📱 UPI in Sri Lanka

PLUS: India loves GenAI

Author

Ruchirr Sharma
May 17, 2024

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Good morning and happy Friyay. In a recent interview, Dua Lipa revealed that she consults an astrologer instead of a therapist, and Indian aunties around the world rejoiced 🙌 

A bit of history: The origins of Indian astrology can be traced back to the Vedic texts, particularly the Rigveda, which references astronomical observations and the calendar.

Astrology is significant in Indian culture due to its deep roots in history, religion, social practices, and psychology.

So in case you were wondering, today's horoscope suggests that Libra students will ace their exams, and newly married Cancerians might discover they're pregnant!

Plus, according to today’s planetary alignment, each one of you could get smarter in just 5 minutes every morning by clicking the subscribe button, and sharing this with a friend! 📚️🙇‍♂️

- Ruchrngd Sharma & Shatakshi Sharma  

📊 Markets

🇮🇳 India

Data as of market close on 16/5/2024

  • Indian indices Sensex and Nifty increased roughly 1%. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap also gained over 1% and 0.85%. Leaders included Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, and Tech Mahindra, while Maruti Suzuki, SBI, and Power Grid Corp fell. M&M, Hindustan Aeronautics, GAIL, and Info Edge reported strong Q4 earnings.

🌍️ International

Data as of market close on 16/5/2024

  • For the first time, the Dow Jones reached $40,000 due to hopes of Fed interest rate cuts. Despite this, U.S. indexes fell from record highs. The rally was led by Walmart and Boeing. Treasury yields rose slightly, benefiting stocks like Chubb from Buffett's investment. Chinese property stocks surged due to optimism about government housing plans.

India’s UPI use cases keep growing day by day. 

Indian travellers can now use PhonePe's UPI app to make quick and secure payments in Sri Lanka through a partnership with LankaPay, eliminating the hassle of converting currency or carrying excess cash.

How does it work? 

  • When an Indian uses PhonePe's UPI in Sri Lanka, the amount gets debited in Indian rupees while showing the exchange rate. 

  • The merchant receives the payment in Sri Lankan rupees. As of this writing, ₹1 equals approximately 3.6 Sri Lankan rupees.

Why now? 

  • India's UPI was rolled out in Sri Lanka and Mauritius on February 12th, 2024, in a virtual ceremony attended by PM Modi and the leaders of the two island nations.

  • For Sri Lanka, heavily reliant on tourism, this is a step towards economic recovery after its recent crisis.

  • Indian travellers also view it as an alternative hotspot to the Maldives amid strained India-Maldives ties.

Overall: With over 520 million registered users and 38 million merchants, PhonePe processes over 230 million transactions daily.

Its CEO highlighted the convenience this offers Indian travellers in Sri Lanka, with stakeholders from both sides lauding the unlocking of new opportunities through this digital collaboration.

Read more: Firstpost

Source: OECD AI

In case you weren’t aware, AI adoption is increasing at breakneck speeds around the world. 

According to a Deloitte survey of 11,900 individuals, India has emerged as the top adopter of generative AI among 13 countries in the Asia Pacific region. 

Here are some stats: 

  • The report, 'Generative AI in Asia Pacific,' found that 93% of students and 83% of employees in India are using GenAI tools.

  • The survey projects an 182% increase in daily GenAI usage over the next five years across the region.

  • While 75% of Indians believe GenAI can elevate Asia Pacific's role in the global economy, and 83% think it can “enhance social outcomes,” there's a disconnect: Only 50% of employees believe their managers know they use such tools.

  • GenAI could impact 17% of working hours, amounting to 1.1 billion hours per year.

  •  Indian users save around 7.85 hours per week using GenAI, which allows them to acquire new skills and improve their work-life balance by 41%.

Overall: While AI is slowly becoming a norm in our daily lives, businesses are lagging, with 75% of the surveyed businesses falling behind on GenAI adoption, according to their employees. 

Chris Lewin of Deloitte also warns that businesses failing to adapt will lose talent to rivals leveraging AI's potential to redefine modern work.

Looks like finding the optimal AI—non-AI balance is going to become critical…

Read more: Economic Times

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

🛬 No room for immigrants - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak posted a video highlighting steps his government has taken to reduce migration, including stopping foreign students from bringing family members to the country, with some exceptions. The 15-second clip shows Sunak stamping sheets of paper with the word "STOPPED" next to statements like "Foreign master's students bringing family members" and "Overseas care workers bringing family dependants." Sunak says in the post "We've taken action to reduce migration. Student dependant applications are now down by 80 per cent." These moves come after the UK announced a crackdown on immigration rules for overseas students and dependents amid a sharp rise in visas granted to families of sponsored students.

🫂 Ola Ride is going through a C-suite change - Ola's Chief Financial Officer Kartik Gupta stepped down just over two weeks after the exit of CEO Hemant Bakshi. Gupta's departure is part of an ongoing restructuring at Ola Mobility to strengthen cost structures, focus on growth, and increase profitability. He joined Ola in November 2023 after nearly 18 years at P&G, coinciding with Bakshi's tenure which started in September from Unilever. Bakshi's exit was preceded by Ola shuttering international operations and laying off around 200 employees.

📉 Women founders see a fall in funding - A new report by WinPe reveals a decline in venture capital funding for women-led startups in India, with female founders receiving just 9.3% of total funding in 2023, down from 14.7% in 2021. This trails behind Europe and the US, widening the gender disparity gap. The report highlights unconscious biases among investors, with women founders often facing questions about marriage and family commitments rather than business growth plans. While India has improved women's workforce participation, the funding gap persists, especially at growth stages. Only 18-20% of Indian startups and unicorns have women co-founders, suggesting more needs to be done to support and fund women entrepreneurs.

💰️ Weekly Wirings

Fundraising news from the world of Indian Startups 💸 

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

  • SRH vs GT: the match was abandoned due to rain. Leaderboard here.

  • NFL Chiefs player, Harrison Butker 'homemaker' speech sparks backlash.

  • US PGA Championship round one: Scheffler and Rahm on course after Schauffele and McIlroy go low.

  • Iga Swiatek downs Coco Gauff to reach the Italian Open final.

  • Leeds beat Norwich City 4-0 and advanced to the Championship finals.

  • No CAN(nes) do without Aishwarya Rai who wears a Falguni Saki Falguni Shane Peacock number.

  • Kartik Aaryan’s insane transformation unveiled in “Chandu Champion” second poster

  • Bridgerton season 3 part 1 is now out on Netflix - weekend binge is calling your name.

  • Billie Eilish’s new album Hard and Fast is out now.

And that’s all for today folks - have a lovely day and we’ll see you next week.