Ather Energy zooms to IPO; A tête-à-tête with Navya Naveli Nanda

ICYMI: Ever wondered if your dog feels guilty after ruining your Amazon package or cute slippers? Here’s what researchers have found!

Apr 27, 2025 - 03:18

Ather Energy zooms to IPO; A tête-à-tête with Navya Naveli Nanda

Hello,

The world mourned as the “People’s Pope” was laid to rest in the Vatican.

At a solemn funeral ceremony on Saturday, nearly 250,000 mourners paid their final respects to Pope Francis, as a cardinal at the service appealed to carry forward the pontiff's legacy of caring for the migrants, the downtrodden, and the environment.

The Argentine-born pope passed away on April 21 at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke.

In other news, Sarvam AI will build India’s sovereign large language model.

Under the IndiaAI Mission, the Indian government will provide AI firm Sarvam with GPU compute credits worth Rs 200 crore to develop an LLM capable of reasoning, optimised for voice applications, and fluent in Indian languages.

Besides Sarvam, MeitY is expected to back three more startups—Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai, and Gan.ai—as the first cohort under the Rs 10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission to develop indigenous AI models.

But powering these AI models is not an easy task. Even Big Tech giants like Amazon and Nvidia, which relied mostly on renewable energy to cut carbon emissions, are now open to all options, including fossil fuels such as natural gas, at least in the near term, to help fuel AI.

ICYMI: Ever wondered if your dog feels guilty after ruining your Amazon package or cute slippers? Here’s what researchers have found!

And, we still fall for the puppy face!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about

Ather Energy zooms to IPO
A tête-à-tête with Navya Naveli Nanda
The workplace trend called ‘fauxductivity’

Here’s your trivia for today: Which painter was summoned to Rome in 1481 to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel?

Electric Vehicle

Ather Energy zooms to IPO

Tiger Global-backed Ather Energy on Friday raised Rs 1,340 crore from anchor investors ahead of its public subscription on April 28, according to a BSE filing. The company allotted 41,745,576 equity shares at Rs 321 apiece.

The IPO will include a fresh issue of Rs 2,626 crore and an offer for sale of up to 1.1 crore shares. At the upper price band of Rs 321, the offer for sale would be worth about Rs 354.76 crore.

Market bound:

Marquee investors who were allocated shares include Morgan Stanley Investment Funds, Custody Bank of Japan, Franklin Templeton, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, among others. Around 49.6% of the total allocation to anchor investors was allocated to seven domestic mutual funds.
The EV-maker has set a price between Rs 304 and Rs 321 per equity share. The Bengaluru-based company is valued at Rs 11,956 crore at the higher end and Rs 11,322 crore at the lower end.
CEO Tarun Mehta said Ather will continue to improve its EBITDA margins on the back of rising volumes, driven by the Ather Rizta model. Its second model commenced deliveries in May 2024, and has contributed “in a very big way towards volumes, driving a lot of growth,” Mehta said in a press meet.

Interview

A tête-à-tête with Navya Naveli Nanda

Having co-founded Nimaya Foundation, a career accelerator for girls in 2021, entrepreneur Navya Naveli Nanda is focusing on empowering women entrepreneurs—from grassroots to boardrooms—through her non-profit initiative Project Naveli.

Now, Project Naveli is working with Aspire For Her—a collective that provides women with career resources, mentorship, and job opportunities. Together, they aim to bring 10 million women to the workforce by 2030 with the power of communities and networks.

Changemakers:

Of the 24 communities that have been built by Aspire For Her, EntrepreNaari is one of the most critical levers. It is a community of women entrepreneurs and aspirants, including women trailblazers in urban India, artisans, and agri-workers in rural heartlands.
“Leading with purpose is at the heart of EntrepreNaari, and the women who join the community are strongly aligned with that. We will only grow if we grow together, and working towards impacting not just the lives of women founders, but our society as a whole is the way forward for us here,” she says.
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, and having like-minded individuals around you who are going through the same experiences can only add towards creating more inclusive and knowledge-led spaces, she adds.

Productivity

The workplace trend called ‘fauxductivity’

Employees are embracing ‘fauxductivity’ or ‘fake productivity’ to appease their bosses, who believe busyness is the only marker of good work. However, this can eventually lead to a lack of interest in work and stunted career growth. It can also cause severe financial losses for companies.

In an age where quality trumps quantity, why is a workplace trend like this flourishing?

Are you working?:

Asha Parikh, a former organisational behaviour professor, explains, “While workplace dynamics have changed in a big way in the last few years, there continue to be several companies where ‘busyness’ is the only way to measure productivity. If they find employees engaged throughout the day, it makes them feel at ease that work is happening.”
Ruchika Sahay, a mental health professional from Gurugram, says, in many cases, employees are forced to adopt this behaviour because of the underlying insecurity and fear of losing their jobs. Some people also do this to mask burnout.
A recent survey conducted by Washington-based software company Software Finder reveals that 72% of employees are engaged in fauxductivity, and Gen Z is ahead in the game at 83%. The finance industry seems to be at the centre of this trend.

News & updates

Tariffs: China has exempted some US imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking firms to identify critical goods they need levy-free. The dispensation signals that the US and China were prepared to rein in their conflict, which had frozen much of the trade between them and raised fears of a global recession.
Pharma: A 25% US tariff on pharmaceutical imports would increase US drug costs by nearly $51 billion annually, boosting US prices by as much as 12.9% if passed on, an EY report shows. The analysis found the US imported $203 billion in pharmaceutical products in 2023.
Debut: Instagram Edits, Meta’s newly-released video creation app, had a bigger debut than its competitor, ByteDance’s CapCut. The new app, which helps users craft videos for Instagram reels, stories, and other social posts, was downloaded an estimated 702,900 times on iOS devices during its first two days on the market.

Which painter was summoned to Rome in 1481 to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel?

Answer: Sandro Botticelli. Pope Sixtus IV charged the Italian painter with decorating the walls of the Sistine Chapel.

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