Mint Primer

The Met has predicted normal rains in the June-September monsoon season—in spite of the likelihood of El Nino conditions developing by July, which usually negatively impacts rainfall. This episode is hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

OPEC+ countries announced a voluntary oil production cut by 1.16 million barrels per day. Reduced global oil supplies can impact the economy of India, which is dependent on oil imports for approx 85% of its energy needs. This episode by Prasid Banerjee.

Over the last few years, India's outreach to Latin America has increased. EAM Jaishankar, who has visited Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, is to visit Guyana and Colombia later this month. This episode is hosted by Prasidd Banerjee.

Parliament has given its approval to the Competition Amendment Bill, 2023, in the ongoing budget session, laying the foundation for more effective oversight. This episode is hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Recently, #G20’s infrastructure working group concluded its meeting in Visakhapatnam. The focus was on urban infrastructure financing. This episode explains why the financing of future cities is a pressing need and the options available. This episode is hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

The government has finally unveiled its new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which came into force on 1 April. The previous policy had to be extended several times due to the pandemic & geo-political developments. This episode is hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Generative AI has polarized AI experts with some calling for a six-month moratorium on building new systems and others arguing against the idea that the benefits of AI far outweigh perceived risks. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

India says it has no plans to provide any more flying rights or 'bilateral rights' to foreign airlines, as the country wants its own carriers to become global players. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

The final part of the sixth assessment report ("AR6") of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released on Monday. It's "final warning" about the climate crisis merits attention and drastic action. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

After pushing generative AI into their search engines and browsers, Google & Microsoft are now adding them to consumer products like Outlook, Bing, Edge, Gmail, Docs & more. Can they change how we use these apps? This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Cases of influenza-A subtype H3N2 are on the rise, with a few deaths reported across India. The government says it’s keeping a close watch on the situation and has issued advisories. Is there cause for concern? This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Open AI has released the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT4), its much-anticipated large language model—that can learn and comprehend. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

In this episode, get to know about one of the many ways to empower women is to ensure better access to credit. This has far-reaching implications, including giving a boost to women entrepreneurs. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has caused ripples across the financial world but is unlikely to affect Indian lenders. This episode explains how stressed banks were managed in the past. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

The shutdown and takeover of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) by US regulators has raised questions on how it impacts India’s startup industry. It was an important partner for the global startup economy. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

US intelligence officials believe a pro-Ukrainian saboteur group may have been behind the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, according to The New York Times. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

The battle for AI-powered chatbots is heating up with Musk, Zuckerberg, Pichai and Nadella all trying to outpace each other in the race to develop more powerful generative AI apps and chatbots. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Last week’s #G20 meetings in Bengaluru saw discussions on how multilateral institutions can be strengthened to address global challenges, while retaining focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) & poverty eradication. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Orders passed by Ananth Narayan, whole-time member at SEBI, in two recent cases, reveal the modus operandi of people operating 'pump and dump' schemes on YouTube. This episode is hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal says free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Japan and South Korea have cost India billions, with South Korean automakers importing “indiscriminately" into India. Mint's Alisha Sachdev explains the auto sector’s complicated relationship with FTAs. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from G20 nations, officials from other nations and multilateral agencies last week debated reforming the global tax architecture to stop cross-border tax avoidance by MNCs. Are they close to getting it done? Gireesh Chandra Prasad explains This episode is being hosted by Alisha Sachdev.

In its February 2023 Index review, MSCI reduced the weightage of four Adani group companies after their market capitalization declined. It later postponed the decision. Jagadish Shettigar and Pooja Misra examines the influence of such indices and the takeaways for regulators. This episode is being hosted by Alisha Sachdev

India doesn’t quite know how to define a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and that has led to confusion on how to tax them. Nearly six years after the GST was implemented, the Centre is now looking at plugging loopholes to prevent any ‘unintended tax evasion’. Sumant Banerji explains. This episode is being hosted by Alisha Sachdev

With the inauguration of the 246-km Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway last week, the travel-time between Delhi and Jaipur is expected to come down to three hours. There are other economic implications. Mint's Jagadish Shettigar & Pooja Misra Explains. This Episode is Hosted by Prasid Banerjee.

Major television broadcasters including Disney Star, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony Pictures Networks India have switched off signals to cable operators, as the latter refuse to roll out channel price hikes. Mint's Lata Jha explains both sides of the story. This episode is being hosted by Prasid Banerjee.