👩🏻 Inside Shubhamastu, priestesses-led collective

Start Your Day with YS Buzz: Your 8 AM Snapshot of Today's Top Startup News! 09 April 2024 [View in Browser]( Hello, It’s payday for BYJU’S employees. Two months after delaying salaries, the troubled edtech firm told employees it has begun [disbursing salaries]( for March, and the process will be completed over 10 days. It did so by obtaining an “alternative line of credit” after being barred from using proceeds from the rights issue. Also, its subsidiary Aakash Educational Services was finally able to fill the vacancy of CEO after a six-month wait. It has named ex-Pearson India executive [Deepak Mehrotra]( to the top post after Abhishek Maheshwari’s exit last year. Elsewhere, more capital is poised to flow into the Indian startup ecosystem. Mumbai-based [Filter Capital]( has made the final close of its maiden fund with a corpus of Rs 800 crore. It will focus on investing in Series B and C rounds in tech and SaaS startups expanding globally. Speaking of expansion, MakeMyTrip’s services are now available in [150 countries]( including the UK, the US, Germany, Japan, Italy, and France, for online travel bookings. In other news, audio wearable company boAt has been facing security concerns as the personal data of 7.5 million customers was reportedly leaked on the dark web, including names, email IDs, and phone numbers. [ICYMI:]( All that happened during the solar eclipse. And lastly, the heat is becoming unbearable for most of us. But Lucknow architect Anant Krishna has found a [sustainable way]( to keep his office cool. In today’s newsletter, we will talk about - Inside Kolkata-based Shubhamastu - Saving canines in Bengaluru - The Bharat opportunity Here’s your trivia for today: Which four countries have the highest mobile banking penetration in the world? --------------------------------------------------------------- Women stories Inside Kolkata-based Shubhamastu Chatterjee is among the 18 priestesses part of Shubhamastu, the Kolkata-based charitable trust, who conduct Hindu ceremonies of weddings, memorial services, and housewarming rituals, among others. Since its inception a decade ago, Shubhamastu has conducted innumerable ceremonies. The collective is led by priestesses Nandini Bhowmik, Ruma Roy, Semanti Banerjee, and Paulomi Chakraborty. Refining roles: - Shubhamastu’s guiding principle is that anyone with “profound knowledge, purity of soul, and the capability to educate the masses” can venture into the priesthood. It does not believe one must belong to a specific caste to be a priest. - It conducts wedding rituals in Sanskrit, Bengali, and English for everyone to understand, and performs Vedic hymns, accompanied by songs from various poets like Kazi Nazrul Islam, Atul Prasad Sen, and Rabindranath Tagore. - The collective abstains from performing the Kanyadan ceremony, as it strongly believes the bride should not be objectified as an element to be donated. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Funding Alert 1) Planys Technologies: Rs 43 Cr|Equity 2) Platinum Rx: $800,000|Seed --------------------------------------------------------------- Social Impact Saving canines in Bengaluru 2017, Haris Ali and Madhusmitha Sahu started the Sarvoham Animal Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to the welfare of street animals in a small room with 20 dogs. Over the last seven years, it has grown to shelter 2,500 animals. Cynophiles: - Data from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations and All Creatures Great and Small reveals that more than 4.9 lakh animals were subject to cruelty between 2010 and 2020. - Sarvoham is among the few animal shelters in the country to have quarantine units for dogs with critical infectious diseases such as canine distemper and parvovirus. - It has conducted over 800 animal birth control operations and administered anti-rabies vaccines to more than 2,200 animals in an effort to curb man-animal conflict. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Entrepreneurship The Bharat opportunity Capital, led by Nitin Agrawal, is a tech-led financing platform for rural small and medium enterprises (SMEs). India’s rural economy contributes about 50% to the GDP and supports nearly 65% of our population. In a podcast with Prime Venture Partners, Agrawal deep dives into the opportunities in rural India for startups and highlights how an entrepreneur can build for this segment. Key takeaways: - Agrawal believes the key to his success lies in his upbringing and the hustle culture his father embodied by working multiple jobs. - He agrees that the biggest change has happened because of the ‘JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar, and Mobile). - To identify problem areas, Agrawal says founders should go to the field, travel across, and deeply study what is not working. As an example, he says, banking is still not working, and there are several opportunities for startups to build and create large-scale impact. [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- From the CapTable RBI’s muted monetary policy: The calm before potential summer storm At the recently concluded Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)—the first of the new fiscal year—the country’s central bank played it simple and safe. It maintained the repo rate—the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the RBI—at 6.5% for the seventh consecutive time since April 2023, showcasing confidence in India’s current economic path. Its convictions are rooted in its projections, which forecast retail inflation of 4.5% for the year ending March 2025, coupled with an expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7%, reflecting robust economic prospects. The RBI’s prudent and restrained stance, though, will likely be put to the test in the coming few months. And its first real challenge will be to steer the economy through the churn caused by the upcoming national elections. Beyond this, with the country currently in the grip of a sweltering heat wave, the RBI may also have to prepare contingency measures for the chaos that climate change could wreak. Key Takeaways: - The RBI’s first monetary policy meeting of FY25 was a study in restraint and prudence - The central bank maintained the existing repo rate, indicating its satisfaction with the country’s economic trajectory - However, the RBI will have to remain vigilant and ready to take action as the upcoming national elections and the looming impact of climate change threaten to amplify inflationary pressures - Should the RBI navigate these challenges, though, its growing forex reserves coupled with a potential victory for the current government should make for a conducive economic environment [Continue Reading]( --------------------------------------------------------------- News & Updates - [Handover:]( Pegatron is in talks to hand over control of its iPhone manufacturing facility in India to Tata Group, marking the Taiwanese firm's latest scale-back of its Apple partnership. Tata plans to hold at least a 65% stake in a joint venture that will operate the plant, with Pegatron providing technical support and owning the remaining shares. - [Warnings:]( In his annual letter to shareholders, Jamie Dimon, Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, chose AI as the first topic in his update of issues facing the biggest US bank by assets—ahead of geopolitical risks, recent acquisitions, and regulatory matters. - [AI music:]( Spotify is bringing AI to playlist creation. The streaming music service on Monday introduced a new option called AI playlists in beta stage, which allows users to generate a playlist based on written prompts. It will initially become available on Android and iOS devices in the UK and Australia. Here's what else we have for you Do app stores have a sustainable business model? Experts confer at Indus Appstore launch In association with Indus Appstore Stay ahead in the digital game with insights from the Indus Appstore launch panel discussion! Learn about sustainable app store business models and the future of India's digital landscape. [Know More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Indian startup community backs PhonePe’s Indus Appstore In association with PhonePe’s Indus Appstore With a focus on language localisation, transparent approval processes, and inclusivity, the Indus Appstore is all set to revolutionise the way Indian consumers discover and access digital content. Want to know more about who turned up? Read now! [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- GenAI in focus: Strategies for enhanced business outcomes In association with Brio Technologies Hosted by Brio Technologies in association with YourStory, this roundtable discussion delved into the dynamics of GenAI, in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. Explore key insights and strategies from industry leaders on how this new-age technology can help to gain a competitive advantage. Read now to unlock its transformative potential in driving business success! [Read More]( Did you know? Which four countries have the highest mobile banking penetration in the world? Answer: Turkey, Nigeria, Indonesia, and South Korea. We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, [sign up here](. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our [Daily Capsule page here](. [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletters](