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Hello Reader,

It’s a brand-new high! On Thursday, the BSE Sensex rose 900 points to hit an intraday record high of 62,412.33 points, closing at 62,272.68 points. The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended the day at 18,484.10, shy of just over 100 points from its lifetime high of 18,604 seen last October.

Elsewhere, record lows were seen. Bloomberg reported that One97 Communications, operator of fintech giant Paytm, capped the worst first-year share plunge among large IPOs over the past decade. The company’s stock lost 75% of its market value just one year after its $2.4 billion offering, the largest on record at the time in India.

Here’s a look at how top Indian startups have fared on the bourses in the past one year (comparison until November 22, 2022).

Lastly, a study into the behavioural patterns of bumblebees we didn’t think we needed…but we do.

Turns out, they are playful and may actually have feelings!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Back to office? Not everyone on board
• Making terracotta art mainstream
• CoinDCX publishes Proof of Reserves

Here’s your trivia for today: Which is the only country to have played in every FIFA World Cup to date?

Future of work

Back to office? Not everyone on board

From in-house training programmes and get-togethers to food coupons, employers are using several methods to lure employees back into the office. But, are workers ready?

Tug of war:

• According to a Slack research report, based on responses from 2,000 Indian knowledge workers from organisations with 100+ employees, 54% employees across industries prefer working entirely on-site. 
• Some companies are afflicted by ‘productivity paranoia’—wherein there is a stark disparity between how much people say they are working and how much leaders think they are working. 
• In the long run, working from home is not a solution for career progression, caution experts.

Funding Alert

Startup: indiagold 

Amount: $22M

Round: Series A

Startup: Koo 

Amount: $6M

Round: Undisclosed

Startup: RapidBox 

Amount: $4.5M

Round: Series A

Ecommerce

Making terracotta art mainstream

Trance Terra employs tribal folk from Maharashtra to make handcrafted terracotta products and sells their creations through its online marketplace—from cookware such as casseroles and fruit baskets to wall lights.

Key takeaways:

• It started with an initial sale of Rs 2,400 in the first month of its launch and now rakes in Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per month. The company aims to record sales worth Rs 1.2 crore over 2023.
• Every terracotta product goes through a multi-step process that can take 10-12 days.
• When it comes to marketing, Trance Terra employs a combination of online and offline media promotions.

Cryptocurrency

CoinDCX publishes Proof of Reserves

In the wake of the FTX meltdown, Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX published a list of its on-chain and off-chain balances, as part of its Proof of Reserves report. 

Balancing cheques

• As per the balances on the Nansen—a blockchain analytics platform—dashboard, CoinDCX held over $129 million in crypto assets.
• It holds over $68 million on Binance through its spot trading and interest-earning services.
• Around $55.6 million is held in its own wallet, and around $5.8 million on Polygon staking pools.

News & updates

• To the rescue: Crypto billionaire Changpeng “CZ” Zhao further outlined his plans to backstop the stricken industry, pledging to amass at least $1 billion for buying distressed assets and saying Binance will make another bid for bankrupt lender Voyager Digital.
• Better conditions: Southeast Asian tech giants Grab and Gojek said they are “supportive” of recommendations made by an advisory committee to expand gig worker protection in Singapore starting in 2024, including offering injury compensation and CPF contributions to these self-employed workers.
• In the reverse: Ford Motor is recalling 634,000 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) worldwide over fire risks from possible cracked fuel injectors and will urge owners to have their cars inspected. The recall covers 2020-2023 model year Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs with 3 cylinder, 1.5 litre engines.

Which is the only country to have played in every FIVA World Cup to date?

Answer: Brazil

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