Our top reads of the week

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Every week, catch up on the best long form stories from Forbes India. Often peppered with our binge-worthy podcasts, videos or infographics too.

1) Grab the Slice
Rajan Bajaj, founder and CEO of Slice, understands the value of pivoting. Something he learned as a budding entrepreneur in the year 2015. That experience helped him refine Slice Pay's credit and payment cards model. Striking an annual revenue run rate of $60 million, Bajaj's fintech unicorn got a big slice of funding from the likes of Tiger Global. The company is fast becoming a darling of millennials and Gen Z. Can the credit card challenger live up to its billing? Read more

 
2) Nayika of her story
Investment banker Falguni Nayar launched beauty and fashion ecommerce platform Nykaa from her father's office when she was 49. Almost a decade later, Nayar, 58, has become the talk of the town since the company’s blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) on November 10. Nayar says she never realised Nykaa was the ‘next big thing’ until listing day. But India's richest self-made woman billionaire is only getting started. Read more



3) Devastation in the Western Ghats
Apart from their stunning beauty, the Western Ghats perform an important function to regulate weather and ecological patterns over the entire Indian peninsula. However, activities like rampant stone quarrying, construction of infrastructure in fragile areas for ‘development’, and deforestation for commercial plantations have led to massive changes in these crucial Ghats. The climate of our world depends more than ever on its few remaining ‘biodiversity hotspots’. The Western Ghats need to be protected. Read more

Discover

1) Chennai Super Kings sans Thalaiva?
Chennai Super Kings' unlisted stock and valuations continue to climb, with a unicorn status not too far away. The expansion of the Indian Premier League—with two new teams in 2022—and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni building CSK's core for upcoming seasons, point towards a stronger franchise, with or without the cricketing icon. Read more


 
2) How do you pay 1/3rd?
India's competitive buy now and pay later space has a new player: Uni with its 'Pay 1/3rd' card. It automatically splits transactions into three parts at no extra cost. Customers can also pay in full in return for cashback. Founders Nitin Gupta, Prateek Jindal, and Laxmikant Vyas's fintech startup promises a customer-friendly credit experience to solve short-term liquidity woes, but does it stand out in India's competitive buy now pay later space? Read more



 
3) NEW! Forbes India Daily Tech Conversation
Don’t miss out on our brand new podcast: Forbes India Daily Tech Conversation. This evolution of the Forbes India Daily Tech Briefing podcast will revolve around quick chats and the occasional longer conversations on all things tech. In the first instalment, Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal of Meesho talk about bringing social commerce to small towns of India, helping women turn micro-entrepreneurs, and the path ahead for them. Listen here


4) Forbes India WPower 2021
Have you had a chance to go through our 2021 W-Power list? It features a diverse set of powerful women and extraordinary women such as para-shooter Avani Lekhara, who won a gold and bronze at Tokyo Paralympics; Dr Priya Abraham, whose team handled India's first Covid-19 case and isolated the Sars-CoV-2 virus; and Pratima Joshi, an architect who provided hundreds of slum houses in Maharashtra with a unique digital address for inclusive development. Feel the greatness and get inspired by the women on the Forbes India W-Power 2021 list.