Towards a better work-life balance; Helping adults deal with the world

Hello,

Fear is the mind-killer.

Investors trembled in the crypto market after Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox—collapsed a decade ago—was poised to return billions of dollars worth of tokens to users. The world’s largest cryptocurrency slumped over 8% to just over $53,500 early yesterday.

The selling pressure also deflated Ether which was down 9%—a two-month low for the crypto.

While the decentralized currency is secured to make online transactions, it’s not protected from hacks. The amount of cryptocurrency stolen through hacks and network exploits more than doubled to $1.38 billion in the first six months of the year, according to the blockchain intelligence firm TRM.

Meanwhile, new entrants are charging up the Indian bourses.

Emcure Pharma’s IPO was subscribed nearly 68 times on the final day of bidding as investors bet on its slate of women’s healthcare and HIV treatments. Bain Capital sold nearly a third of its 13.07% stake in Emcure, with existing investors overall selling shares worth Rs 1,152 crore.

The ecosystem seems to be in the grip of an IPO fever.

Many analysts expect Reliance Jio Infocomm may be the next to opt for a public issue after leading the recent mobile tariff hikes and monetising its 5G business. 

Swiggy too is busy rolling out features like Eatlists, which allows users with indecision and help curate and share their favourite foods within its app. It is also reportedly beta-testing its UPI plug-in with Reliance and Juspay to reduce the reliance on third-party apps for payments.

Speaking of UPI, India has launched the payments gateway at Paris’ historic department store Galeries Lafayette after a successful launch at the iconic Eiffel Tower ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Scheduled to begin later this month, the Olympics will see an Indian teenager making waves. At just 14 years old, Dhinidhi Desinghu is set to make history as the youngest member of the Indian contingent.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Towards a better work-life balance
• Helping adults deal with the world
• How to cope with the loss of a pet

Here’s your trivia for today: The black door of Number 10 Downing Street, the home office of the UK's Prime Minister, was earlier what colour?

Future of work

Towards a better work-life balance

Both millennials and GenZ bring to the workplace distinct perspectives on work and life. While millennials prioritise career advancement, Gen Z values a balanced approach to life and work.  

How organisations navigate these differing perspectives, while framing workplace policies, has a bearing on employee well-being and productivity.

Harmony:

• According to a survey by Telus in 2024, over 42% of employees routinely feel exhausted and work excessive hours, while a 2021 survey by Microsoft found that 61% of employees feel pressured to be constantly available for work.
• This ‘always-on’ mentality, fuelled by technology, brews a perfect storm for imbalance. The consequences are severe: stress, burnout, fatigue, health problems, strained relationships, and decreased productivity.
• The rise of the ‘hustle culture’ in startups is also defining the work-centric approach of many millennials. 

<Top Funding Deals of the Week>

Startup: Purplle

Amount: Rs 1,000 Cr

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: OYO

Amount: Rs 416.85 Cr

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: Rare Rabbit

Amount: Rs 150 Cr

Round: Equity 

Inspiration

Helping adults deal with the world

Conceptualised in 2021, Delhi-based Project Phoenix grew into a comprehensive 10-month-long programme in 2022 and works with young adults in slums, children’s homes and red-light areas to break their intergenerational trauma and develop relevant skills to navigate the world. 

The project helps young adults from marginalised communities build skills like problem-solving, understanding their identity, and agency, among other concepts. 

Building lives:

• For the programme’s one-on-one trauma-informed therapy sessions, the project has partnered with an organisation, I AM Wellbeing, which provides therapists for the sessions.
• It uses experiential art forms, including dance, storytelling, theatre, and music, to provide the participants with a medium to cope with their emotions and build confidence. 
• Project Phoenix’s safety sessions consist of 10 curated sessions spanning over a year, equipping youths with essential insights and skills across various dimensions of safety.

Mindfulness 

How to cope with the loss of a pet

The pain of losing a pet can be debilitating and trigger several emotions that those without pets may not fully understand. While there's no fixed time frame to grieve the loss of a pet, it's important to start with baby steps to deal with the situation better, experts say. 

Healing hearts:

• Ruchi Ruuh, an independent counselling psychologist based in Delhi, advises pet owners to acknowledge and understand that it's normal to feel sad, angry or lonely. The idea is to never suppress any emotions and to cry it out whenever the need arises. 
• For some people, engaging in daily or weekly rituals that remind them of their pet can help. There’s no one right way of doing this—it could be lighting a candle or saying a prayer. 
• Also, it's important to honour the passing of the animal through a memorial or burial. This will help with a certain level of closure. 

News & updates

• Deceptivity activity: A hacker gained access to the internal messaging systems at OpenAI last year, NYT reported. The hacker also stole details about the design of the company's AI technologies, lifting details from discussions in an online forum.
• Great uptick: Samsung Electronics expects second-quarter operating profits to rise more than 15-fold on-year as chip prices bounce back and demand for generative AI continues to grow. The world's largest memory chip maker said in a regulatory filing that its April-June operating profits were expected to rise to $7.54 billion, up 1,452.2% YoY.
• Much to lose: Elon Musk's net worth has fallen more than any other billionaire in the world in the first six months of 2024, as per Forbes’ estimates. The Tesla boss' wealth has been shrinking following a Delaware judge’s decision to stop his Tesla compensation package then valued at $51 billion. 

The black door of Number 10 Downing Street, the home office of the UK's Prime Minister, was earlier what colour?

Answer: Yellow. It turned black due to centuries of air pollution before retaining that colour.

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