Rice instead of cash for MNREGS workers?

Top of the Morning

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Tuesday, June 25, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

The equity markets rose slightly on Monday. Nifty was up by 0.16 percent, while Sensex edged up by 0.17 percent.

Imagine investing a hundred rupees into a business, and recovering nothing. You might brush it off, but you'd still like to have made some money off your investment. Dutch investment firm Prosus invested a total of 530 million dollars into Byju's. For that money, it was hoping Byju's could change the education sector in India. But yesterday, it wrote off its entire investment. Prosus's investment was worth around 2 billion dollars just a couple of years ago. But since then, the edtech has had a huge fall from grace, running into financial issues such as alleged misselling and billions in unpaid debt. Mint's newest writer Mansi Verma explains why Prosus gave up on any hopes of making money off Byju's.

If you've thought of buying an electric car, you would have understandably been worried about it dying on you on the road. And unlike their fossil fuelled cousins, chargers for EVs aren't as widespread as petrol pumps are. Currently, India is home to only 12,000 charging stations. But EVs aren't just environmentally friendly — they are also really cheap to drive. The next best thing is a hybrid car: a petrol or diesel engine with a small electric engine too. These don't need to be charged separately: the internal combustion is enough to power this too. Sumant Banerji writes a detailed story on the emergence of hybrid cars, and why carmakers are pushing for this new category of vehicles to take over the Indian market.

Recently, the government cancelled the National Entrance Test for postgraduate entrances just hours before the test was to commence. One of the fears was that the test had been hacked, and the questions uploaded on the "dark net". Devina Sengupta and Krishna Yadav explore this possibility. Cybersecurity experts told them that while such leaks would be rare, they could have occurred when the papers are set or being sent for printing. However, such breaches are more common in areas such as banking or IT. As Devina and Krishna note, competitive exams may be their next target.

The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Scheme is the biggest such initiative anywhere in the world. It guarantees anyone at least a hundred days of employment. But now, instead of being paid in cash, MNREGA employees could be paid in grain. Puja Das reports that the centre is planning on offering rice as part-payment for the workers due to rising rural distress and swelling granaries. The current rate differs from state to state, but ranges between Rs 234 and Rs 374 a day.

Look at any household objects you have — chances are, the tag says "Made in China". Understandably so, since no other country has the manufacturing prowess that our neighbours do. But for two years, the US overtook China as India's biggest trading partner. Political tension between India and China as well as concerns of China flooding the Indian market with cheap and low-quality goods turned out to be to the US's benefit. But not for long: This year, China is back as India's preferred trading partner. Sumant, who also wrote the hybrids long read, explains the hot and cold Indo-China relationship, and how it affects the business between the two countries.

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Show notes:

Prosus gives up on Byju’s, writes off its entire investment in edtech firm

Hybrids have made a comeback in 2024. Will they spoil the EV party in India?

Exam mess casts cyber scare over education

Centre in a first may give rice as part of MNREGS wages

How China pipped US to become India’s largest trading partner