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A $125-million hit for TCS.

India’s largest technology services exporter will have to make a provision for $125 million in its third-quarter results after the United States Supreme Court rejected its petition to file an appeal against a lower court’s order asking to pay punitive damages to EPIC Systems in a patent infringement case.

Elsewhere, Mukesh Ambani announced an additional investment of Rs 20,000 crore in West Bengal over the next three years in areas of digital life solutions, retail, and bio-energy. This brings Reliance Industries’ investment close to Rs 45,000 crore in the last few years in the state.

Speaking of investments, Schneider Electric has set up a battery lab for about $1.7 million (around Rs 14 crore) in Bengaluru to carry out research and development (R&D) work for sustainable energy solutions.

ICYMI: The science of death.

Lastly, turns out Reddit is the best place for authentic product reviews as subreddits that are filled with enthusiasts dish out the real tea about whatever you are looking to buy—no financial incentive necessary.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• BYJU’S in trouble with ED
• Entrepreneurs headlining TechSparks Delhi
• Clovia’s FY23 loss widens 54% YoY

Here’s your trivia for today: What Asian country is known as the “Pearl of the Orient Seas”?

Edtech

BYJU’S in trouble with ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly found violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) amounting to Rs 9,362 crore by troubled edtech company BYJU’S. The ED has been examining BYJU’S’ compliance with the FEMA since 2011. 

In April, the ED conducted searches at three Bengaluru locations associated with BYJU’S, resulting in the seizure of “various incriminating documents and digital data,” the ED had said

Trouble in paradise:

• The ED has issued show cause notices to BYJU’S parent Think & Learn Pvt Ltd and Byju Raveendran.
• Raveendran told shareholders that the edtech company is in compliance with FEMA guidelines. BYJU’S chief added that “one of India’s largest” law firms had conducted due diligence.
• Also, its former employees have alleged that the company has failed to meet the deadline for full and final settlement of laid-off workers.

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Image credit: Sharath Ravishankar

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Funding Alert

Startup: Scapia

Amount: $23M

Round: Series A

Startup: Kiwi

Amount: $13M

Round: Series A

Startup: Baaz Bikes

Amount: $8M

Round: Series A

TechSparks

Meet the entrepreneurs headlining TechSparks Delhi

The first-ever Delhi edition of India’s most influential startup-tech event, TechSparks, is all set to welcome the finest of India’s technocrats and serve up yet another stunning line-up of speakers this year.  

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar will talk about the recently passed Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the need for addressing issues like deepfakes.

Line-up:

• Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm, will talk about his recently announced fund to Invest in AI and EV startups.
• Priyanka Gill will open up about the business of content as she has built POPxo to grow to over 50 million MAUs while her influencer management platform Plixxo serves 150K influencers.
• Ankit Mehta will map the role of unmanned aerial vehicles. Today, his startup ideaForge releases one drone every five minutes for surveillance and mapping. 

Ecommerce

Clovia’s FY23 loss widens 54% YoY

Lingerie retailer Clovia posted a 70% increase in net profit to Rs 291.71 crore in the financial year ended March 2023, up from Rs 171.16 crore earned in the previous fiscal year. However, the Reliance Retail-backed venture’s net loss widened nearly 54% to Rs 80.93 crore from Rs 52.22 crore in the year-ago period, bogged down by increasing expenses.

Key points:

• FY23 was Clovia’s first financial reporting year after Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) acquired an 89% stake in its parent Purple Panda Fashions Pvt Ltd in March 2022.
• The company’s total expenditure surged 68% to Rs 376.44 crore compared with FY22, with employee benefit expenses rising 121% YoY.
• Other expenses—the biggest cost centre for Clovia—stood at Rs 213.16 crore against Rs 117.63 crore last year.

News & updates

• Dissatisfied customers: Elon Musk promised cheaper, better, even “revolutionary” auto insurance after Tesla started losing sales because of high premiums. However, understaffing left some customers waiting weeks or months for compensation as they continued making payments on crashed cars.
• No place like home: India’s travel landscape is changing as the country emerges as a powerhouse in the tourism sector. But most Indians are travelling domestically—not overseas. Indian travellers took 1.7 billion leisure trips in 2022 but most never left the country.
• Potential comeback: OpenAI’s investors are still trying to return co-founder Sam Altman to a leadership role, and Microsoft has signalled that it wouldn’t oppose such an outcome. Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures and Tiger Global Management are looking to protect their investment after the OpenAI board forced out Altman on Friday.

What Asian country is known as the “Pearl of the Orient Seas”?

Answer: The Philippines

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