Additionally within the letter:
■ Klarna IPO opens doorways for fintechs
■ Ant’s AI breakthrough
■ Kunal Kamra vs Bhavish Aggarwal
Funds physique writes to PMO, seeks return of MDR on UPI for big retailers, RuPay debit playing cards
The Funds Council of India (PCI), the trade physique for cost firms, has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) requesting the reintroduction of the service provider low cost fee (MDR) on funds processed by way of Unified Funds Interface and RuPay debit playing cards.
Driving the information: In a letter to the Prime Minister, the digital funds trade has referred to as for MDR to be reinstated for big retailers. PCI has additionally sought a gathering with the Prime Minister to current its case.
Additionally Learn: UPI incentive of Rs 1,500 crore ‘insufficient’ to sustain digital payment ecosystem: PCI
Getting the context: On March 21, the federal government issued a gazette notification asserting a Rs 1,500 crore subsidy for banks to assist UPI funds on small retailers. Nevertheless, the trade had anticipated a subsidy of Rs 5,500 crore for the present fiscal yr, elevating considerations over the monetary sustainability of the digital funds trade.
Additionally Learn: To ease financial squeeze, fintechs mull seeking MDR restoration or higher subsidy
Go deeper: The federal government had beforehand moved UPI and RuPay debit card transactions to a zero MDR regime to speed up digital funds adoption. Whereas UPI has witnessed exponential progress, industry insiders have told us that the adoption of RuPay debit playing cards has stagnated. Within the letter, the PCI said that the funds ecosystem incurs an annual price of roughly Rs 10,000 crore to maintain digital transactions.
Free speech champion Elon Musk’s X suspends Turkey opposition accounts amid nationwide protests
Elon Musk’s social media platform X has suspended multiple opposition accounts in Turkey amid the continued civil unrest.
What’s occurring:
- Protests erupted throughout Turkey following the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul and a key opposition determine, regardless of the federal government’s four-day ban on public gatherings.
- In accordance with Yusuf Can, an analyst on the Wilson Heart’s Center East Program, a lot of the suspended accounts belonged to “grassroots activists”. These accounts, with small followings, have been sharing protest places, notably close to universities, the place college students have been mobilising.
In response, the Turkish authorities sought the suspension of sure accounts, citing a 2022 regulation that grants authorities broad powers to suppress on-line content material.
Musk, who regularly claims to be a “free speech absolutist,” now faces criticism for permitting these suspensions, elevating questions on his dedication to free expression.
Additionally Learn: Elon Musk’s X sues union government over alleged censorship and IT Act violations
Contradictory case: In August 2024, Musk refused to take away accounts that Brazilian Supreme Courtroom choose Alexandre de Morae claimed threatened the nation’s democracy. In consequence, X was blocked in Brazil.
Klarna IPO submitting spurs hope of British fintech listings
Swedish big Klarna’s upcoming US itemizing could help pave the way for British fintech IPOs following a sluggish interval for brand spanking new tech listings from the nation, consultants mentioned.
On the bourses: Stockholm-headquartered Klarna, identified for its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) merchandise, filed papers to go public on the New York Inventory Alternate this month, marking its second IPO try in 4 years.
The corporate noticed a valuation surge from $5.5 billion to $45.6 billion throughout three funding rounds and deliberate an IPO in 2021. Nevertheless, rising rates of interest and a broader macroeconomic slowdown shifted investor funding, main the corporate to cut back its valuation to $6.7 billion in a 2022 funding spherical.
Ready within the wings: UK-based banks Monzo and Starling and funds firms Zilch and Ebury are contemplating plans to record quickly.
“The Klarna IPO shall be a major second for the fintech sector and will set the stage for larger investor confidence in European fintechs going public,” Philip Belamant, CEO of Zilch, informed Reuters.
Again house: On March 20, we reported that funding exercise in India’s fintech sector is choosing up, with growth-stage offers already attracting over $550 million of capital in 2025, in keeping with Enterprise Intelligence information. For context, 2023 and 2024 noticed $1.3 billion every in fintech funding.
Additionally Learn: Stock broking startup Groww in talks for IPO valuing it at $6-8 billion: sources
Jack Ma-backed Ant touts AI breakthrough constructed on Chinese language chips
Ant, backed by Jack Ma, utilised Chinese-made semiconductors to create strategies for coaching AI fashions, probably chopping prices by 20%.
Inform me extra:
- The corporate used home chips from Alibaba and Huawei Applied sciences to coach fashions utilizing the Combination of Specialists machine-learning method.
- Sources informed Bloomberg that the outcomes are akin to these achieved with Nvidia’s H800 chips, that are at the moment barred from China.
- Whereas Ant nonetheless makes use of Nvidia for some AI improvement, it now primarily depends on alternate options reminiscent of Superior Micro Units (AMD) and Chinese language-made chips for its newest fashions.
AI race: The transfer locations Ant in direct competitors with Chinese language and US tech corporations following startup DeepSeek’s current demonstration that AI fashions will be educated for a fraction of the price of OpenAI and Google’s multi-billion-dollar investments.
Additionally Learn: DeepSeek’s disruption triggers AI race in China as Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba ramp up efforts
Fractal Analytics pitches for India’s first giant reasoning mannequin
Mumbai-based AI agency Fractal Analytics has proposed building India’s first large reasoning model (LRM), in search of authorities funding to assist the initiative.
Proposal particulars:
- Fractal plans to construct the LRM at a complete challenge price of Rs 118.8 crore and is in search of Rs 76.6 crore in exterior funding.
- Fractal’s deliberate mannequin surpasses OpenAI’s o1 and o3 reasoning fashions. Compared, the biggest world reasoning mannequin, DeepSeek R1, has 671 billion parameters.
Kunal Kamra vs Bhavish Aggarwal: Standup comic rips into Ola founder throughout controversial Mumbai present
Standup comic Kunal Kamra reignited his feud with Ola Electrical founder Bhavish Aggarwal throughout his controversial present in Mumbai.
What’s the information: Commenting on the current fires involving Ola scooters, Kamra mentioned Indian businessmen usually refuse to confess their errors. “Take the Ola man, for instance. What did I say that made him so indignant? You manufacture two-wheelers, and neither of the wheels works,” he mentioned.
‘Concentrate on refunds’: As an alternative of providing him cash, Kamra urged Aggarwal to offer it to prospects ready for refunds on their Ola’s e-bikes. Aggarwal had invited the comic to help at Ola’s service centres, promising higher pay “than his flop reveals”.
Supply: Google
Additionally Learn: Explained: Why Ola Electric’s sales numbers do not hold up
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