BUSINESS
The gigantic HDFC of today is part of H.T. Parekh’s rich entrepreneurial legacy
The striking thing about the entrepreneurs of that era, men like Parekh, is how they identified a real need and set about addressing it. HDFC went on to finance millions of middle class homes in India.
TRENDS
SlapGate: Remembering the many slaps before The Slap
From 'The Godfather' to Hindi soaps and the Oscars, the most dramatic slaps in entertainment history.
TRENDS
'The Kashmir Files' only reinforces our obsession with Bollywood
It is almost as if before we saw Mithun Chakraborty and Anupam Kher in the movie, none of us were aware of how great a wrong had been perpetrated upon Kashmiri Pandits over three decades ago.
TRENDS
Founders’ excesses are turning public opinion against many startups
Many of India’s entrepreneurs are doing themselves a disservice by flashing their wealth and their attitude blatantly.
WORLD
Don’t read too much into MNCs' boycott of Russia
The moot question is: are these MNCs are being driven by morality and ethics or purely by self-interest, weighed by the reputational and financial risks of doing business with Putin’s Russia?
TRENDS
Don’t blame Indian students for the failings of successive governments
The war in Eastern Ukraine has been on since 2014. If despite this Indian parents chose to send their children to study in that country, there must be a real desperation.
TRENDS
Parsis in India: Why we need more books on Parsi businesses, culture and memories
Given their dwindling population, it is important that as many of the memories that are still available with the older generation, are captured and retained for the future.
TRENDS
Bloodless heists in the time of crypto, SWIFT
The robbery of 1.2 lakh bitcoins - now worth $4.5 billion - from Bitfinex in 2016 is an excellent example.
TRENDS
The cellphone is the car of today, and Apple is in its driving seat
The cellphone has a small or big role in almost everything we do, much as the automobile did in the US of the 20th century when it shaped American society.
BUSINESS
Tribute: Rahul Bajaj was a titan whose success transcended business
In everything he did, Rahul Bajaj enriched the idea of India as an industrial powerhouse that could match the best in the world.
TRENDS
Corporate fraud and other white collar crimes aren’t from Mars
Is there something different about the mind of the potential white collar criminal? No, the business school they went to and the big-name companies they worked for are not good indicators of honesty.
CRICKET
Indian team’s loss to South Africa is just part of the natural ebb and flow of sports
Indian cricket has had a good run over the last 10 years. The current slump is just the natural ebb of that tide.
TRENDS
KBC vs Shark Tank India: Is public insult our newest form of social interaction?
'Shark Tank India' embodies the spirit of public insult perfectly. A set of men and women proceed to take apart wannabe entrepreneurs, subjecting them to slights and slurs.
TRENDS
The mainstreaming of cuss words
Common in interactions between fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, sisters and brothers and friends and foes, expletives have been mainstreamed and given the status of gentle ribbing.
TRENDS
Covid-19 | Is there a logic for vaccine hesitancy?
The drunk motorist endangers himself and his family or friends riding with him. The unvaccinated person carries the virus to dozens of others.
TRENDS
Thierry Delaporte, Deepinder Goyal, Falguni Nayar: Who was India’s best business leader in 2021?
In 2021, the best companies exhibited the ability to innovate and soldier on in the midst of a crisis. In all cases, these were companies whose leaders showed the way.
TRENDS
Christmas and New Year treats, from mishti doi in Kolkata to gajar ka halwa in New Delhi and Nairobi
Firm in the Upanishadic belief that if food is the origin and sustenance of life, sweets are its most magnificent affirmation, it is the more native mithai that has always been my poison.
TRENDS
General Bipin Rawat’s tragic death should lead to higher safety standards for helicopters
Rajnath Singh told Parliament last year that the country had lost 25 aircraft and four helicopters from 2016 to 2019. Since then, seven more helicopters and nine aircraft have been lost in accidents.
BUSINESS
Gaffes of the great: Some of the biggest failed predictions about everything from the internet to Bitcoin
From Irving Fisher's bullish view of the US stock market in 1929 to Paul Krugman's prediction that Internet growth will slow down by 2005, these are the big bad predictions that give us hope.
TRENDS
Travel in the time of Omicron: Old land routes for resolute tourists
There are many scenic routes out of India, including the 3,000 km drive down the India-Myanmar highway into Thailand, and an 8,000 km stretch to Italy.
TRENDS
Chinese threat to Bollywood’s film factory
'The Battle at Lake Changjin', the highest grossing film of 2021 so far, is the most expensive Chinese movie ever made. It has been released to commemorate 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party.
TRENDS
The forgotten books that live on in our hearts
Some books are like that. The feelings they arouse, go on to mean much more than what the contents of the book did.
BUSINESS
Current crypto craze has the makings of another Tulip Mania
The cryptocurrency regulation bill is likely to come up before Parliament in the coming session. But any decision by the government will be hamstrung by the crores already in circulation.
CRICKET
T20 World Cup 2021 | Is the IPL hurting India’s limited-overs performance?
It is players from abroad who benefit from coming to play the IPL, but Indian cricketers don’t gain from sharpening their skills by playing cricket abroad.
