tadamon, the center of Assad’s killing machine in Syria.
Janan Ganesh has some compelling arguments for why economics cannot explain voter anger.
For the weekend, I actually enjoyed this piece on the race to make the best Christmas ad and the way British retailers became obsessive about making us go, “aww”.
Also, 50 watches the FT loved this yr. (My Casio retro made it!).
No link to Starlink
Elon Musk’s Starlink has not had a straightforward time in India. Just this week, the billionaire rejected claims that the satellite communication devices were utilized in strife-torn Manipur, the second time in a fortnight that Starlink has been accused of facilitating criminal activity within the country. Earlier this month, officials within the Andaman and Nicobar administration had sent a legal demand to the corporate’s headquarters, in search of the name of the shopper of the device utilized by smugglers who were caught within the island with $4.2bn value of methamphetamine, in keeping with news reports. Musk took to X to make clear that Starlink’s satellite beams were turned off in India and that its use wouldn’t have been possible.
These accusations aside, the corporate, which registered its India operations in 2021, has long been in search of approvals from the Indian government to begin its service. Currently, only Jio Satellite communications and Bharti-group backed OneWeb have licences. Security clearances are, rightly, an extended and difficult process and it has been an especially fraught wait for Starlink. Nonetheless, in October, the corporate got a lift when the federal government said it might not be auctioning spectrum for satellite broadband and as a substitute would award it administratively. Jio’s Mukesh Ambani and Airtel’s Mittal were pushing for an auction. The whispers in Recent Delhi’s corridors suggest that Musk will get a licence sooner reasonably than later. But it is a fight amongst giants — it’s premature to predict anything. I’ll do a deeper dive into this story after the telecom regulator completes its consultation and submits its recommendations.
Go figure
R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket this week. He notched up some mighty numbers in his 14-year profession.
24.0
Bowling average (Test matches)
Read, hear, watch
It’s nearly the end-of-the-year holidays. My daughter is home from college and we now have already began our big tennis and badminton tournaments on the Nintendo Switch. I like that every one the jumping and swinging makes me feel virtuous about spending time playing video games. For those with younger kids, Moana 2 is in cinemas now, it’s a visually joyful sequel.
Heads up: Ed Sheeran is coming to India together with his +-÷x tour in February and tickets are open now. Also, to not be a nag, however the Mumbai marathon is one month away and for those who haven’t begun your training (something I totally regret the couple of times I ran the half), it’s still not too late to lace up.
Buzzer round
Which beverage was invented as a livener for travellers arriving at Foynes airport in County Limerick? Hint: Prithvi Café in Mumbai was famous for it.
Send your answer to indiabrief@ft.com and check Tuesday’s newsletter to see for those who were the primary one to get it right.
Quick answer
On Tuesday, we asked for those who thought “one nation, one election” was a superb idea. Here’s the way you voted.
Thanks for reading. India Business Briefing is edited by Tee Zhuo. Please send feedback, suggestions (and gossip) to indiabrief@ft.com.
