Business Standard Dialogue Webinars

Esports, also referred to as competitive gaming, has been in the midst of skill and chance battle, tax controversies and landmark court verdicts. As India’s esports delegation gears up for the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 23 to October 2, Business Standard Dialogue will take you through the journey of gaming that has caught the imagination of millions.

 

In a series of reports and interviews through the past one month, Business Standard has brought out the nuances and finer points of the economic reforms unleashed 35 years ago. We have had top bureaucrats of the time as well as noted businessmen recall the transformation that 1991 brought about. The newspaper also reported extensively on some of the key sectors that turned around post-liberalisation.

 

On July 30, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a principal architect of the reform, and Naushad Forbes, an eminent industrialist, shared their memories of that era at the Business Standard webinar. Now we will have our writers and reporters share their experiences while working on this long series.

The announcement by N Chandrasekaran that he won’t offer himself for a third term as Tata Sons chairman has come in the midst of long-drawn leadership uncertainty at the salt-to-software conglomerate. The turbulence between the holding company of the group and its principal shareholder, Tata Trusts, has played out strongly after the passing of Ratan Tata in October 2024. This comes exactly 10 years after the ouster of Cyrus Mistry as Tata Sons chairman.  

 

How did things get out of hand? Is it a family versus professional management clash? Where did corporate governance fail? Why is listing of Tata Sons important? As the selection process for the next chairman begins, all these questions will resonate more than ever. Episode 19 of Business Standard Dialogue will discuss all these points and more.

The enabling provision to remove the zero-MDR regime on UPI transactions has sparked a hotly contested debate in the country. The questions are many after the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed in Parliament recently: What the merchant discount rate (MDR) implies, why it is being explored, who should pay it and how much and whether it would impact the unified payments interface (UPI) stream. And, is this the right way forward?

 

To find answers to all these questions, we have lined up a strong panel with sharp views. This 18th episode of Business Standard Dialogue will be a must-watch for those who are tracking this development and also those who are new to the club.

Soon after a month-long students' agitation at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar against paper leaks in various exams, a Bill was passed in Parliament to address issues in the examination system, mainly for entry into medical and engineering courses. The government also set up a high-level committee headed by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and non-executive chairman of Infosys, to reform the exam system.  

 

The 17th episode of the Business Standard Dialogue will discuss whether the government steps are enough to reform the education system in India, or if there's a need for a total reset. What is the solution? What will create employment?

This will be a special webinar, looking back at the historic economic reforms of 1991. To mark 35 years of reforms, which ushered in liberalisation through measures like abolition of the licence raj and doing away with public sector monopolies in industries such as telecom, civil aviation and power, the webinar will have a top bureaucrat of the time Montek Singh Ahluwalia share his memories when history was being made by the Narasimha Rao-led government. Ahluwalia, who was commerce secretary and then economic affairs secretary in 1991, has often been described as a core architect of the reforms alongside then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. Industrialist Naushad Forbes, who closely watched business sentiments change dramatically after the announcement of the 1991 reforms, will be another panelist. His commentary on policy and business has referred to the animal spirits of the industry post-1991. On the show, we will also have senior business journalist A K Bhattacharya, who reported on the unshackling of the economy as things unfolded.       
                               

The webinar, which will coincide with a series of special reports on the subject in Business Standard, will discuss how the reforms played out across diverse areas, and what needs to be done now.   

The West Asia crisis has been a reality check for India’s oil exploration scene. With its heavy dependence on imported crude oil and natural gas, the country has been at the receiving end of the global supply shocks during the war. As geopolitics turns increasingly volatile, the need to intensify exploration of domestic oil reserves is a priority for India, more than ever before.

 

What is India’s goal on oil exploration? What needs to be fixed? What are the challenges on the way? To discuss these issues and more, we have a powerful panel of experts.