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RBI governor Shaktikanta Das thinks cryptocurrencies should be banned.

At a recent event, Das said that the next financial crisis will be caused by private cryptocurrencies if these assets are allowed to grow. “Cryptocurrencies have… huge inherent risks for our macroeconomic and financial stability,” he said, pointing to the recent collapse of FTX as an example. 

In other news, edtech unicorn BYJU’S denied allegations of purchasing phone numbers of children and their parents and threatening them that their future would be ruined if they don’t buy its courses. 

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s jet stalker has a new home…sort of. After Jack Sweeney’s ElonJet Twitter bot was suspended, a new subreddit—r/ElonJetTracker—was launched. And the subreddit is growing rapidly with over 214,000 subscribers. 

Throwback 2022: Here are the best space photographs of 2022.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Need better EV policies: Chetan Maini
• A hybrid future awaits edtech 
• Will the SaaS sector sail through in 2023?

Here’s your trivia for today: When was the first accurate photographic image of a solar eclipse recorded? 

Electric vehicle

Need better EV policies: Chetan Maini

From the days of two-seater Reva to today, Sun Mobility Co-founder and Chairman Chetan Maini believes there has been a radical shift in the government’s attitude towards the EV space. 

However, he thinks the regulators need to adopt different policies to align with the industry as more EV players keep sprouting up with newer technologies.

Core issues:

• Standardisation of EV batteries will impede innovation and the government should let the market forces decide.
• Subsidies may not be the most effective solution as they may incentivise one EV technology over another.
• The government should prioritise creating standards around the safety of electric vehicles.

Edtech

A hybrid future awaits edtech

The past year has been turbulent for edtech companies with the sector witnessing a 39% drop in fundraising post pandemic boom. With the resumption of offline learning, more than 8,000 employees in the sector were laid off—2,500 by BYJU’S alone. Now, startups are forced to adopt a hybrid model to stay afloat.

Changing times:

• Edtech startups are exploring new segments outside K-12. Unacademy and Simplilearn are exploring job-focused platforms while PhysicsWallah (PW) is expanding its upskilling vertical.
• Players like BYJU’S, Unacademy, Vedantu, and PW have entered the offline space while offline players are adopting online tools.
• Imarticus Learning CEO Nikhil Barshikar believes investors will bet on higher education and upskilling companies in 2023.

SaaS

Will the SaaS sector sail through in 2023?

The Indian SaaS (software-as-a-service) industry thrived in 2022, with more than $4.9 billion being raised in the first 11 months alone. However, amid unfavourable macroeconomic conditions, there are gloomy days ahead as companies resort to cost-cutting measures and investors hold back on their purses.

Mixed bag:

• Hiring pauses and layoffs have plagued the sector. NASDAQ-listed Freshworks let go of 90 employees while Chargebee laid off 10% of its workforce.
• Sales cycles have become longer by 20-30% as inflationary pressures have led to a decrease in cloud spending.
• A YourStory dipstick survey reveals a lowering of growth projections in 2023 but companies with strong fundamentals will sail through.

News & updates

• Massive drop: Media, which for investors spans a broad range of activities from film production to advertising to cable television, has been among the hardest-hit sectors in what is set to be the worst year for global equities since the financial crisis.
• Succession plans: Billionaire Elon Musk said he will step down as chief executive of Twitter once he finds a replacement, but will still run some key divisions of the social media platform. “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” he wrote on Twitter.
• Dangerous waves: The tsunami of COVID-19 that’s taking hold across China is spurring concern that a dangerous new variant could emerge for the first time in more than a year, just as genetic sequencing to catch such a threat is dwindling.

When was the first accurate photographic image of a solar eclipse recorded?

Answer: On July 28, 1851, by Julius Berkowski in Prussia.

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