Audio
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Why is fintech unicorn Slice buying a loss-making small finance bank?
Slice, a credit and payments unicorn, has announced its merger with Guwahati-based North East Small Finance Bank, in a rare instance of a fintech company entering the banking sector. But considering the bank has no attractive assets, why is Slice interested in it, and what signal is the RBI sending with allowing this 'backdoor entry' into banking? Forbes India's Samar Srivastava and Salil Panchal hazard some calculated guesses, and talk about why there are more questions than answers
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Could this be the last ever 50-over Cricket World Cup?
Will the ODI format survive over the next four years? And what are India's chances at winning the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup? Forbes India's sports expert, Kathakali Chanda, tackles the big questions with K Sriniwas Rao, Group Editor- Sports at Network18
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Bengaluru traffic: Can gamifying the use of public transport be a solution?
Bengaluru loses a staggering Rs20,000 crore per year just due to traffic, a study shows. How did India's high-tech hub become the world's second most congested city? And why then, is the government reportedly cracking down on carpooling apps? There are solutions to begin fixing the crisis, our expert on today's episode says, but the challenge has always been to have them implemented. Here's Pawan Mulukutla, Director - Integrated Transport, Electric Mobility & Hydrogen at WRI India, on what it will take to decongest India's Silicon Valley
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Meta's new AI tools for WhatsApp, Instagram, could make anyone a creator
Soon, you'll have your own AI assistants on Instagram and WhatsApp, to do everything from generate funny gifs from your imagination, to help plan a trip in a group chat. Meta released a whole bunch of new generative AI-led features across their products, poised to make the experience of using them more fun...and perhaps more overwhelming? Hitesh Rajwani, CEO of Social Samosa, tells us where these features could take us—and creators—on today's episode
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Bhavish Aggarwal and the Ola Electric gambit
If one carefully looks at India's roads, there is a surge of two-wheelers bearing green and white number plates, smartly weaving through traffic and dodging potholes. This hike is supported by the ambitious drive of Bhavish Aggarwal, maverick founder of Ola Electric. The cover story of our EV special issue revolves around him and his audacious gambit. Forbes India's Rajiv Singh gets into the details of Aggarwal's new high-risk, high-return plan
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Gary Kirsten on the evolution of cricket and the parallels between business and sport
Gary Kirsten, former South African batter and the man who coached India to its last ODI World Cup title, says the ODI format might be under threat as franchise cricket starts to take precedence. But even as the longer formats are losing the battle of eyeballs to the shortest one, T20 cricket has ensured the spread of the game across the globe, where countries like Ireland and Scotland are fielding highly competitive teams. And that's a great thing, he says
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Why is Bajaj Finance looking to raise $1 bn?
Bajaj Finance is reportedly looking to raise funds to the tune of $1bn, with its board scheduled to meet next week to consider a proposal. But why is India's most valued NBFC looking to raise funding? Is it because of the added competition from Jio Financial Services, and what will it do with the money? Forbes India's Nasrin Sultana gives us her analysis on this episode
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More women, migration beyond Maharashtra and more: How blue collar jobs are changing
A new report by BetterPlace, a platform for blue-collar workforce management, has revealed some interesting trends. Average monthly salaries for blue collar or frontline workers have reduced to Rs 21,000 in FY23, and jobs have declined by 17.5 percent. Women participation increased by 100 percent since last year, a good sign, but still remains at 6 percent of the entire workforce. Pravin Agarwala, co-founder and CEO of BetterPlace, takes us through the key trends, including new migration patterns, upskilling opportunities and the impact of AI on frontline workers
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Can PhonePe's homegrown Indus App Store take on Google?
Walmart-owned PhonePe has announced the Indus App Store, a Made-in-India alternative to the Google Play Store for Android users in India, inviting local app developers with no commission for in-app payments. In contrast, Google charges developers 6 percent to 30 percent of all in-app purchases. Can Indus take on Google? Prachir Singh, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research, says there's a good chance they might, and here's why
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Women's Reservation Bill: How much does it really change?
The Bill reserves 1/3rd seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and the national capital territory of Delhi. Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Political Shakti, a collective working for greater representation of women in Indian politics, pulls no punches when she says that the Bill in its current form actually shields men from having to devolve power to women in the political arena, in conversation with Forbes India's Divya Shekhar
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Will Akasa Air survive?
India's newest airline is facing rough winds, seemingly rattled by a pilot exodus. Mark Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Consulting, an aviation consultancy, minces no words on today's episode, about how this is a symptom of the airline's mismanagement, and how they have painted themselves into a corner. How did they get here? Forbes India's Manu Balachandran and Mark Martin take us through the ride