PenPencilDraw has become a go-to for Covid-related political satires and memes in India. "I stay anonymous because it gives me some distance from the work, which is good for creative freedom," they say.
May 25, 2021
If stock brokering businesses were the benchmark for India’s economic success, no one would believe that the country is going through its worse financial crisis in decades.
Over the last year, as India struggled with Covid-19 outbreaks, the country’s economy went into a recession, the unemployment rate spiked sharply, and thousands of households were pushed into poverty. Many small businesses are currently hanging by a thread.
Away from this gloom and doom, stockbrokers in India have raked in millions during the pandemic.
In the financial year that ended on March 31, 2021, the stock brokerage industry in India clocked an income of Rs27,500-28,500 crore ($3.6 billion), which is around 30-35% higher year-on-year, according to rating agency ICRA.
Nothing can come between Indians and their wedding dreams not even a once-in-a-century pandemic.
At a time when India is dealing with a deadly second wave of Covid-19, a businessman from the southern state of Tamil Nadu booked a chartered flight for two hours to tie the knot mid-air and avoid gathering restrictions. On May 23, the SpiceJet flight took off from Bengaluru for Madurai with the couple and over 160 guests.
Due to Covid-19, weddings in Bengaluru and Madurai like most other parts of the country are allowed to have only up to 50 guests.
In a video of the wedding that went viral on social media, the couple and their guests can be seen flouting all social distancing norms.
May 24, 2021
Some of the largest companies in the world are teaming up with local conglomerates to get a share of India’s fast-growing online payments ecosystem.
Four consortiums have submitted applications for the National Umbrella Entity (NUE) licenses, which will allow firms to build a real-time payment platform for India. These consortiums include companies such as Silicon Valley giants Facebook and Google, and India’s largest businesses like Reliance Industries, Tata Group, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank.
The Reserve Bank of India had invited applications for NUE licenses in August 2020. The new platforms will work as alternatives to the country’s only instant digital retail payment network, the United Payments Interface (UPI).
As the cases of “black fungus” infections continue to rise in India, doctors and scientists worry if there is more to it than just the use of steroids.