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Happy New Year!

It’s a brand new year brimming with fresh opportunities.

While it is easy to think of the year gone by as a pit of doom, thanks to the relentless negative news reports, there were several bright spots.

Among other developments, 2024 was a breakthrough year in the fight against HIV. And, after decades of research, two new malaria vaccines entered routine administration. 

It was also a remarkable year for renewable energy in India. The country has joined clean energy superpowers with installed capacity crossing 200 gigawatts and hopes to double investment to over $32 billion in 2025. 

As for India’s startup ecosystem, artificial intelligence unlocked new possibilities, and the momentum is likely to increase this year.

Also, in a preview of what’s likely to come in the global AI landscape, Chinese tech giant Alibaba slashed prices on its large language models by up to 85%. The price cuts demonstrate the race against time for AI companies to assert their dominance. 

Moving on, Bitcoin had a blistering run in 2024, with its price surpassing $100,000. So how far will it rise in 2025? According to the boldest prediction so far, a mind-boggling $200,000!

Lastly, if you are feeling upbeat about the year ahead, then you aren’t alone. According to a 33-country study, a majority of people–71%–believe that 2025 will be a better year than 2024. 

Here’s hoping for the best!

Cheers, Team YourStory

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• WhatsApp Pay gets a boost
• Building a personal care brand
• Women’s menstrual health in prison

Here’s your trivia for today: Which country is home to the colourful Rainbow Mountain?

Fintech

WhatsApp Pay gets a boost

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has removed the user onboarding limit for WhatsApp Pay, enabling the Meta-owned platform to provide UPI services to its 500-million-strong user base across India.

Key takeaways:

• Previously, WhatsApp Pay’s growth was restricted by phased user onboarding limits set by NPCI to address scalability, security, and performance concerns in the sensitive payments ecosystem.
• This development coincides with NPCI’s decision to extend the deadline for the UPI market cap compliance by an additional two years, a move that benefits Google Pay and PhonePe.
• As per the organisation’s directive from early 2021, no single UPI app is permitted to hold more than 30% of the total UPI payments market share.

Women entrepreneurs

Building a personal care brand

Inara Dhrolia’s early years in the Democratic Republic of Congo were spent watching her family espouse the lesson of “building the life you want”. Her parents, who migrated from India in pursuit of better opportunities, laid the foundation for a modest life that was also built on strong values of entrepreneurship. 

In 2022, responding to her father’s desire to diversify their business into a new domain, Inara co-founded Rivona Naturals, a personal care brand “rooted in Indian traditions and global sensibilities.” 

Essentials:

• Launching Rivona Naturals was both challenging and rewarding, says Inara. From day one, she says she prioritised not just quality and authenticity, but also creating products that were visually appealing. 
• Breaking into the personal care market, particularly its offline segment, was not easy. Inara highlights the gender biases she encountered, especially in an industry dominated by male decision-makers. 
• Unlike many startups, Rivona Naturals has chosen to remain self-funded, which allows Inara and her team to maintain complete control over the brand’s direction, she says.

Inspiration

Women’s menstrual health in prison

With an intent to give back to the world, Priyanshi Patel co-founded Karma Foundation in 2014. The Ahmedabad-based organisation works on community development, education, health, and women’s empowerment. 

In a unique partnership with Sabarmati Central Jail, the organisation has turned the prison unit into a symbol of empowerment and sustainability by training inmates to manufacture biodegradable sanitary pads. 

New hope:

• Prakash Puruhit, programme coordinator of the project at Sabarmati Central Jail, says when they first talked to the women inmates about menstruation, many covered their faces or walked away. 
• The team also found that the menstrual and reproductive health of these inmates was extremely poor. They resorted to using cloth in the absence of hygienic facilities such as enough toilets or clean water.
• The foundation has worked in rural areas, training young women in computer science, beautician courses and driving classes, along with imparting menstrual education. It replicated the model inside the jail as well. 

News & updates

• AI in dating: Match Group, the technology company with the world’s largest portfolio of dating platforms, has announced it is increasing investment in AI with new products coming in March 2025.
• Cyber hack: Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the US Treasury Department’s computer security guardrails and stole documents in what Treasury called a “major incident,” according to a letter to lawmakers that Treasury officials provided to Reuters.
• Technology: Samsung Electronics became the largest shareholder of South Korea’s Rainbow Robotics, the robotics company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Samsung, which had previously invested in the robotics company, newly took a 267 billion won ($181 million) stake, the filing said.

Which country is home to the colourful Rainbow Mountain?

Answer: Peru

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