Good morning. It’s Earlybird, your daily carrier pigeon of all things business, tech, and startups. And you don’t even have to feed us stale bread.

In this edition:

• 🐦️ Twitter bans millions of Indian accounts

• 😬 Google’s $4.2B ad lawsuit

• 🍔 McDonalds closes its US offices

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close. Source.

• Markets: Nifty is expected to consolidate after a recent bull run, with an immediate target of 17,500 points, but investors should keep a close eye on the market's technical indicators as they navigate the choppy waters ahead. After all, in the Indian stock market, it's important to remember that what goes up must come down - but it might also go up again just as quickly!

TECH

6.80 lakh Twitter accounts banned in India within a month

🐦️ Twitter has banned over 6.80 lahk accounts in India in just one month, and for good reason. Here's what you need to know:

Why they got the boot

• According to Twitter, the majority of these accounts were suspended for violating the platform's content policies, particularly those around sexual exploitation.

• Meanwhile, 1,548 accounts were taken down for promoting acts of terrorism. Yikes.

• Of the mere 73 accounts that contested the ban, 27 were processed by the platform so far.

Why so stickless? According to the IT Rules 2021, all digital and social media platforms with more than 5 million users (places like Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook) must produce a monthly compliance report, hence the above banning frenzy.

BANKING

IBM spinoff slashes admin, HR, and marketing team in India

✂️ Oof. Kyndryl, the IT services company that had recently spun-off from IBM, has announced a massive round of job cuts in its India division. Here's what you need to know:

• Kyndryl has eliminated several roles including marketing, administration, and human resources. The exact number of terminated staff is undisclosed as of yet.

• According to sources, the corporation would provide terminated staff with 2 month’s pay as severance.

• Majority (i.e. 50%) of the 90,000 people are employed by Kyndryl worldwide are based in India.

Bottom line (literally). Kyndryl's job cuts in India are a reflection of the broader restructuring efforts underway at the company. “I am confident our bottom line will benefit from the value we’re creating for our customers, while better serving their mission-critical needs,” said CEO Martin Schroeter, after the termination results were posted.

ENERGY

Oil marketing companies get Rs 800 Cr to build charging stations

🔋Ah, the sweet irony. The Indian government has approved funding for oil marketing companies (OMCs) to set up electric vehicle charging stations across the country. Let’s break it down:

Specifics. Under the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme, the government has allocated Rs 800 crore ($108 million) to three OMCs to set up 7,432 public vehicle charging stations in the country.

Rationale and expectations. The move is expected to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in India by addressing one of the biggest barriers to entry: the lack of charging infrastructure. With this, the project is expected to wrap up in March 2024.

The future in mind. India has set ambitious targets for the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, with a goal of having 30% of all vehicles on the road electric by 2030. The funding for charging stations is a critical step in achieving this goal.

INDIA EDITION: WHAT ELSE IS ON THE BIRDWATCH

• 🛠️ Manufacturing in India sees 3-month high. India’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a 3-month high in March, fueling the country’s trajectory toward a global production hub.

• 🔫 Defense exports shoot higher than ever. India's defense exports have posted record growth, with a whopping 700% increase in the past four years, showing that the country's defense sector is no longer just a side dish but a main course in the global arms trade.

• 💸 Indian and Malaysia ditch dollar-based trade. India and Malaysia are breaking up with the US dollar, at least for settling their trade transactions, which will now be dealt in Indian rupees.

FUNDING DEALS

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

• DMI Finance, an Indian non-banking financial company, has raised a whopping $400M from MUFG Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank via an equity investment round.

• Avanti Finance, a financial solutions provider, has secured $24M in funding from Rabobank's investment arm and other investors to provide credit products to rural farmers in India.

• CometChat, an Indian user engagement platform, has raised Rs 40 crore in venture debt led by Zions Venture Fund. The new funds will help CometChat expand in both Europe and APAC with brand-new improvements to its offerings.

WORLD

Headline Explorer

🍔 McDonalds closes its US offices… for now. McDonald's has temporarily closed its offices in the US and is reportedly preparing to issue layoff notices, as the fast-food giant grapples with its current restructuring plan.

😬 Google’s $4.2B ad lawsuit. Google is facing a $4.2B advertising lawsuit, with the tech giant accused of abusing its dominant market position to inflate ad-tech revenue. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Google was slapped with a similar suit back in November of last year.

❄️ KPIT’s bad sentiment snowball. KPIT Technologies just saw its highest stock drop of 13% after being downgraded by JPMorgan to "underweight" with a potential downside of 44%.

Interested in advertising on Earlybird India?

Fill out this survey and we’ll get back to you!