Up for Grab? Gojek after Nadiem Makarim

If you thought the battle between Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing leader Grab and its Indonesia-headquartered foe Gojek couldn’t get any more intense, it has. Gojek pushed its business across Southeast Asia last year, and Singapore-based Grab has spent the last two years trying to unseat its rival in its native Indonesia. The fundraising battle has gone … Read more Up for Grab? Gojek after Nadiem Makarim

Not open and shut: India’s gigafactory ambitions have three doors to get through

Elon Musk, CEO of auto major Tesla, believes that 100 gigafactories could sustainably power the whole world through a new, ascending global currency. Lithium.  Musk might be the visionary here, but it’s the Chinese who’ve captured the lithium zeitgeist.  Hitting its stride a decade earlier than India, China not only strategically stockpiled a supply of … Read more Not open and shut: India’s gigafactory ambitions have three doors to get through

Callateral damage: The far-reaching consequences of Vodafone Idea going bust

Kumar Mangalam Birla has been camped out in Delhi for over a week now. Birla, the chairman of beleaguered telco Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), first rushed to the smog-filled national capital at the end of October, after a Supreme Court judgement which shook the telecom industry. The apex court ruled that telecom operators owed a … Read more Callateral damage: The far-reaching consequences of Vodafone Idea going bust

Wide but not deep? Ashoka’s 3-year liberal arts course dilemma

“Is toothpaste solid or liquid? When you squish it, it flows. On the brush, it holds shape like a solid. What are all the states of matter that lie in between? This is how I explore the field of soft condensed matter physics with my class. Materials are a disruptive area of research, but largely … Read more Wide but not deep? Ashoka’s 3-year liberal arts course dilemma

Reliance Jio travels first-class on the tariff hike gravy train

As recently as a month ago, the future of two of India’s three remaining private telecom players—Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) and Bharti Airtel—was in doubt. Slapped with retrospective payments of Rs 53,000 crore (~$7.3 billion) and Rs 35,500 crore (~$4.8 billion), respectively, by the Supreme Court—in line with a broader definition of what constituted taxable … Read more Reliance Jio travels first-class on the tariff hike gravy train