Bankers aren’t getting a 5-day week, Cyclone Kyarr intensifies, and more top news

The news professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation on today's stories in the comments.

The Indian Banks Association, which represents the managements of 237 lenders, has rejected demands for a five-day week. The reason given? A five-day week will affect banks' financial inclusion drive in rural areas, where internet and mobile banking penetration is still low. The All India Bank Employees Association has rejected IBA’s stand; employees of state-owned banks went on strike early this week to press for their demands. The IBA has also refused to revise its earlier proposal of upping salaries by 12%. Join the conversation.

The Weatherman has issued a red alert in the coastal regions of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. That’s because cyclonic storm Kyarr, which formed over the Arabian Sea, is expected to intensify over the next 24 hours into an 'extremely severe cyclone.' Heavy rains have been battering parts of the three states and IMD officials expect that to continue into the Diwali weekend. This year’s monsoon claimed lives of as many as 2,155 people across 22 states, home ministry officials say. Join the conversation.

One in two Indians prefer staying in villas, homestays, hostels or cottages, instead of a regular hotel, a recent MakeMyTrip survey of 3,000 people found. About 55% of respondents said they switched from booking a hotel to an alternative property for their last trip. Many of them made this shift for the first time. Millennials are driving this trend for both domestic and overseas travels as many seek rustic experiences and are open to experimenting with community living, Curlytales reports. Join the conversation.

Google says it has achieved “quantum supremacy” that may allow computers to perform calculations faster than anything possible with today’s technology, according to an article in the journal Nature. The tech giant claims its quantum computer named Sycamore was able to complete a calculation in less than four minutes that would take the world’s largest supercomputers more than 10,000 years to do. The claim is being disputed by IBM, another tech titan, which said earlier this week that a supercomputer could complete the calculation Google ran in just days — not millennia. Join the conversation.

FY19 was a year of mounting losses for Tata Sons’ aviation joint ventures, Business Line reports, quoting data from the Registrar of Companies. AirAsia India’s net loss widened more than five times to ?670.93 crore while full service airline Vistara’s loss doubled to ?830.80 crore (?419.63 crore). High fuel prices, a weak rupee and intense competition caused every desi carrier to bleed in FY19. But Tata Sons is bullish on aviation: the storied business group is adding more planes, making overseas plans and reportedly evaluating a bid for the state-owned Air India. Join the conversation.

Idea of the Day: For businesses that sell knowledge and expertise, billing for time has never made sense, writes Tim Williams, founder of Ignition Consulting Group.

“Computer chips and algorithms are ruthlessly proficient, and the information and results they produce can be immensely valuable. But the speed with which they assemble information and solve problems bears no relationship whatsoever to the value created.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

— Mandar M Bakre, Dipti Jain, Shajil Kumar and Nirajita Banerjee