Arvind's Newsletter

1.CCI gives nod to ₹70,350-crore ($8.5bn) Reliance-Disney India merger, contingent on specific voluntary modifications

The deal, announced six months ago, has received approval from the CCI with some modifications suggested by both parties.The CCI, however, did not reveal any voluntary changes made to the original agreement by the two parties.

Reliance-Disney aims to create India's biggest entertainment player to compete with Sony, Netflix and Amazon with 120 TV channels and two streaming services.

“proposed combination involving Reliance Industries Limited, Viacom18 Media Private Limited, Digital18 Media Limited, Star India Private Limited and Star Television Productions Limited, subject to the compliance of voluntary modifications,” the regulator said in a post on social media platform X.

2.UPI transaction volume expected to rise to 439 bn by FY29: PwC India as reported in Mint

The total transaction volume on UPI is expected to increase to 439 billion by 2028-29 from about 131 billion in the last financial year and account for 91 per cent of overall retail digital payments, said a PwC India Report.

In terms of value of payment transactions, the market growth is expected to double, from ₹265 lakh crore to ₹593 lakh crore over the same period.

3'Finternet' the future of financing systems, says Nandan Nilekani

Terming ‘Finternet’ as the future of financing systems, Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder and chairman, provided a glimpse into how India’s fintech landscape would look like in the near future.

According to Nilekani, Finternet will be user-centric, unified, which means it will cover all types of assets, with a universal infrastructure.

“The Finternet is a new approach to global finance, which is defined by the three ‘U’s’ – user centric, unified, and universal – that is keeping the user at the centre and it has to be universal, that is it has to cut through asset classes of all types. The Finternet combines the best of the regulated world with the best that tokenisation technology can offer us. It uses the basic construct of tokens and enables universal interoperability and composability,” he said.

“We have seen innovation in the financial ecosystem. This is happening in India and from around the world. But we also see that financial systems are unable to handle the demand from users as they want more choice and more control,” he said.

The main aspects of the new financial system will be to bring assets —land, property, bonds, financial investment, art, paintings — under a single infrastructure and where they get tokenised.

“It allows everybody to participate and controls all assets. We want to have something that allows everyone to participate and control all kinds of assets. User-controlled assets, user content, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), adjusted assets which are certified by somebody, registered assets like land, or regulated assets like financial products,” he explained.

4.Indian Fintech Revenues Projected To Hit $190 Billion By 2030: BCG Report

Globally, India ranks third in terms of the number of fintechs and fintech unicorns, the report said. The report stated that Indian fintechs achieved a 50% revenue growth rate in 2023 and expect this growth trajectory to continue.

The digital public infrastructure (DPI) 1.0 (Aadhaar, UPI, etc.) laid the foundation of the fintech ecosystem in India. The next wave of growth will be powered by DPI 2.0 (e.g., ONDC, National Health Stack, etc.) and DPI 3.0: AI-driven Digital Public Intelligence, the report said. 

The global fintech sector is on track to achieving $1.5 trillion in revenues by 2030. The AsiaPacific (APAC) and North American (NAMR) regions are primarily driving this growth, generating revenues three times higher than the next set of regions by 2030.

The report further said that 80% of surveyed fintech CxOs believe that higher scale is critical for profitability in India, but “profitable and compliant growth” is the new mantra rather than unbridled growth. 

Indian fintechs are demonstrating a path to profitability earlier than what was expected 2-3 years ago. As the industry matures, a collaborative regulatory framework that supports innovation while safeguarding systemic risks will be crucial in shaping the future of finance.

5.Amazon India set to launch quick commerce as competition swells; Economic Times

Amazon has set the ball rolling to launch its quick commerce offering in India, likely in the first quarter of the next year, people briefed on the plan said.

The US etailer’s local unit has entrusted the responsibility of developing its quick commerce strategy to a senior executive as part of a leadership rejig, as it heads for a fast-growing segment that rival Flipkart recently entered with ‘Minutes.’

Meanwhile, Amazon’s talks continue for buying stake in Swiggy, in the food delivery company’s quick service platform, Instamart, the people said.

Amazon, with its Pantry offering, had a head start in grocery delivery — the mainstay business for quick commerce platforms — but it merged the next-day delivery business with the Fresh two-hour service. The ecommerce firm relies on More Retail stores, a joint venture between Amazon and Samara Capital, to fulfil these deliveries, while also allowing consumers to do store pick-ups.

6.Your Memories Are Like Paintings; Kevin Berger in Nautilus

Our brains never see the past clearly. They are like painters who are never satisfied. They constantly retouch the past with the colours of the present, putting a fresh version of ourselves on display for us to ponder.

That’s one of the captivating insights in 2023’s Why We Remember by Charan Ranganath, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Davis. Memories are not a true or false picture of the past; they are a Monet lily pond.

“Most paintings typically include some mixture of details that are faithful to the subject, details that are distorted or embellished, and inferences and interpretations that are neither absolutely true nor entirely false, but rather a reflection of the artist’s perspective,” Ranganath writes. “The same is true of memory.”

“Our memories are dynamic, malleable, and sometimes inaccurate because our brains were designed to navigate a world that is constantly changing,” Ranganath writes. “Human memory needed to be flexible and to adapt to context more than it needed to be static and photographically accurate.”

Our self, built on our memories, is our psychological anchor in a turbulent world. Turns out it’s a castle made of sand. That’s unsettling, no? Read on

7.The band Oasis announced a reunion tour after 15 years of fighting between its two leaders, Liam and Noel Gallagher, who are brothers.

The UK and Irish tour will include performances at venues such as Wembley Stadium and multiple shows in their hometown of Manchester.

Formed in 1991, Oasis rose to fame during the “Britpop” era, releasing popular albums like "Definitely Maybe" and "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" The band is known for hits including "Wonderwall," "Don't Look Back in Anger," and "Champagne Supernova." Despite selling over 75 million records worldwide, the band broke up in 2009 due to ongoing tensions between the brothers—the last song they played live together was a Beatles cover—and they went on to build successful solo careers.

Music industry reunions can boost ticket sales and revitalise interest in a band’s catalog—Guns N’ Roses’ 2016 reunion tour grossed $584.2M over three years. Industry experts estimate the Oasis reunion could generate $528m.