<ul><li>On Wednesday morning, in a townhall meeting, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> announced that some of its employees will be put on leave without pay for four months starting May 4. </li><li>It has also announced a 25% pay cut for all employees starting from April.</li><li>Earlier in April, OYO had put hundreds of employees in the US on furloughs while promising no such moves in India until lockdown. The furlough in India begins a day after lockdown ends.</li></ul>On Wednesday morning, OYO employees were asked to join in for a townhall meeting. With the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic and layoffs happening all around, employees of the troubled company in a troubled sector - knew something was wrong. And their worst nightmares came true. OYO said that some of its employees will be put on ‘leave without pay’ for four months starting May 4, a source told Business Insider. It also announced a 25% pay cut for all employees starting from April, said another source. In an email, a copy of which Business Insider has viewed, OYO India CEO Rohit Kapoor said, “Today, our company is taking a difficult but necessary step for India, whereby we are asking all OYOpreneurs to accept a reduction in their fixed compensation by 25%. This will be effective for April-July 2020 payroll.” OYO has said that all other benefits will remain the same and the pay cut will be made in a way that ‘the fixed compensation for any employee is not less than ₹5 lakh per annum’. Kapoor also mentioned that OYO employees will be put on a ‘leave with limited benefits’ as it will continue to provide them with medical insurance, parental insurance, ex gratia and more. “In case there is an unforeseen medical emergency, we will support beyond the insured amounts, if the need so arises,” he assured, in the email. OYO had earlier said that its Indian employees will remain unscathed during the lockdown. On April 8, OYO said that while employees in the US will be placed on furloughs, Indian jobs are safe. It had said, “Keeping its promise to the government and people of India, no measures in India till lockdown”. Interestingly, employees have been placed on leave without pay from May 4, the day after lockdown is scheduled to end, in India. However, OYO has said that it continues to ensure employees remain least impacted even while the company faces major issues because of lockdowns across the world. “At this point in time, OYO is not doing any job cuts despite the economic pressures. Based on the advice of hundreds of OYOpreneurs I have been in touch with, the key priority is that we do everything possible to minimize job losses. We can keep job cuts at bay through a combination of lowered work weeks, pay cuts, temporary leave of absence until business recovers and other such measures. Our goal is to ensure long-term sustenance of our business, which is critical for the industry’s recovery as well," Kapoor said in his email. Double trouble for OYO because of Covid-19 For months, OYO has been dealing with issues like hotelier complaints for delayed payments and unhappy consumers. And, the coronavirus pandemic has only made things worse. The company also laid off employees barely three months back. In January 2020, as a part of its reorganization strategy to cut costs, OYO laid off a third of its US staff along with 800 employees in India. In a video message to its employees in April, founder <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> said that he cannot imagine any other industry being worse impacted than travel, tourism and hospitality due to coronavirus. Earlier, Agarwal had estimated a 15-20% drop in revenues and occupancy over Covid-19. Later he himself said that its revenues dropped by over 50%-60% globally. “OYO’s occupancy rate is down from 70% to 10% in India,” a source told Business Insider. "As you all know, this situation of COVID-19 comes at a very unique time for OYO. This is right after we had a sizeable restructuring of our company in January of this year. Due to that, I want to clarify for all of you that we intend to do no or negligible layoffs as a part of cost restructuring across the world," Agarwal had said in his message. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-turns-to-masayoshi-son-for-help-in-japan-but-softbank-itself-is-struggling/articleshow/75201970.cms">OYO turns to Masayoshi Son for help in Japan, but SoftBank itself is struggling</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/oyo-founder-ritesh-agarwal-admits-the-share-buyback-in-2019-was-bad-timing/articleshow/75125466.cms">OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal admits the share buyback in 2019 was ‘bad timing’</a>

EXCLUSIVE: OYO sends employees in India on leave without pay for 4 months and announces pay cuts for many

It’s not encounters and bullets but heart ailments that are taking the lives of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) serving in Naxal areas in the country. This shocking revelation came into light soon after Congress politician Motilal Vora had sought information on the number of CRPF personnel killed in Naxal-infested areas between January 2009 and December 2014 and the measures the government plans to boost the morale of jawans working in such conditions. 
 
As per a news report by The Economic Times, Minister of state for home Haribhai Chaudhary has revealed the statistics. Mentioning 323 jawans were killed in various Naxalite attacks, he added that 108 died on account of malaria, 642 after a heart attack and 228 were cases of depression-driven suicide. 
 
Chaudhary has said leave applications submitted by CRPF personnel were disposed of within a stipulated period, field officers were instructed to encourage their men to open up about their problems and grievances, and infrastructure was set up to provide for recreational activities. 
 
He said a welfare and rehabilitation board was also established. Chaudhary said the condition of 10 years' qualifying service was removed for award of pension and lump sum ex-gratia compensation was extended to disabled personnel besides the regular ex-gratia compensation given to families of martyred personnel. He said that under the Prime Minister's scholarship scheme, a scholarship of Rs 2,000 per month for boys and Rs 2,250 for girls is released to the wards of former CRPF personnel and in-service personnel for the purpose of professional degree courses. 
 
(Image: India Times)

​Not for the faint-hearted: More CRPF jawans die of heart attacks than Naxal attacks

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Getty/AFPThe town of Labrea in the Western Amazon region of Brazil.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a> has been battling with eight South American countries over who gets to use the ".amazon" domain since 2012.</li><li>The company wants exclusive use with stipulations, while eight South American countries located near the rainforest of the same name are willing to share it.</li><li>The world governing body of domains set an April 7 deadline for both sides to come to an agreement, but the date has passed without an agreement being submitted to the organization. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>It's Amazon versus the rainforest.Tech giant Amazon and eight South American countries are battling over who gets to use the ".amazon" domain, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47794353">BBC reports.</a> The two parties have been battling since 2012, when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - known as ICANN - expanded the rules for domains beyond the typically used .com and .net.Back then, Amazon moved fast to petition ICANN for exclusive use of the top-level domain .amazon, like many brands seeking to protect and solidify their web presence.The only problem: the web giant isn't the only thing named Amazon in the world, and the rainforest has been around a lot longer.The eight members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) - Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela - took exception to Amazon's request for exclusive use of the domain. The Amazon rainforest and river are large, prominent geographic feature of these countries."We are not looking for financial compensation. Nor are we after ex-gratia concessions to use one or a few second-level domains," Francisco Carrión, Ecuadorian ambassador to the US, said in a letter to ICANN in March, according to the BBC. "It is a matter of sovereignty for many of us, and the offer to share the [top-level domains] with the company Amazon Inc. is already a compromise."The battle has been raging for years but <a href="https://domainnamewire.com/2018/10/25/amazon-top-level-domain-taken-off-will-not-proceed-status/">has heated up since 2018, when Amazon's application</a> was taken off the "will not proceed list" by ICANN, where it languished for years.Under a shared governance plan proposed by the ACTO, the company would be able to use the domain for URLs such as books.amazon, kindle.amazon, or others as they come up and grow in commercial interest to Amazon, according to the BBC.The countries, on the other hand, would be able to use the domain for purposes like tourism - tourism.amazon, for example - or cultural heritage. The plan also includes a committee to provide a place for either Amazon or the countries in ACTO to object to new domains in the future.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-paid-5-million-for-the-buy-domain-2014-9">Amazon just paid nearly $5 million to own the entire '.buy' web domain</a>Amazon would rather the countries stick to modifications of the .amazon domain for their use, such as br.amazon for Brazil, according to the BBC. The company also said it would work with the countries to point out and eliminate any names that are either confusing or sensitive.The company also reportedly tried to make the ACTO countries see its side of things by offering $5 million worth of Kindle e-readers if they dropped the opposition in 2018. The countries did not agree to those terms.A spokesperson for Amazon did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.So far, neither side has been willing to concede any additional ground. In March, ICANN told both parties they would be given until April 7 to hammer out a deal. The day came and went, and neither Amazon nor ACTO notified ICANN that an agreement was reached, according to a spokesperson for ICANN.According to ICANN's resolution, Amazon now has until April 21 to "submit a proposal on how it will address the ACTO member states' continuing concerns regarding" Amazon's applications.Amazon is no stranger to attempting to control domains close to its business. The company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-paid-5-million-for-the-buy-domain-2014-9">purchased exclusive use of .buy in 2014 for almost $5 million</a> and <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/64712-amazon-wins-auction-for-book-domain.html">won an auction for the .book domain for $10 million in 2014</a>, despite protests from the publishing industry. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/future-of-retail-ai?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=ecommerce_ctgr_leadgen_future-of-retail-ai"></a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sommelier-best-wines-costco-target-trader-joes-bjs-ranking-2019-3">A sommelier compared 11 wines from Costco, Target, Trader Joe's, and BJ's - and the winner was clear</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Amazon and 8 South American countries have been battling over who gets to use the '.amazon' domain for 7 years

More than 24 people were killed and 25 injured after two trains, Kamayani Express and Janata Express, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=derail">derailed</a> while crossing a bridge over swollen Machal river in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=madhya+pradesh">Madhya Pradesh</a>. 
 
The incident happened at 11.30 pm on Tuesday when seven coaches of Kamayani Express, bound for Varanasi, and five bogies of Janata Express, bound for Mumbai, were crossing the bridge in Harda, some 160 km from Bhopal. 
 
The toll is expected to go further up. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=indian+railways">Railways</a> has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased, Rs 50,000 to grievously injured and Rs 25,000 to those with minor injuries. 
 
Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=shivraj+singh+chouhan">Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan</a> will visit the site later in the day. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nitish+Kumar">Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar</a> also condoled the deaths. 
 
"Seven bogies of Kamayani Express and engine plus three coaches of Janata Express were derailed between Khirkiya and Bhirangi stations near Harda. The mishap took place around 11.30 PM on Tuesday as base material of the tracks got washed away in heavy rains. Nearly 25 passengers suffered injuries," West Central Railway PRO Piyush Mathur told news agency PTI. 
 
Search operations have been launched and few coaches also fell in the river. Bhopal Railway PRO told PTI that more than 250 passengers were rescued so far. 
 
Meanwhile, Minister of State of Railways Ministry Manoj Sinha said it was not a manmade disaster but a natural calamity. 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prime+minister+narendra+modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</a> expressed sadness over the incident. 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	
		The two train accidents in Madhya Pradesh are deeply distressing. Deeply pained over the loss of lives. Condolences to families of deceased.
	— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/628751209222922241">August 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
 <keyword id="2985510" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Railways-Minister-Suresh-Prabhu">Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu</keyword> will make a detailed statement in the Parliament about the incident. 
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	
		Enquiry ordered,Ex gratia to be paid immediately.Flooding of tracks due to very heavy downpour.Will make detailed statement to parliament
	— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) <a href="https://twitter.com/sureshpprabhu/status/628751337094647808">August 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
The Railways has set up helpline numbers: Harda- 09752460088, Bhopal- 07554061609, Bina- 075802222, Itarsi- 0758422419200, Itarsi - 07572 241920, Danapur - 06115 232398, Varanasi - 0542 2504221, 2503814, Patna- 06122 206967.

You Searched For "ex gratia compensation" and got 4 results

EXCLUSIVE: OYO sends employees in India on leave without pay for 4 months and announces pay cuts for many

Sanchita Dash

Not for the faint-hearted: More CRPF jawans die of heart attacks than Naxal attacks

BI India Bureau

Amazon and 8 South American countries have been battling over who gets to use the '.amazon' domain for 7 years

Dennis Green

Flash floods derail two trains in MP, over 24 dead, 25 injured

BI India Bureau

You Searched For "ex gratia compensation" and got 4 results

EXCLUSIVE: OYO sends employees in India on leave without pay for 4 months and announces pay cuts for many

Sanchita Dash

​Not for the faint-hearted: More CRPF jawans die of heart attacks than Naxal attacks

BI India Bureau

Amazon and 8 South American countries have been battling over who gets to use the '.amazon' domain for 7 years

Dennis Green

Flash floods derail two trains in MP, over 24 dead, 25 injured

BI India Bureau

Not for the faint-hearted: More CRPF jawans die of heart attacks than Naxal attacks