In Brief: Cult centres reopen in phases, JioMart pilots micro delivery services

Health and wellness startup Cure.fit on Monday said it has begun to reopen its Cult.fit centres in phases. The firm, which reopened 25 centres last month in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram, will allow users access to more physical centres from October 5, a statement said. Safety protocols, it said, include allotted workstations with sanitised equipment and touchless setups.

Since the Covid-19 lockdown in March, the Temasek-backed company has made several operational changes -- it completely pivoted to online classes, culled jobs, furloughed employees, reportedly shuttered a majority of Eat.fit’s operations, and spun the cloud kitchen vertical into a separate entity.

JioMart pilots micro delivery service in Bengaluru, Chennai

JioMart has begun piloting subscription-based morning deliveries of grocery items such as milk, eggs and bread in Bengaluru and Chennai, according to multiple media reports. The micro delivery space in the larger horizontal of online grocery delivery includes players such as Milkbasket, Swiggy’s Supr Daily and BigBasket’s BB Daily. The pilot will be expanded at a pan-India level by Diwali, an Economic Times report said on Monday, citing sources.

Flipkart, Paytm partner for festive season sale offers

Ecommerce marketplace Flipkart and digital payments platform provider Paytm on Monday said they have partnered to offer online payment-related benefits to customers during the former’s upcoming festive season sales. The partnership, a joint statement said, will enable Paytm users to pay through their Paytm Wallet and Paytm UPI while shopping on Flipkart for cashback offers. Paytm also operates an ecommerce marketplace of its own, Paytm Mall.

Padariya joins PayU India as CISO

Online payment solutions provider PayU India on Monday said it has appointed Prakash Padariya as its chief information security officer (CISO). He will lead PayU India’s security team, while ensuring alignment with PayU’s global security strategic initiatives, a statement said. Padariya, with over 17 years of experience in core information, cyber-security, and technology, has previously worked as the CISO at GE India Technology Centre, a statement said. 

Read: PayU India CTO Shantanu Preetam on technology priorities for 2020

CredR appoints new head of tech

CredR on Monday said that it has appointed Subas Hota as its new head of data science and technology, in a role to build the used two-wheeler marketplace’s data systems and technologies. Prior to the latest role, Hota was director of data engineering at Target retail, a statement said.

Sterlite Technologies finds new CFO in Mihir Modi

Pune-based fiber optic cable manufacturing company Sterlite Technologies on Monday said it has appointed Mihir Modi as its chief financial officer (CFO). The ISB alumnus, a statement said, has previously co-founded a digital media content company, led Zee Entertainment as chief business officer and CFO, worked at Ernst & Young, Novartis Pharma, and Godrej Consumer Products.