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Hello,

Mission aborted!

California-based SpaceX has delayed its new Starship rocket’s first uncrewed test flight due to a pressurisation issue. 

It was set to blast off from the company’s Texas facility, but the mission has been postponed for at least 48 hours. If successful, Elon Musk’s Starship would be Earth’s most powerful launch vehicle.

Closer home, domestic indices closed in the red on Monday—after rallying for 9 days—thanks to IT stocks taking a beating amid lacklustre Q4 earnings by TCS and Infosys. While BSE Sensex was down by more than 520 points, ending the day at 59,910.75, Nifty50 fell 121 points to 17,706.85.

In other news, the Indian Railways registered a growth of 25% in FY23, reporting record revenue of Rs 2.40 lakh crore. Freight revenue, too, saw a growth of nearly 15%. 

Lastly, with AI taking over the headlines, our social media, and life as we know it, here’s a quick guide by Time to the A to Z of artificial intelligence.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Blinkit’s delivery partners go on strike
• Razorpay forms new advisory board
• Quick coffee at affordable rates

Here’s your trivia for today: Who was the first tightrope walker to cross the Niagara Gorge?

Quick commerce

Blinkit’s delivery partners go on strike

Blinkit, Zomato’s grocery delivery arm, is facing a blow from its delivery partners, who have been on strike for the third day after the company changed its payout system. Further, a few of its dark stores in Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida have reportedly been shut down permanently.

10-min delivery halts: 

• Last week, Blinkit revised its commission system from Rs 25 per delivery (plus Rs 7 during peak hours) to a Rs 15 per delivery minimum fee, along with a distance-based component. 
• More than 2,500 protesting workers met Gurugram Deputy Labour Commissioner Dinesh Kumar and submitted five demands. Representatives of Blinkit were also present at the meeting. 
• A Blinkit spokesperson said that almost all stores across NCR are now operational, adding, “We continue to engage with all delivery partners to help them understand the new payout structure.”

Fintech

Razorpay forms new advisory board

Razorpay has roped in former RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan and HDB Financial Services Chairman and former MD at State Bank of India Arijit Basu to lead its newly-formed advisory board, which aims to assist the fintech develop long-term strategies, anticipating challenges and suggesting mitigation measures, especially in the context of regulatory compliance.

Big shots on board:

• The founding independent members of the board also include retired civil servants Aruna Sundararajan, former Secretary, Ministries of Steel, IT, and Telecom, GoI (Member), and K P Krishnan, former Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Member). 
• The council will help contribute to the development of Razorpay’s payment infrastructure and help engage with key institutions and stakeholders. 
• Razorpay came under the regulatory scanner four months ago, after the company—along with Cashfree—was asked to stop onboarding new merchants until it received its payment aggregator licence and submitted audit reports of its system. 

Startup

Quick coffee at affordable rates

A cappuccino or latte can cost you anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 350, and sometimes even more, making speciality coffee an expensive proposition in India. Entrepreneur Abhijeet Anand wants to change this with abCoffee, a chain of tech-enabled outlets offering affordable speciality-grade coffee. 

A cuppa to-go:

• abCoffee offers speciality coffees at one-third the price of coffee available at other coffee chains.
• The startup’s approach is based on the QSR model, which helps maintain wastage at less than 1% and keep prices low. 
• With a customer retention rate of 69%, it has an ARR of Rs 1.8 crore, with 80% of revenue from takeaways and deliveries. 

News & updates

• Most growth: China will be the top contributor to global growth over the next five years, with its share set to be double that of the US, according to the IMF. The nation’s slice of global gross domestic product expansion is expected to represent 22.6% of total world growth through 2028.
• Levelling up: Japanese gaming giant Sega has made a $776 million offer for the maker of the Angry Birds puzzle game, Rovio Entertainment Oyj. The deal would be for the entirety of the Finland-based company’s outstanding shares and options. Rovio’s board is in support of the offer.
• Potential deal: Activist investor Trillium Capital said Getty Images Holdings should expand and create partnerships with technology firms and publishers to grow its revenue. Last week, Trillium asked Getty for a board seat and urged the company to evaluate strategic options, including a sale.

Who was the first tightrope walker to cross the Niagara Gorge?

Answer: French tightrope walker and acrobat Jean François Gravelet in 1859. He did this eight times that year, including once when he carried his manager Harry Colcord on his back.

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