From the merger at IDFC to a slowdown in India's SaaS companies, here are our top reads of the week

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1)    Beyond cricket
Over the last decade and a half, the sports league ecosystem has exploded in India, totalling about 15 off the top of the head. It encompasses not only sports like badminton and table tennis that have seen success in international tournaments, but also those considered unfashionable, like kho kho or arm wrestling, or under the radar, like volleyball and handball. Even chess, usually a sport associated more with intellect and less with glitz, recently launched the first edition of the Global Chess League (GCL).  
Why does India have a glut of sports leagues? Read More

2)    The Midas touch
V Vaidyanathan, MD and CEO, IDFC First Bank, is now preparing to take it into the big boys’ club. On July 3, a few days after infrastructure giant HDFC and banking behemoth HDFC Bank closed its merger to create an entity worth $157 billion, infrastructure financing company IDFC and IDFC First Bank announced a merger under which shareholders of IDFC Ltd will get 155 shares of IDFC First Bank for every 100 shares held in the former.

Can his Midas touch turn IDFC into a banking behemoth? Read More

3)    All that glitters
Senco Gold is in the midst of raising Rs405 crore from the bourses, and its IPO has already been fully subscribed on Day 2 of the bidding process. On Day 1, the company attracted a 69 percent subscription, and by the next day, the IPO was subscribed 2.68 times. The IPO is only a start. The real work starts now in its attempt to build a pan-India presence. Read More


4)    From being saviours to becoming victims
From Dr. Reddy’s to the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), the pharma and healthcare sector have been experiencing an uptick in cyberattacks over the past few years, especially post-Covid-19. These incidents have put a spotlight on the weak cybersecurity infrastructure in the industry.  The top three most-attacked industries in India were healthcare, followed by education, research, government, and the military. Why are these sectors frequently attacked. Read More

Discover

1)    IIT-The road to success?
Over the past few years, IITs have consistently seen its students turn entrepreneurs, launching successful companies and also attracting billions of dollars in funding. At the same time, the institutions have been improving their ranking at a global scale. Does an IIT tag guarantee success? Rajiv Singh finds out

2)    Common mistakes with mutual funds
In the latest episode of From the Bookshelves of Forbes India, author and financial educator, Monika Halan, talks about her latest book, ‘Let’s Talk Mutual Funds’. She also talks about the psyche of the Indian investor, the role of financial influencers, why the government's recent move to tax debt mutual fund investments as short-term capital gains is not well-thought-through, and more. Listen Now

3)    Slowdown in SaaS
Big projections about India’s SaaS sector have come down to earth, and overall, SaaS startup funding deals have been significantly fewer this year compared with the same six months last year. And the last time a SaaS unicorn was minted in India was more than a year ago. But the slowdown is good for India’s SaaS companies, writes Harichandan Arakali. Read More

4)    It’s ‘threanding’
Threads is a lot of what Twitter is… and just as intentionally, stressing a lot on what Twitter no longer is.

It will be interesting to see how communities are built on Threads. Twitter, for instance, isn’t where you go to see where your friends are travelling to. Having your Instagram audience—uncles, school friends, fashionistas and all—as instant viewers of your thoughts in text is a double-edged sword.

Twitter’s strengths lie in that it is a forum for discussion, debate and questioning.
Can Threads rekindle that spirit? Read More