"ET Panache's viral story on a teenage 'AI startup founder' with a Burj Khalifa office ignores the one detail that matters: who actually paid for it. This critique argues the coverage conflates a parent-funded venture with a self-sustaining business, rewards spectacle over scrutiny, and misleads young readers about what real entrepreneurship requires. A pointed look at why financial journalism owes readers better due diligence — not just a dazzling headline." Lazy or greedy b

India's trading boom is creating a dangerous illusion of easy wealth. Influencers and fintech platforms increasingly portray trading as a shortcut to financial success, while SEBI data shows that over 90% of retail F&O traders lose money. The real cost extends beyond individuals to families, savings and aspirations, raising an urgent question: are we encouraging young Indians to create wealth—or merely to chase it?

The arrest of the former CEOs of Reliance Commercial Finance (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance (RHFL) marks another significant escalation in the investigation into the alleged diversion of loans that reportedly caused losses of ₹7,623 crore to public sector banks. According to investigators, the case involves systematic diversion of funds through a network of entities and transactions that are now the subject of parallel scrutiny by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate. Viewed

The Foreign Exchange Management (Non-Debt Instruments) (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified on 12 June 2026, represent a significant development in India's foreign investment regulatory framework. While the Amendment seeks to liberalize certain investment channels by expanding the category of eligible foreign investors, it simultaneously reinforces the government's ability to scrutinize investments involving ownership, control, or beneficial ownership with certain countrie

Foreign influence has become one of the defining governance challenges of the digital age. Across democracies, governments are increasingly concerned about the ability of foreign actors to shape public discourse through funding of media organizations, think tanks, advocacy groups, research institutions and digital platforms. India is no exception. As cross-border capital flows become more sophisticated, concerns about opaque funding structures, hidden beneficial ownership and

The unfolding investigations surrounding the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) have thrown up an uncomfortable question for India's enforcement architecture: how is it that senior executives are being arrested, interrogated, and chargesheeted while the group's principal promoter, Anil Ambani, remains largely outside the immediate prosecutorial spotlight in several of these proceedings? This is not an argument about guilt or innocence. The law must ultimately determi

There are some speaking engagements that leave you with a sense of accomplishment. Then there are those rare occasions that leave you with a sense of hope. My recent interaction with the gifted young participants of Lodestone 2026, organized by the Pravaha Foundation at IIIT Hyderabad, belonged firmly in the latter category. I am deeply grateful to the Pravaha Foundation for inviting me to contribute to a program that seeks to shape young minds at such a formative stage of li

Independence Becomes a Legal Fiction I. Background: A Governance Question That Should Never Have Been Necessary Indian corporate governance has spent the better part of two decades trying to strengthen the institution of the independent director. Every major corporate scandal—from Satyam to governance controversies involving listed entities across sectors—has reinforced one central lesson: minority shareholders need credible voices in the boardroom that are insulated from the

David vs Goliath in Indian Fitness: How Habuild’s Quiet Discipline Challenges Curefit’s Capital-Fuelled Empire

Political Theatre involving Congress and BJP Indian politics increasingly resembles less of an ideological battlefield and more of a sophisticated negotiation table — one where conflict is real, but so are incentives, trade-offs, and strategic accommodations. The recent dynamics involving All India Trinamool Congress, Indian National Congress, Mamata Banerjee and the Bharatiya Janata Party invite one such alternative interpretation. To be clear, this is not an assertion of fa

Travel wide - travel freely - caravan travel There’s something about Indian highways that doesn’t show up in brochures. It’s in the chai stops that turn into conversations. The unplanned detours. The quiet dignity of small towns that don’t try to impress you. Over the years, Shital and I have discovered that road travel in India isn’t just transit—it’s perspective. And yet, we’ve always felt one limitation:You’re never fully free. You’re always chasing the next hotel, the nex

NSE Settlement and the Arithmetic of Absurdity The proposed settlement between the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is being presented as closure. In formal terms, it fits within a consent-based enforcement architecture. In economic terms, however, it raises a sharper question: Has a multi-year structural distortion of market fairness been reduced to a financially efficient exit? A tighter reading—through the lenses

Between Narrative and Numbers Razorpay has, over the past decade, positioned itself as one of India’s most successful fintech platforms—riding the wave of digital payments, SME enablement, and API-led financial infrastructure. With investors including marquee global funds and a last reported valuation in the ~$7–8 billion range (2021–22), expectations around its eventual IPO valuation have steadily crept into the $10–15 billion territory in market conversations. At face value

There is a tendency to associate wisdom with education, status, or institutional authority. But these encounters challenge that assumption. They suggest that clarity often emerges from necessity, that discipline is forged through constraint, and that values are best understood when they are tested daily. The rickshaw driver navigating Mumbai’s chaotic streets is not just transporting passengers—he is, in his own way, navigating life with a framework that many would benefit fr

Iran’s move to demand cryptocurrency tolls in the Strait of Hormuz exposes crypto’s darker reality. What was designed to bypass control is now enabling it—allowing states to evade sanctions, obscure flows, and exert coercion. Crypto isn’t dismantling power; it’s quietly becoming a more opaque instrument of it.

India’s IPO market is undergoing a sharp reset. In FY 2024–25, most large IPOs were dominated by investor exits, with little capital flowing into the business—resulting in weak post-listing performance. The March 2026 pipeline signals a shift back to growth-focused listings, where fresh capital and alignment, not liquidity, will determine success.

War exposed crypto’s core weakness. When fear peaked, users fled to dollars, not decentralization. Exchanges—not protocols—held the system together. Assets were frozen, prices swung, and sovereignty failed under pressure. Crypto promised independence from the system; in crisis, it proved it still depends on it.

MODIFIED FOR TRAVEL The Evolution of Indian Regional Aviation: Learning from the Sky For nearly a decade, the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme has served as the centerpiece of India’s aviation narrative, aiming to fulfill the middle-class dream of affordable air travel. However, by early 2026, a stark reality had set in: nearly half of the routes launched under the original 2016 framework had collapsed once government subsidies expired. The recently approved Modified UD

Reclaims Indian Democracy from Foreign Influence The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) of 2020, and the subsequent 2026 Bill, represent a fundamental shift in India’s approach to national sovereignty and internal security. For decades, the "voluntary sector" operated with minimal oversight, allowing foreign-funded entities to bypass the democratic mandate of the Indian electorate. By tightening the strings, these amendments are empowering a "right set of idea

Board Brief: India’s New Labour Codes Reshape Cost Structures, Compress Margins, Expand Social Security, and Demand Strategic Workforce Reconfiguration to Balance Compliance Efficiency with Long-Term Financial Sustainability