UpFront
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As the Taliban tightens its grip, fears of retribution grow
So far, the Taliban's political leadership has presented a moderate face, promising amnesty to government security forces who lay down their arms, even writing letters of guarantee that they will not be pursued, although reserving the right to prosecute serious crimes
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Opening the can of unicorns
India, as of mid-August, is home to roughly 50 unicorns, half of them minted in 2021—the surge catapults it to No 3 in the world, after Silicon Valley and China—a surefire sign that the country's tech startup scene has crossed a new threshold
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Freshworks starts US IPO process, marking historic milestone for India's SaaS sector
Its success will spur many more SaaS entrepreneurs to build from Chennai and Bengaluru, for the world, chasing a multi-billion dollar opportunity in cloud software
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The real winner of the Afghan war? It's not who you think
Pakistan was ostensibly America's partner in the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban and its military won tens of billions in American aid over the last two decades, even as Washington acknowledged that much of the money disappeared into unaccounted sinkholes
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English is the most spoken language in the world, Hindi ranks third
Mandarin, Hindi, Bengali, and Urdu among the top 10 most-spoken languages in the world
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Spies for hire: China's new breed of hackers blends espionage and entrepreneurship
China's new approach borrows from the tactics of Russia and Iran, which have tormented public and commercial targets for years
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Indians most active on WhatsApp with 390.1 million monthly active users in 2020
The combined user base located in the top 3 WhatsApp countries exceeds half a billion, with 573.6 million monthly active users based in India, Brazil, and the US
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When investing becomes a (risky) hedge to small business slowdown
Newcomers have been flocking to the markets, learning the tricks of the trade and investing not just for the future but also as a way to keep income coming in to tide over the pandemic slump. But experts advise caution and warn against getting carried away by short-term gains
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ESG is here to stay and it will disrupt business models: Richard Rekhy
The former CEO of KPMG India talks about biases hindering the wider adoption of ESG, why it's time for companies to walk the talk, and how the future valuation of firms will depend on their ESG report card
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Forbes plans to go public in $630 million SPAC deal
Forbes is the latest media company to use the once obscure, but increasingly popular SPAC manoeuvre to go public, rather than an initial public offering, which comes with regulatory hassles
