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In the last 48 hours, the news of GoMechanic’s financial impropriety has ignited a discourse on the responsibilities and obligations of investors in maintaining regulatory compliance for the companies in their portfolios.

The Bengaluru-based startup, last valued at $300 million in January 2021, is now in freefall after revelations it had inflated its revenue numbers in pursuit of a fresh round of funding. 

The layoff saga continues, and the latest to join the trend is Big Tech Alphabet. 

The parent company of Google plans to cut roughly 12,000 jobs or 6% of its workforce worldwide, affecting teams across recruiting and some corporate functions, and engineering and products teams.

Food delivery major Swiggy also laid off 380 members of its 6,000-strong workforce. Meanwhile, Moneycontrol reported that San Fransisco-based Hubilo also laid off nearly 35% of its workforce, around 115 employees. Both companies cited ‘restructuring exercise’ as the main reason for the job cuts. 

ICYMI: Pizza Hut is bringing back its “big New Yorker” pizza in style while also setting a record!

After that sumptuous pizza, if you feel like taking a nap, this quaint hotel allows you to sleep in two countries at the same time.  

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Mohandas Pai wants Budget to make bold moves
• Journey off the map with Breakaway
• Hard Rock Cafe reopens in Delhi

Here’s your trivia for today: Yodelling is a musical tradition from which country?

Budget 2023

Mohandas Pai wants Budget to make bold moves

Aarin Capital Co-founder TV Mohandas Pai thinks India should leverage buoyant tax collections and increase its capital expenditure to spur growth and consumption in the economy. The upcoming Union Budget 2023-24 can serve as a great opportunity to tackle taxes.

Key suggestions:

• Income tax slabs should be expanded to soften the impact of rising fuel prices and interest rates.
• Surcharge on the income of HNIs should be removed, which will incentivise them to remain in the country.
• ESOPs of unlisted companies should be taxed only at the point of sale.

Travel

Journey off the map with Breakaway

Founded in 2011, Breakaway offers arts, crafts, and textile immersions, ranging from day-long workshops to week-long trails led by some of the respected names in their fields. It was born out of Jaypore Co-founder Shilpa Sharma’s love for solo travel and her interest in craft and textiles.

Unique experiences:

• Breakaway offers plantation tours, social sector interactions, bespoke itineraries, pet vacations, solo travels for women, and sabbaticals.
• Its ‘Beyond the Brochure’ offering enables travellers to go beyond bucket-list experiences and helps them step out of their comfort zone.
• Its ‘State on a Plate’ feature enables experiencing a state’s cuisine through different communities.

Food & Beverages

Hard Rock Cafe reopens in Delhi

Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) is known for its legendary burgers, handcrafted cocktails, and live music. After enthralling Delhiites for years, and then breaking many hearts when it closed, HRC is making a comeback in Delhi—that too in the city’s heart, at Connaught Place.

Food and music:

• The outlet spans 6,254 square feet, and is greeted by world-renowned Rock Shop that offers an unmatched shopping experience for collectors and fans.
• The menu has a great selection of Signature Steak Burgers series, mouthwatering Specialty Entrees, and Bar Bites, as well as salads, sandwiches, and desserts.
• Surf n Turf burger is one of their signature steak burgers topped with their One Night in Bangkok shrimps, on a bed of spicy slaw and served with chipotle aioli on the side.

News & updates

• Making profits: Reliance Industries posted a larger-than-expected quarterly profit as its consumer units offset the weakness in its traditional petrochemicals business. India’s largest company by market value also secured approval to raise as much as $2.5 billion via bonds in one or more tranches.
• Crypto fallout: The lending unit of crypto firm Genesis Global Capital filed for US bankruptcy protection, owing creditors at least $3.4 billion, after being toppled by a market rout along with the likes of exchange FTX and lender BlockFi. 
• Quordle M&A: Merriam-Webster, the Encyclopædia Britannica subsidiary best known for its online dictionary, has acquired a popular Wordle clone called Quordle. Quordle, for its part, builds on the basic Wordle concept, except there are four five-letter words to guess at once, with just nine tries. 

Yodelling is a musical tradition from which country?

Answer: Switzerland

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