The Morning Brief

In a single month, India's two largest airlines lost their CEOs. Pieter Elbers was pushed out of IndiGo following a catastrophic December 2025 meltdown that stranded 300,000 passengers and wiped 78% of profits. Campbell Wilson chose a more dignified exit from Air India, a planned departure from a carrier still bleeding billions, scarred by a fatal Ahmedabad crash, and hamstrung by a decades of legacy issues. Two expats, two very different tenures, two very different endings. In this episode, host Anirban Chowdhury talks to  ET's aviation tracker Arindam Majumdar and  John Strickland, a global aviation expert and founder of JLS Consulting to break down what went wrong, where both airlines stand today, Air India’s top-level void and the task ahead for Willie Walsh, one of global aviation’s toughest leaders slated to head IndiGo. You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and LinkedinCheck out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Two Women Fought to Change India's Maternity Laws...and Succeeded, Can India Truly End Naxalism?, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks  and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For generations, Indian women moved through perimenopause and menopause in silence — misdiagnosed, dismissed, or simply left to figure it out alone. That's changing. Driven by social media, celebrity candour, and a growing wellness economy projected to hit $24 billion globally by 2030, menopause is finally becoming a public conversation. But with awareness comes noise — supplements, coaches, and brand tie-ins are flooding a space where women are looking for genuine answers. This episode of ET Deep Dive is based on Nupur Amarnath’s story tracing how menopause went from stigma to storytelling, who's driving that shift in India, and what still needs to change. Narrated by Anirban Chowdhury Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Two Women Fought to Change India's Maternity Laws...and Succeeded, Can India Truly End Naxalism?, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks  and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to move India's manufacturing from 16% to 25% of GDP? Two industry heavyweights, Vinod Kumar, Partner & Leader – Manufacturing, PwC India and Srihari Kaninghat, Group Chief Digital Officer, JSW Group sit down with host Anirban Chowdhury to cut through the hype and get real about AI on the shop floor. From blast furnaces to boardrooms, they break down how AI is quietly revolutionising steel production, slashing material costs, predicting machine failures before they happen and why none of it matters if you can't get past the pilot stage. But here's the twist: they're not worried about robots stealing jobs. They want AI to make manufacturing cool again, attractive enough to pull India's brightest engineering minds back from IT cubicles and into the heart of industry. This one's for anyone who thinks AI is just a chatbot. Think again.You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Two Women Fought to Change India's Maternity Laws...and Succeeded, Can India Truly End Naxalism?, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks  and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As global tensions ripple through trade, Indian exporters are beginning to feel the strain. In this episode of The Morning Brief, host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with exporters of leather products, textile and gems and jewellery as well as Dr. Arun Singh, Chief Economist at Dun & Bradstreet, India to unpack how the Middle East crisis is impacting business realities. From rising input costs in leather to shrinking demand in knitwear and a sharp drop in gems and jewellery exports, the conversation traces the widening impact across sectors. With supply chains under pressure and the Strait of Hormuz still in jeopardy, the moot question is: how resilient are India’s export industries in the face of prolonged global instability?You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Two Women Fought to Change India's Maternity Laws...and Succeeded, Can India Truly End Naxalism?, Semaglutide Goes Generic: Big Pharma’s Moat Breaks  and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.Credits: LiveNOW from FOX, CNN, WIONSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Hamsaanandini Nanduri brought home two siblings — aged two and five — in 2017, she had six weeks of maternity leave, and a few of those were already gone. The law hadn't considered what it actually takes to settle a child who has known loss, institution walls, and then a new home overnight. Hamsa could manage. She knew many mothers couldn't. Four years later, she and her friend and lawyer Bani Dikshit quietly began to challenge that. In 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in their favour. This episode is about that journey — the patience it required, the gap between law and lived experience, and why this change in rules should be the starting point for a more gender-neutral, empathetic legal transformation for parents. Listen in:You can follow our host Apoorva Mittal on her social media: Twitter & LinkedinCheck out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A decades-old rivalry simmers beneath Assam's 2026 elections. When Himanta Biswa Sarma, once a loyalist, walked out of Congress after being sidelined for Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav, he took 58 MLAs with him and never looked back. Today, Sarma is a fiery incumbent Chief Minister seeking a hattrick, while Gaurav leads Congress into battle to reclaim his father's throne. On Polls On My Pod, ET’s host Nidhi Sharma talks to her northeast correspondent Bikash Singh to unpack this deeply personal contest. From shifting alliances and delimitation to illegal immigration and cash transfer promises with just 0.83% separating the two sides in 2021 will legacy or development ultimately decide Assam's fate? Don't miss out on this special election series – Polls On My Pod! episode on Pinarayi vs Pinarayi in KeralaYou can follow our host Nidhi Sharma on her social media: Twitter & Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on ET Play, The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn,  Amazon Music and Google Podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is AI in pharma just hype or a full-blown revolution? In this episode, ET's pharma editor Vikas Dandekar sits down with three industry heavyweights Sujay Shetty, Partner & Leader - Health Industries, PwC India, Phanimitra B, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Dr. Reddy’s and Ramesh Swaminathan, ED, Global CFO, Head of IT, Lupin to unpack how artificial intelligence is transforming drug discovery, clinical trials, manufacturing, and even org design. From AlphaFold collapsing years of R&D into weeks, to Lupin deploying Gen AI across 90+ data repositories, this conversation goes deep into what's actually working, who's winning, and why the companies without an AI roadmap risk being left behind.  Listen in:You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India is ageing faster than it can care for itself — and the cracks are already showing. From missed diagnoses to absent support systems, the silver economy is full of invisible gaps. But this isn’t just a story of decline. Today’s seniors are more aware, financially independent, and unwilling to fade into irrelevance. They want agency, purpose, and dignity. Into this space, a new generation of startups is stepping in — blending technology, empathy, and design to reimagine ageing itself. Narrated by Anirban Chowdhury, the first episode of the new TMB series ET Deep Dive, is based on Lijee Philip's story that explores the tension between unmet needs and emerging solutions — and what it will take to grow old without fear.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to lead when the stakes are high and everyone's watching? In this episode, Vikas Dandekar sits down with Sanjiv Navangul, MD & CEO of Bharat Serums and Vaccines, and cricketer Ajinkya Rahane — two leaders from opposite ends of the arena, with more in common than you'd expect. One builds companies around purpose and long-term resilience. The other has batted through some of cricket's most unforgiving scrutiny. Together, they make a case that real leadership is about discipline, humility, and the quiet consistency of showing up for others. Listen in.You can follow Vikas Dandekar on his social media: X and Linkedin and read her Newspaper Articles.Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Markets May Be Misreading This War: UBS’ Chief Strategist, Who Controls AI in an Age of War?, ​​Banned But Booming: How The  Money Gaming Crackdown Created an Offshore Goldmine and much more.Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the electoral bugle sounds across Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, the nation braces itself for a whirlwind of political intrigue and upheaval. In the season opener of our special podcast series Polls on My Pod, host Nidhi Sharma is joined by ET’s CL Manoj to unpack Kerala’s fascinating crossroads. Long defined by its neat alternation between the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front, the state now watches the LDF led by 80-year-old stalwart Pinarayi Vijayan defy history with a rare second consecutive term, only to confront the weight of incumbency.The conversation probes the gold theft scandal the UDF is capitalising on, Congress’s careful pivot to collective leadership, the BJP’s rising presence through star recruits like Suresh Gopi, and the subtle shifts in Christian-majority areas that could quietly redraw the state’s political map. As polling day nears, what trajectory awaits this historically progressive state? Don't miss out on this special election series – Polls On My Pod! You can follow our host Nidhi Sharma on her social media: Twitter & Linkedin Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on ET Play, The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,  Amazon Music  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tanay Kothari has been building at the intersection of voice and AI since he was a teenager. His latest company, Wispr Flow, is a voice dictation tool that works across all your applications — learning your tone, cleaning your speech, and adapting to context. It's grown 30x in revenue over the past year, with Fortune 500 adoption accelerating and a strong India play underway. In this conversation with ET’s Tanishka Dubey, Tanay talks about what separates Wispr Flow from the crowded voice AI space, why Indian users are surprisingly strong paying customers, and his views on whether founders should be building foundational models at all.Listen in:Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As India approaches its self-imposed deadline to end Left Wing Extremism, host Nidhi Sharma speaks with ET’s internal security editor Rahul Tripathi, SHantanu Nandan Sharma, and Vijay Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Ground reports from Bastar reveal a conflict in transition shrinking, yet not fully extinguished. Security operations have led to mass surrenders, reducing insurgent strongholds to a handful of districts. However, the deeper challenge now lies in rehabilitation and reintegration. Former militants, many still ideologically conflicted, are being trained in state-run camps under tight surveillance. As infrastructure and governance finally reach long-neglected regions, the question remains: can development outpace decades of distrust and radicalization, or is this merely the quiet before another cycle of unrest?Listen in.You can follow hosts Nidhi Sharma on her social media: X & Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, Markets May Be Misreading This War: UBS’ Chief Strategist, Who Controls AI in an Age of War?, ​​Banned But Booming: How The  Money Gaming Crackdown Created an Offshore Goldmine and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the Iran war enters its fourth week, global markets are scrambling to price in shocks. The impact is rapidly deepening for India. Goldman Sachs has already revised its outlook twice, flagging rising oil prices, a widening current account deficit, and slowing growth. Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Santanu Sengupta, managing director and chief India economist and warns that Brent could average $85, with spikes worsening inflation and forcing RBI rate hikes. India’s reliance on Middle Eastern crude places it at the epicentre of risk, raising a critical question: how much pain can be absorbed before it reaches consumers?Listen in.You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A deepening geopolitical conflict in the Middle East is forcing markets to confront a far more structural shock than recent crises. Host and ET markets editor Nishanth Vasudevan talks to Bhanu Baweja, Chief Strategist at UBS Investment Bank who warns that investors may be underestimating the scale of disruption, particularly in oil, where potential supply losses dwarf the Russia-Ukraine impact. While markets remain anchored to a “short shock” playbook, the risk of prolonged volatility looms large. More critically, he flags a cascading threat where an oil shock morphs into a liquidity crunch and eventually disrupts AI-driven growth. For India, the real vulnerability lies not in foreign flows, but in the resilience of domestic investors.You can follow our host Nishanth Vasudevan on his social media: Linkedin & TwitterCheck out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more. Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

HDFC Bank, long seen as India’s gold standard in banking, is facing rare questions on governance. The sudden exit of chairman Atanu Chakraborty—backed by a cryptic letter citing “values and ethics”—has triggered market jitters and investor unease. Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to ET’s Saloni Shukla and Sashidhar Jagdishan, CEO, HDFC Bank about what India's banking world is afraid to answer: Was this one man's exit or an entire institution's warning signal?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

G.V. Prasad has spent over thirty years at the helm of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories — long enough to know where the opportunities were missed and where the potential and challenges lie. In a candid conversation with ET’s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar on Corner Office Conversation, the Co-Chairman and Managing Director pulls no punches: India is the generic pharmacy of the world, not the pharmacy of the world, and that distinction matters. He reflects on regulatory crises weathered, acquisitions never made, and an innovation pipeline that remained perpetually underfunded. On AI, he is deliberately unsentimental — helpful at the margins, not yet transformational. What he does believe in, firmly and urgently, is Dr. Reddy's next act: a decisive pivot from incremental generics to innovation-led growth, with a hard target and a ticking clock.You can follow Vikas Dandekar on his social media: X and Linkedin and read her Newspaper Articles.Listen to Corner Office Conversation: Corner Office Conversation with Sridhar Vembu, CEO, of Zoho Corporation, Corner Office Conversation with Gunjan Soni, Country Managing Director, Youtube India, Corner Office Conversation with Elizabeth Reid, Head of Search, Google, Corner Office Conversation with Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV & Surge and much more. Catch the latest episode of “Corner Office Conversation” on: Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts,and wherever you get your podcasts from.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A billion professionals. Eighteen years of data. And a skills gap that's widening as AI tools multiply. Mohak Shroff has watched LinkedIn evolve from a professional network into what he calls, at its core, an AI matching engine. That vantage point gives Shroff, SVP Engineering at Linkedin, a clear read on what's actually happening inside organisations right now. Not the boardroom narrative, but the messy reality of workers who don't know which skills to build, recruiters who can't find candidates despite better tooling, and companies confusing access to AI with genuine AI readiness. Listen inSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India's semaglutide moment has arrived. As Novo Nordisk's patent expires on March 20th, over fifty generic brands are poised to flood the market potentially slashing monthly costs from ₹10,000 to ₹3,500. But this is no ordinary generic wave. Semaglutide is a complex peptide, cold chains are unforgiving, and patient adherence remains fragile. Host and ET’s pharma editor Vikas Dandekar talks to Sheetal Sapale, Vice President, Pharmarack, Dr. Rajiv Kovil, Diabetologist, Saurabh Agarwal, Director at HAB Pharmaceuticals and Research, Dr. Saurabh Jain, Vice President - Global Delivery Centers, Indegene and Vijay Charlu, President of Domestic Business, Corona Remedies to dissect who survives the shakeout, what it means for a slew of weight loss drugs in India, whether it will revolutionise metabolic treatment and whether India is truly ready for its statin moment.You can follow Vikas Dandekar on his social media: X and Linkedin and read her Newspaper Articles.Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthropic refused the Pentagon unrestricted access to its Claude AI, and the fallout reshaped the tech-defense landscape overnight. OpenAI rushed in to fill the void, signing a classified deal that triggered internal resignations and a user exodus toward Claude. Host Himanshi Lohchab talks to Abishur Prakash, Geopolitical Strategist, to unpack the fierce power struggle between governments demanding unrestricted AI and companies defending their ethical red lines. They also examine sovereign AI, battlefield automation, and whether Big Tech can or should stay out of warfare. The age of AI geopolitics has arrived. Listen in.You can follow Himanshi Lohchab on her social media: X and LinkedinCheck out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five years after slamming the door on Chinese investments, India has quietly amended Press Note 3. With FDI stagnating, institutional investors pulling billions out, and Western capital stretched thin, New Delhi is making a hard-nosed economic calculation. The amendment signals cautious optimism. welcoming Chinese capital into startups and tech sectors, while keeping telecom and security-sensitive industries closed.Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks to  Biswajit Dhar,  retired Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU and Amitendu Palit, a global trade expert at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Questions on indirect investment and security concerns remain. Also, will this signal India as a more conducive, predictable investment environment to the global investor?Listen in:  You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and LinkedinCheck out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.