The Morning Brief

Cairn Energy of the UK has moved to seize Air India’s assets to enforce a $1.2 billion arbitration award it won against a retrospective tax demand by the Indian government. Vyapak Desai, Partner at Nishith Desai Associates, Mukesh Butani, Managing Partner at BMR Legal Advocates, and ET’s Deepshikha Sikarwar explain what this could mean for India as an investment destination. Credits: News Clips from Times Now, ET Now, Zee Media, NDTV, TV 18, Ad Music from Air India.

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"Health insurance during the pandemic is proving to be costlier as companies tighten restrictions in the wake of rising cases and deaths. Will this be the norm in a post-Covid world? Tarun Mathur, co-founder and CBO Policybazaar, and Mahavir Chopra, founder and CEO Beshak.org discuss this with ET's Riju Mehta and Ashwin Manikandan.
The clips used in the episode belong to ICICI Prudential, Cred, LIC, NDTV and ET Now. Music is June by Bobby Richards."

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Onerous restrictions on NGOs receiving foreign funds have made it hard for them to provide much-needed aid during the ongoing pandemic. Ingrid Srinath, Director, Centre for Social Impact & Philanthropy at Ashoka University, and Sachin Jain, Founder of Vikas Samvad Samiti, explain the ramifications.
The news clip used in the episode belongs to Times Now. Priyanka Chopra's plea for donation for India was posted by her on her Instagram handle.

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With leading banks stopping payments for crypto-currency traders, will the blockchain entrepreneurs, exchanges, or investors be able to fight back? WazirX Founder and CEO Nischal Shetty discusses this with ET's Sugata Ghosh and Apoorva Mittal.
Clips courtesy: Saturday Night Live, Coinswitch Kuber, India Today, TV 18. Music courtesy: Adhesive Wombat

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Covid-19 has struck the rural heart of India badly this time. The economic fallout is manageable so far – with some caution, according to Sunil Kumar Sinha, Principal Economist at India Ratings & Research, and K Ramakrishnan, MD - South Asia, Kantar Worldpanel. But Excel sheets may not be able to capture the distress, says Neelesh Misra, Founder of Gaon Connection.
The audio elements used in this episode belong to India Today, CNBC-TV18.

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A waiver of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines and drugs alone may not benefit developing countries including India in the battle against the deadly disease. Murali Neelakantan, Former Global General Counsel of Cipla and Glenmark, and Vikas Dandekar, Editor, Pharma and Healthcare, ET Prime, explain what’s at stake for the patent holders and developing nations. The clip featuring Bill Gates used in the podcast belongs to Sky News.

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That’s the number to contact to help children orphaned by Covid-19, who are more vulnerable to unscrupulous traffickers, with social media Samaritans unwittingly worsening the situation. Sunil Arora of Bal Asha Trust, Sonal Kapoor from the Protsahan India Foundation and ET’s Devina Sengupta explain how children in this crisis can be helped.

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This year’s IPL has been indefinitely postponed midway through the tournament after some players contracted Covid-19. Joy Bhattacharjya, Former Director, Kolkata Knight Riders, K Shriniwas Rao, the Times of India’s Senior Sports Journalist, and ET’s Gaurav Laghate tell us how the virus breached IPL’s bio-bubble and the impact of the postponement. The IPL theme music used in this episode belongs to BCCI.

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The triumph of regional parties in the West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu elections was a setback for the BJP, which won only Assam and Puducherry. The Congress was marginalised. ET’s political reporters KR Balasubramanyam, Bikash Singh, Vasudha Venugopal and Dia Rekhi analyse the election results.

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Several countries have come to the aid of India as it battles a devastating Covid-19 wave. How will this affect the global perception of Aatmanirbhar India? Ranjan Mathai, Former Foreign Secretary of India, Tanvi Madan, Director of The India Project at Brookings Institution, Washington, ET Columnist Seema Sirohi and ET’s Manu Pubby give us their insights.

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