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BYJU’S Co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran broke his silence and addressed the issues surrounding the company in a town hall with employees.

Raveendran acknowledged the challenges faced by the firm and said the company is working to resolve the term loan B (TLB) dispute without court intervention. He also reassured his team that the departures of three board members were independent of Deloitte’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Meta is doubling down on popularising VR in India. Through The Presence Platform, it seeks to build an ecosystem of XR technologies in the country. It is also giving a $250,000 grant for homegrown startups and developers to build apps and experiences for the Meta Quest Platform.

Moving over to the markets, SEBI has approved reducing the IPO-listing timeline to three days. The market watchdog will also be finalising draft rules and guidelines to regulate unregistered financial influencers, or influencers, who offer investment advisors to the public.

ICYMI: Japan made the first steps towards regulating generative AI imagery. But it may favour copycats over artists.

Last but not least, join us for Gather & Grow: a SMB Connect Fair at the YourStory office in Bengaluru today to celebrate MSMEs with conversations and conversations.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Dr Trinetra on pride beyond June
• Simplifying event management
• Humble paan goes gourmet

Here’s your trivia for today: What is the largest desert in the world?

LGBTQ

Dr Trinetra on pride beyond June

Dr Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, Karnataka’s first transwoman doctor, was the subject of bullying right from school till she was in medical school. Today, the trans activist is a leading creator with over 2,59,000 followers on Instagram and 15,000 subscribers on YouTube.

“Corporates need to understand that queer and trans people are not this abstract concept to celebrate every June so that people think that they are inclusive,” she says.

Trans activism:

• At the medical school, Trinetra filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court asking for accommodation in hostels for queer and trans people.
• She believes that the Supreme Court’s judgment to include transpeople as part of the OBC category comes at a disadvantage because it also includes cisgender people.
• She is using her break from medicine to work on the mainstream representation of queer and transpeople besides her acting career. She will soon be featured on a web series on Amazon Prime Video.

Startup

Simplifying event management

Ticket 9 is a Coimbatore-based B2B startup which leverages technology to automate manual processes involved in organising events and streamlining the workflow. It is building SaaS products to help users create, manage, promote, and monetise events of all sizes. 

Startup growth: 

• Started with an investment of Rs 18 lakh (∼ $22,000) from the founders, Ticket9 made $23,000 in revenue in FY23.
• So far the startup has supported more than 270 events in both virtual and physical space. These include Rovers—International Sports Carnival and Coimbatore Badminton Champion.
• The company has captured 0.7% of the market so far and hopes to expand operations internationally to the UAE and Singapore. 

Food and beverages

Humble paan goes gourmet

Times have changed for the paan. While earlier consumed on occasions and through Ayurvedic practices, businesses such as The Betel Leaf Co or US-based Mr Paanwala are working hard to end paan’s association with nicotine and tobacco, and giving its image and buying experience a hygienic and family-friendly facelift.

Reinventing paan:

• Chef Simran Singh Thapar at The Leela Palace, Bengaluru includes paan in his creation Paan Patte Ki Chaat—a type of crispy betel leaf fritter.
• The Betel Leaf Co makes its own in-house chutneys to be used inside the dessert paan, allowing the team to keep a check on the calorie count.
• Paan Casa has expanded its portfolio to serve dessert paans–KitKat Crunch and 5Star Crunch, meetha (or sweet) paan shakes, 24Ct Gold paan, DIY-options, and paan shakes.

News & updates

• E-currency: A total of 130 countries representing 98% of the global economy are now exploring digital versions of their currencies, with almost half in advanced development, pilot or launch stages, a study by the US-based think tank Atlantic Council showed. All G20 countries with the exception of Argentina were now in one of those advanced phases.
• Economic growth: US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said he would expect to continue with a slower pace of interest rate increases after interest rates weren’t hiked in June. However, he did not rule out a return to back-to-back rate moves.
• AI focus: Oracle Founder and Chairman Larry Ellison said the company is spending on chips from Nvidia as it expands a cloud computing service targeting a new wave of AI. It has focused on building fast networks that can shuffle around the huge amount of data needed to create AI systems similar to ChatGPT.

What you should watch out for

• Deadline to link PAN with Aadhar number.
• The Rs 567-crore IPO of ideaForge Technology will conclude today.

What is the largest desert in the world?

Answer: The Antarctic Polar Desert. It is larger than the combined size of the Gobi Desert, the Arabian Desert, and the Sahara Desert.

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