The data-centre boom is making a lot of noise. Literally.

And that’s proving to be great news for an unlikely group: sound consultants.

These are basically professionals who measure and manage noise.

Data-centre developers are hiring them to check noise levels, figure out how to keep things quieter and deal with local rules, often before construction even starts.

The US already has 3,000+ data centres, with another 1,500 or so in the pipeline, as nearly $1 trillion is being spent on AI this year. These facilities run 24/7, with cooling systems, generators and turbines that can hit 90+ dBA, about as loud as a passing motorcycle.

Residents aren’t thrilled, and some are protesting and suing over the noise.

So now, sound engineers are stuck in the middle of a growing fight between AI’s giant infrastructure needs and the people living next door.

And the noise wasn’t limited to data centres. Dalal Street had a rough Monday to close out August.

The Nifty fell below the 24,000 mark, while the Sensex also slipped over 300 points.

Media and metal stocks led the losses, falling more than 2% each. Banking and pharma stocks bucked the trend, with private banks gaining nearly 1%.

Meanwhile, PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek, discussing stronger cooperation across energy, defence, space and trade.

Ukraine was also in focus, with Modi reiterating India’s call for dialogue and diplomacy and urging a shift from ‘endless war’ towards peace.

💡 Spotlight: Packaged foods may soon come with warnings 🚨

FSSAI told the Supreme Court that products high in two or more specified nutrients could carry a red hexagonal warning.

Basically, FSSAI wants packaged foods to carry easy-to-spot warning signs on the front if they contain high levels of things like sugar, salt or fat.

The idea is to help consumers understand what’s inside packaged food without digging through the nutrition table on the back. Investors are already watching the potential impact.

ITC fell nearly 4%, while Tata Consumer and Britannia also ended in the red. For now, this is still a proposal, so there is no immediate change for companies or consumers.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: India’s economy grows faster than expected 🔥

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.8% in the first quarter of FY27, up from 6.9% in the same quarter last year.

Breaking it down: despite geopolitical tensions and higher energy prices, domestic demand remained strong, while government spending, manufacturing, construction and exports also supported growth.

Sector-wise: agriculture grew 3.6% in the June quarter, despite the delayed onset of the monsoon, compared with 4.4% growth in the same quarter last year.

Manufacturing growth accelerated to 9.2% from 8.3% a year ago.

Among services, the financial, real estate and IT sector recorded double-digit growth of 12.1%, up from 8.8% in the same period last year.

What’s the risk: inflation remains a key concern. Elevated energy prices, uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz and an uneven monsoon could add to price pressures in the coming months.

For now, the first-quarter numbers give FY27 a strong start. The next few quarters will show whether this momentum can be sustained through stronger private investment, consumption and exports, or whether external pressures begin to weigh more heavily on growth.

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2. Javelin production comes home 💪

Tata Advanced Systems and the US-based Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and RTX, have signed an agreement to explore making Javelins in India.

So, what’s actually happening: the two sides will explore setting up a facility in India to assemble Javelin missiles and make some of their components locally.

The US will still supply some of the most important parts, including missile sub-assembly kits and guidance electronics. These would be sent to India, where the missiles will then be assembled.

What is a Javelin: the Javelin is a shoulder-fired missile designed to destroy armoured vehicles.

Why does this matter: India is already looking at a $45.7 million deal for 100 Javelins and launch units.

But the bigger story could be what happens after that. Instead of simply importing the weapons, India could gradually start making parts of the system at home, giving Indian defence companies a bigger role in the global Javelin supply chain.

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3. AXISCADES’ ₹234 crore manufacturing upgrade 🫡

AXISCADES Technologies gained nearly 5% after the company approved the acquisition of a 90% stake in Bengaluru-based Cloud Wave Technologies for around ₹234 crore.

The deal is part of AXISCADES’ bigger plan to move from mainly designing and engineering products to manufacturing more of them itself.

Founded in 2014, Cloud Wave operates seven manufacturing units making specialised components for aerospace, defence and semiconductor companies.

The deets: Cloud Wave’s audited revenue increased from ₹36.9 crore in FY24 to ₹68.2 crore in FY25 and ₹107.7 crore in FY26. That means revenue nearly tripled in two years and grew around 58% in FY26 alone.

The company now wants to become a much larger products, solutions and manufacturing company rather than remain heavily dependent on engineering services.

Its longer-term ambition is to reach around ₹9,000 crore in revenue by FY30.

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4. The gold gap between two major nations 💰

The US keeps 82% of its reserves in gold. India keeps just 17%. Why the big gap?

It’s not that India doesn’t value gold. For the last 3 years, the RBI has been bringing gold back home - 680 of its 880 tonnes now sit in Indian vaults instead of London, the biggest such move since 1991.

The real reason for the low share is simpler: India keeps most of its reserves in US dollars and government bonds, because it can use them instantly to protect the rupee.

Full Story Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🏗️ Ashoka Buildcon jumped 7% after bagging a ₹602 crore electromechanical systems order from RVNL.

🛵 Ather Energy rose 6% to hit a new high following the launch of its Konarc electric scooter.

👓 Lenskart gained more than 4% after Nomura initiated coverage, seeing 40% upside.

📡 Avantel rose more than 2% after the company won a ₹117.9 crore DRDO contract for a Ground Segment Hub.

⛽ IGL ended 2% higher after CNG price hike, Citi sees 22% upside, but margin pressure may persist.

🛵 Ola Electric jumped more than 5% after launching the S1Z, with PLI incentives and EV demand also in focus.

What went down ⬇️

📺 Zee Entertainment fell nearly 8%, marking its fourth straight day of losses, amid controversy over lenders agreeing to recover almost none of Subhash Chandra’s loan.

🪙 Metal stocks, including Hindustan Zinc and Hindalco, tumbled up to 4% amid falling metal prices and growing expectations that US interest rates will remain higher for longer.

💻 Persistent Systems slipped nearly 5% ahead of its September 2 board meeting, with a potential fundraise in focus.

🏦 HDFC Bank reversed a 3% morning gain to close nearly 2% lower as uncertainty over CEO succession weighed on the stock.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

💸 Expansion mode: NBCC and NHPC signed an MoU for NBCC to provide project management consultancy and execute infrastructure projects across India.

🚀 Order boost: Transformers and Rectifiers (India) secured its first nuclear power sector order to supply generator transformers for NPCIL’s Kaiga Units 5 and 6 project.

💰 Soda deal: Tata Chemicals’ US arm won contracts to supply over 500,000 tonnes of soda ash to customers across North America.

🥛 Dairy crackdown: Zomato introduced a zero-tolerance policy on analogue dairy, delisting dishes containing it to improve food quality and transparency for customers.

🫡 Signing off: Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football, bringing the curtain down on his legendary career with Argentina.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Italian brainrot has gone from meme to courtroom drama. 🤯

Characters like Tung Tung Sahur and Ballerina Cappuccina, AI-generated, absurd and wildly popular with kids are now at the centre of a California legal battle.

The maker of the hit Roblox game Steal a Brainrot argues that AI-generated characters cannot be copyrighted, while a French startup representing the young creators says the humans behind the prompts deserve a cut.

At stake: potentially millions in licensing revenue. But the bigger story is who owns something made with AI?

As AI turns a few prompts into characters, songs and stories, courts are being forced to figure out where ‘AI-generated’ ends and ‘human creativity’ begins.

The brainrot fight is essentially an early test of a much bigger question: if your idea, prompts and creative direction turn into a viral IP through AI, do you own what comes out the other side?

From brainrot to business 💸.

Dalal Street had a tough time last week. So, what should you watch out for next week?

First, India’s Q1FY27 GDP data and the health of the global economy will likely influence market sentiment.

Investors will also keep an eye on August’s manufacturing and services PMI numbers, GST collections, foreign exchange reserves, and movements in the rupee.

💡 Spotlight: India’s manufacturing muscle continues to grow 💪

India’s factories and industries continued to pick up pace in July, with industrial production growing 6.7% from a year ago. That was slightly slower than the 7.3% growth recorded in June.

What drove the growth: Manufacturing and electricity production remained strong, helping make up for another decline in mining output.

Manufacturing, which makes up the biggest chunk of India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew 7.3% in July. Of the 23 manufacturing categories tracked, 19 recorded growth.

Electrical equipment led the pack with 28.3% growth, followed by motor vehicles and trailers at 22.2%, and general industrial machinery at 12.1%.

Meanwhile, India’s nine core industries, which include key sectors such as coal, steel, cement and electricity, grew 5.4% in July, slowing from 6% in June.

Why it matters: these core industries make up around 40% of the revised IIP, so their performance gives us a good sense of how India’s broader industrial economy is doing.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: What’s going on with HDFC Bank? 😓

Sashidhar Jagdishan will step down as the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Bank after deciding not to seek another term.

The bank said its board had sought to persuade him to continue, but he decided against seeking reappointment.

The deets: Jagdishan took over as HDFC Bank’s MD and CEO on October 27, 2020, succeeding Aditya Puri. His tenure included the completion of the merger between HDFC Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), one of the largest corporate mergers in India.

What now: the process to appoint the next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HDFC Bank will be completed ‘well within time’, top sources told CNBC-TV18.

What’s at stake: this surprise resignation will test whether India’s largest private-sector lender can restore investor confidence and move past recent governance concerns.

It also comes as the lender confronts a slew of issues that have placed its governance practices under intense scrutiny. The first major shock came in March, when HDFC Bank Chairman Atanu Chakraborty resigned.

Last year, the bank was barred from onboarding new customers at its Dubai branch after a local regulator flagged process lapses.

Just a couple of days ago, the lender was also in the spotlight following reports of a US lawsuit against the bank and two senior executives, accusing them of misleading investors and failing to disclose governance issues.

What the market will watch: who takes charge, how smoothly the transition unfolds, and whether the new leadership can maintain the bank’s growth trajectory and governance standards.

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2. India’s defence cart gets Javelin missiles 🔥

India is really upping its defence game. It plans to procure the US-made Javelin anti-tank missile system, according to US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, as the two countries look to expand defence cooperation.

What’s happening: the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale of the Javelin system and related equipment to India for an estimated $45.7 million in November 2025.

What is a Javelin missile: the Javelin is a portable anti-tank missile system jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and RTX. Designed to destroy armoured targets, it is widely used by the US military and allied forces.

The US and India signed a framework for a major defence partnership last year. The agreement is aimed at strengthening interoperability across land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.

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3. India-US LNG bonhomie fuels up 🚀

Qatar sent India zero LNG this month. Six months ago, it supplied nearly half the country’s gas.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut since the Iran-US war, trapping roughly 20% of daily global LNG flows and choking Gulf exports.

India’s buyers scrambled to diversify, but the switch isn’t free. Qatar’s contracts were oil-indexed and steady; US LNG is priced off Henry Hub, plus longer freight, plus insurance for riskier sea lanes.

Full Story Here

4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

📞 Just Dial hit the 10% upper circuit as its new CEO took charge.

🛵 Ather Energy jumped nearly 8% after a ₹1,758 crore block deal, with Hero likely raising its stake by 3%.

📡 Tejas Networks surged 10% after receiving a ₹1,537 crore LOI from TCS for the BSNL 4G rollout.

🤖 Coforge expanded partnership with Pega to accelerate enterprise AI transformation, stock up 5%.

🤝 Wipro surged more than 2% after expanding its Google Cloud AI partnership.

What went down ⬇️

🔻TVS Motor slipped nearly 3% after the company announced that CEO KN Radhakrishnan’s term will end in January 2027.

📉Tata Steel fell 0.75% amid heavy trading volumes in Friday’s session.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

📈 Green light: Jio Platforms received SEBI approval for its IPO, moving what could become India’s largest-ever listing a step closer.

🫡 Fuel lifeline: India emerged as a key petrol supplier to Russia as Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted refineries, pushing Russian fuel imports higher.

☀️ Solar order: Waaree Renewable secured a 291 MWp solar project with 280 MWh battery storage, with completion scheduled for FY28.

🌱 D-street ready: Sembcorp Green Infra filed its DRHP for a ₹3,750 crore fresh-issue IPO, largely to repay borrowings and expand its renewable energy portfolio.

🚀 Flying high: IndiGo Ventures invested in sovereign AI startup Sarvam’s Series B round, combining IndiGo’s operational scale with Sarvam’s AI capabilities.

🥳 New ride: Ather Energy launched its new e-scooter, Konarc, at a starting price of ₹99,999, adding another option to India’s growing EV market.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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This one’s for you space geeks. 🤓

NASA is set to lift off its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in a new $4 billion observatory. This is designed to give scientists a much wider view of space.

Think of Hubble as a powerful zoom lens that studies smaller patches of the sky, just like that, Roman is built to capture huge areas at once. Its field of view is at least 100 times larger than Hubble’s.

That wider view could help solve some of the universe’s biggest mysteries, including dark matter and dark energy, while also hunting for exoplanets smaller than Mars.

By studying millions of galaxies, distant supernovae and how light bends, Roman could reveal how the universe is built, expanding and evolving.

Perhaps the day isn’t far when we finally crack the universe’s ultimate mystery, the black hole.

Roman may be headed for the stars, but Dalal Street certainly wasn’t.

Not-so-good Thursday for the markets. The Nifty and Sensex ended lower amid mixed global cues and selling in heavyweight stocks across sectors.

Metals, banking and FMCG emerged as the top losers, while pharma showed some resilience. Broader markets remained muted, with both midcap and smallcap indices ending flat to lower.

💡Spotlight: Your email drafts will be generated after ads 💔

OpenAI is bringing ads to ChatGPT in India.

Logged-in adults using the Free and Go plans will start seeing clearly marked sponsored products or services alongside their responses. Paid plans like Plus and Pro will remain ad-free. More than 50 brands are expected to start advertising this week.

Why India matters: India is ChatGPT’s second-largest market, with over 100 million weekly users.

That makes it a huge market for advertisers, and a big revenue opportunity for OpenAI. As people increasingly use ChatGPT to research products, compare options and make decisions, OpenAI can place ads right in those moments.

The move also comes as the company looks to grow revenue ahead of a potential IPO.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Nvidia shines in Q2 💸

Nvidia reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and issued revenue guidance that topped street estimates.

By the numbers:

• Revenue: $96.2 billion vs $92.17 billion, up 106% from a year ago

• Earnings per share: $2.22 adjusted vs $2.10 expected

• Data center revenue: $89.0 billion, up 18% QoQ and 117% YoY

Earnings per share (EPS) shows how much profit a company earns for each share. Higher or growing EPS can signal stronger profitability and help investors compare companies and value stocks.

The deets: Nvidia sits at the centre of the AI world and has grown phenomenally on the back of the AI boom.

The chipmaker forecast a 70% jump in revenue next fiscal year, pointing to continued demand for AI computing, even as shortages of memory components threaten to constrain how quickly it can expand.

While the company is on a strong run, competition is also growing, with Advanced Micro Devices, Google and others stepping up.

Stock action: strong earnings haven’t necessarily meant a happy stock. Nvidia shares have fallen in the session following earnings for four straight quarters.

The India impact: a stronger Nvidia outlook could pull investor money back towards AI infrastructure stocks.

Meanwhile, analysts see limited upside for Indian IT stocks as high US interest rates, heavy tech spending, rising debt and intense competition continue to weigh on valuations.

The company was also in focus for another reason.

It is reportedly in talks to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, potentially giving the chip giant control of one of the world’s biggest open-source AI platforms.

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2. Why did HDFC Bank shares fall? 🔻

HDFC Bank shares fell over 2% and was a key drag on the benchmarks as the stock slipped to a four-year low.

This comes after reports of a US lawsuit against the bank and two senior executives, accusing them of misleading investors and failing to disclose governance issues.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors who bought HDFC Bank securities between July 2023 and May 2026.

What’s the issue: the complaint alleges that HDFC Bank recorded certain payments to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation as marketing expenses, when they were actually meant to compensate the agency for receiving lower interest on its deposits.

HDFC Bank has rejected the allegations, calling them ‘without merit,’ and said it will strongly defend itself.

Full Story Here

3. Temple says ‘Namaste, London’ 💸

Deepinder Goyal’s healthtech startup, Temple, has acquired Longevous, an evidence-based longevity medicine practice based in London.

What is Temple: it is a device designed to continuously measure blood flow in the brain in real time. The small gold- or silver-coloured sensor is worn near the temple and tracks cerebral blood flow, a key indicator of neurological health and ageing.

What does this mean: the deal aims to bring Longevous’ clinical expertise and research experience to work alongside Temple’s in-house science team as the company prepares for launch.

Big theme: global wearable device shipments totalled 145.7 million units in Q1 2026, up 4.3% YoY, according to IDC’s Worldwide Wearable Device Tracker.

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4. Part of an elite league 🚢

India has joined 25 countries in an IAEA-led initiative to explore the safe and peaceful use of nuclear power at sea called ATLAS. (Atomic Technologies Licensed for Applications at Sea)

It brings together the nuclear and maritime industries to study how Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could power commercial ships and provide electricity to coastal and remote areas.

Why is this interesting: these ships could operate for long periods without frequent refuelling. Floating nuclear plants could also supply electricity and heat to islands, coastal communities and offshore industries. The opportunity is sizeable as around 80% of global trade moves by sea.

Why does India want in: India is targeting 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 and at least five indigenous SMRs by 2033.

The government has also put money behind that ambition. The Union Budget 2025-26 allocated ₹20,000 crore for the design, development and deployment of SMRs.

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5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🚀 Apollo Tyres ended in the green after a 3.37% stake, or 2.1 crore shares worth around ₹930 crore, changed hands in a block deal.

📈 Skipper rose nearly 2% after securing ₹1,305 crore in domestic and international transmission and distribution orders, including North American projects.

⚡️BHEL gained 5% as analysts flagged a revival in power-sector orders and improved execution, pushing the stock closer to record highs.

💪🏻 Adani Enterprises rose over 1.5% after Motilal Oswal initiated coverage with a Buy rating and ₹3,880 target.

What went down ⬇️

📉 Hindalco slipped nearly 3%, emerging as the biggest Nifty loser, as weakness in global metal prices weighed on the stock.

👎🏻 Juniper Green Energy tumbled close to 5% despite Q1 revenue rising 81% and EBITDA jumping 89% on higher operational capacity.

📉 Tata Power fell over 3% to a seven-month low after a Singapore court dismissed its appeal against a $490 million arbitration award.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🌶️ IPO approval: Pushp Brand received SEBI approval for its IPO, which will be a pure OFS of up to 74.45 lakh shares by promoters and existing investors.

🚀 Level up: Hero MotoCorp will invest ₹1,758 crore in Ather Energy, increasing its stake in the electric scooter maker to 32.8%.

🐶 Pet food: Wipro Consumer Care entered India’s pet food market with Snuggles, launching dry dog food across three variants for different breeds and life stages.

💸 Settlement, done: Meta will pay up to $18 billion and restrict teen usage of Facebook and Instagram to settle US child addiction claims.

And that’s a wrap. Pour yourself an extra one this weekend. 🥂

We’ll be back like clockwork on Monday!

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Do not put your influencer dreams on hold. Just yet.

Brands are set to spend a whopping ₹900 crore on creators this festive season, up 29% from last year, according to creator intelligence platform Qoruz.

And more brands are joining the party too, 7,200 are expected to run creator campaigns this year, up from 6,000 in 2025.

But here’s the fun part: you don’t need millions of followers to cash in.

Nano and micro creators made up 75% of festive campaigns, while creators from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities now account for 38%.

Electronics, fashion, e-commerce and FMCG are leading the spending spree, but Diwali no longer takes all the cake. Just 49% of creator campaigns are tied to Diwali, with the rest spread across festivals like Navratri, Dussehra and regional celebrations.

Let’s talk about the markets now. 👀

Dalal Street caught the weakness fever, with the Nifty and Sensex ending in the red. Some relief came from Brent crude slipping below the crucial $87-per-barrel mark.

Sector-wise action: metals emerged as the top performer, followed by banking and pharma, while IT and FMCG stocks remained under pressure.

Investors are keeping a close eye on the Middle East conflict, along with Nvidia’s results, US inflation data and the upcoming Jackson Hole symposium for cues on global market direction.

💡 Spotlight: Not-so-Empire state of mind for immigrants 🇺🇲

The Trump administration has decided to temporarily pause visa appointments at US embassies and consulates globally as the State Department conducts a new training programme for consular officers.

According to a Financial Times report, the pause also comes as the Trump administration steps up scrutiny of applicants who could potentially become dependent on government benefits.

The broader impact: applications from Indian students to US colleges have fallen 15%.

The estimated number of international students is projected to decline from around 11.69 lakh in 2025-26 to 10.57 lakh in 2026-27, according to the report cited by PTI.

For Indian applicants, tighter visa rules and uncertainty around post-study employment could make the US a less predictable option.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Varun Beverages is thirsty for more, but investors aren’t 🍻

Varun Beverages is making a serious push into alcoholic beverages. Yet, its stock fell 3% intraday after the announcement.

What’s happening: the company plans to enter the ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol market through a new wholly owned subsidiary, KIVA Spirits. It has also appointed former Diageo executive Prathmesh Mishra as CEO and MD.

Why now: Varun renewed its bottling and trademark agreement with PepsiCo until 2049, extending it from 2039.

More importantly, PepsiCo removed a clause that had restricted Varun from doing business beyond PepsiCo products. That gives Varun greater freedom to enter new categories, and alcohol looks like one of its biggest bets yet.

So, why did the stock still fall: the 3% drop doesn’t appear to signal analyst concern. CLSA remains bullish, while Morgan Stanley has maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating.

The bigger issue is uncertainty around how much Varun will invest, how it plans to enter the market and how quickly the business could start making money.

The bigger picture: India is the world’s sixth-largest alcoholic beverage market by revenue, with annual sales of around 1.1 billion cases. Varun is also setting up a joint venture in Tunisia to manufacture and distribute soft drinks, juices, water and dairy products.

2. Adani’s ₹4,700 crore Karnataka-to-Maharashtra power trip ⚡

Adani Energy Solutions bagged a ₹4,700 crore transmission project that will help move up to 4,500 MW of renewable and stored power from Karnataka towards Maharashtra.

Context: the project has the rather long official name “Network Expansion Scheme in Western Region to Cater to Pumped Storage Potential near Satara”.

4,500 MW is roughly equivalent to the output of four to five large conventional power-generation units running at full capacity.

What’s going on: Karnataka has large renewable-energy resources, particularly wind and solar. Maharashtra, meanwhile, has huge electricity-demand centres such as Mumbai and Pune, along with upcoming pumped-storage capacity around Satara.

The why: solar and wind generation can be plentiful at one time and scarce a few hours later. That’s where pumped storage comes in. Think of it as a giant water battery.

When there is plenty of cheap electricity available, water is pumped from a lower reservoir to a higher one. When electricity demand rises, that water is released downhill through turbines to generate power.

Zoom out: India is projected to need 7.45 GW of pumped-storage capacity in 2026-27. By 2031-32, that requirement jumps to 26.6 GW, capable of storing around 175 GWh of electricity. The estimated investment required for pumped storage alone is around ₹1.29 lakh crore.

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3. Your protein is getting pricier 💰

Who would’ve thought that rising egg prices would have an ethanol connection?

Well, egg prices have surged 35-40% over the past year, reaching ₹8.50-9 in retail markets. One reason? India’s ethanol push is diverting maize from poultry feed, potentially pushing egg prices higher.

Full story here

4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🎯 Cyient jumped 7% after its investor day, with JPMorgan seeing a ₹1,050 target on a double-digit growth outlook.

☀️ GK Energy bagged ₹455 crore rooftop solar order covering 1 lakh homes, stock up 6%.

🪙 Hindustan Zinc gained nearly 6% after the government eased concerns that it may sell more of its stake in the company.

⚡ Advait Energy gained more than 4% on a ₹135 crore turnkey order from MPPTCL.

🚀 MTar Tech surged more than 2% as the firm expects to beat its 80% revenue growth guidance.

👍 Vedanta Aluminium rose more than 3% as Motilal Oswal gave ‘buy’ rating.

What went down ⬇️

💸 Groww fell 3% as 2.1% equity changed hands in a ₹2,500 crore block deal.

📦 Welspun Corp ended nearly 2% lower as 2.4% equity changed hands in a ₹1,433 crore block deal.

🏦 Jana SFB slipped 4% amid reports of Federal Bank acquiring a controlling stake, while Citi flagged integration risks.

🛒 DMart shares fell 2% after a 1.06% equity stake was sold in a block deal.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🚁 Engine deal: HAL and Safran signed the final contract to develop the Aravalli helicopter engine, which will power India’s upcoming 13-ton multi-role helicopters.

💻 Chip acquisition: Germany’s Infineon is acquiring Bengaluru-based C2i Semiconductors to strengthen its power-management technology for AI data centres.

🤖 AI funding: Ringg AI raised $10 million led by Peak XV, taking its Series A total to $15.5 million to expand its voice, WhatsApp and browser AI agents.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Gen-Z is taking friction-maxxing to the next level.

We’re so glued to our screens that waiting for a message is becoming the new luxury.

Two new apps, Carrier Pidge and Roost, are turning texting into a slow, playful experience by sending messages through virtual animals instead of instantly delivering them.

The idea: add a little friction to communication in a world of constant notifications.

The numbers: Carrier Pidge has 75,000+ users, while Roost has hit 6,50,000 downloads since both launched in April.

Carrier Pidge’s digital pigeons can fly at up to 110 mph, while Roost has 1,000 animals, including a snail that delivers messages at just 1 mph.

The trend fits into a bigger “slow tech” movement, with people increasingly choosing dumb phones and tools that deliberately make digital life less convenient.

Anyway, what are we here for? Business. 🐂

Dalal Street ended in the green, with the Nifty and Sensex closing higher after recovering from early losses.

Most sectoral indices ended higher, with pharma, IT and auto stocks leading the gains, while the broader market remained mixed.

However, investors remained cautious amid rising US-Iran tensions, with reports of fresh US economic measures against Iran adding to the uncertainty.

💡 Spotlight: Fertiliser stocks rally on Russia assurance 🌱

Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore jumped 11%, while Madras Fertilizers gained over 6%. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers rose 4%.

What exactly happened: Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that Russia will continue meeting the needs of Indian farmers and is ready to increase supplies further.

This comes as the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global energy and trade routes. Fertiliser production depends heavily on natural gas, while India also imports large quantities of finished fertilisers and raw materials.

Any disruption can increase costs and affect availability ahead of important sowing seasons.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: India is taking defence in-house 💪

The government has approved the transfer of all DRDO-developed conventional missile technologies to domestic industry for production in India.

What does it mean: more Indian defence companies could now get missile manufacturing orders, instead of production remaining limited to government-owned players.

The move is aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing, reducing imports and creating more opportunities for MSMEs and technology partners.

Who could benefit and who could face pressure: Bharat Dynamics could face some near-term pressure.

Wider access to DRDO-developed missile technology could bring more domestic players into the segment, increasing competition and potentially putting pressure on margins.

Bharat Electronics, on the other hand, could benefit as it enters the missile manufacturing ecosystem through partnerships with private companies.

And the localisation push goes beyond missiles. 🚀

According to News18, the Indian Air Force has localised 97% of its frequently used operational fighter spares in recent years.

These include batteries, pilot parachutes, fighter tyres, power carts and several other components. This indigenisation push has reportedly saved ₹582 crore in foreign exchange over the last five years.

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2. Airbound flies high with $37M 🚀

Aerospace startup Airbound has raised $37 million in a Series A round led by Greenoaks.

The round also saw participation from existing and new investors, including DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed and Humba Ventures.

Founded in 2023, Airbound has completed more than 13,000 autonomous flights across Bengaluru and Guntur.

That includes over 1,000 flights for hospital network Narayana Health, with its drones transporting diagnostic samples between healthcare facilities.

What are they trying to solve: conventional aircraft can be inefficient when carrying small payloads because a large portion of their weight comes from the aircraft itself. Airbound is designing lightweight aircraft that can carry more payload relative to their own weight, making small deliveries more efficient.

Some numbers: India’s drone startup boom peaked in 2018, when 82 companies were founded. So far in 2026, 12 new drone startups have been founded.

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3. Sigma’s Rolls-Royce relationship hits another level 👀

Sigma Advanced Systems hit a 5% upper circuit after it announced a £125 million, or roughly ₹1,600 crore, long-term contract from Rolls-Royce. The deal has been signed through its recently acquired UK subsidiary, Bromford Precision Solutions.

The deets: under the latest deal, Bromford will manufacture rings, casings, lock plates and other critical structures used inside aircraft engines across Sigma’s manufacturing facilities in India and the UK.

Earlier this month, Reliance Industries and Rolls-Royce announced plans to work together on an indigenous combat aircraft engine for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, or AMCA, programme.

Zoom out: for years, India’s aerospace story was largely about buying aircraft and engines made elsewhere.

But now, the government is pushing defence indigenisation, global aerospace companies are diversifying supply chains, and Indian manufacturers are moving from simple components to precision parts, assemblies and critical technologies.

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4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🏗️ Nitco jumped 14% intraday after its subsidiary agreed to jointly develop its Alibaug land with the House of Abhinandan Lodha group.

💊 Biocon rose over 2% after its subsidiary Biocon Biologics received Japanese approval for its pegfilgrastim biosimilar, which will be exclusively sold and distributed in Japan by Sandoz.

🏗️ Afcons Infrastructure gained nearly 4% after it received a favourable ₹335.5 crore arbitration award.

🎬 PVR Inox rose nearly 4% after the company said its board will consider its first-ever share buyback on August 31.

🛣️ Ceigall India rose 2% after it won a ₹704.7 crore contract to build a key section of the Lada-Sarli highway in Arunachal Pradesh.

📶 Vodafone Idea climbed nearly 8% as reports of progress on a SBI-led funding package boosted hopes that the telco can raise money for network expansion. Expectations of another round of telecom tariff hikes also lifted sentiment.

What went down ⬇️

🪙 Hindustan Copper fell nearly 7% after the government opened an OFS to sell a 3% stake, with an option to sell another 3%; the discounted floor price added to selling pressure.

📉 IIFL Finance slipped 4% after its subsidiary IIFL Home Finance received a ₹963 crore income tax demand, raising concerns over the potential financial impact.

📉 Netweb Technologies tumbled nearly 4% after it completed a ₹1,200 crore QIP, with the fresh share issuance creating dilution for existing shareholders.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🏍️ EV funding: Matter raised $25 million (~₹250 crore) from existing investors to expand manufacturing, grow distribution and launch four new electric motorcycles.

🔋 Battery order: L&T’s renewables business secured a ₹5,000–10,000 crore Middle East order to develop three battery storage projects with 6 GWh capacity.

💧 Kuwait debut: VA Tech Wabag formally signed its mega desalination contract in Kuwait, marking its first project in the country and kicking off the 272 MLD plant.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Before we dive in, we’ve just released a new episode of This Is Business.

This time, Tanvi Dessai sits down with Prashant Sachan, Founder and CEO of AppsForBharat, to explore the business behind India’s billion-dollar temple economy.

They discuss how Sri Mandir is making pujas, prasad and temple access available through a phone, and what it takes to convince devotees, priests and temples that an app can be trusted with something as personal as prayer.

Full story here 👇

Moving on...

The verdict is in: Gen Z is ditching dating apps and going analog to find love.

Here’s the data that backs it up.

Turns out, birdwatching, mahjong and trivia nights are the new dating hotspots. Eventbrite data shows hobby-based events with a “meet new people” angle are booming.

Trivia nights jumped 403%, mahjong rose 235%, birdwatching meetups grew 131% and attendance climbed 82%.

Plant swaps and terrarium workshops were up 117%, while Pilates socials rose 84%.

And there’s a reason: AppsFlyer found 69% of dating apps downloaded in 2024 were deleted within a month, while a 2025 Hims survey found 77% of GenZs met their partner in person.

So what’s replacing the swipe? Real-world hobbies, social events and a little old-school serendipity. With digital fatigue rising, even “grannycore” hobbies like knitting and gardening are back.

From birdwatching to watching the markets, Dalal Street had a rougher Monday.

Indian markets ended in the red, with the Nifty and Sensex closing with minor cuts. Financial stocks were a major drag, with the Nifty Bank slipping 236 points.

On the sectoral front, metals and realty were among the gainers, while defence, banking, cement and auto stocks ended lower.

💡Spotlight: Happy Monday for IT stocks 🥳

Indian IT stocks were in a happy mood, and there’s an Nvidia connection.

The why: the chip giant reportedly plans to raise prices by around 15% by year-end. And strangely enough, that’s good news for Indian IT stocks.

Any signs of the AI frenzy cooling tend to give traditional software and IT services companies some breathing room.

Stocks such as Infosys and HCLTech have often been seen as ‘anti-AI bets’, as investors had earlier worried that AI could eat into their outsourcing business.

That relief has helped the Nifty IT index rise in three of the last four trading sessions.

The rally in stocks such as Infosys and HCLTech has come alongside a sharp fall in South Korea’s KOSPI, a benchmark index that includes many of the country’s biggest tech companies.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Urban Company won the water purifier fight with Kent RO 💧

Urban Company shares gained more than 6% after Kent RO agreed to pull down advertisements that Urban Company said unfairly targeted its Native water purifiers.

The beef: at the centre of the fight were Native’s two-year filter life and two-year service life claims across its M0, M1, M2, M1 Pro and M2 Pro water purifiers.

Kent’s advertising reportedly questioned these claims, calling the two-year filter proposition a “marketing gimmick” and suggesting that using Native purifiers could be unsafe or risky.

But the fight isn’t completely over: Kent’s decision to pull the ads doesn’t mean Urban Company has “won” the entire legal battle. There are still other disputes between the two companies playing out.

Kent has sued Urban Company, claiming it copied its patented technology. Urban Company has hit back by challenging Kent’s patent and accusing Kent of unfairly interfering with its business.

Zoom out: Native reported ₹95.2 crore in Q1 revenue, up about 60% from ₹59.5 crore a year earlier.

That makes protecting Native’s product claims and reputation increasingly important as Urban Company tries to build a consumer-products business alongside the home-services platform it is already known for.

There’s another reason the stock has been getting attention. UBS recently initiated coverage on Urban Company with a Buy rating, describing the company as going through its “Blinkit moment.”

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2. A new supply chain alliance takes shape 📦

TVS Supply Chain Solutions has signed an agreement with Japan’s Sankyu Inc. to explore new business opportunities in the supply chain and logistics space.

Sankyu also plans to buy a 0.5% stake in TVS SCS, subject to regulatory approvals.

The deets: TVS SCS will bring its logistics and supply chain expertise, while Sankyu brings engineering and factory support.

Why does this matter: the partnership comes as India’s logistics market grows from $243.8 billion in 2025 to a projected $429 billion by 2034, at an annual rate of 6.48%.

There’s also a large potential customer base: 1,400+ Japanese companies operate across India’s manufacturing and industrial sectors. For TVS SCS, that means access to more Japanese customers and global markets; for Sankyu, a stronger foothold in India’s growing manufacturing ecosystem.

While we are on partnerships 💸,

The government has awarded a ₹704.7 crore contract to a joint venture between Ceigall India and Sushee Infra & Mining to build an 82.4-km stretch of the Frontier Highway (NH-913) in Arunachal Pradesh. The Lada-Sarli section will take 48 months, or four years, to build.

What’s the deal: Ceigall will hold a 74% stake in the joint venture, with Sushee Infra holding the remaining 26%.

Why this matters: the project will strengthen road connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh’s border region as part of the larger Frontier Highway network. It also adds to Ceigall’s growing highway portfolio in the state.

Ceigall’s stock was up close to 2.5% following the news.

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3. The space math of India 🌌

It costs India over 4x more than the US to launch 1 kg into space.

Among six major space powers compared by Mint, India’s launch cost stands at about $13,302 per kg, versus roughly $3,225 for the US.

A big reason is reusability. Rockets like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 recover and reuse major parts, while India’s workhorse launch vehicles are still largely expendable.

That could change. ISRO is developing reusable systems including Pushpak, and its next-generation launch vehicle is being designed with a recoverable, reusable first stage to lower the cost of reaching space.

Full Story Here

4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🚀 Apollo Tyres gained after UBS upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ and raised its target price to ₹590.

💸 Vishal Mega Mart surged over 9% after the company reappointed Managing Director and CEO Gunender Kapur for another five-year term.

📈 Hexaware Technologies jumped over 5% after the company said AI-led transformation could help double its revenue to $3 billion by 2029.

🏨 Oriental Hotels rose 2% after its board approved the company’s merger with Indian Hotels Company through a Scheme of Arrangement.

What went down ⬇️

🔻BLS International tumbled nearly 11% after reports named it in a Spanish visa fraud investigation, though the company rejected the claims.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

☕ Coffee funding: Third Wave Coffee raised ₹408 crore in a round led by WestBridge Capital to expand its café network and scale Third Rush Desserts.

🛒 Seller fees: Amazon and Flipkart raised seller charges ahead of the festive season, increasing costs through higher cancellation, closing and dispatch-delay fees.

📱 UPI decade: UPI completed 10 years, with annual transactions surging nearly 13,000-fold to 24,162 crore and transaction value crossing ₹314 lakh crore in FY26.

🛢️ Gas project: L&T secured an ultra-mega gas compression project worth over ₹15,000 crore in the Middle East, covering new onshore facilities and power infrastructure.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

Want a job at SpaceX? You might want to skip the aerospace degree.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is hiring a natural gas trader to manage the company’s growing energy needs as it expands its rocket and chipmaking ambitions.

The company plans to build its own gas-fired power plants and pipelines, and could even drill for its own gas.

The reason? Its massive Starship rockets run on methane, while its planned Texas chipmaking facility will need huge amounts of electricity. Safe to say, SpaceX is getting into the energy business too.

Speaking of business, let’s talk about the market.

After two weeks of declines, Dalal Street could see some consolidation this week, with crude oil prices and the US-Iran conflict likely to remain key drivers.

What’s happening: tensions remain high as Washington prepares fresh sanctions against Tehran. Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, warned that countries joining the US economic campaign could be treated as ‘enemies.’

Rezaei also said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless the US fulfills its commitments under a June peace memorandum.

Global watch: investors will closely track the Jackson Hole symposium, an annual gathering of central bankers and policymakers in Wyoming, for clues from the Fed chair on where US interest rates could head next.

Back home: investors will watch India’s July industrial production data and foreign exchange reserves for the week ended August 21.

💡 Spotlight: America owes HOW much? 👀

Do you know how many zeroes there are in a trillion? Twelve. That’s 1,000,000,000,000.

Why are we talking about zeroes? Because total U.S. debt has crossed $40 trillion for the first time, according to the U.S. Treasury.

The how: the debt has continued to rise despite President Donald Trump making government cost-cutting a key part of his second term.

Why does it matter to us: U.S. government debt sits at the heart of the global financial system. The Treasury market is the world’s largest and most liquid bond market, while the U.S. dollar remains the world’s primary reserve currency.

If investors begin losing confidence in America’s ability to manage its debt, U.S. borrowing costs could rise and volatility could spill into stock, bond and currency markets worldwide.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: ‘Make-in-India’ comes for the phones📱

India is rolling out a ₹62,500 crore mobile manufacturing scheme to boost production and encourage companies to make more phones and components locally.

Breaking it down: the scheme will run for five years, from FY27 to FY31. Companies can receive incentives ranging from 2.25% to 5% of eligible sales, depending on the category they fall under.

The scheme has two main segments. The first targets mobile phone manufacturers, which can receive incentives of 2.25-5%.

The second focuses on Indian mobile brands, which can get incentives of 5%, plus an additional 3% for Indian product design and R&D.

Both categories can also receive an extra 1.5% incentive for sourcing specified components and sub-assemblies domestically.

Why does India need this: India is already the world’s second-largest mobile phone manufacturer by volume, and around 99% of the phones sold domestically are now made in the country. Mobile phones also emerged as India’s single-largest product export category in 2025.

But while India makes a huge number of phones, many of the components that go inside them still come from overseas. That is what the government now wants to change.

The bigger goal: the government expects the scheme to generate around ₹39 lakh crore worth of mobile phone production.

There is also a push to create stronger homegrown smartphone brands. IT and Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India could see three new domestic companies capable of developing smartphones within the next 10-14 months.

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2. All about Welspun’s biggest order 💸

Welspun Corp had a very good Friday. The steel pipe maker has bagged the largest single order in its history, worth around ₹17,200 crore ($1.8 billion), to supply pipes from its manufacturing facility in the US.

The announcement sent the stock to a record high, with shares eventually closing about 15% higher.

Before we get into why a pipe order has the market this excited, a little context.

The company makes large steel pipes used to move things such as oil, natural gas and water over long distances.

About the order: now, Welspun hasn’t disclosed the customer or the exact project. But the timeline here is important. The company will manufacture and deliver the pipes over the next couple of years.

The value of this one contract was roughly one-third of Welspun’s market capitalisation when it was announced.

Zoom out: the US is spending heavily on new energy infrastructure. More LNG export capacity means more pipelines are needed to move natural gas. New oil and gas infrastructure needs pipes too.

Then AI unexpectedly enters the pipe chat.

During its Q1 earnings call, Welspun described US demand as very buoyant, pointing not only to LNG export infrastructure but also to rising electricity demand from AI-powered data centres.

Yes, somewhere down the AI supply chain, apparently even giant steel pipes get invited to the party.

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3. Atomberg gets D-street ready 💪

Appliance maker Atomberg Technologies has filed its DRHP with market regulator SEBI for an IPO.

For context, Atomberg is a deep-tech, R&D-led consumer appliance company best known for its fans.

The deets: the company plans to raise up to ₹450 crore by issuing new shares, while existing shareholders will also sell up to 7.65 crore shares as part of the IPO.

Fans remain Atomberg’s stronghold. The company held a 46% share of India’s premium fan segment by cumulative sales value in FY26, according to a Redseer report cited in its DRHP.

Zoom out: Atomberg is preparing to go public as India’s consumer appliances market continues to grow, with the industry estimated at $4.69 billion in FY26, according to the draft papers.

While we are on IPOs 💸,

Online stockbroking platform Upstox is reportedly in talks with investment banks for a potential IPO that could raise around $350-400 million.

If it goes ahead, Upstox could become the second major Indian online broking platform to hit Dalal Street within a year.

In November, Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent company of Groww, raised ₹6,630 crore ($693 million) through its IPO.

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4. How India’s expenses stack up 🤔

Food prices don’t hit every Indian household the same way.

In rural India, food and beverages make up more than half of the CPI basket, compared with just over a third in urban India. Meanwhile, housing accounts for over a fifth of urban CPI but doesn’t feature separately in the rural basket.

That means the same price shock can produce very different inflation experiences.

A spike in vegetables or cereals has an outsized impact on rural inflation, while urban households are relatively more exposed to housing and services.

Full Story Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

📈 Pace Digitek rose 3% after its subsidiary Lineage Power secured a ₹92.9 crore battery energy storage system order.

💪🏻 Urban Company jumped 9% after UBS initiated coverage with a Buy rating, pointing to strong growth potential in online home services.

💸 JBM Auto jumped 8% after reports said Bain Capital may invest around ₹3,000 crore in the company.

⬆️ Shanthi Gears hit the upper circuit, rising nearly 20% after Tube Investments of India acquired a stake in the gear and gearbox maker.

☀️ Zodiac Energy gained 2% after it secured an order to build a 2,500 kWp ground-mounted solar plant in Uttar Pradesh.

What went down ⬇️

📉 InterGlobe Aviation slipped after India’s domestic air passenger traffic fell 4.8% YoY to 1.20 crore in July.

🔻Infosys fell after Kotak downgraded the stock to Add from Buy following a sharp rebound in Indian IT shares.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🫡 D-street debut: Gemini Edibles & Fats India filed for an IPO comprising an offer for sale of up to 4.12 crore shares.

⚡ Power deal: Power Grid won a Gujarat electricity transmission project that will earn it an annual payment of ₹823 crore for operating the network.

👎🏻 Bittersweet Friday: shares of sugar companies, including Balrampur Chini and Dhampur Sugar tumbled after India allowed duty-free imports of 1 million tonnes of raw sugar until October 31.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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What do you do when two of the biggest streaming giants are beefing? Grab popcorn 🍿

So, YouTube is gladly burning a hole in its wallet to keep top creators from drifting into Netflix territory.

The platform is offering millions of dollars to popular channels to keep their videos exclusive to YouTube for a set period, either by directly funding shows or sharing lucrative brand deals.

Why the cold shoulder? Because Netflix has been wooing dozens of big YouTubers, paying them to post the same content on both platforms.

For creators, it’s an easy win: make the videos they already make, get paid extra and tap into Netflix’s 325-million-plus subscriber base.

But YouTube isn’t thrilled. It believes cross-posting could eat into its views and make it harder to convince advertisers that YouTube is still the creator’s main stage.

Back to Dalal Street where markets finally remembered what green looks like. After seven straight sessions of losses, Indian markets bounced back on Thursday.

The Sensex and Nifty gained up to 0.8%, with nearly 40 of the 50 Nifty stocks ending in the green.

Heavyweights including Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel helped lift the index. Sector-wise, auto stocks recovered from their lows. Midcap IT continued to outperform, with Coforge and Persistent Systems gaining around 3% each.

💡 Spotlight: Sugar stocks are on a sweet rally 🌾

Several sugar stocks jumped as much as 18% on Thursday, even as the government tightened limits on how much sugar large buyers can hold in a bid to cool rising prices.

Which stocks are winning: Balrampur Chini Mills gained 18%, Bannari Amman Sugars rose 17%, Dwarikesh Sugar was up 15%, and Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar gained around 14%.

Why is it happening: sugar prices have jumped 10% in the past month to record highs as supplies tighten and festival demand approaches. To cool prices, the government is considering allowing around 1 million tonnes of raw sugar to be imported duty-free and has also restricted stockpiling.

The supply crunch is partly because India consumed more sugar than it produced in 2025-26, while exports also reduced domestic supplies.

With sugar now offering better returns than ethanol, mills may also choose to make more sugar instead of turning sugarcane into ethanol.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: India-Japan defence ties hit the seas 🇮🇳🇯🇵

Konnichiwa & Namaste!

India and Japan have signed a new Maritime Security Cooperation agreement to deepen their defence partnership.

What’s cookin’: the Indian Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will work closely on keeping track of ships and activity at sea, search-and-rescue missions and disaster relief.

And that neighbourhood matters. A huge amount of the energy, raw materials and goods used by India and Japan travels through shipping routes across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The two countries said they oppose attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation or change the status quo through force or coercion.

Indian and Japanese warships could increasingly use each other’s ports and get logistical support when operating away from home. The countries also want to make it easier for their ships to be maintained and repaired in each other’s facilities.

More military exercises: India and Japan already conduct exercises including Dharma Guardian and JAIMEX. Now they want those drills to become more complicated and realistic, including the use of unmanned systems and even exercises organised at short notice.

Japanese fighter aircraft will also participate in Veer Guardian 26 in India for the first time, while the two sides want more exchanges between their Special Operations Forces.

Beyond the battlefield: India’s DRDO and Japan’s ATLA will deepen cooperation on advanced defence technologies. The two countries also plan to convene a Defence Industry Forum to bring their defence ecosystems closer together.

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2. L&T lands world’s biggest airport ride 🚆

Larsen & Toubro, along with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has won a ₹2,500-5,000 crore order to build the world’s largest Automated People Mover (APM) system at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport.

What’s going on: L&T will build infrastructure for driverless trains that will move passengers between terminals.

Think tracks, electricity supply, signalling, communication systems, platform screen doors and the equipment needed at the train depot. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will bring its APM technology and systems expertise.

Once fully developed, Al Maktoum International Airport is expected to become the world’s largest airport, capable of handling 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo every year.

Zoom out: for L&T, this is its 11th announced order win in just a month. Since July 20, the value of these wins adds up to roughly ₹95,000 crore to ₹1.3 lakh crore.

And this week alone has been busy. On Monday, L&T’s offshore energy business won an ₹15,000+ crore order to develop multiple offshore facilities in the Middle East.

Bigger picture: during the US-Iran conflict, L&T shares came under pressure partly because investors were worried about the company’s sizeable Middle East exposure. A prolonged conflict could have delayed projects and hurt new business from the region.

Fast-forward to now, and that same region is handing L&T some very large contracts.

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3. A cancer vaccine before GTA 6? 🧐

Shares of US vaccine maker Moderna skyrocketed more than 100%, nearly doubling the biotech’s share price after it announced positive results from its first-ever late-stage trial of an experimental cancer vaccine.

With the surge, Moderna became the second-best performer in the S&P 500 so far in 2026, trailing only memory-chip maker Sandisk.

Breaking it down: the vaccine is being jointly developed with Merck and could be unprecedented in cancer treatment. It is designed as a custom-made vaccine for each patient, based on the specific genetic characteristics of their tumour.

And approval? Next year.

Why is this a big deal: initial data suggests the combination could become a new treatment option for melanoma, which accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers but causes the vast majority of skin cancer deaths.

The treatment is personalised to each patient. Researchers analyse the tumour after surgery, identify its specific mutations and use mRNA technology to create a vaccine that trains the immune system to recognise and attack those cancer cells.

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4. Why did SEBI bar two trading firms? 🤕

SEBI has barred two firms for allegedly manipulating the Sensex during the new Closing Auction Session.

The case offers a closer look at how F&O positions, large orders and the final minutes of trading came together to influence the index.

Deep Dive Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🚀 Strides Pharma rose 3% after the USFDA issued an Establishment Inspection Report, confirming successful closure of inspection at its Bengaluru facility.

💰 Aditya Birla Capital gained 3% after it announced plans to enter the gold-loan business, targeting 200-300 branches by March 2027 and 1,000 nationwide over three years.

📈 Eternal emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising over 2% amid heavy trading volumes during Thursday’s session.

🚞 Titagarh Rail Systems climbed 2% after Indian Railways approved the company as a vendor for supplying traction motors.

☝️Coforge shares jumped nearly 4% after it launched a dedicated private equity unit to help PE funds improve portfolio companies.

What went down ⬇️

🔻Gensol Engineering tumbled close to 5% after CBI booked the company and BluSmart founders over alleged ₹672 crore loss to IREDA from loan misuse.

📉 Power Finance Corporation and REC shares fell up to 3% after Morgan Stanley cut its growth estimates for both companies.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🏗️ Infra growth: India’s infrastructure output grew 5.4% year-on-year in July, easing slightly as iron ore and electricity production moderated under the revised nine-industry core sector series.

📈 Dual trading: NSE may allow its shares to trade on its own platform after formally listing on BSE, potentially boosting liquidity and enabling eventual inclusion in Nifty indexes, subject to the regulatory framework.

🌍 Deal done: Urban Company expanded its Unicommerce partnership to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, using the Uniware platform to manage inventory and fulfilment for its growing at-home services business.

📊 MSCI derivatives: BSE has partnered with MSCI to explore launching futures and options linked to MSCI indexes in India, giving investors another avenue to access and hedge Indian market exposure, subject to regulatory approvals.

💰 Maiden funding: Fintech unicorn Navi raised $100 million from Prosus in its first institutional funding round, subject to closing conditions and CCI approval.

🔐 Cyber remediation: Hexaware launched Zero Vulnerability, an AI-led cybersecurity offering that prioritises, fixes and verifies enterprise vulnerabilities across applications, cloud platforms and operating systems.

And that’s a wrap. Pour yourself an extra one this weekend. 🥂

We’ll be back like clockwork on Monday!

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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OpenAI is giving ChatGPT a teen-friendly makeover. It has announced ChatGPT for Teens, which comes with extra safety guardrails to limit harmful or age-inappropriate content.

OpenAI also wants teens to learn with AI, not outsource their homework to it. Study Mode guides them through problems instead of handing over answers, while quizzes, visualisations and homework reminders aim to curb cheating.

But there’s a catch: teens are pretty good at finding loopholes. And nearly four years after ChatGPT launched, the obvious question remains: why now? Whatever the reason, the bigger question will always be this: can OpenAI push teens to stop the slop pandemic too?

Back to where money moves. 💸

Indian markets ended lower for the 7th straight session on Wednesday. Sensex & Nifty fell up to 0.4%.

Rising crude oil prices are making investors nervous as tensions between the US and Iran remain unresolved.

Sector wise, IT stocks gave up gains but managed to end higher after CLSA downgraded several large IT companies. Capital goods and defence stocks also saw selling, while financial stocks held up relatively better. Sugar stocks stayed sweet, with Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar jumping 10% as the recent rally continued.

💡Spotlight: India takes its piped gas push further 🔥

Shares of Indraprastha Gas, Mahanagar Gas and Adani Total Gas gained up to 3% after the government announced a new incentive to get more Indian households using piped cooking gas.

What’s going on: starting September, every time a city gas company gets a household to start using and paying for piped natural gas (PNG), the company will get access to an additional 200 standard cubic metres of cheaper and domestically produced gas.

This lowers the companies’ overall cost of buying gas and, according to the government, could help them recover the money spent on new household connections in around three years instead of nearly 10 years.

With the US-Iran conflict disrupting fuel supplies and making imports more expensive, getting more households onto piped gas could eventually reduce India’s dependence on imported LPG and lower the government’s subsidy burden.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: KKR wants a piece of the show 🎭

The app you probably use to book a movie ticket, comedy show or concert is getting global backing. Private equity giant KKR has signed a deal to acquire a minority stake in BookMyShow.

The companies haven’t disclosed the financial terms. However, Mint reported that KKR is likely to acquire around 6% of BookMyShow, valuing the company at roughly $650-750 million.

The deets: BookMyShow started with movie ticketing, but today it wants a much bigger piece of how Indians spend money when they step out for entertainment.

And KKR sees a pretty straightforward opportunity here. India has a huge young population and people are increasingly willing to spend on experiences.

KKR’s Akshay Tanna said the acquisition will help the country become a bigger destination for global artists and events.

Competition: in 2024, Zomato parent Eternal bought Paytm’s entertainment and ticketing business for ₹2,048 crore and folded its going-out businesses into District.

That made District a much more direct competitor to BookMyShow across movies, dining, events and other experiences.

Zoom out: according to IMARC Group, the online event-ticketing market was worth $3.6 billion in 2025 and could reach $7.9 billion by 2034, growing around 8.6% annually.

KKR is essentially betting that as Indians have more disposable income, a growing chunk of that money will go towards experiences.

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2. Wipro’s ₹387 crore skincare haul 🛍️

Wipro’s personal care arm, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, will acquire a 60% stake in premium skincare brand Dermatouch for ₹387 crore.

The why: one of the obvious answers is that we live online and this is a digital first brand. But there’s a much bigger business reason.

India’s premium skincare market is currently estimated at around ₹30,000 crore and is growing 15-16% annually. Wipro expects the category to become a massive ₹3 lakh crore market over the next decade.

And Indians are still relatively light skincare spenders.

Annual per-person skincare spending in India is around $2, compared with roughly $20 in China. Derma skincare, which focuses on specific concerns such as acne, pigmentation and sun protection, accounts for only about 8% of India’s skincare market.

Acquisition details: Dermatouch’s revenue more than doubled to ₹131 crore in FY26, with online channels accounting for as much as 90% of sales.

Wipro already has an international skincare portfolio with brands including Derma Lab, Dr Dermis and Bio-essence, generating around ₹700 crore in sales.

Big theme: India’s big consumer companies have clearly noticed what’s happening.

Hindustan Unilever acquired Minimalist for ₹2,706 crore. Marico bought a majority stake in Plix for ₹380 crore. Emami acquired The Man Company for ₹272 crore.

Dabur invested ₹60 crore in RAS Beauty, while L’Oréal acquired a majority stake in Innovist, the company behind Chemist at Play and Bare Anatomy. Estée Lauder has also announced plans to acquire the remaining 51% of Forest Essentials.

While we are on acquisitions 🤝,

Jubilant Ingrevia will acquire a 40% stake in Zettaone Technologies India for ₹189.2 crore, giving it a bigger foothold in India’s electronics and semiconductor manufacturing space.

Once the deal is completed, Zettaone will become an associate company of Jubilant Ingrevia.

Zettaone designs and manufactures Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), the boards inside electronic devices that connect different components and allow them to work together. Its expertise is particularly in high-speed and high-power electronics.

The why: Jubilant wants to offer customers more of the electronics manufacturing process under one roof. Zettaone’s PCB capabilities will complement Jubilant’s existing electronics and semiconductor business and help it serve customers across a larger part of the supply chain.

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3. L&T adds $75 million to its order haul 💸

L&T Technology Services has won a five-year contract worth over $75 million from a major global technology company.

The company did not reveal the client’s name, citing confidentiality terms under the agreement.

What is happening: LTTS will use its Engineering Intelligence (EI) capabilities across the client’s entire product development and engineering process. This will help the company develop and launch next-generation products faster across global markets.

Think of it like a software detective. Instead of just yelling “something’s broken!”, it digs through engineering data, customer needs and live performance to figure out what broke, why it broke and how to fix it.

The longer game: this deal comes as the L&T group continues to build its order book across businesses and geographies.

L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Offshore recently secured an ultra-mega order worth over ₹15,000 crore from ADNOC Offshore to develop multiple offshore facilities in the Middle East. Its Heavy Engineering business has also won large international orders worth ₹2,500-5,000 crore each across Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Europe.

Closer to home, L&T won a ₹10,000-15,000 crore order to build India’s largest single-cluster AI infrastructure facility, marking its entry into the AI Factory business.

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4. The creator economy beyond influencers 💸

When you hear the term ‘creator economy,’ first thing that comes to your mind is probably influencers. But investors can now get a piece of it. There are listed companies connected to everything from creator platforms and music to gaming and digital advertising.

Chatterbox and Yaap play in creator platforms and monetisation, while Saregama and Tips Music give exposure to music and creator IP. Nazara and Delta Corp sit on the gaming side.

Basically, you don’t need a million Instagram followers to participate in the creator economy; a demat account could do the job too.

Full Story Here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

💰 Vijay Kedia bought a ₹33 crore stake in Zaggle Prepaid via a bulk deal, stock jumped up to 12%.

🚀 Shiprocket soared 10% after a bumper market debut, rallied 48% from IPO price.

⛏️ Prism Johnson gained 5% after securing coal supply contracts from Coal India subsidiaries.

🚆 RailTel gained nearly 4% after bagging a ₹166.8 crore work order from EPFO.

❄️ Ducon Infratechnologies rose more than 3% after securing a contract for a forced cooling network system.

⚡ HG Infra Engineering received an LOI for transmission projects in Uttar Pradesh, stock up 2%.

What went down ⬇️

📉 Gold-related stocks came under pressure as the fall in gold prices weighed on Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Finance, both declined up to 2%.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🚆 Infra push: the Cabinet approved ₹13,041 crore of rail and highway projects, including ₹9,450 crore for four railway multitracking projects and a ₹3,591 crore Bihar highway upgrade.

💻 Mega UK deal: Cognizant secured a £360 million contract from the UK’s HMRC to build, manage and modernise its low-code technology platforms through 2031.

🛡️ Private defence: DRDO has invited private Indian firms to compete for strategic weapons projects, potentially expanding private-sector participation into missile and other advanced weapons development and production.

🚆 Train booking: Uber has launched train ticket booking in India through an integration with ixigo, letting users book rail journeys and connect them with Uber rides in one app.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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India’s office market is booming, but companies are waking up to an awkward question: how much of that office space is actually being used? Office absorption hit a record 45.5 million sq ft in H1 2026. With hybrid work making attendance unpredictable, AI is now playing office detective.

At WeWork India, AI tracks when employees show up, which desks and meeting rooms they use and what sits empty. The data has helped turn underused spaces into desks, redesign areas for multiple uses and decide which buildings to lease and how to configure them.

And this matters because GCCs alone leased 31.4 million sq ft in 2025. When you’re paying for millions of square feet, knowing which corners are earning their keep can save some serious money.

Meanwhile, to the companies still figuring this out: have you tried installing ambient, fairy lights and lo-fi music?

Let’s get back to the markets,

Markets remained under pressure on Tuesday, with the Sensex and Nifty falling up to 0.6%.

(Market bites here)

Sector-wise, IT was again the biggest drag, falling 2%, while realty, FMCG and metals also ended in the red. Autos, media and oil & gas managed to stay positive.

Among stocks, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech fell around 2% each. Only 10 Nifty stocks ended higher, with Axis Bank and Max Healthcare among the top gainers

💡 Spotlight: India adds 405 defence items to local-first list 🛡️

Defence stocks including Paras Defence, Zen Tech and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and others gained up to 10% after the government released its sixth Positive Indigenisation List, basically a list of defence equipment India wants to stop relying on imports for and make locally instead.

The government has identified 405 defence items worth an estimated ₹3,070 crore that will eventually be bought from Indian manufacturers once they are developed locally.

The list includes parts and equipment used in fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, warships, missiles, radars, sonars and satellite communication systems. Platforms such as the Tejas, Su-30MKI, T-72 and T-90 are among those covered.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Nelco’s $20 million satellite bet spooks investors 📉

Tata Group’s Nelco fell 11% on Tuesday after the company announced a $20 million investment in US-based Lunar Holdco.

Lunar is a US satellite technology company working on ways to connect regular phones and other devices directly to satellites. Nelco helps businesses stay connected using satellites in places where regular mobile towers, fibre or broadband may not work well.

What’s going on: Nelco is investing but it isn’t simply buying shares today. The investment is being made through Compulsorily Convertible Debentures or CCDs.

Think of CCDs as money Nelco is giving Lunar today that will eventually turn into shares of Lunar.

Until that conversion happens, the CCDs will earn Nelco a 7% annual compounded return.

Nelco doesn’t control Lunar after this investment. We don’t even know exactly how much of Lunar Nelco will eventually own because that will depend on when and how the CCDs convert into shares.

The Why: Nelco wants access to the satellite-based direct-to-device (D2D) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity in India and other markets. The partnership will let Nelco use Elveo’s satellites to provide internet connectivity and computing services to industries such as automobiles, shipping, energy and government.

Why stock fell: investors appear to be worried about the risk versus reward.

Nelco is committing roughly $20 million to a company that hasn’t started generating commercial revenue in India yet. At the same time, investors don’t currently know exactly how much of Lunar Nelco will eventually own.

And despite putting in that money, Nelco isn’t getting control of the company.

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While we are on deals,

Samvardhana Motherson is increasing its ownership in Chinese automotive technology company Shenzhen Autocruis.

Its subsidiary SMR Automotive (Langfang) will spend around $440,000 to buy another 0.15% stake in Autocruis from an existing shareholder. Motherson’s indirect ownership will increase from 67.78% to 67.93% once the deal is completed.

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2. Your payments got an AI upgrade 🤖

Razorpay is launching Vulcan, an AI model built specifically for digital payments.

Note: It is India’s first AI payments foundation model.

What’s the deal: before you pay, Vulcan can pick the payment route most likely to work, flag suspicious transactions and predict which payment method you’re most likely to successfully use.

It’s powered by NVIDIA GPUs and AWS infrastructure, and parts of the technology are already being used in live payment environments.

These include companies like Blinkit, Bachatt and redBus. Unlike ChatGPT, it isn’t trained on language, it’s trained to understand patterns in payments.

Why does this matter: India’s digital payment boom has also meant more fraud. In FY25, 12.6 lakh UPI fraud cases involving ₹981 crore were reported. At the same time, UPI processed a massive 20.47 billion transactions worth ₹26.32 lakh crore in November alone.

Razorpay says Vulcan has improved payment success rates by 8-10%, detected 8x more international card fraud, and identified 5x more fraudulent or disputed transactions without increasing alerts. It can make these decisions in just 29 milliseconds, significantly making digital payments safer and more reliable.

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3. How rich is the richest person in each country? 💰

Being the richest person in your country can mean very different things depending on where you live.

Elon Musk tops the US at a massive $839 billion, while India’s richest, Mukesh Ambani, sits at $99.7 billion.

The gap at the top is wild. Musk’s fortune is more than eight times Ambani’s and larger than the fortunes shown here for India, China, Japan and Russia combined.

Full story here

4. How did Anthropic overtake OpenAI?

Anthropic has reportedly crossed $65 billion in annualised revenue run rate, ahead of OpenAI at roughly $40 billion.

The twist is that Anthropic did it without winning the consumer AI race.

While OpenAI built ChatGPT for the masses, Anthropic went harder after developers, coding teams and enterprises. That bet is now paying off.

Full story

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

⚙️ INDO-MIM jumped 10% after reporting strong Q1 earnings.

💻 Jyoti CNC Automation surged 8% while EMS gained nearly 2% as government approved 31 proposals worth ₹7,877 crore under electronics component scheme.

🛡️ Sigma Advanced Systems hit 5% upper circuit after the defence firm said India has become the first country to establish anti-drone patrolling of border and urban areas.

🏭 Tube Investments rose nearly 8% reacting to Q1 results data.

🥛 Milky Mist shares hit 10% upper circuit after market debut, stock rallies 30% from IPO price.

What went down ⬇️

💸 Paytm fell more than 2% after 2.95% equity worth ₹2,949 crore changed hands in a block deal.

📉 BSE declined for 5th straight day on Tuesday amid two downgrades in two days.

🪥 Colgate declined more than 3% as brokerages flagged margin concerns following its investor meet.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

💸 Overseas gap: India spent $3.1 billion more overseas than it earned during the April-June quarter, slightly higher than the $2.9 billion gap last year.

🛣️ Road haul: Ceigall India and Sushee Infra Mining bagged four road projects worth ₹2,150 crore from Andhra Pradesh government.

☀️ Solar win: Advait Greenergy bagged a ₹116 crore order from KPI Green Energy for a 200 MW solar project in Rajasthan.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

🗓️ Morning, folks! ☀️

Quick question: what’s harder than getting people to the bottom of a black hole?

Getting Gen Z to finish a book.

Except, India might have something to say about that. We’re actually one of the world’s biggest reading nations, clocking around 352 hours a year, second only to the US.

Finding a good library isn’t as easy as finding a reel to scroll. India has nearly 47,000 public libraries, but many struggle with funding, staff and access.

So enter the old-school hero: circulating libraries. These private book-rental shops let you pay a small fee, pick a book and take it home. Mumbai’s Victoria Circulating Library, for instance, has been doing exactly that for decades, stocking everything from classics and thrillers to comics and regional-language books.

So while public libraries struggle to keep up, these neighbourhood bookshops are keeping India’s reading habit alive, one dog-eared book at a time.

So, India clearly likes to read. Now, let’s read the markets 🏦

Indian markets had a mixed Monday, with Sensex and Nifty falling 0.3% each but Midcaps held up better, while Nifty Bank managed to close largely flat.

Sector-wise, IT stocks dragged, while realty gained 1.5% and metals saw buying interest on stronger global prices. Reliance recovered from its lows to end nearly 1% higher, providing some support to the Nifty.

💡Spotlight: Sugar rally got sweeter 🍬

Sugar stocks were buzzing, with Balrampur Chini Mills, Shree Renuka Sugars, Dhampur Sugar, EID Parry and Dalmia Bharat Sugar gaining as much as 8%.

The why: higher sugar prices mean better earnings for sugar producers, provided their production and costs remain under control. Investors are betting that companies could benefit if prices stay elevated.

Global raw sugar prices climbed to a one-year high, while white sugar hit its highest level in 15 months. Back home, sugar prices have jumped nearly 10% in just a month.

India has its own concerns though. Weak rainfall in some producing regions could hurt the crop, while the upcoming festival season usually brings stronger demand for sweets and packaged foods.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Why is India leasing General Atomics drones for ₹1,943 crore? 🛡️

The Ministry of Defence signed a ₹1,943 crore contract with US-based General Atomics to lease two MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones for the Indian Navy for 30 months.

What’s going on: these drones are large, long-range unmanned aircrafts built to watch huge stretches of the sea for hours at a time.

Think of it as giving the Navy an eye in the sky that doesn’t need a pilot sitting inside the aircraft.

The drone can also drop small sensors into the ocean that listen for underwater sounds, helping the Navy find and track submarines.

Why India needs them: the Indian Ocean is enormous. Keeping watch over such a large area continuously using only ships and crewed aircrafts is difficult and expensive.

A drone that can stay in the air for more than a day gives the Navy much longer surveillance coverage and can pass information back in real time.

Zoom out: India has already signed a roughly $3 billion deal for 31 MQ-9B drones. The Navy is set to receive 15 SeaGuardians, while the Army and Air Force will get eight SkyGuardians each.

Additionally, the country has also signed a separate agreement with General Atomics to support the drones through maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in India.

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2. Why were renewable energy stocks higher on Monday? ⚡

Shares of renewable energy companies including Suzlon Energy and Inox Wind gained more than 5% on Monday after India’s power regulator gave delayed clean-energy projects some much-needed breathing room.

What exactly happened: renewable energy projects need access to India’s electricity grid so that the power they generate can be transported and sold.

The problem is that several renewable projects have been delayed because the transmission infrastructure needed to connect them wasn’t ready on time.

But that extension comes at a cost: developers will have to pay a daily fee depending on which deadline they have missed.

For delays related to land and financing, developers will have to pay ₹1,000 per MW per day. If the project is delayed in actually starting commercial operations, the fee rises to ₹3,000 per MW per day.

So, for example, a 100 MW project delayed at the commissioning stage would pay ₹3 lakh for every additional day.

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3. India’s Science labs have a Geography problem 🔬

Only 57.6% of schools across India have science labs, meaning a large number of students are still learning science without access to the infrastructure needed to actually experiment with it.

And the gap between states is massive. Delhi leads at 99.7%, while Chandigarh and Goa are also above 95%.

At the other end, Rajasthan and Bihar are below 28%, while West Bengal, Mizoram and Tripura are all below 35%.

Full story here

4. Why does everything need to be aesthetic now-a-days? 🤔

There was a time when nobody cared if a fan looked ugly. If it gives enough hawa, paisa vasool 😉

That equation is changing. Across categories, brands are giving boring everyday products a design upgrade, turning things we once hid away into things we’re happy to leave on display.

Because when most products can do the job just fine, design becomes another reason to choose one over the other. And Indian consumers might increasingly be willing to pay for it.

Why now?

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

📈 Uflex hit 20% upper circuit and Puravankara gained more than 4% after reporting Q1 earnings.

📺 SEBI unlikely to challenge SAT relief to Zee Entertainment, stock up nearly 3%.

💰 Hindustan Copper surged over 8% as copper prices climbed nearly 16% this year, driven by US tariff uncertainty and supply concerns.

What went down ⬇️

📉 Zaggle Prepaid crashed 20% while Schneider Electric fell more than 10% and Cochin Shipyard declined up to 3% on weak Q1 results.

👎 BSE slipped 3% after Jefferies downgraded stock to Underperform rating.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🏭 Electronics push: MeitY cleared 31 applications involving ₹7,877 crore of investment under its scheme to boost electronics component manufacturing in India.

🛢️ Offshore haul: L&T’s energy hydrocarbon offshore unit bagged an order worth over ₹15,000 crore to develop multiple offshore facilities in the Middle East.

🚜 International order: BEML bagged a $6.65 million order from Mauritius to supply hydraulic excavators for use across several African countries.

🎂 Sweet funding: online bakery startup Bakingo raised ₹100 crore from Faering Capital, with its valuation jumping 2.6x.

📈 Index boost: Reddit shares jumped 15% after the social media company was confirmed to join the S&P 500 next week.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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🗓️ Morning, folks and Happy Mondaayyyyy! ☀️

As if Gen Z’s financial choices couldn’t get any more startling… some are now treating sports betting like their next big investment play.

And with legal sports gambling now a nearly $17-billion industry in the US, it’s increasingly competing with stocks for a slice of their money.

A Betterment survey found that 26% of Gen Z investors consider sports betting part of their long-term financial strategy, compared with 14% of millennials and 6% of Gen X. More than half have even redirected money meant for investing into bets.

At this rate, what’s next, a Sensex ticker next to the sports score?

Speaking of Sensex… 👀

It’s shaping up to be a relatively light week for Dalal Street, but there’s one global event traders will be watching closely: the US Fed’s July meeting minutes on August 19.

Any hints on where US interest rates go next can influence how much foreign money flows into Indian stocks and even the RBI’s room to move on interest rates.

Beyond that, crude oil, the Strait of Hormuz and the US-Iran standoff will remain on the radar.

💡 Spotlight: Wholesale Inflation cools but price pressures linger 📉

A small sign of relief on the inflation front. India’s wholesale inflation eased to 9.78% in July, from 9.87% in June.

Wholesale inflation tracks how prices are changing for goods before they reach consumers.

What brought it down: energy prices did most of the heavy lifting.

• Inflation in fuel and power cooled sharply to 20.05% from 27.41% in June. That was enough to pull the overall number lower.

But look under the hood: price pressures actually increased across several other parts of the economy.

• Primary articles inflation jumped to 8.52% from 7%

• Manufactured products rose to 8.29% from 7.48%.

• Non-food articles saw an even sharper jump to 17.66% from 11.07%.

Factories are also seeing higher prices across several categories.

• Textile inflation accelerated to 12.8%, electrical equipment to 12.34%, while rubber and plastic products hit 10.38%.

Food articles provided some relief, easing slightly to 5.44% from 5.49%.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Reliance 🤝 Rolls Royce

Reliance Industries announced a partnership with Britain’s Rolls-Royce to jointly pursue an indigenous combat aircraft engine for India. The stock will be in focus today as the company announced the update on Friday after market hours.

Why is this important: this takes Reliance into one of defence manufacturing’s most difficult areas: designing, developing and manufacturing engines for fighter aircraft. The companies have also left the door open to using these capabilities for civil aviation and other propulsion systems later.

Rolls-Royce engines power combat aircraft, military transports, helicopters, naval vessels and other defence platforms. Its EJ200 engine, for instance, powers the Eurofighter Typhoon.

What’s the plan: this is for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme which is the country’s upcoming stealth fighter. There is also a plan to explore setting up an Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex in India.

Think of it as building an entire fighter-engine ecosystem rather than simply assembling imported engines.

That difference matters as India has successfully built fighter aircrafts such as the LCA Tejas, but the engines powering them have largely come from overseas. The AMCA programme could give India a chance to reduce that dependence.

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2. HAL brings Adani and BEML into Prachand production 🚁

HAL has brought in Adani Defence and BEML to help build the main bodies of 90 Prachand helicopters. BEML will make 48, while Adani Defence will make 42.

Prachand helicopters are India-made Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) for the Indian military.

The why: because this is a pretty big order waiting to be delivered.

The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth ₹62,700 crore with HAL in March 2025 for 156 Prachand helicopters. Of these, 90 will go to the Indian Army and 66 to the Indian Air Force.

And this is the first time private industry is being brought into manufacturing helicopter fuselage structures.

Who does what: HAL will be responsible for delivering the finished Prachand helicopters.

BEML and Adani Defence will manufacture fuselage structures, effectively taking over part of the manufacturing workload before those structures eventually become part of the finished helicopters.

The fuselage is basically the helicopter’s main body, the large central structure that holds the cockpit, crew and other critical systems together.

What makes Prachand special: the helicopter is designed for missions at altitudes above 5,000 metres. It makes the equipment particularly useful in India’s mountainous and high-altitude regions, where operating conditions are tougher.

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3. Honasa Consumer’s Q1 glow-up is more than skin deep ✨

Honasa Consumer gained more than 4% after the Mamaearth parent reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue and profit in Q1.

And this wasn’t simply higher prices making the numbers look better. The company sold significantly more products, its younger brands grew quickly and more sales came from higher-margin categories.

Breaking it down:

• Revenue jumped 31.8% YoY to ₹785 crore, supported by 30.5% volume growth.

• Profit more than doubled, rising 118% to ₹90.3 crore.

• Focus categories grew 35% (these are the beauty segments Honasa is prioritising for growth, such as face cleansers, sunscreens, serums, shampoos and conditioners.)

• Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled and margin expanded to 13.1%.

The how: the company began as a digital-first firm built around Mamaearth. Now it has a growing offline presence, multiple younger brands, acquisitions and bets across everything from clinical skincare and men’s grooming to fragrances.

While we are on earnings 📊,

Bharat Dynamics delivered a strong Q1, with profit jumping more than six-fold as missile and defence equipment sales picked up sharply.

The numbers:

• Net profit: ₹118.8 crore vs ₹18.4 crore last year (that’s 546% jump)

• Revenue: ₹572.2 crore, up from ₹247.9 crore

• EBITDA: ₹83.1 crore vs a loss of ₹45.4 crore

Decoding earnings: the company earned ₹103.4 crore in other income, taking its total income to ₹675.7 crore. So while the core business improved substantially, other income also helped the bottom line.

In June, BDL secured contracts worth ₹1,347.71 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).

These orders will be executed over 24 to 60 months, giving BDL revenue visibility beyond the current quarter.

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4. Companies brewing your daily chai ☕

Your evening chai is practically a mini stock-market portfolio.

From Tata Consumer and Hindustan Unilever supplying the tea to Dodla Dairy and Hatsun Agro bringing the milk, several everyday names behind that cup are listed companies.

Full story here

5. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🧴 Galaxy Surfactants hit 20% upper circuit as Q1 net profit more than doubled.

📺 Zee Entertainment surged 6% after the Securities Appellate Tribunal stayed a SEBI order.

📈 Welspun Living, Praj Industries and Apollo Hospitals gained up to 4% after reporting strong Q1 earnings while Manorama Industries jumped 8%.

⚡ Transformers & Rectifiers rose over 2% after winning order worth up to ₹500 crore

What went down ⬇️

📉 Sammaan Capital, Tata Motors PV fell up to 6% after weak Q1 results

🪨 Nalco slipped 6% while Hindalco declined nearly 2% after the world’s largest alumina refinery outside China Alunorte ramped up production.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

💰 IPO bound: Ananya Birla-promoted Svatantra Microfin has filed its draft papers with SEBI to raise up to ₹3,000 crore through an IPO.

🤖 AI money: Anthropic’s annualised revenue surged 14-fold and crossed $11.5 billion in Q2, as per media reports.

⛽ Fuel duty cut: India cut export duties on petrol, diesel and aviation fuel from August 15, bringing the levy on petrol down to zero and reducing duties on diesel and ATF.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the Monday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Claude is making it harder to keep your AI use on the down low. Anthropic is adding invisible watermarks to text generated by Claude.

The watermark will stick around when text is copied and pasted, although heavy editing or changing a file’s format can remove it. The move is part of complying with new EU AI transparency rules and applies worldwide across Claude’s products.

Naturally, some users are not thrilled. Reddit and X lit up with complaints. Others, however, aren’t buying the outrage, arguing that if you’re worried about people finding out AI wrote your work, maybe that’s the point.

We also broke this down on video.

Now, let’s see what Dalal Street was up to. 👀

Sensex and Nifty ended near the flatline, with the Nifty failing to hold 24,400. Midcaps had a better day and outperformed the benchmarks after CAS adjustments.

Sector-wise, realty and consumer durables stayed in the green, while metals and private banks dragged.

Hindalco was the biggest Nifty loser, while Tata Consumer and Tata Motors PV helped Tata stocks bounce back

💡Spotlight: India Inc keeps the engine running 📈

India Inc. is starting FY27 with some serious momentum. Revenue across 838 listed companies tracked by ICRA jumped 22% YoY in Q1, up from 13% in the previous quarter.

Autos led the charge, while FMCG, consumer durables, retail, jewellery and quick-service restaurants also saw healthy demand.

Government spending added fuel, with capex rising 24% to ₹3.4 lakh crore.

But there was a catch: higher sales didn’t translate into higher profits everywhere. Margins fell and overall profits stayed flat, largely thanks to pressure on oil companies. Strip out oil & gas, though, and profits grew over 20%.

And if you want to see where that growth is showing up most clearly, look at autos. July was the industry’s strongest-ever month, with passenger vehicle sales soaring 34.3% to 4.58 lakh units.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: L&T is building India’s biggest AI factory 🤖

Larsen & Toubro bagged a ₹10,000-15,000 crore mega order from US-based Together AI to build what it calls India’s largest single-cluster AI infrastructure deployment.

What’s cookin’: L&T will install 10,000 NVIDIA B300 GPUs at its Vyoma.AI data centre campus in Chennai.

Think of it as building a gigantic digital factory where thousands of extremely powerful chips work together to train AI models, improve them and run them for users.

And these chips need a lot more than plug points. The facility will need high-speed networking, massive storage, cooling and enormous amounts of power so thousands of GPUs can operate together.

Why Together AI: the US company provides computing power to businesses building AI applications. Instead of those companies buying expensive GPUs themselves, they can rent the computing muscle from Together AI.

L&T will provide the infrastructure underneath it.

Zoom out: earlier this year, L&T partnered with NVIDIA to develop gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure in India. Vyoma has also launched a sovereign cloud platform and is building a 40 MW AI-ready data centre in Navi Mumbai, scalable to 100 MW.

The Chennai campus itself is being designed for gigawatt-scale infrastructure, giving the company plenty of room to add more computing capacity later.

L&T built its empire constructing India’s physical infrastructure. Now, it wants to build the infrastructure AI lives on.

While we are on AI 🦾,

Black Box jumped nearly 8% after the company secured a $131 million (around ₹1,240 crore) data centre order from a new US-based global hyperscaler.

What’s going on: Black Box will provide infrastructure services at a key US location over roughly three years, with the company expecting the engagement to expand further.

The deal brings the company into a new Tier-1 hyperscaler account which simply means a major global cloud company is now a new Black Box customer.

Keeping up with the AI updates,

Aurionpro Solutions bagged a nearly ₹100 crore order from a global hyperscale data centre operator for an upcoming AI-ready facility in Navi Mumbai. The stock gained more than 2% following the news update.

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2. BHEL brings Norwegian Hydrogen tech to India 🇮🇳

BHEL partnered with Norway-based Hystar to manufacture equipment in India that helps produce green hydrogen.

What are they making: the partnership focuses on Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysers.

Think of an electrolyser as a machine that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When that electricity comes from renewable sources such as solar or wind, the hydrogen produced is called green hydrogen. It can help replace fossil fuels in industries such as steel, fertilisers, oil refining, shipping and heavy transport.

PEM is simply one type of electrolyser technology.

What’s the deal: BHEL and Hystar will gradually bring more of the manufacturing of these systems to India instead of relying entirely on imported equipment.

Why it matters: earlier this year, BHEL partnered with thyssenkrupp nucera India for another type of technology called alkaline electrolysers.

With Hystar now covering PEM technology, BHEL says it is among the few Indian companies capable of offering both major types of electrolyser systems.

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3. Blacksmith bags $45 million to fix AI’s messy code 🛠️

AI is helping developers write code faster. Now, someone needs to make sure all that code actually works.

AI code testing startup Blacksmith has raised $45 million in Series B funding at a $550 million valuation, in a round led by Peak XV Partners. Interestingly, the company’s valuation jumped almost 10x in less than a year.

Before new code gets added to an app or website, developers usually run automated checks to make sure it works and hasn’t broken anything else. Blacksmith provides the cloud infrastructure to run these checks faster and cheaper.

The company claims its platform can run these workflows up to 2x faster at half the cost.

And now comes AI: Blacksmith has expanded beyond simply running tests with Codesmith, its AI coding agent. When a code check fails, Codesmith can investigate the problem and automatically try to fix it.

The new money will help the startup expand into more coding tools that make it faster for developers to write, check and merge software.

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4. Older than independent India 🇮🇳

Some Indian companies are older than your grandparents’ grandparents.

Balmer Lawrie started in 1867, GRSE traces its roots to 1884, and National Insurance was incorporated in 1906, all before India became independent. Today, they still operate across logistics, defence and insurance.

National Insurance began as part of the Swadeshi-era push for Indian-owned institutions, while GRSE went from a small workshop on the Hooghly to becoming a major defence shipbuilder.

Some businesses literally survive centuries.

Deep Dive Here

5. Why is Tiger Global leaving TVF? 🤔

Tiger Global has fully exited TVF at a $22 million valuation, nearly 73% below its $82 million peak in 2019.

The markdown comes even as TVF’s revenue has grown sharply, showing how India’s OTT market has shifted from aggressive content spending to tighter budgets and a stronger focus on profitability.

Read more

6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

✈️ Midhani jumped 9% as the company became the first Indian firm to get GE Aerospace S400 approval.

🔧 Astral rallied nearly 9% following Q1 results and positive comments from brokerages.

📈 Lenskart, TVS Srichakra & Tata Motors CV rose up to 4% on strong Q1.

❄️ KRN Heat Exchanger hit 5% upper circuit as Q1 net profit more than doubled

💥 Solar Industries soared 8% to fresh lifetime high after Q1 net profit soars 93% YoY.

What went down ⬇️

🧪 Thyrocare crashed up to 6% as promoter Docon Technologies sold a 10% stake.

📉 Page Industries slipped 5% after reporting Q1 earnings while Arvind declined by 2%.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

👗 Kardashian drop: Reliance is bringing another Kardashian-linked fashion label to India, with Khloé-backed Fabletics.

🛡️ Border boost: NBCC bagged a ₹235 crore ITBP order to build infrastructure along India’s northern border in Ladakh.

✈️ Defence haul: India is eyeing a ₹1 lakh crore military transport aircraft deal to give its defence logistics a serious upgrade.

🤝 Tech team-up: TCS and Vodafone Business joined forces to help UK companies level up with AI, cloud, cybersecurity and smarter digital infrastructure.

And that’s a wrap. Pour yourself an extra one this weekend. 🍾

We’ll be back like clockwork on Monday!

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

What can katsu curry tell you about Japan’s economy? Turns out, a lot.

A strategist at US financial giant Bank of New York Mellon created the Katsu Curry Index, comparing the dish’s price across countries to measure the yen’s real purchasing power.

And the verdict? while $1 currently buys around ¥159, the index suggests the yen’s purchasing-power equivalent is closer to ¥62, pointing to a seriously undervalued currency.

It’s Japan’s spicy answer to The Economist’s Big Mac Index, and another reminder of how the weak yen is making everyday life and overseas travel pricier for Japanese consumers.

Does this suggest a new dal-chawal index is forthcoming?

Back to the street. 📊

Markets spent Wednesday going nowhere fast.

The Nifty swung between gains and losses before ending almost flat. A late boost from the Closing Auction Session helped erase most of the day’s losses, but higher crude oil prices and a weaker Rupee kept investors cautious.

Realty, private banks and consumer durables led the gains, while PSU banks, oil & gas and healthcare stocks dragged.

💡Spotlight: Tata’s top job is up for grabs 👑

N Chandrasekaran will step down as Tata Sons chairman when his current term ends on February 20, 2027. He has decided not to seek another term.

The move comes after six months of uncertainty over his reappointment. Differences between the Tata Sons and Tata Trusts over the group’s future structure and board representation added to the deadlock.

Rather than let the uncertainty drag on, Chandrasekaran has now asked the board to start the succession process and find his replacement well before his term ends.

Stocks took a hit: the uncertainty around Tata’s next leader quickly spilled into the stock market.

Tata Group stocks fell sharply, with TCS down 4.1% and Tata Steel down more than 1%. Other listed Tata companies also came under pressure.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Food prices turn up India’s inflation heat 🔥

After June’s 18-month high, India’s retail inflation hit a 19-month high in July, rising 4.45%. In his latest policy outcome speech, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had warned that headline inflation could rise over the next few months before cooling again.

Just for context, this means things that cost ₹100 a year ago now cost about ₹104.45 on average.

What to blame: food continued to do most of the damage.

Food inflation surged to 5.52% from 5.32% in June. Higher food prices pushed overall inflation slightly above what economists had expected.

Other inflation numbers: the July data showed price increases across a wide range of categories.

July vs June

• Rural inflation rose to 4.84% from 4.74%.

• Urban inflation moved up more modestly to 3.96% from 3.93%.

• Housing inflation also edged higher, rising to 2.22% from 2.10%.

• Clothing and footwear inflation increased to 3.38% from 3.23%.

• Restaurant and accommodation services inflation saw a sharper rise to 7.72% from 6.91%.

Some good news:

• Health inflation eased to 1.34% from 1.42%,

• Personal care, social production and miscellaneous goods inflation declined to 14.77% from 16.72%.

What experts said: apart from food, experts contributed July’s inflation rise to fuel, transport costs and precious metals, rather than a broad jump in consumer demand. Gold and silver prices are also keeping underlying inflation elevated, while higher crude prices and West Asia tensions could add more pressure.

But again a calm in geopolitical tensions could ease food prices which will eventually lead to inflation below the RBI’s expected peak.

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2. Why is Bank of America paying 2.5x for Jio Credit? 💰

Bank of America is buying nearly half of Jio Financial Services’ lending business, Jio Credit. The two companies will then jointly own and run Jio Credit, with Jio Financial keeping the majority stake.

Both companies will get equal representation on Jio Credit’s board, while its existing management team will continue running the business.

The why: Jio Credit offers loans through a digital-first model and has grown extremely quickly.

In just about two years, its Assets Under Management (AUM) reached ₹30,667 crore, as of June 2026.

AUM here is basically the total value of loans and other credit that Jio Credit currently manages.

The deal reportedly values Jio Credit at around 2.5 times its net worth, notable for a lending business that effectively started operations only around two years ago.

So, who brings what: Jio Financial brings its digital ecosystem, Indian customer reach and understanding of the local market. Bank of America brings lending experience, global financial expertise and risk-management systems.

Together, they want to make borrowing easier, more digital and available to more Indians, while expanding Jio Credit’s existing and new lending products.

And Mukesh Ambani summed up the broader ambition:

“Our country’s progress toward becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047 demands a financial ecosystem built on scale, trust, and inclusivity. Central to this journey is the democratisation of responsible credit, characterised by lower costs for the customer, absolute transparency, and expanding access to capital as our economy grows.”

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3. HAL delivers in Q1 🔥

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics ended in the green after the company reported Q1 results that beat street estimates. The defence PSU’s profit, revenue, EBITDA, and margin all came in ahead of expectations.

By the numbers:

• Net profit: up 14.7% YoY to ₹1,580 cr from ₹1,377 cr

• Revenue: up 14.4% YoY to ₹5,515 cr from ₹4,819 cr

• EBITDA: up 18.8% YoY to ₹1,529 cr from ₹1,287 cr

Margin: improved to 27.7% vs 26.6% YoY

Breaking it down: HAL’s profitability was supported by lower employee and other expenses, despite higher material costs and provisions. Meanwhile, the defence company’s FY26 order book stood at ₹2.55 lakh cr.

Guidance given at the end of FY26:

• HAL expects orders worth ₹90,000 cr over FY27-28

• The company has guided for FY27 revenue growth of 10-12%

• FY27 EBITDA margin is expected to be in the 30-31% range

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4. A snippet of India’s oldest banks 💸

India became independent in 1947, but parts of its banking system had already been around for more than half a century.

That longevity becomes even more striking when you consider what these banks have lived through: two World Wars, the Great Depression, Partition, bank nationalisation, the 1991 economic reforms, multiple financial crises and, eventually, the shift from passbooks and branch queues to UPI and mobile banking.

Deep Dive Here

5. Milky Mist has grown fast. Can it keep up? 🤔

Milky Mist built a ₹3,138 crore dairy business without making plain milk its main product. Paneer became its biggest business.

Its ₹1,553 crore IPO closes today. But growth came with ₹1,672 crore in borrowings. And nearly 70% of its revenue still comes from South India.

Can Milky Mist use the IPO to go from a strong regional dairy company to a national brand?

Full story here

6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

⚡ TD Power Systems jumped 18% after strong Q1 profit and as the company raised its FY27 revenue guidance for the fifth consecutive quarter.

📈 Cupid, Finolex Cables gained up to 7% while Marksans Pharma increased 13% after reporting healthy Q1 results.

🏭 NALCO surged more than 7% while Hindalco ended 3% higher after Brazil production cut lifted aluminium prices

What went down ⬇️

🚪 Godrej Consumer slipped more than 11% after CEO Sudhir Sitapati’s sudden exit.

💍 Senco Gold crashed 14% after reporting weak Q1 earnings data.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

🌍 Trade push: India has taken the first step towards a preferential trade deal with the South African Customs Union (SACU), with talks set to cover goods, market access and customs.

🚁 Defence order: BEML bagged a ₹184 crore order from HAL to manufacture and supply fuselage structures for Light Combat Helicopters.

✨Astrology boom: Astrotalk became a $1 billion unicorn through an ESOP buyback, offering liquidity to over 100 employees while retaining future participation.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

The world might have pressing issues to solve like malnutrition and poverty, but across 7 oceans, people are having a meltdown over a “burrito”.

A single tweet about how “a burrito shouldn’t cost $20” by a conservative student has somehow become America’s latest affordability battleground.

Some conservatives joked: skip the $20 burrito, eat ramen and get a job. Others argued that’s missing the point: if everyday food feels unaffordable, young voters will notice.

With LA’s minimum wage at $18.4, a $20 meal costs more than an hour’s work. So young people are meal-prepping, buying in bulk and finding cheaper alternatives.

Because beneath all that guac is a real problem: even a casual meal is becoming a financial decision.

Back to business. 💸

The markets tried. They really did.

But the Sensex and Nifty still closed lower on Tuesday, ending the day down 0.49% and 0.46%, respectively.

Pharma and IT outperformed, while realty and metal stocks had a rough session.

Healthcare stocks including Max Healthcare and Apollo Hospitals also came under pressure after a Parliamentary panel proposed capping hospital room rents at three-star hotel rates and fixing surgery package prices.

💡 Spotlight: A big Nifty shake-up 🙂‍↔️

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is set to replace IT major Wipro in the Nifty 50 index, effective September 30.

The why: BSE earned its place in the Nifty 50 because its average market value over the past six months grew to more than 1.5 times that of Wipro, the index’s smallest member.

What does it mean: reportedly, BSE’s inclusion could attract around $691 million in passive inflows, while Wipro’s exclusion may lead to nearly $240 million in outflows.

The bigger picture: as part of the rejig, Vedanta Aluminium, Polycab, Hitachi Energy India and Vodafone Idea will join the Nifty Next 50, replacing Indian Hotels, United Spirits, REC, Shree Cement and Lodha.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: L&T wants that magnet money 🧲

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is reportedly planning to enter rare-earth permanent magnet manufacturing in India, as the engineering giant looks to reduce dependence on imported Chinese components.

What’s going on: the company is said to be preparing to bid for the government’s ₹7,280 crore incentive scheme for rare-earth magnets.

The programme aims to create 6,000 tonnes of annual manufacturing capacity in India.

The why: rare-earth magnets are critical components inside electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, industrial robots, defence equipment and electronics.

Adding to that, the company recently partnered with Israel-based EVR Motors to develop next-generation electric vehicle traction motors in India.

The timing also matters: China dominates global rare-earth magnet production, and recent export restrictions have highlighted how quickly supply disruptions can affect manufacturers elsewhere.

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2. ONGC, Shell join forces for India’s deepwater hunt 🌊

ONGC has signed an MoU with Shell Energy India to explore oil and gas opportunities deep beneath India’s seas and jointly look at sourcing LNG for the country.

The why: drilling kilometres below the sea isn’t cheap or easy. A single exploration well can cost $125-150 million and take 5-10 years before producing oil or gas.

The partnership also comes as India's existing oil and gas fields naturally decline by around 6-7% every year, making new discoveries increasingly important.

Zoom out: earlier this month, the government approved Samudra Manthan, officially called the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, with a massive ₹84,084 crore outlay through FY31.

While we are on deals 💸,

Texmaco Rail has signed an deal with Belgium-based The Signalling Company (TSC) to explore building advanced railway safety and signalling technology, including the possible development of Kavach for India.

Kavach is Indian Railways’ safety system that automatically applies the brakes if a train is speeding or at risk of crossing a signal or colliding with another train.

The deets: the two companies want to work together on European Train Control System (ETCS) solutions.

ETCS is technology that constantly checks where a train is, how fast it is moving and whether it is following signals. If something goes wrong, the system can automatically intervene.

Kavach does something similar in India.

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3. OYO vs Zostel: What’s going on? 👀

Zostel is back in the news after withdrawing its latest plea in the Delhi High Court in its long-running dispute with OYO, while keeping the option to approach the court again.

The feud dates back to 2015, when OYO proposed acquiring ZO Rooms in exchange for a 7% stake in the company.

Meanwhile, Zostel says it fulfilled its part of the deal, but OYO argues the acquisition never closed because only a non-binding term sheet was signed.

Deep Dive Here

4. India’s private space race is flying high 🚀

IIT Madras is emerging as a launchpad for India’s private space race. Its alumni have founded 11 space-tech startups, ahead of BITS Pilani’s 10 and IIT Kharagpur’s 7.

India’s space economy was worth about $8.4 billion in 2023, but the government wants it to reach $44 billion by 2033, more than 5x from there.

Read Full Story Here

5. Ironhill is buying a bankrupt American brewery 🍻

Ironhill India is acquiring bankrupt US-based Iron Hill Brewery, creating a combined business with around ₹450 crore in revenue.

The bet comes at an unusual time. US craft beer production fell 4% in 2025 and another estimated 4% in the first half of 2026.

But Ironhill sees an opportunity in the slowdown.

But can Ironhill revive an American brewery in a market where beer itself is losing fizz?

Full Story Here

6. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀

What went up ⬆️

🛢️Oil India rose over 5% after strong Q1 results led brokerage Emkay to upgrade the stock, triggering fresh buying.

🚗 Lumax Auto Technologies jumped 20% after Q1 profit surged 83% and revenue grew 33%, pointing to stronger growth and efficiency.

🚆 Jupiter Wagons rose nearly 2% after winning ₹211 crore in new orders and securing a ₹400 crore battery storage project, strengthening its growth outlook.

💼 Info Edge shares jumped 6% after Q1 revenue grew 11% and profit rose 43% year-on-year, signalling a solid quarter.

💎 PC Jeweller jumped nearly 2% after Q1 profit surged 37% and revenue grew 21%, reflecting strong business momentum.

💊 Gland Pharma rallied 10% after Q1 profit jumped 47% and revenue grew 20%, marking a strong quarter.

⚡ Ather Energy jumped around 4% after the government extended PM E-DRIVE incentives for electric two-wheelers until March 2028, potentially supporting EV demand.

What went down ⬇️

📉 ideaForge Technology shares fell 5% after its gross profit margin dropped sharply to 49%, overshadowing a strong jump in revenue and a narrower Q1 loss.

What else are we snackin’ 🍿

⚖️ Court relief: Adani Group stocks jumped up to 3% intraday after a US judge dismissed charges against Gautam Adani and others.

🇮🇳 Rating affirmed: Fitch affirmed India’s BBB- sovereign rating with a stable outlook, citing macroeconomic stability and improving policy credibility despite geopolitical risks.

🤖 Gemini center: TCS and Google Cloud will set up a Gemini Experience Center in Mexico City, featuring over 3,000 AI agents to accelerate enterprise AI adoption across Latin America.

📈 SIP inflows: Mutual fund SIP inflows rose marginally to ₹31,961 crore in July from ₹31,781 crore in June, while increasing 12% year-on-year.

That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.

And if you’d like to place your brand on this newsletter, let us know.

Hit that 💚 if you liked this issue.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and research purposes only. Nothing here should be considered financial, investment, legal, or professional advice.

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Moms, you can finally say “I told you so.” Turns out, our phones might actually be the problem 😰

A new study found that people are speaking nearly 30% fewer words a day than they did in the late 2000s.

Researchers analysed 22 studies covering 2,197 people and found daily speech dropped from 15,959 words in 2007 to 12,792 today. The decline is even steeper among people under 25.

So where did all those words go? Enter “me-maxxing”, our obsession with saving time.

Food delivery, grocery apps, and self-checkouts may make life easier, but they also erase dozens of tiny conversations that once helped us feel connected.

The fix might be surprisingly simple: give a slightly longer answer to ‘How was your day?’ Those extra 30 seconds could matter more than you think.

Back to business.

Markets ended in the green on Monday, but holding on to gains was apparently too much commitment.

Sensex and Nifty gave up a chunk of their intraday gains as investors continued getting used to the new Closing Auction Session (CAS), with Nifty eventually settling below 24,600.

Realty, consumer durables and private banks had a decent day, while PSU banks, oil & gas and infra stocks chose the red side.

💡 Spotlight: UPI growth humbled by 10 percentage points 📉

If you are a serial QR code scanner, this one is for you.

In the first four months of FY27, UPI transaction volumes grew 23.5%, compared with 33.5% a year earlier. Between April and July, UPI processed 92 billion transactions, up from 74.5 billion in the same period last year.

The slowdown has been building for a while. UPI’s volume growth fell to nearly 30% in FY26, from 41% in FY25.

That brings up a bigger question: should UPI remain free?

The government is reportedly considering a 0.25-0.30% fee on high-value transactions by large merchants, called MDR or Merchant Discount Rate.

Payment companies say bringing back a small fee could help them invest in customer acquisition and merchant expansion. Supporters of zero MDR, however, argue that keeping UPI free helps drive wider adoption.

Let’s hit it! 💪🏻

1 Big Thing: Why Bharat Forge crashed 7% after Q1 📉

Bharat Forge shares crashed around 7% after the company slipped into a loss in the June quarter, even as revenue continued to grow.

Note: the company took around ₹358 crore of exceptional charges during the quarter because of multiple one-time events.

One-offs are unusual expenses that don’t normally happen every quarter but can temporarily pull down profits.

The numbers:

• Net loss: ₹90 crore vs ₹284 crore profit last year

• Revenue: ₹4,640 crore, up 18.7% YoY

• EBITDA (operating profit): ₹709.4 crore vs ₹670 crore

• Margin: 15.29% vs around 17% last year