What's RBI rule on online transactions mean for consumers and merchants? When will FPIs turn to India again? What explains India's unicorn boom in 2021? How can the world achieve net-zero targets?
Amid a steep rise in the incidents of cyber frauds, the Reserve Bank of India has come up with a new rule to make the online transactions more secure. It has asked all the merchants and payment gateways to remove customer data on debit and credit cards saved with them. The central bank has asked them to use encrypted tokens for all transactions starting January 1 next year. But after the auto debit rule, this new regulation will only add to the woes of consumers and merchants. We take a look at how these rules will impact you and the digital commerce sector as a whole.
From online transaction hassles, let’s now move to what is happening in the world of markets as the year 2021 comes to an end. Foreign portfolio investors, or FPIs, have been taking some money off the table since the indices hit new all-time highs and valuations surpassed historically high levels. So far in December, FPIs have sold equities worth over Rs 33,000 crore and this trend is expected continue for the rest of 2021. So the question is, when can investors get a respite from FPI selling?
Not just markets, this year was also great for startup companies. At least 42 of them went on to attain the unicorn status. More startups entered this coveted club in 2021 than all previous years combined. India is now home to about 80 unicorn startups. Without a doubt, this has been the most successful year for India’s startup ecosystem.
Unlike India’s evolving unicorns, the giant Siberian rhino – which may have been the origin of the unicorn myth – could not adapt to changing climate and went extinct about 39,000 years ago. Now, as countries realise the harmful effects of global warming, they are moving towards net-zero emissions. Recently, India also pledged to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070 at a global summit on climate change in Glasgow. Here’s an explainer for you on net-zero emissions and what it may take for India and the world to achieve this target in this episode of the podcast.
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 "TMS Ep69: RBI tokenisation, Abhijit Bhave, unicorn boom, net-zero")
