A few days ago, Maharashtra reported that it had seen a spurt in revenue collection after having reduced stamp duty on sale deeds. So we thought we could take a closer look at this story and perhaps explain how stamp duty has been evolving over the years.

Bitcoin has been on a rally like no other. So we thought we could look at the crypto asset once again and see what's really happening this time around. But like every other story, we need an introduction before we start moving along. So here goes...

On January 1st SEBI ordered billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. to pay a combined penalty of Rs 40 crores for alleged manipulative and fraudulent trading in the month of November 2007. And if you’re wondering why the regulator imposed such a harsh penalty, here’s our simplified take on what happened during the fateful month.

In this week’s Finshots Markets, we talk about the agrochemical industry and the growth story of one of the leaders in the pack — PI Industries.

Here's a short message from us wishing you a happy Christmas and thanking you for your support. Enjoy your holidays folks :)

In today's Finshots, we talk about funding lawsuits :)

This week the CBI booked a Hyderabad based company, Transstroy India and its directors for an alleged bank fraud totalling ₹7,926 crore. For context, the Nirav Modi scam involved ₹7,700 crores. So yeah, we need to talk about this story because this is likely going to turn into another bad loan. Sigh!

In today's Finshots, we talk about the millennial trading app Robinhood and why it's courting so much controversy.

In today's Finshots we talk about the vandalism incident at Wistron's manufacturing unit in Kolar.

In today’s Finshots Markets we look at the growth of the chemical industry in India, but more specifically one stellar performer within the pack — Deepak Nitrite.

In today's Finshots, we try and figure out why the US treasury department put India on the currency manipulator watchlist.

In today's Finshots we look at why China is importing rice from India for the first time in decades.

In today’s Finshots we talk about the Reuters report detailing a CCI investigation on the beer cartel. Don’t worry. It will all make sense soon enough.

In today’s Finshots, we look at the film exhibition business and see why movie theatres in North India are showing dubbed Telugu flicks.

In today’s Finshots, we talk about the most recent tradeable financial instrument — “water futures.”

Steelmakers have been making an impressive comeback of late. A meteoric rise in production, robust recovery in demand and record high selling prices have all pushed the incumbents in the industry on a profitable path. And through it all, the stock price of major steel producers have been on a rally like no other. So we thought we could look at the industry, understand the dynamics propelling it and see how this recovery is currently manifesting in an ever-changing world.

On Tuesday, the federal government, including 46 states in the US sued Facebook for engaging in monopolistic or anti-competitive practices. And while many people have sued the company in the past, the sheer scale and influence of this lawsuit deserves special merit. So we thought we could look at the case more closely and explain why Facebook is being accused of exploiting its dominance in the social media space.

On December 2nd, Down To Earth released an extensive investigative report on the menace of adulterated honey and we need to talk about it.

Australia is all set to introduce a law that would force companies like Google and Facebook to pay media companies for their news content. As chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission noted — “There is a fundamental bargaining power imbalance between news media businesses and the major digital platforms, partly because news businesses have no option but to deal with the platforms, and have had little ability to negotiate over payment for their content or other issues. We wanted a model that would address this bargaining power imbalance and result in fair payment for content, which avoided unproductive and drawn-out negotiations, and wouldn’t reduce the availability of Australian news on Google and Facebook.” And while there is considerable euphoria surrounding this bill, there is also good reason to exercise caution. So we thought we could look at this more closely and see how it might impact the media ecosystem in Australia. Possibly even the world?

On Monday, news agencies started reporting that President Nicolas Maduro had seized total control of Venezuela’s political institutions with a sweeping victory in legislative elections. And while there was considerable euphoria within the Venezuelan ruling class, ground reports from the country are truly disheartening, to say the least. 96% of the country’s population currently lives in poverty and about one-third of these people lack enough nutritious food for normal human growth and development. According to one survey, 60% of Venezuelans shed at least 11 kilograms in weight over the recent past due to malnutrition. And with the pandemic and the lockdown in place, the food crisis has reached truly incredible proportions. Whatever little food that Venezuelans still produce is currently rotting because farmers don’t have the means to carry their produce to the markets due to an unprecedented shortage of overpriced fuel. Imagine this happening in a country that boasts the largest oil reserves in the world. It is simply crazy. So we thought maybe we could look at how Venezuela got here and see why the government's policies to control prices have failed so miserably.