From new WPL brand to long game of quick commerce, here are our most-read stories of the week

Leadership Mantras of Dipali Goenka, the impact of heat stresses on inflation, and Keeway V302C review are some of the stories that piqued the interest of our readers this week

By Forbes India

Published: Mar 11, 2023 07:58:22 AM IST

Updated: Mar 10, 2023 06:18:07 PM IST

Every week, catch up on the best long form stories from Forbes India. Often peppered with our binge-worthy podcasts, videos or infographics too. Image: Shutterstock

1) Building WPL

15 years since BCCI launched the Indian Premier League and changed the course of the gentlemen's game, the Women's Premier League has finally seen the light of the day and five teams are competing to lift the maiden trophy by the end of this month. BCCI sold five franchises for a cumulative Rs 4,669.99 crore. The regulatory body also pocketed Rs 951 crore in broadcasting rights for the next five years. Opening batter Smriti Mandhana emerged as the most expensive pick, earning a Rs 3.4 crore bid from Royal Challengers Bangalore. While the astronomical numbers make for great headlines, what sort of business rationale are the franchises driven by? Let's find out.

2) Summer of inflation

If you ask India Meteorological Department, they will tell you that last month was the warmest February since 1877, with average maximum temperatures touching 29.54 degrees Celsius. This is just the beginning of a hot summer with the growing possibility of an El Nino condition. Vicious cycles of heat waves and unseasonal rains are threatening to increase food prices, create short-term spikes in power prices and overall derail the rural economy recovery. Experts believe that these heat stresses will impact inflation and severely hit the fiscal buffer of the country. Here's why they are calling for a policy response. Read here

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3) A world of good

Vita and Jalaj Dani's philanthropy story is pretty straightforward. They went to their roots in Kapadvanj of Kheda district in Gujarat. They relied heavily on collaborations and partnerships with projects that were already making progress to provide affordable education to the people of the small village—why reinvent the wheel when going local offers more benefits? The Danis want to create self-sustaining communities. That's why the focus is on constructive philanthropy—empowering individuals and communities through transformative actions like holistic learning, promoting well-being like physical literacy and sports, and more. Read here

Discover

1) Long game of quick commerce

The year 2021 was all about quick deliveries. 2020 had us locked in and delivery persons on the mission to make our lives easier in the middle of a pandemic. Therefore by next year, every ecommerce business wanted to deliver goods, medicines, food, and groceries as soon as possible. Consumers also wanted to get everything at lightning speed. Ola Dash, JioMart Express, Dunzo, Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart, and BBNow, sprouted like mushrooms in the monsoon. The sector attracted $1.9 billion in funding from venture capitalists. Two years later, these companies are either sacking staff, shutting shop or being acquired. But there are still some warriors left on the battlefield—digging heels for the long haul. Why? Read here

2) Leadership Mantras of Dipali Goenka

From getting married at the age of 18 to joining the business at 30, Dipali Goenka, CEO and joint managing director of Welspun India, takes us through her journey in this episode of Leadership Mantras. It all started with Goenka wanting to be an example for her daughters, and after learning everything from scratch, she spearheaded the launch of the brand SPACES in 2003. From scepticism from insiders and called the "boss's wife", she remained unperturbed and has made Welspun India one of the world’s largest home textile companies and the biggest supplier to the US.

Watch here

3) Rise of the challenger

Debashis Chatterjee, CEO and managing director at LTIMindtree, is widely credited with successfully integrating Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LTI) and Mindtree—two diverse companies that have created a $3.5 billion IT services enterprise, ready to take on larger rivals for bigger orders while retaining the characteristics of a smaller, nimbler operator. In this episode of Daily Tech Conversation, Chatterjee explains why he thinks LTIMindtree has what it takes to become a significantly larger IT provider over the next few years. Listen here

4) Keeway V302C: An interesting ride

Keeway V302C is interesting in many ways. For a sleek and diminutive motorbike, it features a V-twin engine that makes 30hp and 27Nm, a 15-litre tank that can cover about 350km on one fill, has 167kgs of curb weight, is belt driven, and loves to scramble at an urgent pace out of most situations. These numbers and seriously good looks tend to increase expectations from the bike. Yet there's something left to desire. Watch here