Out top stories of the week: From Sudarshan Venu on EVs to Pat Cummins on World Cup

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1) About co-existence

The world of automobiles is facing a choice when choosing a pathway. The leadership is divided into two factions: Traditional internal combustion engines, and the new electric vehicles. Arguments are being made in favour of their champions. However, the industry working on these machines appears to have decided to tread both paths by offering their consumers both the choices. TVS Motor Company is following the same thing. Sudarshan Venu, managing director of the Chennai-headquartered company, believes “both have much headroom to grow”. In a detailed conversation with Forbes India, Venu discusses the new launches, finding a second engine of growth and the industry's future.

2) Apple's year ahead

Apple's event in September and the quarterly earnings calls always make headlines. Hardcore Apple fans and investors block their calendars to be on the top of the various new launches and performance. The latest earnings call revealed that the tech giant's revenue for the second quarter fell 4 percent to $90.8 billion. But the fall was less than what analysts had expected. Profits were $23.64 billion, a YoY drop of 2 percent. The first few months of 2024 have seen a resurgent of Chinese rivals, reportedly waning enthusiasm for the Vision Pro headset and the end of Apple’s EV project. Here are five things you should know about the tech giant as we head into the rest of the year.

3) Fitting and growing in India

Amazon made its India debut on June 5, 2013. At the time, it was selling books, and the first product sold was Payal Gidwani Tiwari's book XL to XS: A Fitness Guru's Guide to Changing Your Body. India quickly adopted the idea of browsing and buying books online. The convenience was the best selling point. In 2016, the Seattle-headquartered company launched Amazon Prime in India. The idea was simple: Deliver millions of items sold in the country reliably at the customer’s doorstep in two days. Five years later, the service is also bundled with Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Gaming and more. Globally, more than 200 million members are using the service of which India is a critical geography. Jamil Ghani, head, Amazon Prime, discusses innovating for the Indian market, being a global leader, and expanding to newer sectors.

Discover

1) Seeing beyond stereotypes

Andy Molinsky is a professor of international management and organisational behaviour at Brandeis University. He is the author of Reach and Global Dexterity and co-author of Forging Bonds in a Global Workforce: Build Rapport, Camaraderie, and Optimal Performance No Matter the Time Zone. He believes that people are much more than their country, and advocates that building cross-cultural relationships in a global workplace is essential. In an interview with Forbes India, he dwells upon the nuances of global bonding–finding common ground across cultures, mastering the art of small talk, letting our personality shine through, and so on.

2) Pat Cummins on ODI World Cup

The stage was set. India, having won all the matches in their path to reach the finals, were the favourites of the home crowd. Indians and the diaspora were waiting for the Men in Blue to pick the trophy after a long gap. The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad would not show any mercy to Australia on November 19, 2023. But at the press conference before the final clash, Aussie captain Pat Cummins was not worried. "I think you've got to embrace it; the crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided," he said. "But also in sport, there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent, and that's the aim for us tomorrow." What went into building that confidence and winning the World Cup? Watch Cummins reveal it.

3) Cracking the code

The fashion industry has been accused of being one of the biggest polluters in the world. The efforts to recycle, repurpose, and reuse fall short in front of the magnanimous mountain of waste. Lithuania's Vinted is working in the resale domain of these somewhat helpful solutions. This isn't a non-profit but a startup outsmarting big luxury clothing resale firms. Vinted is one of Europe’s largest consumer marketplaces, with over $600 million in sales in 2023. It now counts 100 million users glo­bally. Last year, it posted its first annual profit—at least $20 million—distinguishing it from its loss-making American cousins, including The Real­Real (valued at $360 million), ThredUp ($200 million) and Poshmark (sold for $1.2 billion). Here's how CEO Thomas Plantenga did it.

4) In the name of saving fashion

Fashion's biggest night concluded on early Tuesday morning for us Indians. This year, the focus of the Met Gala was on efforts to revive garments that are too fragile to be worn again with the help of technology. The dress code for the gala was The Garden of Time, based on JG Ballard's short story. Vogue's Anna Wintour co-chaired the event alongside Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth, and fashion's latest darling Zendaya. Indian audience saw familiar faces in Alia Bhatt and Natasha Poonawalla. Sabyasachi Mukherjee became the first Indian designer to walk the red carpet solo. Below is a look at some of the striking outfits from the evening that stayed somewhat connected to the ideas of Sleeping Beauty and The Garden of Time.