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BBD to Walmart’s rescue.

As the festive season and the blockbuster sales come to an end, the US-based retail giant expects Flipkart's Big Billion Day to boost its Q4 numbers. Walmart reported $453 million in profits for the third quarter and revised its Q4 sales and profit forecast. Its revenue grew by 5.2% year-on-year, with consolidated revenue growing to $160.8 billion for the quarter.

Elsewhere, RBI has tightened norms for unsecured personal loans for banks and non-banking financial companies.

These revised norms, wherein risk weights have been increased by 25% points, will not be applicable to certain consumer loans, including housing, education, and vehicle loans, and loans secured by gold and gold jewellery. These loans will continue to attract 100% risk weight.

Meanwhile, TVS Motor Company is entering the European market.

The manufacturing company has partnered with the 100-year-old automobile enterprise Zurich-based Emil Frey Group, which will help TVS Motor with its extensive distribution network and deep market insights in the continent.

Lastly, National Geographic lists the best pictures of the year.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about

Here’s your trivia for today: What does the Moon smell like?

Indian MSMEs largely depend on banks for funds and credit, with banks often showing reluctance to extend loans due to concerns about Non-Performing Assets. However, venture capital (VC) is now emerging as a significant source of funding for these businesses.

While VCs are eyeing profitable family-run enterprises for sustainable growth, the changing landscape offers opportunities for MSMEs, with private investments driving expansion and innovation.

Raining $$:

As AI continues to advance, job-specific anxiety in India intensifies, with concerns centring around potential displacements and transformations in various industries, prompting a reassessment of workforce dynamics and skill requirements.

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index 2023 report, around 74% of Indian workers are worried that AI might replace them.

A love-hate relationship:

After investing in the bustling Delhi/NCR real estate market, four friends—Mohit Gupta, Abhishek Madhukar, Puneet Gupta, and Aashish Raj—realised that their investments were yielding less than 2% during the pandemic. Restless, they started looking for a solution that would yield handsome returns.

This led them to start Equity Address in 2021, which offers tokenised ownership and an alternative approach to fractional ownership of high-end vacation homes.

Home sweet home:

What does the Moon smell like?

Answer: According to Apollo astronauts who brought Moondust back to their spacecraft with them, it smells like burnt gunpowder.

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