A collective voice for animal welfare; Indigo invests in Sarla Aviation

Hello,

IT services firm Wipro has reported a 1.9% year-on-year decline in net profit for the fourth quarter of FY26, even as it announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback programme.

Net profit stood at Rs 3,502 crore, down from Rs 3,570 crore in the same period last year, but rose 12.2% sequentially compared to the third quarter of FY26.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed that Google allow third-party ​search engines to access its search data, including that of artificial ‌intelligence chatbots with search functionalities, to comply with the Digital Markets Act, the commission said on Thursday.

Clare Kelly, Google's senior competition counsel, said the tech giant would ​fight against the measures, which it said overreached and would jeopardise ​users’ privacy. 

In other news, the University of Liverpool and IISc Bengaluru have launched a joint seed fund for early-stage research in AI, health, space, and more, signalling a shift in UK-India academic ties from intent to targeted, funded collaboration.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• A collective voice for animal welfare
• Indigo invests in Sarla Aviation
• Ola Krutrim’s AI assistant goes offline

Here’s your trivia for today: Before co-founding Nvidia in 1993, at which company did Jensen Huang work as a microprocessor designer?

Animal Rights

A collective voice for animal welfare

Bharati Ramachandran, CEO of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), discusses the state of the animal welfare movement in India and highlights that, while the country has a strong cultural ethos of compassion and a reasonably robust legal framework for animal protection, the real challenge lies in implementation. 

Key takeaways: 

• Under her leadership, the FIAPO has focused on building a collaborative movement, supporting grassroots organisations, scaling humane interventions like Animal Birth Control programmes, and encouraging citizen participation.
• FIAPO’s first active push is for a specific legal provision to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence against animals. The second is to get the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) to record crimes against animals.
• It is also coordinating with NGOs and citizen groups, supporting community-led initiatives and promoting a “One Health” approach linking animal welfare with human and environmental wellbeing. 

Funding

Indigo invests in Sarla Aviation

India’s biggest airline, IndiGo, has picked up an equity stake worth Rs 10 crore in Accel-backed air-taxi startup, Sarla Aviation, according to regulatory filings.

Key takeaways: 

• Sarla Aviation, founded in 2023, is building electric air taxis (Shunya) and plans a commercial launch in Bengaluru by 2028.
• The startup has raised about $13.4 million so far, including a round led by Accel and Nikhil Kamath, to fund product development and scale operations.
• After its failed partnership with Archer Aviation, IndiGo is now taking a more measured approach by backing a domestic startup with a smaller, early-stage investment instead of a large external tie-up.

Artificial Inteligence

Ola Krutrim’s AI assistant goes offline

Kruti, the consumer-facing AI assistant from Ola’s AI arm Krutrim, has gone offline across platforms, with the company citing maintenance, raising fresh questions about execution as it pursues an ambitious full-stack AI play. Kruti is meant to be Krutrim’s consumer face. Launched in June last year, it was presented as an agentic AI assistant, a tool that does not just chat but can also carry out tasks. 

News & updates

• Social Media: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged social media platforms including Meta, Google, TikTok, Snap, and X to take real responsibility for children’s safety, warning social media is putting them at risk and demanding concrete action.
• Layoffs: Snap Inc. is planning to lay off 16% of its workforce, around 1,000 employees, citing “rapid advancements in artificial intelligence,” the social media company said in an internal memo to staff.

Before co-founding Nvidia in 1993, at which company did Jensen Huang work as a microprocessor designer?

Answer: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail [email protected]. 

If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our Daily Capsule page here.