Nurturing hope amid strife; The taste of Southeast Asia at home
Sisksharth's lesson plans using local tribal dialects are helping transform education for children. KOKO’s Tasting Thursdays featuring 30 Asian delicacies and 10 delicious cocktails take you to a new foreign land with each bite.
Hello,
How the mighty have fallen, especially on the stock market.
Indian shares posted their worst week in over two years on Friday as the conflict in the Middle East worried investors and foreign outflows rose.
The Nifty 50 index fell 0.93% to 25,014.6, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.98%. Both benchmarks were down about 4.5% each during the week—their worst since June 2022.
Nonetheless, rough seas make stronger sailors.
Hyundai Motor India is seeking a valuation of $19 billion for its IPO, expected this month, in what could be one of the biggest listings in Asia and India in recent years.
In other news, Meta and Mark Zuckerberg saw a few ups and downs on Friday.
The European Union’s top court ordered Meta to restrict the use of personal data harvested from Facebook for targeted advertising, backing privacy activist Max Schrems. The judgment could have major implications on the way Meta and other ad-funded social networks operate in the region.
Meanwhile, the Meta boss has surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest person.
ICYMI: Here’s what you can do with Meta’s new AI video editor—Movie Gen.
Lastly, if you think solving a regular Rubik’s Cube is no easy task, enter the world’s smallest Rubik’s Cube!
You’ll need a pair of tweezers to solve it!
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Nurturing hope amid strife
- The taste of Southeast Asia at home
Here’s your trivia for today: Which newspaper was founded in 1889 by Charles H. Dow and Edward Jones?
Education
Nurturing hope amid strife
In the Naxal-affected region of Sukma in Chhattisgarh, an area known more for its conflicts than celebrations, hundreds of children are transforming the community spirit through simple yet profound acts of kindness.
These traits have been inculcated in them thanks to the efforts of Siksharth, an organisation working tirelessly to restore and transform education for children in one of the most conflict-affected regions of the country.
Creating gentle childhoods:
- Founded in 2016, Siksharth is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering tribal children through contextual and culturally relevant education.
- At the heart of the team’s approach is the integration of the child’s language, culture, and context into the curriculum. From storytelling in tribal dialects to comic books based on local folklore, they made education relatable and empowering.
- Siksharth has now expanded its reach, working with 500 schools across Chhattisgarh and neighbouring states, like Odisha, where it has partnered with the state government to support residential schools through multilingual education.
Top Funding Deals of the Week
Startup: Mstack Chemicals
Amount: $40M
Round: Equity and debt
Startup:
Amount: Rs 100 Cr
Round: Debt
Startup:
Amount: $10.6M
Round: Series B
Wine and Food
The taste of Southeast Asia at home
Since its launch, KOKO has been innovating by launching new IPs—Sakura (referring to Japan’s famous cherry blossom) brunch on Sundays; Sushi Sake Samba parties every two to three weeks; and the newly launched Tasting Thursdays, which tells a story from Southeast Asia in every bite.
Weekend indulgences:
- The restaurant rotates two 30-item tasting menus every month to ensure there’s something new to try, transporting you to a new foreign land on every visit—from prawn tempura sushi to crystal jade dumplings and crispy pork belly.
- A dim sum cart goes around the restaurant at regular intervals, serving three portions of warm, sticky dim sum at tables. One can choose from truffle, water chestnut, and sweet pea; chilli prawn; truffle chicken; spicy poached; water chestnut and king chilli; or ask for a portion of each.
- The cocktail menu, featuring 10 concoctions, has something for every drinker—Deconstructed G&Ts, the smokey KOKO Master; the spicy Picante, and the Tom Yum Cup—a concoction of Absolut, Madeira wine, galangal, lemongrass, lime, Thai chilli syrup, and kaffir lime—the taste of Thailand in a glass!
News & updates
- Snacking: Temasek is in talks to buy a minority stake, from 10% to 15%, in Haldiram Snacks, a transaction that may value India’s biggest snack maker at about $11 billion. The investment may serve as a stepping stone towards a potential IPO of the company.
- Slowdown: Rivian would make fewer EVs this year than it did in 2023, resulting from a parts shortage. It expects to produce between 47,000 and 49,000 vehicles this year, down from the 57,000 it originally forecast.
- Settle: The National Stock Exchange of India has paid $76.5 million to settle a case related to unfair access to its algorithmic trading software. The settlement clears a hurdle in the public listing of the country's largest stock exchange, for which it had first applied in 2016.
Which newspaper was founded in 1889 by Charles H. Dow and Edward Jones?
Answer: The Wall Street Journal.
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