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UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse has left many pieces to be picked.

While the Swiss authorities are probing the state-backed takeover of the bank to stop the spread of the banking crisis, UBS will now downsize its workforce by 20%-30%, eliminating as many as 36,000 jobs. 

Around one-third of the jobs will be culled in Switzerland alone.

Back home, the domestic passenger car industry recorded its best performance in FY23. Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Tata Motors recorded their highest-ever dispatches to dealers.

Also, foreign investors are showing interest in India again as they invested Rs 7,936 crore in Indian equities in March, mainly driven by bulk investment in the Adani Group companies by the US-based GQG Partners.

Meanwhile, a team of researchers from Bengaluru-based Raman Research Institute has discovered a secure quantum communication link can help India design and develop secure communication channels. The breakthrough can enhance cyber security and make online transactions and remote electronic voting much safer.

In other news, McDonald’s had announced the McFry burger—stuffed with fries—as an April Fools Day joke. But well…now foodies want it to become a permanent item on the menu! 

As they say, food is no joke!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• One-stop solution for women’s health
• Using fitness as a reward
• Improving living conditions in slums

Here’s your trivia for today: Ngerulmud is the world’s smallest capital city with a population of approximately 400. Which country does it belong to?

Startup

One-stop solution for women’s health

Inspired by Shark Tank, Richa Pendake was inspired to make a difference in women’s lives through entrepreneurship. In 2019, she founded Nutrizoe, a women’s nourishment company that solves for pregnancy issues, fertility problems, period cramps, and postpartum recovery.

Nutrition business:

• Nutrizoe offers nanotechnology-based oral strips for pregnancy nausea, period cramps, fertility, and healthy pregnancy.
• Its lactation bars Lactobites are made from Indian superfoods and a combination of galactagogue that helps naturally enhance milk supply. 
• Nutrizoe’s products are available on Amazon, Flipkart, FirstCry, and its website, and the prices vary between Rs 400 and Rs 3,000.

Startup

Using fitness as a reward

According to a Ken Research report, the UAE fitness market is expected to reach over $600 million by 2025. Neha and Ben Samuel tapped into this potential and started the Dubai-based fitness platform Fitze, where users can earn rewards for the steps they take.

Revisiting health:

• Fitze’s Fit on Click vertical acts as a bridge between corporates and other players like gyms and trainers. 
• The platform already had onboarded over 700 gyms and 800 trainers. It has over 100,000 users and has raised $1.5 million in funding.
• It is now looking at a D2C foray, beginning with Fitze Short a gamified version of its current app.

Social enterprise

Improving living conditions in slums

Sandhya Naidu Janardhan has made it her life’s mission to redesign settlements to provide better living conditions to dwellers. She founded Community Design Agency (CDA) design studio to work with marginalised communities and help them design better living quarters.

Building safe spaces:

• CDA has worked with 120 street vendors in Natwar Parekh Colony, Mumbai to help them organise spatially by redesigning their carts.
• The agency worked with 42 sex workers from Shevgaon in Maharashtra and helped them rebuild a safe workspace—Niramay Palace.
• So far, it has helped around 27,000 people across four projects in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmednagar, and Shevgaon.

News & updates

• Blue protest: After the White House, now New York Times says it will not pay a monthly fee to get verified check mark status on Twitter. The company recently said the $1,000 verification for the first 10,000 companies will be free.
• Doom loop: According to a report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, office workers staying home instead of commuting into the city could send San Francisco into a ‘doom loop’ and trap it into an economic death spiral. The city’s economic recovery is among the worst in the US.
• On the defence: China should accelerate legislation of the Financial Stability Law and improve other legal arrangements designed to prevent and dispose of financial risks, its central bank officials said. They added the financial authorities should supervise the financial institutions’ data accuracy.

Ngerulmud is the world’s smallest capital city with a population of approximately 400. Which country does it belong to?

Answer: Palau.

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