Namaste! Aaj ka news roundup, Newswala style!

MARKETS

Markets: Stock markets fell today as the Sensex dropped 412 points (0.5%) and the Nifty lost 140 points (0.6%) amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Most sectors ended in the red, especially auto and realty, while Axis Bank and HCL Tech were among the few gainers.

TOP STORIES

OYO Tops Indian Startup Charts  

What Happened

OYO has claimed the crown as India's most profitable startup, posting a whopping ₹623 crore profit for FY25. That's a jaw-dropping 172% jump from last year's ₹229 crore! 

• The company's adjusted EBITDA hit ₹1,132 crore, marking its tenth straight quarter in the green. 

• OYO's earnings per share nearly tripled to ₹0.93, up from ₹0.36 last year.

Why It Matters

These numbers are transformative for a company once criticised for its cash burn. 

• OYO's Gross Booking Value (GBV) surged 54% to ₹16,436 crore, while revenue climbed 20% to ₹6,463 crore. 

• The fourth quarter was particularly spectacular, with GBV hitting ₹6,379 crore, a 126% year-over-year explosion!

Zoom Out 

OYO's strategic push into premium offerings is paying off handsomely. They've launched 30+ upscale Sunday Hotels across India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Southeast Asia in just 12 months. The company now boasts approximately 22,700 hotels, 119,900 homes, and 91,300 listings globally. 

TOP STORIES

MahaRERA Hits 50,000 Mark 

What Happened

Maharashtra’s real estate regulator, MahaRERA, made national headlines by registering 50,162 housing projects. That’s one-third (35%) of all RERA-approved projects in the country. 

• Maharashtra left Tamil Nadu (27,609) and Gujarat (15,322) far behind. 

• The Konkan region, including Mumbai, took the crown with 23,770 projects, followed by Pune with 15,932. 

Why It Matters

With more homes comes more accountability, transparency, and fewer horror stories of vanishing builders. Plus, the spread of real estate activity beyond Mumbai and Pune into Nagpur, Aurangabad, and even Amravati hints at balanced urban growth. 

MahaRERA, born in 2017, now stands tall as a model of real estate regulation. And no, this isn’t just a numbers game—it’s also about fewer buyer complaints and more trustworthy builders (hopefully).

Conclusion:

Real estate in the state is booming, and thanks to MahaRERA’s fast-track registration and regulation, homebuyers can finally sleep better (and maybe in their own flats).  

TOP STORIES

Bad Loans Crash Muthoot’s Party

What Happened

Muthoot Microfin posted a quarterly net loss of ₹401 crore. That’s a sharp U-turn from last year’s ₹120 crore profit. Why the nosedive? Blame it on a tenfold jump in provisions for bad loans (₹652 crore this quarter vs ₹62 crore last year). 

To make matters worse, the company breached some borrowing covenants.

• For the full year ending March 2025, a net loss of ₹223 crore compared to a ₹450 crore profit in FY24. 

• Income for the quarter also dipped to ₹556 crore, down from ₹645 crore.

Why It Matters

If you’re wondering whether bad loans are contagious, yes, they are. Muthoot Microfin’s gross NPA ratio almost doubled to 4.84% from 2.29%. A recent Karnataka ordinance restricting loan collection tactics didn’t help either.

While the lender’s gross loan portfolio grew modestly to ₹12,357 crore and its borrower base nudged up 2.3% to 34.3 lakh customers, that growth came with plenty of bruises. 

Zoom Out

The company is now trying to play it safe, giving fewer loans, saving money, and asking borrowers to pay back nicely.

The only silver lining? Before setting aside money for bad loans, their profit actually grew 15% to ₹868 crore. So yes, the company’s still alive, just not in the healthiest shape.

GROWTH GULLY

💡 Be Remembered — Master the mind game behind unforgettable personal brands

🔍 Psychology Decoded — 10 little things top performers never skip in their downtime.
📺 Couch to Crores — How watching TV pays off for this ₹66 lakh-a-year earner

🤖 Project Managers, These 7 AI Prompts Will Change How You Work—Forever
💼 Alzheimer’s Shield?— These 2 careers may reduce Alzheimer’s risk

PAISON KA KHEL

PB Healthcare Gets a $218M Shot 💰

PB Healthcare bagged $218 million in seed funding. Backed by PB Fintech ($62M for a 26% stake) and General Catalyst ($50M for 20.57%), the Gurugram-based newbie is now valued at $243 million.

Well, what’s the plan? Build a shiny new 1,000-bed hospital network in Delhi NCR and throw some serious tech wizardry into healthcare.

$600M Factory to Keep India Cool and Clean 🪭

LG Electronics is turning up the heat in India—but thankfully, they’re also making air conditioners. With a whopping $600 million investment, LG is building a mega home appliance factory in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

Set to open by end-2026, the factory will churn out 800,000 fridges, 850,000 washing machines, 1.5 million ACs, and 2 million AC compressors annually.  

This marks LG’s third Indian base, after Noida and Pune. 

DID YOU KNOW

Victoria’s Secret Growth: Victoria’s Secret was sold for about $1 million but now generates nearly $7 billion annually.

GLOBAL NAZARA

Big Blue Goes Small Town  👏

IBM is ditching the metros and heading to the heartland, setting up new software labs in Pune, Lucknow, and Kochi. Yep, Big Blue is going small-town chic! The Lucknow lab will be IBM India Software Labs’ (ISL) 7th facility and will focus on fancy stuff like GenAI, agentic AI, LLMs, SLMs.

They’re teaming up with local talent and colleges to boost work in AI, cybersecurity, automation, and sustainability. 

UK Interest Rates Take a Tumble 🔻

The Bank of England has dropped interest rates—again! Down to 4.25% from 4.5%, marking the fourth cut in a year and the lowest in two years. Inflation’s slowing down, energy bills are dropping, and apparently, that’s enough good news.

Although, Governor Andrew Bailey considered 4%, but global drama like the US slapping on new tariffs kept the scissors in check. 

MIRCH MASALA

💣‘India Hit Us Inside Our House’: Pakistani Blows Lid Off Govt’s Operation Sindoor Lies

🐍Terrifying or Majestic? Giant Anaconda Caught on Cam in Amazon Stream

☠️The Haunting Truth Behind Deadman’s Island Will Chill You

🦘Florida Man? Nope—Florida Kangaroo Causes Traffic Mayhem!

🔥 Face Fire: Jaishankar Issues Stark Warning to India’s Enemies

WEEKLY QUIZ

How well did you keep up with this week's editions?

Challenge yourself with our weekly quiz to see how much you remember.

The top 3 scorers will get a special shout-out in our next edition on Monday!
 

And that’s a wrap. Have an amazing weekend.

We’ll see you again on Monday! 😄