Daybreak

How the security deposit became a landlord’s free working capital

This Diwali, gift The Ken! Tenants across India's six biggest metros have handed landlords Rs 1.26 trillion in security deposits, a new NoBroker study estimates. Around

A $12B R&D fund was meant to turbocharge startup funding. It did the opposite

India's RDI fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore was launched to give patient capital to deep-tech startups.  A year later the cash, is barely flowing. Out of 162 alternate investme

Why India’s airlines are flying less and charging you more

“Don’t travel by air.” That was a Supreme Court judge’s response on Monday, when a petitioner asked for an urgent cap on airfares before Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath. Air

At IITs, a long-brewing ‘culture war’ between engineering and humanities boils over

At India's premier engineering schools, the humanities and social sciences or HSS have become a put-down. "Oh, you're being so HSS" is what students say to anyone seen as

Gen Z wants to own a home. The math says inherit one

India’s homes cost 11 times annual income, more than double the affordability benchmark, and real wages fell 4% between 2012 and 2024. For Gen Z, buying a house on a sala

Vodafone Idea’s losses are halving and its stores are buzzing. The hard part comes next

For years, Vodafone Idea (Vi) kept losing subscribers. Since February, that’s stopped, and the company is now pushing hard with unlimited data, family plans and stacked

Sacred Games put Netflix India on the map. Roadies is how it plans to stay there

Netflix paid 175 crore for the Hindi version of a single blockbuster. For a season of Roadies, the college-favourite reality show, it reportedly paid 18 and even agreed t

How to ‘manufacture’ an Ivy League applicant

Getting into a top American university has become a mountain of research papers, social projects and competitions. And wealthy Indian families are now starting the climb

JioHotstar’s real overseas rival is a $10 per month pirate box

JioStar has taken JioHotstar to the UK, Canada, Singapore and the Middle East. It's chasing roughly 37 million Indians living abroad, and their taste for content from bac

India's instant home help boom has a pricing problem

Investors are calling India's home-services market quick commerce's next big moment. Instahelp, Snabbit, and Pronto are betting big on it. They're sending trained workers

Without a UPI, Africa pays a toll on cash. Airtel Money collects it

Airtel Money is now trading in London, valued at about $7 billion. The African mobile-money company made $373 million in profit last financial year. It is based on a simp

Ajio wants to course-correct, but Reliance Retail’s shadow looms large

Reliance has a lot to celebrate. The bidding for Jio IPO closed on Friday, more than 20 times subscribed, and with India's biggest valuation ever; the shares will list on

Dogs have a nose for cancer. An Indian startup is betting on them

Less than 1% of Indians get tested for cancer, and with full body scans costing as much as Rs 25,000, it's not surprising. Dognosis, a Bengaluru startup, has a solution

India’s largest financial-sector FDI is coming. But what does the public get?

On 14 October, the Cabinet approved selling nearly 61% of IDBI Bank to the Canadian firm Fairfax for nearly ₹53,000 crore. Once completed, it will be the largest FDI in I

Why your Diwali shopping is more important than MDR on UPI

Around mid-September, shops in parts of Ghaziabad started putting up signs: carry cash, because UPI wouldn’t be accepted.  They were protesting a new 0.4% merchant fee o

After making a fortune at the dock, Adani's next bet is a fleet of 100 ships going offshore

In October last year, a ship owned by Adani Ports slowed to less than one knot near Malta. It held that position for over seven days, directly above the cables linking Ma

Air India needs saving. Singapore Airlines is playing saviour

Air India's recent losses nearly doubled to 22,000 cr rs, and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran keeps showing up at its Delhi Headquarters. Singapore Airlines, which o

What happens when you put Indian business on a 2x2?

In this Daybreak x Two by Two crossover, host Snigdha Sharna turns the tables on Praveen Gopal Krishnan to look beyond individual companies and industries, and at the big

India’s food inflation has layers. The onion is only the first

On October 12, government data showed India’s food inflation rose to 7.7% in September, led by onion prices that more than doubled from a year earlier. Back in May, onio

7-Eleven promised "Everything essential". It still lost to India's corner shops

“Mile har cheez zaruri.” Everything essential, right here. That was the promise on the signs inside India’s first 7-Eleven, which opened in Mumbai five years ago, with