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From autos to taxis—Namma Yatri is making its way into India’s ride-hailing scene.

Backed by Juspay Technologies, the auto-booking app piloted its taxi service in Bengaluru and made a soft launch in Chennai. 

While sources say the official launch is due on Tuesday, April 16, no specific date was mentioned for Chennai, but it will be soon, they suggested. 

In other news, health insurance claim assistance platform ClaimBuddy raised $5 million in a Series A funding round led by Bharat Innovation Fund (BIF), and other marquee investors. 

Meanwhile, Meta wants to make its Gen AI-powered products available to more users—this time with Instagram. 

The social media giant is experimenting with Meta AI in the Instagram search bar for both chats with AI and content discovery, soon after it said it would test the Meta AI chatbot with users in certain countries, including India, on WhatsApp.

Elsewhere, Dungeons and Dragons will play at Madison Square Garden. 

To the uninitiated, Dropout’s D&D actual play show, Dimension 20, is getting close to selling out the venue just hours after tickets opened for the public to come and watch people play D&D.

ICYMI: Norway wants 26 hours a day. 

However, the bizarre idea seems at best fuzzy. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Abu Dhabi’s hidden destinations
• Weaving clothes with lotus
• Creating safe space for women travellers

Here’s your trivia for today: How many nations participated in the first Olympic Games in 1896?

Travel

Abu Dhabi’s hidden destinations

“Abu” is Arabic for father, while “Dhabi” is the Arabic word for gazelle. Abu Dhabi means Father of Gazelle, a name said to have been inspired by the abundance of gazelles and a folk tale.

Abu Dhabi may seem to be just another glittering city destination, but the capital of the UAE is brimming with culture, nature, and adventure. Here’s what you should not miss.

Gems:

• Louvre Abu Dhabi, a cultural beacon located on Saadiyat Island, was the result of a 2007 partnership for cultural exchange between the UAE and France. 
• Abu Dhabi’s best-kept secret may be the fact that it’s home to the largest falcon hospital in the world.
• At Yas Marina Circuit, live life in the fast lane by booking a driving experience with training from a pro, and test your mettle as your adrenaline races in a Formula 3000 racing car that goes to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. 

Women entrepreneur

Weaving clothes with lotus

Bijiyashanti Tongbram uses the abundant lotuses found in Loktak Lake near her home in Thanga village in Manipur to extract fibre from its stems. This is used to weave products like scarves, mufflers, stoles, and neckties.

“Mann Ki Baat changed my life forever. In less than 24 hours, whatever stock I had was completely sold out, and I was inundated with orders,” she tells HerStory.

Enterprising:

• Tongbram, a botanist by qualification, is the first in the country to extract fibre from lotus stems and weave them into different accessories.
• She had always been fascinated by the lotus flowers that grew in abundance in Loktak Lake. She recalls that a stray thought entered her mind—why not try using the lotus to make different products?
• The products are sold through the Sanajing Sana Thambal website and its Instagram page and are also customised according to requirements.

Leisure

Creating safe space for women travellers

Sometimes one finds themselves in a time warp—where living each moment and breathing its essence becomes paramount. This is exactly what one can experience during their visit to Seeking Slow farm stay near Naggar in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. 

The co-founder of the women-only homestay is Swati Seth, who is also the Founder and Creative Director of The Color Caravan—a slow clothing and textile brand rooted in indigenous crafts and communities. 

Safe haven:

• Over the last year, Seeking Slow has attracted women from cities across India, who are looking to go on a holiday without a plan, minus the safety concerns. 
• Typically, women travellers can be seen curling up and reading a book, admiring the mountainscapes, chatting away with fellow women exchanging their life experiences, or just basking in the love of the two resident dogs–Ollie and Chutki. 
• The homestay has five guest rooms and can accommodate 9-10 women travellers.

News & updates

• Craze: Western boots have a new protector in Beyoncé. The US country fashion staple’s sales surged more than 20% in the week after the music superstar released her “Cowboy Carter” album. That can spell good news for companies making the iconic shoes and other items that fit the same Wild West aesthetic.
• Downslide: Shares of Advanced Micro Devices and Intel dipped after The Wall Street Journal reported that China is ordering the country’s largest telecommunications carriers to cease the use of foreign chips. AMD closed down 4.2% at $163.28 while Intel fell 5.2% to $35.69.
• Obituary: Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, known for his animal-print designs loved by showbusiness stars, died at the age of 83. Cavalli, who founded his label in the early 1970s, had been ill for some time. He is survived by his six children and his partner Sandra Bergman Nilsson.

How many nations participated in the first Olympic Games in 1896?

Answer: 14. 

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