Diwali shopping lacks zeal, the firms eyeing Bharat Petroleum, and more top news

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Urban shoppers seem to be tightening their purse strings when it comes to in-store purchases. People are sticking to need-based buying and that’s led to lower footfall and tepid conversion rates for brick-and-mortar retailers in the pre-Diwali weekend. Small traders seem to be hit the hardest: Some have reported a fall of 25-50% in festive season sales. Many traders feel the deep discounting model of e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart is hurting their business. Traffic in-store at malls across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore has reportedly hit a new low. Join the conversation.

Global oil and gas giants are making a beeline for a controlling stake in Bharat Petroleum, Livemint reports, citing unidentified sources. Saudi Aramco, Rosneft, Kuwait Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total SA and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. have already held stake sale conversations with government officials. BPCL’s privatisation will help the Centre reach its disinvestment target of ?1.05 trillion for this year. But the move has evoked protest among BPCL workers who fear job losses. Earlier, credit rating agency Moody’s had also warned about downgrading BPCL if it is privatised. Join the conversation.

An anonymous group of employees has alleged that Infosys is taking unethical steps to boost short-term revenue and profit, multiple media reports suggest. They have accused CEO Salil Parekh of fudging financial statements, inflating profits and bypassing reviews for large deals. In a letter to the Infosys board, the complainants allege that “revenue recognition matters are forced” in some deals. Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy allegedly told the finance team to refrain from fully recognising visa costs for improving profit. Infosys said its audit committee is reviewing the complaint. Join the conversation.

Smartphone maker Vivo is being sued by an Ogilvy group agency for allegedly plagiarising an advertising concept, Business Standard reports, citing court proceedings. The advertisement in question was executed by rival agency Dentsu India and features actor Aamir Khan at an amusement park. In a plea before the Bombay High Court, Brand David said it had come up with the original campaign idea and submitted the same to the Chinese company last year. The court noted several similarities between the proposed and final adverts, and passed an interim order directing Vivo to deposit ?1 crore within a week. Dentsu has denied any wrongdoing.

Several PSU bank branches and ATMs are likely to be shut today due to a strike call given by two unions against the recent move to merge PSU banks. The All India Bank Employees’ Association and Bank Employees Federation of India are on strike till 6 am on Wednesday. While Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra and Syndicate Bank are expecting a disruption, State Bank of India has said its services will remain unaffected. Last month, a similar strike call was given by four bank unions but it was later withdrawn. The two unions are also opposing privatisation and the outsourcing of perennial banking jobs.

Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, does not look at a startup's financials before writing a cheque. The founders’ attitude, maturity and commitment are important determinants, says the 81-year-old, who has backed atleast 24 ventures (paywall). Calling himself an accidental startup investor, Tata sees funding opportunities in healthcare, medical treatment and manufacturing. He has been an early backer of unicorns such as Ola and Paytm. “I hope that the founders would get money from within the country,” he says. Join the conversation.

Idea of the day: It’s important to have your employees travel, Greg Caplan, founder and CEO of Remote Year, tells Anna Auerbach, Cofounder and CoCEO, Werk.

“You're more inspired and creative when you're in these new, different environments. You build a global perspective and understanding.”

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

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