The Morning Brief

Over 100 former bureaucrats have written to the government as they try to sound an alarm against the new Forest (Conservation) Bill. Some believe that this bill, if passed in its current form, may lead to massive deforestation. Will there be more commercialisation under the garb of eco-tourism? Will the bill’s provisions displace the tribals? Will it support India's net-zero ambitions? Host Kalpan...

A new share from Reliance sets foot on Dalal Street -- making a special debut, Jio Financial Services comes out of the shadows of the parent company RIL after a much-awaited demerger. But street signs aside, what is Jio Financial Services? What is the business plan? Will the Ambanis gun for booming consumer lending or disrupt the B2B space? Can the financial sector replicate the telecom playbook o...

Can diet colas, sugar-free cookies, breakfast cereals, cough drops and even chewable vitamins cause cancer? A research arm of the committee for the World Health Organization declared that the world's most widely used artificial sweetener, aspartame, which is found in these products had a possible link to liver cancer. WHO later said these are 'safe, but within limits'. Should you really be worried...

American bike-maker Harley Davidson recently launched X440 in partnership with Hero MotoCorp, a bike which is specifically made for the Indian market. Also launched recently was the Speed 400, a bike co-built by the British giant Triumph Motorcycles with Bajaj Auto.  What makes it interesting is that these companies are tapping into a segment ruled by Royal Enfield in India. But why? Are companies...

India is shocked with the alarming price hike of tomatoes, which have risen to a whopping Rs 200 per kilo across marketplaces. This dramatic price increase, more than five times the cost of last year, has shifted the attention away from onions and potatoes and towards tomatoes. Notably, the steep price increase has forced fast food major McDonald's to remove tomatoes off their menus in certain loc...

Threads have been the talk of the social media town. Excitement is all around, but not just for the newest social media platform. It has also triggered a fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.  So, who is winning a cage fight between the two tech billionaires? We stitch together everything you need to know about Threads and all that it brings. Also, why does this matter for India? Host Dia R...

Multiple reports show that the female workforce participation has been dropping in the country. Some companies say the return-to-office mandate has also led to higher attrition among women. In this episode, host Mugdha Variyar analyses the complexities behind the falling share of women in the workforce and what needs to change. We speak to:  - Rituparna Chakraborty , Co-Founder - TeamLease Service...

Too Big Too Fast - From funding FOMO to aggressive acquisitions to now vanishing valuations and a debt trap. The story of Byju's, which is far from over, has lessons for founders and funders. Where they just plain lucky to be at the right place at the right time? Is it a case of flawed processes and not fraudulent practices? Will debt be the death knell for educators' P&L?  Host  Anupriya disc...

The notorious 'bribe-for-jobs scam' has been an open secret, in the case of job recruitment in the competitive Indian job market. The recent scandal at a prestigious IT company, known for its ethical standards, and its global scale of recruitment, has sparked fresh concerns. Host Kiran Somvanshi explores why this malpractice continues despite increased scrutiny and accountability in Indian compani...

This July, India will complete a year of single use plastic ban. But it turns out that the pervasiveness of single use plastic is difficult to beat. Despite a year after the government imposed the ban, prohibiting its manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, and sale, of plastic carry bags thinner than 120 microns, the material is still found to be in use. What is behind India’s persistent p...

American chip maker Micron’s announcement to set up an India plant gives the country a breakthrough it’s been seeking for four decades. Semiconductors power the modern world-automobiles to AI. Over the years, the tiny chips have become a strong geopolitical tool and a frontier for the deadly battle of superpowers US and China. Its thawing relations with the US and penchant for standing up to China...

The Zee-Sony merger in India has taken a dramatic turn. Neither the resignations of independent directors nor the demands raised by institutional investor Invesco prevented the merger agreement from being inked in 2021. However, an interim order from SEBI based on the past complaints raised by the independent directors has the potential to derail or delay the merger. While Zee has appealed against...

The apparel and footwear market of India is expected to grow rapidly. And this growth is expected to come from the rise of affordable fast fashion consumption. Clothes are cheaper than ever, and hence discarded more frequently than ever before. However, where are these clothes going? What is the impact on the environment because of the rising love of cheap fast fashion? Host Shabori Das speaks wit...

In 2022 alone, India was prone to over 1300 data breaches and cyber-attacks becoming the second most cyber-vulnerable country in the world. The recent news of the alleged CoWin data breach underlines the importance of data security awareness and laws. But the dark web has its bright knights: ethical hackers who work with governments and companies to make them stronger and fight dark-hooded creatur...

As we all make smarter sustainable choices with what we consume, have you ever questioned if those choices are indeed green or if you’re a victim of greenwashing? In this episode, host Ratna Bhushan explores the fine line between tokenism and genuine environmental effort as the selling point of sustainability surges. Are green claims backed by data? Like the ISI mark, is there a need for a stringe...

Did you know, that if you were to invest 1 rupee in any an Indian tiger reserve, the return could be as high as 7,489 times? Tiger reserves in India—that house 3,167 or 75% of the world’s big cats—constitute a billion dollar economy. And almost nothing of it is accounted for in India’s GDP! Nevertheless, governments and corporates are fast becoming aware of the bounties of tiger habitats. More res...

The birthing business is booming in India, with over 2,500 infertility treatment clinics spread across the country. On average, one new clinic is being added every week. Host Kiran Somvanshi goes behind the scenes to trace what is making infertility such a hot bet for investment? In this episode we hear from Vinesh Gadhia, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Ferty9, Dr. Somesh Mittal,...

IIT dropout turned entrepreneur Rahul Yadav has been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last decade. Yadav, fired from his first startup, Housing.com, for brash behaviour, is now facing the wrath of Sanjeev Bikchandani's Info Edge, the majority shareholder of his new venture, Broker Network (4B Networks). Host Mugdha Variyar unfolds the drama with  Priyanka Sahay , Assistant Editor, ET...

In an open and candid chat, Sam Altman CEO of OpenAI and the unofficial leader of the AI revolution — deep-dives into the wider impact of the AI revolution in an exclusive conversation with Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman of Times Internet. Altman addresses questions from the audience as they delve into a wide array of themes — from the investor frenzy around generative artificial intelligence (AI)...

As the government pulls the plug on its Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II subsidy scheme, we got behind the scenes to understand what really happened and why? Host Kalpana Pathak takes us through the twists and turns of untraceable emails, a whistleblower, alleged misappropriation of subsidies and a startup industry under stress.  Host Kalpana Pathak from The Economic Times talks too Sohinder Gill , CEO at...

SEBI’s crackdown on finfluencers has intensified. After PR Sundar, the markets regulator penalised Gunjan Verma for providing unregistered investment advice. But what is pushing SEBI to strike hard now and is there a grey area between education and advice? Which sort of content and conversation is acceptable and which is not? Is compliance too cumbersome? Does SEBI need to make compliance easier b...

Disney cites BARC data to claim this to be the most watched IPL ever on TV with almost 50 crore viewers, while Jio Cinema says 3.2 crore concurrent viewers watched the IPL finals between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans on May 29. But at the end of the day, it's always about the moolah. So host Arijit Barman sat down with Sanjog Gupta , Head of Sports Disney STAR Network for a candid one-on-...

In an exclusive chat with Economic Times's Romita Majumdar and Surabhi Agarwal , Adam Selipsky , who overlooks the $80 billion cloud computing arm of online retail giant Amazon, talks of the role of cloud during unprecedented global uncertainty. In this episode, the AWS CEO highlights the rising prevalence of local storage of digital data and points to AWS’s plans to take on Microsoft’s ChatGPT as...

On May 19th, India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), announced the removal of 2000 currency notes from circulation. Even as it gave the public a demonetisation Deja vu, the currency regulator assured its just business as usual. But does the 2000 rupee note wapsi an economic incentive or a political push and is the last big attempt to get the cash hoarders in the fold of the formal e...

Over the last year, NFT has been praised as a tool for revolutionizing the entertainment, music, and gaming industries. Indians have participated in this technology to see if it is an insane attempt to become a crucial component of the digital age for the future? or is it just a passing fad? We decode whether is NFT losing its steam in India? How do NFT collectors and artists are keeping this spac...