Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, July 11, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Indian stock market indices ended the day around half a percent down each on Wednesday dragged by profit booking at higher levels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently wrapped up a two-day visit to Russia, a trip that stood out for the diplomatic delicacy amid ongoing global tensions due to the Ukraine conflict. Addressing President Vladimir Putin as a “friend,” Modi highlighted the longstanding ties between India and Russia. Yet, he didn't shy away from addressing tougher issues, including a recent Russian missile strike in Kyiv. The economic talks were particularly fruitful, with both leaders aiming to balance the currently skewed trade relationship, heavily dominated by India's purchase of Russian oil. They set an ambitious target to boost bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, up from a previous goal of $30 billion, which has already been surpassed. So what did the visit to Russia achieve for India diplomatically? Jindal Global University’s associate professor Elizabeth Roche explains in today’s Primer. 

Allen Career Institute, a major player in India's competitive exam coaching industry, has implemented significant salary cuts for its over 4,000 faculty and administrative staff. This decision follows a sharp 35-40% decline in student enrollments, signalling tough times for the coaching hub in Rajasthan’s Kota. Two years after a high-stakes battle to attract top faculty, the coaching giant is now facing severe financial strain, cutting salaries by 20-40 per cent. In a recent meeting led by CEO Nitin Kukreja, it was revealed that student admissions had plummeted from 131,000 last year to just 81,000 this year. The revised salary structure will now include a variable pay component. This move has sparked unrest among the staff, with around 600 teachers already voicing their discontent through a formal letter. Mint’s Devina Sengupta and Mansi Verma spoke to industry insiders who suggest this could be the start of a challenging period for Kota’s educational institutions.

Several retired cricketers are discovering that their earning potential doesn't have to drop after hanging up their professional boots. Mint’s Varuni Khosla reports that thanks to leagues like Legends League Cricket, or LLC, these seasoned players are not only staying in the game but also scoring paychecks that often surpass what they made in their last IPL seasons. Take Gautam Gambhir, for instance. His last IPL paycheck was Rs 2.8 crore, but the LLC offered him a cool Rs 3.75 crore. Irfan Pathan saw a similar bump, going from Rs 50 lakh in the IPL to Rs 1.65 crore in the LLC. It’s not just them—players like Hashim Amla and Aaron Finch are also enjoying hefty salary boosts in these senior circuits. The LLC has become quite the attraction, now housing around 100 retired stars and still pulling in new faces. 

India is gearing up to introduce a new law aimed at ensuring fair transactions between Big Tech companies like Google and Meta and news publishers, drawing inspiration from similar initiatives in Australia and other countries. This move is part of a broader effort to make sure that tech giants pay for the news content they use on their platforms. The proposed legislation will complement the Digital Competition Bill, which is currently in its final stages of public consultation, sources familiar with the matter told Mint’s Gireesh Chandra Prasad. While the Digital Competition Bill focuses on establishing clear rules for Big Tech to promote fair competition, the new law under consideration will specifically address the dynamics between news aggregators and publishers.

In less than five years, Quant Mutual Fund has rocketed up to the 18th position in India's mutual fund rankings under the leadership of Sandeep Tandon. The fund's assets under management (AUM) surged from just 166 crore rupees in December 2019 to an impressive 84,000 crore rupees by May 2024. However, the shine began to dim last month, reportedly, as SEBI officials raided Quant’s Mumbai and Hyderabad offices on suspicions of frontrunning. Frontrunning is an illegal practice similar to insider trading but in the mutual fund context. Quant Mutual Fund quickly confirmed receiving queries from SEBI, though specifics of the probe remained undisclosed. Tandon, maintaining a business-as-usual front, downplayed the disruptions. The story, however, isn’t just about the mutual fund. It also touches on Quant Capital, a separate entity set up a decade earlier, unrelated to the AMC but also linked to Tandon, who faced different challenges there. Mint’s Varun Sood takes a deep dive into rollercoaster ride of Sandeep Tandon as the head of the mutual fund, in today’s Long Story. 

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Show notes:

Mint Primer: What did the PM’s Russia visit achieve?

As Kota craze abates, Allen’s once-prized teachers face the music

True legends: Many cricketers are getting pay hikes after retiring

Big Tech vs news publishers: India plans a new law for fair dealings

Quant Mutual Fund: Inside Sandeep Tandon’s roller-coaster ride to success

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