Breaking: Bhavesh Gupta, largely credited for leading Paytm's lending growth, has been elevated as the company's new president and COO. 

One quick thing: A truck collided with a tree, bringing Bengaluru's tech corridor to a grinding halt.

In today’s newsletter:

• Wipro’s role in Vice bankruptcy
• Big Tech vs India Tech for IAMAI top brass 
• Zomato rolls out own UPI offering

P.S. How can you hide messages sent by your special someone from others? WhatsApp has the answer. Scroll down for deets! 

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Media giant Vice Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, marking the downfall of a once-prominent digital media company. 

• While it had been facing a financial crunch and mounting issues, one of the final blows was dealt by an Indian IT company, Wipro.

The issue dates back to 2020 when Vice was still standing. In May 2020, Wipro initiated arbitration proceedings against Vice Media, concerning the termination of an agreement.

• In March 2023, the court ruled in favour of Wipro, awarding them $7.9 million plus interest, bringing the total to $9.9 million.

The IT company then began pursuing enforcement of the award earlier this month. From there, things unravelled quickly.

In the last two weeks alone, Wipro has:

• Got a judgement related to the arbitration award on May 4
  
  
• Served a restraining notice to Vice
  
  
• Approached Vice’s bank to freeze the account until the payments were made

As per Vice’s filings, this freeze “essentially shut off much of the liquidity”.

Wipro's pursuit of this award was one of two factors that pushed Vice to file for bankruptcy.

• Vice's Chief Restructuring Officer said the company's reliance on external funding helped it grow but also resulted in the company "being burdened by a highly leveraged and unusually complex capital structure."

Now, Vice has announced that it has agreed to an asset repurchase agreement with a consortium of lenders.

Read the full story.

There's a David versus Goliath battle unfolding in India's tech ecosystem as Big Tech companies and Indian startups lock horns in the governing council elections of industry lobby group, Internet and Mobile Association of India.

Employees of Big Tech companies like Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix have thrown their hats in the ring for the election.

• Meta India policy head Shivnath Thukral, Google Cloud India chief Bikram Bedi, Amazon India consumer business head Manish Tiwary, and Netflix India director Ambika Khurana are among 83 candidates for 24 seats

Indian entrepreneurs, such as Rohan Verma, the chief executive of MapMyIndia, and Murugavel Janakiraman, the founder of BharatMatrimony, who have recently been critical of IAMAI, are also contesting the elections.

IAMAI recently faced criticism when it opposed an antitrust regulation framework for big tech proposed by the government.

• IAMAI chief Subho Ray attempted to calm domestic concerns by stating that a majority of members had expressed their opposition to such a framework.

Today, IAMAI reiterated its position on the matter in a statement, arguing that the size or scale-based applicability of regulations under an ex-ante digital competition policy will impact larger players in the market on their growth trajectory while also limiting the growth potential of startups.

If you're someone who wants your food orders to be processed faster, Zomato's new feature will save you the trouble of opening two apps and help you complete your orders faster.

Zomato has launched its own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) offering called Zomato UPI in partnership with ICICI Bank.

• The Gurugram-based company received regulatory approvals earlier this year

Currently, when customers make payments via UPI on the platform, they are redirected to a separate app. However, with Zomato UPI, you can complete the payment without leaving the app at all.

• Zomato also wants fewer customers to choose the 'cash on delivery (COD)' option

Think of Zomato UPI as a pilot for now, sources tell us. The company will first gauge how customers respond to the new rollout and will partner with more banks if it finds any merit. 

• Experts fear that the product may take off slowly because around 97% of all UPI transactions happen on three apps: PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm 

Newer apps that introduced UPI as an add-on have rarely managed to maintain steady volumes. WhatsApp Payments, for instance, experienced a spike during the initial days but lost momentum once the cash coupons were discontinued.

On May 16, 2006, Apple unveiled the newly designed MacBook, which featured the Intel Core Duo processor and a 13-inch glossy widescreen display. 

This model replaced the iBook series of notebooks as part of Apple's transition from PowerPC to Intel processors. (Picture credit: Wikipedia)

• Gary Gensler, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has responded to Coinbase's petition requesting that the agency provide a clear stance on crypto regulation, arguing that adequate laws are already in place. 

• BlockFi intends to liquidate its lending platform and distribute funds to creditors, according to a filing made in bankruptcy court.

You can now hide WhatsApp messages sent by "that special someone" from the prying eyes of your family or friends. 

WhatsApp's new Chat Lock feature lets users password-protect specific conversations or groups.

How does it work? Read more.

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