Why do small businesses still wait months to be paid, even when the law says 45 days?

In this episode of The Morning Brief, we examine one of the most persistent stress points in India’s MSME ecosystem: delayed payments. Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with Basant Kaur, Country Head of C2FO and Ramesh Dharmaji Senior advisor of the Global Alliance of Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) to unpack why payment backlogs—running into over 7.3 lakh crore rupees—continue despite legal mandates. The conversation moves from banking credit flows and risk appetite to the promise and pitfalls of platforms like TReDS, and why buyer participation remains the missing link. The episode also explores whether regulation alone is enough, or if behavioural change, digital infrastructure, and faster dispute resolution are equally critical. As MSMEs power jobs, exports, and growth, the discussion raises a timely question: can India fix its payment bottleneck before it chokes the very enterprises driving its economy?
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You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

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From no age gating on sexual content to the absence of statutory warnings around smoking on screen, Microdrama apps are violating critical rules associated with publishing curated digital content. In this episode, host Dia Rekhi speaks with Mallika Noorani of Parinam Law Associates on how platforms dismissed as “just two-minute videos” are in fact operating outside the law, despite clearly falling under India’s Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code. The discussion lays bare systemic failures: missing content ratings, weak or misleading age gates, absent parental controls, poor accessibility features, and routine neglect of mandatory health disclaimers. Noorani explains why neither format nor duration offers legal cover, how microdrama platforms qualify as publishers of online curated content, and what due diligence truly requires. The episode also probes broken grievance redress systems and opaque subscription practices that leave users exposed, with little protection or recourse.

You can follow Dia Rekhi on social media: Linkedin & X

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

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From big data’s earliest breakthroughs to AI-driven software automation, Ashish Thusoo has been at the centre of enterprise technology’s biggest inflection points. In this episode of ET in the Valley, host Surabhi Agarwal speaks with Ashish Thusoo, co-founder and CEO of CurieTech AI. About how data, software, and enterprise IT are being reshaped once again. Tracing his journey from Oracle in 1998 to redefining data processing at Facebook, and later building cloud-scale platforms, the conversation unpacks why AI-led automation of integrations is emerging as the next frontier. Thusoo also weighs in on whether the AI wave spells disruption or opportunity for Indian IT firms, the froth around valuations and circular deals, the uncertainty over H1B visas, and what makes technology companies endure in Silicon Valley.

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You can follow Surabhi Agarwal on her Linkedin, X profiles and read her Newspaper Articles.

Check out other interesting episodes of ET in the Valley: ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

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India’s economy appears strong on the surface: high growth, low inflation, rising global interest and a confident narrative around the “India decade.” But is the optimism masking deeper structural risks? In this wide-ranging roundtable, leading voices from business, policy and economics examine what is really driving India’s growth and what could hold it back. In the latest edition of The Economic Times CEO roundtable ET’s Executive Editor Sruthijith KK talks to Priya Nair, CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever, Uday Kotak, founder, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group, Lalit Keshre, Co-founder & CEO, Groww, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Senior Lawyer, Debasish Mishra, Chief Growth Officer, Deloitte South Asia as they explores rising rural incomes, consumption shifts, entrepreneurship beyond metros and the promise of digital public infrastructure, while also confronting persistent challenges: weak private capex, underinvestment in R&D, judicial delays, export competitiveness and concentration risks across key sectors.

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You can follow Sruthijith K.K. on his social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

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India’s quick-commerce boom is masking a growing public-health crisis. A new analysis reveals that half of all packaged foods sold on these platforms are junk, HFSS or ultra-processed, with some apps listing unhealthy items at rates as high as 62 percent. What looks like convenience is reshaping consumer behaviour, especially among Gen Z, where late-night impulsive ordering has become routine and, in many households, a daily habit. At the same time, medical research links ultra-processed foods to a wide range of diseases including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular problems, kidney disorders and even depression raising alarms about long-term dietary patterns. In this episode host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Sachin Taparia founder of Local Circles and public health and nutrition expert Dr. Arun Gupta, convenor of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi). Despite this, India still lacks strong front-of-pack warning labels, stalled for years by industry pushback and regulatory delays. With digital storefronts acting as unregulated corner stores and offering almost no nutritional guardrails, this episode examines how an everyday swipe has quietly turned into a nationwide dietary risk and what it will take to reverse the trend.

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You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

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Google and Accel have teamed up to launch their first-ever AI Cohort in India, a pre-seed program designed to back the country’s most ambitious AI founders at a moment when global giants like Microsoft are announcing multibillion-dollar AI investments in India. In this episode, host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Jonathan Silber, Co-Founder & Director of AI Futures Fund, Google, and Accel partners Prayank Swaroop and Pratik Agarwal to unpack why India was chosen as the global starting point, what the program offers, and how it aims to shape the next wave of AI innovation. From early access to cutting-edge Google DeepMind models to hands-on mentorship from engineers, researchers and venture partners, the guests explain how the cohort is built to give Indian startups a genuine global advantage. They discuss the surge in AI adoption across India, the challenges founders face in scaling internationally, and why both organisations believe India is ready to produce category-leading AI companies for the world.

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You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

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Fireflies started as a small experiment by two young engineers trying to fix a simple workplace problem: remembering what was said in meetings. A decade later, it has quietly become one of the few profitable AI companies operating at global scale. In this episode, of ET in the Valley, host Himanshi Lohchab talks to Co-founder & CEO at Fireflies.ai,

Krish Ramineni traces that path from manually joining calls as “Fred” to validate demand, to rebuilding the product after securing early access to OpenAI’s APIs. He discusses the pressure of fast followers, why note-taking was only the entry point, and how Fireflies is now expanding into sector-specific workflows across healthcare, finance and retail. Krish also explains why the company resisted the fundraising race, how it approached M&A interest, and why he believes the next phase of AI will involve “AI employees” handling routine work across tools. It’s a grounded conversation about discipline, timing and what real adoption looks like in an overheated AI market.

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ou can follow Himanshi Lohchab on her social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes like - Nobel Laureate James A Robinson On Power and Prosperity, AI and Society, Corner Office Conversation with Apollo’s Dr Preetha and Suneeta Reddy, Groww’s ₹6,600 Cr Leap - Fintech’s Big Market Test Begins , OML CEO on the Creator Economy’s Next Wave & much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

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India’s biggest airline didn’t just stumble, it unravelled. When IndiGo collapsed, thousands were stranded, but the real story runs much deeper. Aviation insiders unpack how ignored fatigue rules, poor planning, and a culture of silence pushed India’s largest carrier into chaos. In this episode, Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks to Capt. Amit Singh of Safety Matters, Ameya Joshi of Network Thoughts, and ET’s Arindam Majumdar to decode how IndiGo’s days-long meltdown exposed deep cracks in pilot planning, safety oversight, and the regulatory system meant to keep flyers safe. Experts explain why new fatigue rules triggered panic, how a shortage of captains spiralled into mass cancellations, and whether the crisis was mismanaged or engineered. A revealing look at monopolistic power, weak checks, and what happens when a dominant airline pushes the limits.

You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

Check out other interesting episodes from the host like ET in the Valley: Grant Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Gamma, ET in the Valley: Databricks Co-founder Patrick Wendell, ET in the Valley: Replit Founder and CEO Amjad Masad, ET in the Valley: ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and much more.

Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

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