Boosting exports for MSMEs

Hello,

Once upon a time, Disney+ Hotstar ruled the roost. Then came JioCinema. 

If you have been missing your favourite HBO shows since their removal from Disney+ Hotstar, rest easy now. On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 announced an exclusive, multi-year agreement, making JioCinema the new home for all HBO content starting next month.

This includes all fan favourites including Succession, Game of Thrones and its successor (but prequel) House of the Dragon, as well as Warner Bros content like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, and Max Originals. At the moment, some Max Original shows are available on Amazon Prime Video but that will soon change.  Warner Bros. Discovery can no longer offer these titles to other Indian rival OTT platforms, making JioCinema “the house of Warner, HBO” in the country, as per a Reuters report.

Last year, Viacom18 dealt a deadly blow to Disney+ Hotstar after it won the digital streaming rights to the Indian Premier League. Now, with this broadcasting deal, JioCinema is gearing up to also compete against streaming giants Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Elsewhere, hospitality unicorn Oyo turned cashflow positive for the first time in the last quarter of FY23, Founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal told employees during a virtual town hall meeting. In a presentation, he said that OYO is expected to clock an adjusted EBITDA of nearly Rs 800 crore for FY24.

In other news, big tech earnings continue to impress as Facebook parent Meta reported its first revenue growth after three quarters, even as its net profit fell by 24%. The company issued an optimistic outlook for the next quarter and Founder-CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasised that the “two major technological waves” driving Meta’s roadmap are “a huge AI wave today" and "a building metaverse wave for the future”.

Lastly, an in-depth look at the history, geography, science, and art behind chess pieces.

Spoiler alert: It all started in the Indian subcontinent in the seventh century.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Boosting exports for MSMEs
• FAME II subsidies don't add up
• Giving artisans their rightful due

Here’s your trivia for today: What is the Great Sphinx of Giza made of?

Policy

Boosting exports for MSMEs

With the new Foreign Trade Policy, which was announced on March 31, the government is attempting to address the issues faced by MSMEs and help them access the global market. The government strives to increase MSMEs’ export contribution to $2 trillion by 2030.

Salient features:

• The government plans to take forward the Districts as Export Hubs initiative under which each district will become a unique export hub.
• The policy aims to decentralise export promotion and give states the freedom to build institutional processes at both the state and the district levels.
• District-level promotional events, such as buyer-seller meets, trade fairs, and workshops, will be held to considerably boost the discoverability of products.

Funding Alert

Startup: QuickReply.ai

Amount: $1.14M

Round: Seed

Startup: Aksum

Amount: $1M

Round: Pre-Series A

Startup: Louis Stitch

Amount: Rs 5 Cr

Round: Pre-Series A

Mobility

FAME II subsidies don't add up

The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said in a note that the Ministry of Heavy Industries has incorrectly stated that it has subsidised a million electric two-wheelers to abide by its April 2023 target. The EV industry body said the government's disclosure is a result of a "serious accounting error".

Cover up:

• The SMEV said the ministry's figures on FAME II targets are "incongruous and patently disingenuous" as they include sales that were not funded under the scheme.
• It said last week that the government owes nearly Rs 1,200 crore worth of subsidies to original equipment manufacturers.
• Of the 9.6 lakh electric two-wheelers that were sold between April 2019 and April 2023, vehicle makers haven't received reimbursement for the subsidy component for 4.5 lakh EVs.

Social Enterprise

Giving artisans their rightful due

While at Kala Raksha, a Gujarat-based NGO that promotes local art, Noopur Kumari and Nilesh Priyadarshi realised that artists often don't get their rightful due. They started Kaarigar Clinic as a social enterprise with a focus on capacity building and building a marketplace for artisans.

Capacity building:

• Kaarigar Clinic’s current cohort comprises 25 artisan entrepreneurs, who in turn, impact 5,000 other artisans.
• They started working with Rabari on design and skill development, production, and marketing and established pabiben.com, which is now a popular global brand.
• The company aims to impact 1,000 other artisans who can provide livelihoods to others in the ecosystem through different communities.

News & updates

• Cost cutting: Gap will lay off about 1,800 employees as part of a broad effort to cut costs and streamline operations. The layoffs will affect roles at Gap’s headquarter locations along with upper field positions, or workers such as regional store leaders who hold leadership titles outside of a headquarter office.
• Forgive & forget: New York and other state attorneys general waited too long to sue Meta Platforms over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, a federal appeals court ruled, upholding the dismissal of their antitrust suit. 
• Bank breaking: Singapore raised levies on private property purchases in a surprise move to cool the market, including a doubling of stamp duties for foreigners to 60%. The hike in duties is one of the harshest tightening moves in the market in a long time.

What is the Great Sphinx of Giza made of?

Answer: Limestone.

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