☕ FDI Galore; Truecaller IPO; GST vs. Swiggy/Zomato..and more

Get some ☕ and read on, the curated newsletter 'Chai' from NextBigWhat. [NextBigWhat]( NextBigWhat [@nextbigwhat]( Get some ☕ and read on, the curated newsletter ‘[Chai’]( from NextBigWhat. #Insight of the day. [Box's Aaron Levie on How to estimate (and Grow) a Market]( [Box's Aaron Levie on How to estimate (and Grow) a Market]( Never value a market by the size of legacy solutions or approach. If you do, you will wildly underestimate the potential opportunity. [nextbigwhat.com]( [Goldman Sachs is acquiring buy now, pay later fintech GreenSky for $2.2 billion]( Goldman Sachs is acquiring fintech lender GreenSky for $2.24 billion as the investment bank pushes further into consumer finance. GreenSky shares surged 53%. “We have been clear in our aspiration for Marcus to become the consumer banking platform of the future, and the acquisition of GreenSky advances this goal,” Goldman CEO David Solomon said in the release [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Microsoft accounts can now go fully passwordless]( Microsoft now lets you remove passwords from Microsoft accounts to embrace a passwordless future. “We have been rolling this out at Microsoft and nearly 100 percent of Microsoft is now passwordless,” says Jakkal. You’ll need to have the Microsoft Authenticator mobile app installed and linked to your personal Microsoft Account. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Covid Expected To Become Endemic In India In 6 Months [Health Body Chief]]( Covid will start becoming endemic in India in the next six months, a top expert has said, asserting that a new variant can’t alone bring a third wave of infections. Dr Singh said Covid becoming endemic would mean the infection becoming more manageable and easier on the health infrastructure. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Centre approves Rs 26,058 cr PLI scheme for auto, drone sectors]( - It is estimated that over a period of five years, the PLI scheme for the automobile and auto components industry will lead to fresh investment of over Rs 42,500 crore, incremental production of over Rs 2.3 lakh crore and will create additional employment opportunities of over 7.5 lakh jobs, Thakur said. - The PLI scheme for automobile and drone industries is part of the overall announcement of PLI schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22, with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [100% Foreign Direct Investment via automatic route in telecom, says government]( - The government has announced 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the telecom sector through the automatic route as part of its comprehensive package for the telecom sector. - Till date, up to 49 per cent was allowed through the automatic route and anything thereafter had to necessarily go through the government route. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [The fight for fiat currencies to remain relevant in the age of digital cryptocurrencies]( - Cryptocurrencies aren’t only private virtual assets like Bitcoin, Ether or Solana – any form of digitally transferrable currency secured using cryptography, usually using a blockchain or encrypted ledger that records all transactions made comes under the umbrella of cryptocurrencies. - As of mid-2021, 83 countries that represent most of the world economy, had shown interest in launching their own CBDC. The countries have different goals, ranging from simply complementing existing national currency to stay relevant, all the way to displacing and eliminating the appeal of decentralised cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [DRDO to manufacture oxygen generators with Godrej, 9 other cos]( - The Defence Research and Development Organisation has contracted 10 private sector players, including city-based Godrej & Boyce, to manufacture oxygen generators. - Godrej Precision Engineering, a unit of G&B, has received the order from the Defence Bio-engineering and Electromechanical Laboratory, a DRDO laboratory in Bengaluru, to manufacture oxygen generators, G&B said in a statement. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Truecaller targets to raise $116 Mn in Stockholm IPO]( - Swedish mobile phone directory and caller identification platform Truecaller is looking to raise around $116 million through a public listing on Nasdaq Stockholm. - The company on Wednesday said it was planning to list its Class B shares on Nasdaq Stockholm by the end of the fourth quarter of this year, depending on market conditions. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [MG Astor set to be India's first affordable car with level 2 autonomous driving]( - Set to go on sale from October, the MG Astor sits in the mid-sized SUV market and builds on the same platform as that of MG ZS EV with a loosely similar design and profile. - It packs plenty of tech inside, including level 2 autonomous driving technology, which is a first in the mid-sized SUV segment. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Bitcoin Mining generated as much e-waste as some countries last year]( - In a yet-to-be-published report by the journal of Resources, Conservation and Recycling estimates that e-waste generated by the Bitcoin network adds up to 30.7 metric kilotons annually as of May 2021, comparable to small IT and telecommunication equipment generated by a country like the Netherlands. - Energy used to mine Bitcoin in 2021 has already surpassed 67 TWh consumed during the entirety of 2020 and is expected to touch 91 TWh, or the equivalent of energy consumed by Pakistan. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Gaming Startup MPL Joins Unicorn Club With $2.3 Billion Valuation]( - MPL plans to use the funds to finance global expansion, invest in technology and strengthen its footprint in India, the world’s largest market for game downloads with an estimated 840 million installs in June. - Esports and skill gaming app Mobile Premier League has become India’s latest startup unicorn, raising funds at a $2.3 billion valuation in Series E financing. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [GST Council may consider bringing petrol, diesel under GST]( - The GST Council might on Friday consider taxing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products under the single national GST regime, a move that may require huge compromises by both central and state governments on the taxing these products. - In June, the Kerala High Court, based on a writ petition, had asked the GST Council to decide on bringing petrol and diesel within the goods and services tax ambit. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [GST Council may deliver a big blow to Swiggy, Zomato (will be asked to pay GST on restaurant services)]( - Online food-delivery operators such as Swiggy and Zomato may have to pay goods and services tax on restaurant services supplied through them. - Estimating GST losses of Rs 2,000 crore in 2019-20 and 2020-21, the fitment panel has recommended food aggregators be classified as e-commerce operators and pay GST on behalf of the restaurants concerned. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [SEC charges App Annie with securities fraud in $10 million settlement]( - App Annie will pay a $10 million settlement, according to the announcement, although the company has not admitted to any of the SEC’s findings. - According to the SEC, the company, which sells estimates on app downloads, usage and revenue, assured app businesses that the performance data they shared with App Annie would only be used in an anonymized way and run through an algorithm to generate performance estimates. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Zoom follows workers back to the office with a video booth]( Zoom Video Communications Inc. has teamed up with a maker of office phone booths to create a videoconferencing pod for offices, as part of its strategy to remain useful as workers begin to trickle back to the workplace. As employees head back to offices, Zoom has taken steps to diversify. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [In first, Elon Musk's SpaceX to send all-civilian crew into Earth orbit]( SpaceX is preparing to send the first all-civilian crew into Earth’s orbit Wednesday evening, capping a summer of private spaceflight with one of the most ambitious tourism missions to date. After a visit from SpaceX boss Elon Musk, the crew climbed into white Teslas to applause from a small crowd under sunny skies, and headed to the facility where they will don their spacesuits [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Blue-collar digital hiring startup Apna becomes a unicorn in just 15 months]( Apna, a digital hiring startup in India that connects millions of blue-collar workers to employers, reached a valuation of $1.1 billion with a new funding round led by Tiger Global Management. The startup reached unicorn status just 15 months after beginning full-scale operations, raising $100 million in a Series C round also joined by Owl Ventures LLC, Insight Partners Inc. and Sequoia Capital India. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( [Wells Fargo embraces multicloud with Microsoft, Google deals]( Wells Fargo & Co. unveiled a decadelong initiative to update its digital infrastructure in part by moving its workloads to cloud services from Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google-the latest large bank to make a significant bet on the public cloud. About 10 years from now, the goal is for all of Wells Fargo’s workloads to be on public clouds, said Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo’s head of technology. [chai.nextbigwhat.com]( Did you enjoy this issue? [Yes]( [No]( [NextBigWhat]( NextBigWhat [@nextbigwhat]( #ChaiNews: News over chai. Short and Crispy! If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Created with [Revue by Twitter](. Bangalore, India.