Escaping sex work with education; Salud’s off-beat brand marketing

Hello,

Mukesh Ambani is gearing up for Jio Financial Services’ listing on Indian bourses—the date for which is widely expected to be announced at Reliance's forthcoming annual general meeting.

In his message to shareholders, Ambani—Reliance Industries Chairman and MD—said Jio Financial Services is positioned uniquely to capture the growth opportunities in the financial services sector and play a crucial role in transforming the landscape of digital finance in India.

Meanwhile, ahead of its tentative IPO in 2024, two top executives of Ola Electric—Slokarth Dash (Head of Strategy and Planning) and Saurabh Sharda (Head of Growth and Corporate Affairs)—have resigned from the company. 

Watch: In this two-part series, Shradha Sharma and Bhavish Aggarwal discuss Ola Electric, the work culture in Ola, relationships with investors, cell technology, and more. Stay tuned for the second part!

In other news, after Swiggy decided to levy a platform fee of Rs 2 on all food orders, rival Zomato is also taking the same route. 

The foodtech major is rolling out a platform fee of Rs 2 per order to select users, saying it is a “small fee that helps us pay the bills so that we can keep Zomato running”. Zomato has not introduced the policy on Blinkit, its quick commerce platform.  

ICYMI: Here’s how much Indian startups raised in VC funding in the first week of August. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Escaping sex work with education
• Salud’s off-beat brand marketing
• Reviving Tamil Nadu’s dried-up wells

Here’s your trivia for today: What’s the name for a group of crows?

Social impact

Escaping sex work with education

The Bedia community has traditionally engaged in sex work, and young girls entered the profession with the consent of their community. It’s not uncommon for three generations of a family to become sex workers. 

To help the children of the Bedia community, Veerendra Mishra, an IPS officer from Madhya Pradesh, and his non-profit Samvedna are providing education to more than 5,500 children. 

Wind of change:

• While children of the Gujjar community were enrolled in school, only three to four children from the Bedia community attended, and that too, as children of Gujjars—not using their original name or identity.
• They were not allowed to sit with other students or drink water from the same place.
• Mishra, along with Samvedna, has worked with 5,500 children in 60 villages in six districts of Madhya Pradesh—Bhopal, Rajgarh, Guna, Raisen, Vidisha, and Sagar.

Wine and Food

Salud’s off-beat brand marketing

Bengaluru-based ready-to-drink and craft spirits brand Salud doesn't want to be yet another alcobev brand. As a startup that positions itself as an ‘urban lifestyle brand’ for the young, being cool is very much part of its DNA. 

For Ajay Shetty, this means expanding beyond ready-to-drink offerings and into merchandise, NFTs, and more.

Cool quotient:

• Salud launched a multitude of touchpoints from beverage offerings, fashion, music IP, and non-fungible tokens or NFTs—a feat that’s unique for brands in this sector. 
• Its merchandise collection has co-ord sets, crop tops, and shorts for men and women, that are available on its website and is priced between Rs 449-1499. 
• Salud’s NFT owners get 5% of the proceeds earned from clothing and merchandise sales. The NFT holders also get access to Salud Sessions–the music IP of the brand, which holds exclusive tracks by a range of homegrown and international artists. 

Environment

Reviving Tamil Nadu’s dried-up wells

Like most architects, Madhu Manjari was designing bungalows and farmhouses for an elite urban clientele. After working in architecture firms for three years, she realised that her heart lay elsewhere. In 2020, 27-year-old Manjari decided to leave architecture and turned to conservation. 

A volunteer at Cuckoo Forest School in Tamil Nadu, she is now part of a team that revives defunct public wells in villages with negligible access to water.

Saving wells

• As per government records, Tamil Nadu has only two districts–Ranipet and Kanchipuram–that have 100% tap water supply in rural households. 
• Manjari and her team of 15 volunteers at Cuckoo Forest School have revived at least 15 defunct public wells in villages across Tamil Nadu where access to water is negligible.   
• As part of the Public Well Revival Project, the team has restored wells in villages such as Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Dharmapuri, Erode, Krishnagiri, and Tiruchengode.

News & updates

• Livestream: Elon Musk said that his proposed cage fight with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg would be live-streamed on social media platform X, and all proceeds will go to charity for veterans. The social media moguls have been egging each other into a mixed martial arts cage match in Las Vegas since June.
• Come back: Google is hoping to lure workers back to the office with a new on-site hotel special, but some workers aren’t convinced it’s a good deal. The company said full-time employees can book a room at an on-campus hotel in Mountain View for $99 a night in what it’s deeming a “Summer Special”. 
• Bills: Elon Musk has said X, formerly known as Twitter, will pay the legal bills of anyone who is treated unfairly by their employer for their activity on the social media platform. On Sunday, Musk told users that financial assistance from the platform would have "no limits".

What’s the name for a group of crows?

Answer: A murder of crows. Based on old folk tales, superstitions, and mythology, there are likely several different explanations for the origin of the term murder of crows.

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