Good morning. Last month, Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, announced that as a measure to cut costs, 12,000 employees, or 6 per cent of its total headcount, would be sacked. Now the Google layoffs reach Indian shores; the company fires 453 employees in India.

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close. Source.

Markets: The bulls took a breather in India's stock market, as the Sensex snapped its three-day winning streak and closed down by 317 points, with Nifty trading below the 18,000 mark. The bears took control as investors booked profits and concerns over rising bond yields persisted. Amidst the selloff, FMCG and IT stocks were among the few gainers. But don't lose hope just yet, with the possibility of a swift recovery, investors are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for a chai-break rally soon.

BUSINESS

Indian Tax Authorities Accuse BBC of Tax Evasion

💰 Indian tax authorities have accused the BBC of tax evasion, stating that it had not fully declared its income and profits from its operations in the country. The accusations come following three days of searches of the British broadcaster’s New Delhi and Mumbai offices, which ended on Thursday night. The opposition and other media organizations have criticized the searches as an attempt to intimidate the media.

The timing of the searches, coming weeks after the BBC aired a documentary in the UK that was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also raised questions. The documentary, “India: The Modi Question,” examined Modi’s role in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister at the time. Critics of Modi have questioned the timing of the raids. The leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, described the search of the BBC offices as an assault on freedom of the press under Modi’s government. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) denounced the government’s action as “attempts to clamp down on independent media.”

STARTUP

Prorata Car pioneers fractional luxury car ownership in India

Prorata Car, a Bangalore-based startup, is shaking up the luxury car market in India with its innovative approach to car ownership. The company is offering a fractional ownership model that allows customers to purchase a share in a luxury car, giving them access to the vehicle for a set number of days each year.

Fractional ownership is not a new concept, but Prorata Car is the first company to apply it to the luxury car market in India. The company believes that its model will appeal to a growing segment of Indian consumers who want the experience of driving a luxury car, without the high cost of ownership.

Fractional ownership model

Under Prorata Car's model, customers can purchase a share in a luxury car for a fraction of the cost of ownership. Each share entitles the owner to use the car for a set number of days each year, with additional days available for purchase. The company takes care of all the maintenance and upkeep of the vehicle, so owners don't have to worry about the hassle of ownership.

Benefits of fractional ownership

Prorata Car's model has several benefits for customers, including:

• Access to luxury cars at a fraction of the cost of ownership

• Flexibility to choose the number of days they want to use the car each year

• No worries about maintenance and upkeep

The company is currently offering fractional ownership of a range of luxury cars, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.

Looking to expand

Prorata Car has already gained traction in Bangalore and is now looking to expand to other cities in India. The company believes that its model will be particularly attractive to consumers in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai, where the luxury car market is growing rapidly.

OUTAGE

Disney+ Hotstar Apologizes for India-Australia Test Outage

🙏🏼 Disney+ Hotstar has apologized to cricket fans for a major outage that left users unable to stream the India-Australia test series. The cause of the outage is not yet known, but the platform has promised to investigate the issue and has offered refunds to affected users. The outage occurred on the second day of the test series, causing frustration among fans and criticism of the platform's poor performance.

FUNDING NEWS

• Venwiz, Bengaluru-based B2B SaaS startup, raises $8.3M in a Series A round

• FreshBus, Bangalore-based electric bus startup, raises Rs 26 crore investment from ixigo for intercity e-bus services

• Melvano, EdTech startup, raises Rs 1.3 Cr from Tyke for expansion into upskilling segment

• Cookr, Home food marketplace, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led

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