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Switzerland and India have reached a consensus on a free-trade agreement after 16 years of negotiations, Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said, reports Bloomberg. According to the minister, the agreement “will create jobs for the young population of India, and secure employment in Switzerland.”

In other news, foreign investors adopted a cautious approach in January, offloading domestic equities worth Rs 13,000 crore in the first three weeks owing to high valuations of Indian stocks and surging US bond yields.  Foreign investors, however,  are bullish on the debt market and injected Rs 15,647 crore in the debt market during the period under review.

And, to propel economic growth, the government is likely to maintain its momentum on increasing capital expenditure, especially for the infrastructure sector in the upcoming interim Budget. 

ICYMI: Artificial intelligence (AI) was the star of Samsung’s Unpacked event. 

The new phones– S24 Ultra, S24 Plus, and S24–run local and cloud-based AI applications powered by tech like Google Gemini (a competitor for OpenAI’s GPT-4 large language model). The phones have new AI-based video and photo editing tools, too, including a new feature that fills in the missing frames of photos and videos. 

Samsung also gave a sneak peek of its smart ring!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Pavestone Capital’s bet on B2B tech startups 
• Providing hope to inmates via a jute company

Here’s your trivia for today: Which country has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites?

Venture capital

Pavestone Capital’s bet on B2B tech startups 

Hyderabad-headquartered venture capital firm Pavestone Capital is keen to back B2B (business-to-business) tech startups that are creating products with global applicability.

While SaaS startups in the country have software products that cater to the requirements of small and medium enterprises primarily, there aren’t too many product startups that address large enterprises. This is an exciting new and emerging market that Pavestone Capital is looking to put its money in.

Thesis:

• Pavestone Capital was founded in 2021 by Sridhar Rampalli, Srikanth V J Tanikella, and Laxmikanth V, who come with considerable experience in the domains of technology, finance and scaling businesses.
• The VC firm has so far made investments in three startups—E42, NewSpace Research & Technologies, and Bellatrix Aerospace. They fit into Pavestone’s criteria as they have recurring revenue and serve large enterprise customers.
• According to Rampalli, Pavestone is interested in only those startups that are clocking revenue of $1 million to $1.5 million, as the firm’s expertise lies in scaling the business.

Inspiration

A jute startup for inmates 

In 2016, Chaitali Das began the “Jute Story Beyond Bars” project to provide rehabilitation and livelihood opportunities for inmates and other underprivileged women. By 2021, it evolved into a full-blown startup–Root to Jute.

Key takeaways:

• Das collaborated with the National Jute Board of India (NJB) to provide training to the inmates. 
• The 45-day-long training programme was first conducted at the Dum Dum Central Correctional Home. Later, the training sessions were held at Alipore Central Jail and the Presidency Correctional Home.
• So far, Das and her team have trained 2,000 inmates and 15,000 underprivileged women in and around Kolkata to produce jute products. 

News & updates

• Appointment: Manchester United has appointed Omar Berrada as its new chief executive officer, the club said in a statement on Saturday. Berrada’s start date will be confirmed in due course, while Patrick Stewart will continue as interim CEO, the statement added.
• Heatwave: Large swaths of Australia sweltered again on Sunday through a widening heatwave, which the national weather forecaster said raised the bushfire risk in an already high-risk fire season as the country endures an El Nino weather pattern.
• Zombie virus: Humanity is facing a bizarre new pandemic threat, scientists have warned. Ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by Earth’s warming climate and unleash a major disease outbreak, they say.

What you should watch out for

• Bilateral meeting: French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to arrive in Jaipur on January 25 for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day ahead of the 75th Republic Day celebrations which he has been invited as the chief guest this year. 
• Quarterly results: Investors will keep a close eye on quarterly results, especially of the following companies: Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coforge, Colgate-Palmolive (India), Havells India, Pidilite Industries, CEAT, DLF, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, TVS Motor Company, Cipla, JSW Steel, and SBI Life Insurance Company. 

Which country has the most UNESCO World Heritage sites?

Answer: Italy. The country has 59 world heritage sites, followed by China with 57.

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