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29/12/2025

When private equity acquires schools, the price may be quality education

Private equity is reshaping India’s schools. A relaxed New Education Policy and rising demand for international curricula have opened the doors for global operators to buy up chains across the country. The promise is scale, better infrastructure, and tighter governance. But the reality looks a little different—lean budgets, shrinking salary hikes, and a growing focus on cost-cutting. And the fallout? Increasing staff attrition, decreasing academic quality, and schools trading their founder-led ethos for a standardised model. Tune in. *Disclosure: The writer comes from a family that previously owned a school acquired partially by International Schools Partnership (ISP) **This episode was originally published on September 16th 2025Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

29/12/2025

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12 min
01/04/2024

Online shopping is no fun without free returns. But Myntra, Ajio hate them

The entire logic of buying online instead of going to a store rests on e-commerce companies making it easy to return stuff. What if it doesnt fit me? What if it is damaged? Just ask for a return and someone comes to your doorstep and picks it up. However, as it turns out, e-commerce companies hate returns because reverse logistics are a costly affair for them. Now, the likes of Ajio and Myntra are changing their return policies. Some are even blocking some customer accounts. But are customers ready to give it up yet? Tune in. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

01/04/2024

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10 min
30/12/2025

How surging property prices are turning dream homes into pipe dreams

Property prices across Indian cities have gone through the roof, up by nearly 30% in the last two years. This along with ever increasing rent and general cost of living has made planning for the future quite challenging for those in their 20s and 30s. So has the idea of home ownership changed among the younger generations, like in many Western countries where more and more people are choosing to rent rather than buy? Or are we still attached to the idea of owning a home? And what’s behind these record-breaking property prices anyway? Tune in to find out. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

30/12/2025

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33 min
11/04/2025

‘Boys will be boys’ — Trump, tariffs and the dismantling of global trade

In this episode, we talk about the global trade war that stopped before it started. First, we talk about US President Donald Trump's decision to reverse the "reciprocal tariffs" on almost every country in the world, except one. Next, we talk about why India had little choice but to offer concession after concession to the US. Finally, we unpack the long term and short term impact of the tariffs on the Indian economy. Check out the newsletters and podcasts mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of The Nutgraf by Praveen Gopal Krishnan — India is the mark Two by Two feat Mohit Satyanand — Are Trump's tariffs a crisis or an opportunity for India?

11/04/2025

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15 min
13/07/2025

Why IIMs are betting big on bachelor's degrees

Until recently, the prospect of an IIM offering a standalone undergraduate degree seemed unlikely. Traditionally known for their elite postgraduate programs, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have long been synonymous with MBA excellence. That image is now undergoing a significant shift. IIM Sirmaur is among the many who have introduced a bachelor’s program. IIM Kozhikode and IIM Sambalpur have followed suit. IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow are also preparing to launch similar courses. After decades of focusing solely on postgraduate education, the IIMs are moving into new academic territory. What’s driving this transformation? And why now? Tune in. To apply to The Ken’s podcast team, click here Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

13/07/2025

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11 min
14/10/2024

Why the PM's internship scheme is stressing out corporate India

The PM’s internship scheme wants to provide 10 million internships to freshly minted students over the course of the next five years. Students from premier institutes like IITs and IIMs or students with professional degrees like CA, CMA or masters are not allowed to apply. The idea is to address India’s problem of youth unemployment by making students from lower socio-economic backgrounds employable and giving them real world exposure. It sounds great. If it is implemented well, the scheme has the potential to challenge deep-rooted hiring biases that exist in the job sector in India. However, 10 million interns in five years is making corporates uneasy. They’re overwhelmed because they don't know how many interns they can hire. Two million interns per year between 500 odd top companies is a lot and corporates are unsure if they have the resources and the bandwidth to train and retain these interns and then deal with another two million pool the following year. The scheme opened up for signing up to students on Saturday, Oct 12. Within one day more than 1 and a half lakh students had already registered according to news reports. But because the scheme doesnt really have a sector specific approach, it is highly likely that we have a problem-solution mismatch coming our way. Tune in. Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. For next Thursday's Unwind, send us your recommendations to us as texts or voice notes. The theme is "favourite folk songs."

14/10/2024

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10 min
15/02/2023

Why Dabur is reinventing itself

With increased competition within the country, the over-hundred years old Ayurvedic brand, Dabur, is looking to acquire and expand. It wants to change its story. Just last year in October, it acquired a 51% stake in Badshah Masala, one of the country's leading spices companies. But why does the world leader of Ayurveda brands need to reinvent itself? Tune in.

15/02/2023

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12 min
08/05/2023

India's nursing brain drain: Why building more colleges won't stop the crisis

The pandemic worsened the nursing crisis in India. If 35 nurses were required for every 10,000 people, India only has 25. Exploitative work conditions and poor pay are making nurses migrate in huge numbers to other countries for better jobs. It is an exodus. The government on its part its trying to solve the crisis by building more nursing colleges. But this is akin to a doctor treating the symptom instead of the disease. Tune in to find out why.

08/05/2023

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11 min
02/12/2024

India set up a new body to fix medical education. It now needs to fix that body

Four years ago, India set up a new body to fix medical education. It was called the National Medical Commission (NMC) and it was meant to replace the Medical Council of India and bring reforms in this sector. The goal, at the time, was to bring some order to the chaos. But so far, it seems like the body has only been able to do the opposite. Between vacancies, a series of poor decision and a general lack of coordination — the laundry list of criticism from people in the medical fraternity is only getting longer. It seems like the body that was meant to cure medical education in India, is dealing with a chronic illness of its own. But is it terminal? Tune in. Daybreak is now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode! Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

02/12/2024

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13 min
22/06/2025

Can Tata Build Your Next iPhone?

Tata Electronics is assembling iPhones in Karnataka, aiming to become a key player in Apple’s global supply chain. In this episode, we look at how the company is scaling by adding factories, hiring thousands of workers, and investing heavily in automation. But it’s also facing high attrition, rising debt, and pressure to meet Apple’s strict standards. Can Tata turn its manufacturing push into a long-term win? Tune in. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

22/06/2025

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9 min

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