Good morning. It’s Monday again (we know). To perk you up, we come bearing a cherry-picked selection of Indian business, tech, and startup news, fresh from the garden.

In this edition:

• 🛳️ Free trade between India and the EU

• ♿️ Pimped out rides for PWDs

• ⌚️ Will the Apple Watch be banned?

MARKETS: WEEK-TO-DATE

*Stock data as of market close. Source.

• Markets: In an absolute rollercoaster of a week, Indian markets declined by 2.5% due to FII selling and concerns over the Fed's outcome. However, like a true champ, the rupee managed to recover and put up a fight against the dollar.

TRADE

Scholz is all in for free trade with India

Germany's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, has vowed to push for a free trade agreement between India and the European Union. Scholz met with India's finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, at a G20 meeting in New Delhi, where they discussed trade relations between the two nations.

India and EU have been discussing a free trade agreement for over a decade, but negotiations have been slow due to several obstacles. However, Scholz's commitment to the deal has renewed hopes for a breakthrough.

What's the big deal? A free trade agreement between India and the EU could have significant benefits for both parties. Here's why:

• Boosting trade: The agreement could increase trade between India and the EU, which is currently valued at around €100 billion.

• Creating jobs: Increased trade could lead to job creation in both India and the EU.

• Reducing tariffs: The agreement could eliminate tariffs on goods and services, making them more affordable for consumers.

• Improving relations: The agreement could strengthen ties between India and the EU, leading to more cooperation on issues such as climate change and security.

Challenges ahead

Despite the potential benefits, there are still several challenges to overcome before a free trade agreement can be reached, including:\

• Intellectual property: India and the EU have differing views on intellectual property rights, which could be a major sticking point.

• Agriculture: The EU heavily subsidizes its agricultural sector, which could put Indian farmers at a disadvantage.

• Regulatory barriers: There are several regulatory barriers that need to be addressed, such as different standards for product safety and labeling.

➡️ Bottom line. Scholz's commitment to a free trade agreement between India and the EU is a positive development, but there are still significant challenges to overcome. Nevertheless, a successful agreement could have significant benefits for both parties.

WORKFORCE

Air India boarding 5,100 new crew in latest hiring spree

Air India is taking off on a hiring spree to boost its manpower, with plans to recruit 5,100 crew members this year, including 4,200 cabin crew and 900 pilots. The national carrier has already hired 1,900 cabin crew and 285 pilots since last April, after Tata Group took the helm early last year.

💪 Building the fleet. Cabin crew candidates will be selected from across the country and undergo a 15-week training program. Meanwhile, aspiring pilots will have to go through a rigorous selection process before they get to fly the friendly skies.

✈️ Air India’s new wings. Following the Tata Group takeover, the conglomerate recently placed a firm order for 470 shiny new airplanes.

🧭 Navigating the path forward. The aviation industry has been one of the hardest-hit sectors during the pandemic, and Air India's hiring plans signal optimism for the future. With increased demand for air travel and a growing fleet, Air India is ready to soar to new heights.

TECH

Boosted wheelchairs might just leave you in the dust

♿️ An Odia engineer has brought a game-changing invention to the mobility industry, developing a wheelchair that can transform into an electronic vehicle (EV) in a matter of minutes. Swastik Saurav Das, an IIT-Madras alumnus, co-developed NeoFly and NeoBolt, India's first indigenous motorised wheelchair, making street mobility easier for wheelchair users.

Behind the Scenes

• NeoFly is a wheelchair customized to the body type of a person with locomotor disability, while NeoBolt is a motor-powered clip-on that can convert NeoFly into a safe, roadworthy vehicle.

• With a single charge, NeoBolt can travel up to 30 km on city roads, and NeoFly covers three to five times more distance with every push.

• The invention was developed at the TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (TTK R2D2) of the IIT-Madras, where Swastik worked under the guidance of Dr Sujatha Srinivasan to design and develop assistive devices.

🛼 Rolling out. The wheelchair is now available for purchase, and the team is working on further refining the design and functionality of the product. The ultimate goal is to make the motorized wheelchair widely available and accessible to people with disabilities worldwide.

INDIA EDITION: WHAT ELSE IS ON THE BIRDWATCH

• 🔋5x demand on LI batteries. Recent studies project a 5-fold surge in the demand for lithium batteries, carrying an estimated CAGR of 12% within the next decade.

• ✈️ IndiGo planes struggle to take off. Looks like IndiGo, the Indian airline known for its signature indigo-colored planes, is facing some turbulence as it grapples with over 50 of its planes being grounded due to various technical issues.

• ⚛️ IOC looks to hydrogen power. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has announced its plan to establish green hydrogen plants at all its refineries, as part of its efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2046, with a budget of Rs. 2 lakh crore.

FUNDING DEALS

Catch up on the Indian funding flows from the past 24hrs:

• 👔 Getwork, the recruitment startup that's on a mission to make job hunting a cakewalk, has just secured Rs. 7 crore in funding from Artha Ventures Fund and Samarthya

• 🖥️ Chronicle, an Indian presentation software startup, has raised a seed haul of $7.5M to accelerate growth and take on competitors in the industry.

• 🔋TI Clean Mobility, a Chennai-based member of the Murugappa Group, is accelerating its electric vehicle vision by raising a whopping Rs. 3000 crore towards India's EV industry.
  

WORLD

Headline Explorer

🐦️ Twitter layoff continues. Twitter has reportedly laid off at least 50 employees on Saturday as part of its ongoing restructuring plan. Sources point to reductions in the company’s engineering teams, although representatives have declined to comment on the matter.

🤖 The robots are taking over. According to a recent survey of 1,000 businesses, AI implements such as ChatGPT, are already replacing human workers in a move to increase efficiency and cut costs.

🍎Apple's biosensor is in the hot seat. Apple may soon be feeling the pulse of an extensive legal battle as the Biden administration declines to veto an International Trade Commission (ITC) import ban on its high-end Apple Watch models. The drama comes after the ITC ruled in favor of California startup AliveCor, who claimed Apple infringed on their wearable heart monitoring technology.

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