In this week’s wrapup we talk about the economic impact of the second wave, e-RUPI, El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment, the craze about ‘Buy now pay later’ companies and Vodafone Idea’s ongoing troubles.
But if you want to check out the Markets edition this week before you go about reading the wrapup, don't forget to click the link here. It's about Bharti Airtel.
What damaged the economy more? First wave or the second?
The first wave of Covid-19 had a tremendous impact on everyone’s lives and the economy in general. It affected the demand and supply of goods and raw materials. People didn’t want to go out and spend. And businesses were forced to shut down for good. Nobody had seen anything of this sort and there was considerable uncertainty in the air.
And just when it was beginning to seem like things were finally under control, the second wave came out of nowhere. So we thought we could spend some time and detail how the latest wave's impact on the economy may have been quite different from the kind of impact the first wave has had. You can read the full story here.
What is e-RUPI?
This week the government also introduced e-RUPI — a digital payment initiative that many believe could revolutionize the public distribution system. So if you’re looking for a simple explainer to walk you through this whole thing, maybe you should check out Tuesday's Newsletter.
Why is El Salvador embracing Bitcoin and why doesn’t IMF approve?
El Salvador became the world’s first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender back in June. And while it was a momentous occasion for El Salvador and scores of crypto believers worldwide, the move also invited a fair bit of criticism from the likes of IMF. So we thought maybe we could see both points of view and understand why there's a difference of opinion here.
What's this craze about "Buy now pay later" companies?
US payments giant Square recently agreed to pay an eye-popping $29 billion to acquire an Australian “Buy now pay later” (BNPL) fintech called Afterpay. And while there has been a lot of chatter around these BNPL companies, we've never really offered a simple explanation on what they actually do. So on Thursday, we wanted to fix this once and for all and you can read our simplified guide to BNPL right here.
Why is everyone writing obituaries for Vodafone Idea?
Running a telecom business is no walk in the park. And no one can agree on this more than Vodafone Idea. The company has been in the news lately and for the most part, none of it has been good. The company is riddled with crippling debt, its means of making new money are limited at best and it has to face stiff competition from its rivals - Airtel and Jio. Things have gotten so bad that the company now claims it may go under if it doesn't receive support from the government. So with Vodafone Idea’s fate hanging in balance, we decided to take an extensive look at all the issues plaguing the company, in our Friday Newsletter.
That's it from us this week. We will see you on Monday. Until then, don't forget to share this wrapup on WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Twitter