The Morning Brief

With the second wave dipping and corporate vaccination drives picking up, companies are now talking about getting employees back to work. We have Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder of People Strong Technologies. Anshul Prakash, Partner at Khaitan & Co and ET's Saumya Bhattacharya tell us the ground reality of getting back to offices, and how companies are already tracking employee vaccination status, which will play a key role in returning to the workplace.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Regulatory roadblocks, Chinese influence and ecosystem aspirations – Gautam Chhugani, Director - India Financials and Fintech, Bernstein and ET's Digbijay Mishra dissect the triggers behind Paytm’s tearing rush towards a $3 billion initial public offering by Diwali this year.
Credits: Audio clips from Bloomberg Quint, ET Now, CNBC-TV18, Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay. Music from Pink Floyd.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ramp up vaccination by buying in bulk and including the private sector, Dr. Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Health and head of Karnataka's Covid task force, tells the government. Dr. Shetty warns that we need to prepare for a third wave, not waste time discussing its likelihood.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Centre maintains that Big Tech needs to follow India's social media guidelines but Twitter, Facebook, Google, and WhatsApp are not going down without a fight. Is a ban on the cards, and what next for the tech giants? Raman Chima, APAC Policy Director at Access Now, Nikhil Pahwa, Founder, Medianama, and ET's Surabhi Agarwal discuss.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As brands tap social media influencers, covert ads were proliferating. The new ad guidelines now ask influencers to clearly label branded posts. Content creator Danish Sait, Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General of Advertising Standard Council of India, and Lakshmi Balasubramanian, Co-founder of Greenroom discuss the business of social media marketing.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parents are anxious and states are ramping up facilities but is there any actual evidence that a third wave might affect children disproportionately? Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, Epidemiologist and Public Health Expert, Dr. Rakshay Shetty, Head, Pediatric Intensive Care, Rainbow Children's Hospital, and ET's Teena Thacker ease your worries.
Credits: Audio clips from ABP News Hindi, NDTV, The Atlantic, The Economic Times, IndiaTV, DD News.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lakshadweep’s residents have been protesting a series of changes brought about by administrator Praful Khoda Patel, who wants to make the idyllic islands a tourist hub. How will this affect the archipelago’s economics, ecology and culture? We find out from Ayshabi Kalpeni, Chief Medical Officer at Life Care Hospital in Kerala, who hails from Lakshadweep, M Rajshekhar, Independent Journalist, and Kanchi Kohli, a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Research.
Credits - News clips from ANI, India Today, Mathrubhumi News. Music from Mirshad Khan's YouTube channel.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blockbusters are moving from the big screen to smaller ones, OTTs woo movie audiences away from theatres. Will Covid kill the silver screen and make our home the new box office? Catch filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee and Bahubali producer Shobu Yarlagadda in a candid discussion.
Credits: Eros Films, Colors Cineplex, Zee Cinema, Warner Bros, Jio, T-Series, Bollywood Hungama

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are political parties battling over toolkits on social media? Pratik Sinha, Co-founder of Alt News, Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Policy Director and Senior International Counsel at Access Now, and ET’s Vasudha Venugopal help us understand what toolkits are, and how new regulations will impact social media and freedom of expression.
News Clips from Vice (HBO), AajTak, Wellness Today.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the throes of the pandemic, India now has another worry - the rising number of black fungus cases among Covid-19 patients. Dr. Shashank Joshi, an Endocrinologist, and Ophthalmologist Dr. Raghuraj Hegde decode the outbreak, its warning signs and why the treatment is so expensive. ET's Nidhi Sharma explains the steps taken by the government.
News clips from Times Now, ANI News, CNA TV and NDTV.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.