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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Some consolidation efforts are underway in the streaming content space as smaller platforms struggle with rising costs and programming clutter in what has so far largely been a fragmented industry.Shemaroo Entertainment has acquired the library of regional platform OHO Gujarati, while Vibhu Agarwal-owned Atrangii OTT has tied up with Amazon MX Player for distribution. Saregama India acquired a majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces Pictures in 2023.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.With global video-on-demand platforms streaming largely identical titles across markets, India-specific edits to international programming have drawn renewed attention after viewer backlash over The Boys on Amazon Prime Video. The latest season of the American series has triggered criticism on social media over censored dialogue and visuals, highlighting how global content is often altered before reaching Indian audiences, and how that gap is increasingly visible to subscribers.In The Boys, religious references were reportedly sanitized, while certain visuals, including religious idols and sexual content, were blurred or cut to comply with India’s broadcast standards.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India is gearing up for one of its largest offshore oil and gas exploration campaigns in recent years.The government has planned extensive geological surveys across multiple eastern offshore basins.The timing is no coincidence. India still sources nearly 85% of its crude oil from overseas, along with a significant chunk of its natural gas needs.That dependence leaves the economy exposed; any spike in global crude prices, geopolitical flare-up, or supply disruption abroad quickly feeds into higher fuel costs and inflation at home.According to media reports, survey ships are expected to soon begin scanning vast stretches of the Bay of Bengal and nearby offshore regions to hunt for commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves buried beneath the seabed.The government has floated bids for a large-scale multi-basin exploration project covering the Bengal-Purnea, Mahanadi, Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, and Andaman offshore basins—all using advanced 2D Broadband Marine Seismic and Gravity-Magnetic surveys.The scale is striking.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru: For Bengaluru-based techie Sumukh S, blood tests used to be a transactional matter. He would compare prices across apps, check availability and book whichever lab seemed cheapest or quickest that day. That changed about two years ago, after a friend recommended Orange Health Labs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A nationwide pharmacy strike planned for 20 May has been severely weakened after retailer associations in 12 major states, including West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, withdrew their support. The pullout followed a decision by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the national drug regulator, to review retail and online pharmacy operations, according to two officials familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity.The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), representing over 1.2 million retailers, had called for the shutdown to protest the unregulated growth of e-pharmacies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A quiet shift is underway in how India spends, as salaries fail to keep pace with the rising cost of living.An April 2026 white paper titled The New Indian Household Balance Sheet by wealth manager Client Associates found that net financial savings have fallen sharply to about 5.2% of gross domestic product in 2023-24, down from nearly 7.7% in the pre-pandemic years, as rising borrowings eat into household surpluses and household financial liabilities have climbed to 6.2% of GDP, a decade high, driven by rapid growth in home loans, personal credit, and credit card spending.And somewhere in between wanting something and not being able to afford it, a new habit has taken hold: buy now and pay later (BNPL).BNPL is a type of short-term loan that lets you pay for goods or services immediately and pay them back at a later date, usually in instalments or with a single interest-free deferred payment. Unlike conventional loans, it is largely interest-free as long as the customer pays on time.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton, among others, is in talks to acquire a stake in Bengaluru-based restaurant chain Nandhana Palace, three people familiar with the matter said.“The investment firm may likely acquire a minority stake in the business,” one person said.“The Andhra-cuisine restaurant chain is also in discussions with other funds, but L Catterton may likely have an edge, given its deep expertise in the consumer sector,” a second person said.Mint reported in December that Nandhana had sought a valuation of ₹2,000 crore when it was in talks with Dubai-based investment firm Pulsar Capital, but that did not materialize.That valuation was at the higher end and may evolve or change, depending on the buyer, two of the people said.“While the final terms are yet to be signed, the deal is still undergoing due diligence,” a third person said.L Catterton and Nandhana did not respond to Mint’s requests for comment till the time of publishing.L Catterton is 60% owned by private equity firm Catterton and the remaining 40% is jointly owned by French luxury brand LVMH and Groupe Arnault. The firm manages $40 billion of equity capital and has made over 300 investments in consumer brands globally and in India.Its portfolio companies include Drools, Sugar Cosmetics, Farmley, Haldiram’s, Healing Hands Clinic and Jio Platforms.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Despite being infamous for box office volatility, the theatrical business is fast drawing digital-first players seeking scale beyond streaming.Kuku, the digital entertainment company behind platforms like Kuku FM and Kuku TV, has announced its expansion into theatrical-led cinema with its first Hindi feature film, Indian Institute of Zombies.Firms like Collective Media Network and TVF (The Viral Fever), known for OTT and digital projects, also have theatrical releases scheduled.Industry experts say that while cinema remains unpredictable in the short term, films continue to be one of the most powerful formats for building large-scale intellectual property and cultural relevance.Digital-first companies are not looking at films only through the lens of theatrical box office—they see them as long-term content assets that can travel across streaming, satellite, music, and international platforms. For many, film production is a natural extension of an ecosystem already built around audience data, creators, and cross-platform storytelling.“Digital platforms have spent years building audience trust, understanding consumption patterns, and identifying what truly resonates.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It sounds like the investment opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to get in on one of the hottest names on Wall Street, before the company’s stock even starts trading.Financial advisers say buyer beware.It is technically possible for ordinary investors to get ahead of the coming oversize and high-profile public offerings expected in 2026—including SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic. Investors can get access through direct secondary marketplaces, exchange-traded funds that advertise private-company exposure and even crypto tokens that seek to mirror the performance of the company’s shares.But all those methods vary greatly in risk level and degree of actual ownership on offer, highlighted by Anthropic’s market-rattling warning this past week that it won’t recognize investments not approved by its board.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Back in 2024, among the many international brands announcing their launches in India, global makeup giant Laura Mercier entered India through an omnichannel presence, including a store in Mumbai. Cut to 2026, the brand is re looking at its India strategy, relaunching in India with a different partner, Luxasia India. Ginny Wright, CEO, Orveon Global, whose portfolio also includes bareMinerals and BUXOM cosmetics, discusses their relaunch.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India is actively scouting for hardware and deeptech investments, with a sharp focus on semiconductors, robotics, and battery technology, according to a top executive at the firm.“It's definitely a new space for us, but it makes sense due to how geopolitics is playing out. In the past two years, companies have been looking to be more independent and move away from relying on China,” Ben Mathias, managing partner at the firm, told Mint in an interview.Vertex Ventures is the latest firm to build a deeptech investment thesis in India, joining a sector buoyed by the growing demand for "sovereign technology”.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Tata Cliq, the flagship e-commerce platform of Tata Group, is focusing on premium brands, luxury shopping, and franchising marquee international brands in India as the size and scope of the country's e-commerce business grow rapidly.The company is betting on the upcoming India launch of the US premium athleisure brand Lululemon, expanding its luxury offerings, and introducing new categories such as supplements and other wellbeing products.This comes at a time when India’s e-commerce sector, with major players such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho, continues to battle for scale while offering deep discounts. Tata Cliq is positioning itself around affluent consumers, curated offerings and premium experiences.Tata Cliq, which has been in business for ten years, is preparing to launch the first few stores of Lululemon in three months, chief executive Gopal Asthana told Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.When Meta Platforms said in April that it would lay off 10% of its staff, Allen Sun quickly booked a trip to Menlo Park, Calif.It was a prime opportunity. Sun, a Beijing-based headhunter for some of the biggest Chinese tech companies, works to lure China-born talent back home, targeting people at U.S.-based companies such as Meta, Google, Anthropic and Amazon.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Ahead of its initial public offering (IPO), Jio Platforms Limited has appointed Akash M. Ambani as its managing director for five years, effective 9 April, according to disclosures seen by Mint.The leadership reshuffle comes as the company prepares to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to seek approval for listing.“...subject to the approval of the members of the company, Mr Akash M.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Manav Jain can no longer ignore how screens are rewriting his sense of faces. The 25-year-old product manager from Bengaluru recently returned to his hometown, Mumbai, after staying in touch with family through video calls that convinced him he had kept up with what's going on. That illusion shattered the moment he saw his mother in person.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.General Atlantic-owned infrastructure investor Actis LLPis looking to cash out, fully or partly, from its listed Indian roads platform Nxt-Infra Trust, two people aware of the matter told Mint.“Actis is prepared to remain a co-investor or exit entirely depending on the valuation and the profile of the incoming investor,” one of the persons said on condition of anonymity.The mandate had been languishing for about six months, the second person said, on the condition of anonymity. “A Big Four adviser was originally onboarded to take the company through the mandate, but Ambit was later hired following a period of inactivity and execution hurdles.”The earlier outreach was focused largely on a small set of large private equity firms, this person added.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai last year, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the launch of a “next-generation financial market infrastructure,” designed to “tokenize financial assets and settlements.” While it received no more than a passing mention in his speech, the Unified Markets Interface he mentioned appears to be an early signpost of the direction in which the digitization of India’s financial sector is likely to progress. To understand the significance of this announcement, it is important to be clear about what a tokenized asset is and how it works.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The apex drug regulator has directed all licensed blood centres to enrol in a national digital portal, as part of a crackdown after cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections in children due to contaminated transfusions across multiple states, according to two government officials and a document reviewed by Mint.The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation issued a directive ordering all 4,153 licensed blood banks to complete registration on the Online National Drug Licensing System portal by 13 May, a single-window platform that centralizes licensing, tracks donor histories, and provides hospitals and patients visibility into verified blood supplies.“In order to strengthen regulatory oversight, enhance transparency in blood services, and ensure easy public access to blood and its components across the country, it has been decided to generate a database of all Blood Centres on the Online National Drug Licensing System (ONDLS) portal www.Statedrugs.gov.in,” the CDSCO directive to all State Licensing Authorities (SLAs) said.CDSCO has categorized this mission as a ‘priority’.“...all State Licensing Authorities (SLAs) are requested to direct all Blood Centres within their respective jurisdictions to complete this registration latest by 13.05.2026. Action taken may be informed to this directorate for submitting to the MoHFW (ministry of health and family welfare),” the letter said.The e-RaktKosh digital backbone for blood services and National Informatics Centre (NIC) teams are involved in the information flow to manage the technical rollout.The move, authorized by drugs controller general Dr.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is likely to meet before mid-July to consider proposals to simplify procedures and clarify matters including the taxation of ride-hailing app companies, according to two people aware of the development.The proposals likely to make it to the agenda include making tax registration and claiming tax credits simpler. Simpler GST registration procedures and input tax credit norms are expected to make compliance easier for businesses.While the reforms aim to streamline registration and invoice reconciliation, taxpayers continue to face practical challenges around withdrawal of registration applications and input tax claim-related procedural certainty, said Ikesh Nagpal, lead-indirect tax at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.The meeting may be scheduled before the monsoon session of Parliament that runs from July to August.In the case of cab aggregators such as Uber and Rapido, the effort will be to clarify the taxability of their operations.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Fintech unicorn-turned-bank Slice is preparing to enter wealth management with an AI-powered “personal CFO” embedded in its banking app, according to twopeople familiar with the matter.The company has begun beta-testing the tool, which can track balances, flag idle funds, monitor maturing deposits, build savings prompts around user goals and warn users about potential cash crunches before they happen, the people said.Slice plans to eventually add investment offerings to the platform, though it could not be ascertained when those products would be launched.Many Indians still find investing intimidating because they are overwhelmed by product choices and are unaware of how to build their wealth and assess their risk appetite, the people said. The company believes the move could help it better understand customer behaviour and eventually sharpen the design and distribution of wealth products within the app, according to one of the people cited above.The move signals Slice’s aim to evolve beyond banking, payments and credit into full-stack financial distribution at a time when wealth-tech remains one of the few fintech segments continuing to attract investor interest.The company is pitching the tool as more than a generic chatbot for personal finance, the first person close to the project said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s food regulator has issued a show-cause notice to Fitshit Health Solutions-owned The Whole Truth over labelling that its chocolate products contained “no added sugar,” a move that could have a broader impact on how companies make and consumers perceive such claims.The notice issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) followed a complaint filed by rival chocolate maker Paul & Mike that The Whole Truth was using dates as sweeteners while claiming that no sugar was added to its cocoa products.Under FSSAI’s “non-addition of sugars” rules, such claims are not permitted if ingredients containing sugars are used as substitutes for added sugars. Following a Right to Information petition filed by the complainant in December, the Maharashtra FSSAI issued the notice to The Whole Truth.This tighter regulatory scrutiny could set a precedent how food companies make “no added sugar” claims while using dates, date paste and similar ingredients as sweeteners.