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) Business of water
Va Tech WABAG, a Chennai-headquartered multinational water treatment company, started small in 1997 when Reliance gave them a contract to treat water at their Jamnagar refinery. In more than two decades since, Rajiv Mittal, Amit Sengupta, Shiv Narayan Saraf, and S Varadarajan have built an Indian MNC that not only has a steady and healthy order book but is also looking to scale to a billion-dollar topline and valuation in the next decade—all the while changing the culture around water consumption. Read more


2) Ready to take off
India has 40 to 50 startups coming up across the space tech supply chain. From the so-called upstream companies, which are making the satellites and even rockets and propulsion systems and new rocket fuels, to the downstream ventures which are looking to analyse satellite data to provide useful insights to customers ranging from agriculture to insurance to infrastructure planning and maintenance. They are benefitting from the government's clear intent and support, but they also need more money to succeed. Here's how they look on the runway. Read more 

3) Pandemic that built character
The Indian food and beverages sector did everything it could think of to survive and thrive in the pandemic—from tying up with food aggregators to delivering curated meal boxes during festivals, to sending chefs and bartenders to people’s homes for a personalised supper and experience. According to Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO of Indian Hotels Company Limited, the hospitality industry demonstrated character during the pandemic. A hopeful Chhatwal talks about new business models, what India's F&B industry lacks, and why it has the potential to put the country on the global map. Read more  

Discover

1) Forbes India Daily Tech Conversation
Have you checked out our daily Forbes India Daily Tech Conversation podcast yet? It’s the daily tech interview, more upfront. This is our experiment to build a thriving environment for insightful conversations about emerging technologies, the impact of legacy companies, and the future ahead. We will have a chat with tech company founders in India and abroad, VC investors, as well as senior technologists at the world’s biggest companies. Listen here


2) Rewinding 2021
2020 was all about holding on as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted lives in every corner of the globe. In 2021, we learned to deal with coronavirus, but it was the year that opened the eyes of many countries in the world concerning climate change. There were unprecedented wildfires; cyclones were more intense; many regions flooded beyond help. Here's a look at some of the biggest natural disasters of the year. Here's a look


3) Live music returns with gusto
Covid-19 pandemic had brought the live entertainment industry to a standstill in 2020. Sport competitions entered bio-bubbles and closed the doors to spectators as musical artists took refuge on live streaming. In 2021, people took revenge. As living with the virus became a little manageable, they quickly dropped the live streams and drive-ins to fill the arenas for the live music experience. How much did that fill the coffers of artists such as The Rolling Stones, Harry Styles, Green Day, among others? Here's a look.


4) World's most admired people
YouGov's list of most admired men and women in 2021 includes forty entries—20 men and 20 women. YouGov surveyed more than 42,000 people across 38 countries. PM Narendra Modi took the eighth spot on this list. There are seven other Indians who made the cut and are rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Obamas, Queen Elizabeth II, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Angelina Jolie. Take a look.