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Hello,

This is the year of ISRO. 

After successful missions of Chandrayaan 3 and Aditya L-1, India’s space agency successfully launched a test vehicle with payloads related to Gaganyaan, India’s ambitious human space flight programme.

Scientists simulated an abort situation for the Crew Escape System to carry the Crew Module out of the test vehicle, TV-D1, as they made a splash into the Bay of Bengal with planned precision.

More power to our scientists!

Meanwhile, a slew of Indian banks reported quarterly earnings. 

ICICI Bank reported a 35.8% increase in net profit for the July-September quarter buoyed by strong growth in core lending income and robust loan growth. Also, Yes Bank reported a 47% increase in quarterly net profit, helped by a drop in loan-loss provisions and healthy loan growth.

On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 24% increase in second-quarter net profit on the back of healthy core lending income and robust loan growth. Further, the RBI has approved the appointment of veteran banker Ashok Vaswani as Managing Director and CEO of the private lender.

ICYMI: Meet Pepper X—the hottest chilli pepper in the world.

According to Guinness World Records, Pepper X was rated at a super spicy average of 2.6 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), compared to his previous record with the Carolina Reaper (1.64 million SHU).

It’s getting hotter!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Experience Kuttanad at Coconut Lagoon
• Uncle Peter’s Pancakes spill the secret sauce
• Sharan Hegde on financial influencers

Here’s your trivia for today: Where does the festival of Halloween originate from?

Travel and Leisure

Experience Kuttanad at Coconut Lagoon

It’s said that luxury lies in simplicity, but at CGH Earth’s Coconut Lagoon, luxury lies in living amidst tranquil nature, with the only sounds coming from the chirping of birds and the rowing of boats. 

No two rooms are the same at the Coconut Lagoon, which was built on land reclaimed from coconut cultivation. This ecological resort in Kumarakom offers a glimpse into the culturally rich and tradition-laden Kerala way of life.

God’s own country:

• Opened to guests in 1993, Coconut Lagoon is nested in the cove of India’s longest lake, Vembanad, and overlooks a bird sanctuary. 
• Coconut Lagoon can only be reached by a boat from the hamlet of Kavanattinkara, which is a two-hour drive from the Kochi airport. 
• The heritage mansions at Coconut Lagoon are centuries-old tharavad—ancestral homes of Kerala’s aristocrats. Its structures are based on Thachu Shastra–ancient carpentry principles known for precision and intricate carvings. 

Wine and Food

Uncle Peter’s Pancakes spill the secret sauce

From five outlets in 2021 to 40 outlets until April 2023 across 15 cities in India, Uncle Peter’s Pancakes has made a name for itself in the category. In a conversation with YS Life, co-founders Akashdeep Dan and  Sundeep Singh tell us more about what sets their venture apart, their growth and expansion plans, and more. 

Sweet or savoury:

• The world of pancakes is endless when it comes to toppings and flavours. Plus, the category is not limited to dessert varieties; there’s a lot to experiment with savoury offerings. 
• While the look and feel of the product are premium, the price point at Uncle Peter’s Pancakes starts at Rs 149, making it accessible to the masses. 
• Its first international venture would be a 10-outlet initiative in Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh, which should be operational between January and February 2024.

Finance

Sharan Hegde on financial influencers

Leading financial influencer Sharan Hegde said the regulations around finfluencers that SEBI is set to introduce will not lead to significant disruption or end the role of financial influencers.

“Most people assume that SEBI has now come up with the report for finfluencers so finfluencers are over. But what it exactly says is that as an unregistered person with SEBI, I am not allowed to promote SEBI-regulated products, which are stocks and mutual funds.”

Key takeaways:

• He said that less than 1% of influencers do this and the rest largely advise people at a broader level.
• The financial influencer said that he welcomes the SEBI regulation as it brings credibility to the work done by influencers.
• Hedge, better known as Finance With Sharan online, has 2.3 million followers on Instagram, 2.2 million subscribers on YouTube, and 64,000 on Twitter.

News & updates

• Convert: Toyota and Lexus electric vehicles will adopt Tesla’s chargers starting in 2025. The top automaker by global sales, Toyota is the latest to back the North American Charging Standard (NACS), following Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Nissan, Mercedes, GM, and Ford, among others. 
• Departures: Blue Origin’s senior vice president of operations is leaving “for personal reasons,” according to an internal email seen by Reuters, the third executive departure to be disclosed in less than a month at Jeff Bezos’ space company as it aims to sharpen its competitive footing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
• Rival: Alibaba and Tencent are among the backers of Zhipu, an artificial intelligence startup the country is hoping can be an answer to American firm OpenAI. Zhipu has raised more than 2.5 billion Chinese yuan ($341 million) this year.

Where does the festival of Halloween originate from?

Answer: Ireland. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in what is now Ireland, the UK, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

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