Business Standard Webinars

In the season of the Tata boardroom battle, revisiting the Companies Bill 2026 may help unlock answers to many questions related to corporate governance, while offering a fresh perspective on the rules and responsibilities linked to independent directors and auditors. The Bill promises reforms, but how will they play out in the corporate landscape? Are there any takeaways for dealing with a boardroom crisis? How is technology reshaping corporate governance?   

 

Do watch the webinar for deeper insights into the subject.

The sugar industry in the country has been in the midst of shifting policies on import and export, with sudden spurts of demand-supply mismatch in the backdrop. The steep rise in retail sugar prices following market chatter on empty pipelines, fall in output, untimely exports and diversion of ethanol came together to trigger a crisis.

 

How will these challenges impact the festival season? What should be the roadmap for sugar in terms of policy? What will take for the sugar crisis to blow over? Business Standard Dialogue will discuss this and more at the webinar.

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.

 

The country will host the 18th Brics summit over Sept 12-13 at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty. Even within the grouping, India is seen as vying with China for influence. But in the larger developing world, some view India as a leader. The webinar will examine India's voice.

 

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.   

From private members’ clubs and invitation-only travel to concierge-led ecosystems, we’re witnessing a shift where the ultimate luxury is not about products but about access to the most coveted spaces and experiences. Let’s explore what’s driving this evolution; how brands are maintaining exclusivity; how invite-only models create value beyond traditional luxury offerings; and what will define the next decade of luxury for the new HNIs.

 

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.

It’s that time of the year when Monsoon rains are among the most talked-about topics in India. And Goa and its popular beaches invariably figure prominently in any such discussion. Goa's weather over the next fortnight or so is expected to be dominated by the monsoon with consistent rainfall.

 

The webinar on July 9 will take you to the scene of action, Goa, to capture the transformation that this global destination is witnessing. During the Monsoon and beyond. Panellists will discuss how Goa is reinventing itself as an all-season tourism hub, and that the beaches are just the starting point.

We are approaching the first anniversary of the Prime Minister announcing the launch of Mission Sudarshan Chakra in his Independence Day address. The initiative aims to establish an expansive missile and air defence shield by 2035.

 

What are the technological challenges involved, and can India overcome them with homegrown solutions? How has Operation Sindoor informed the mission? More than a year after the operation, how is India placed in defending its airspace?

 

This webinar examines these questions and attempts to take stock of where we stand, and how far we still have to go, in pursuit of this mission.

Global tech majors are increasingly looking at Indian cities to set up their data centres. Already, India figures in the top 10 international list, coinciding with the exponential rise in demand for processing artificial intelligence (AI) datasets. With ambitious growth projections and tax sops by the government, India could well become the data centre capital of the world in the coming years.

 

Is India going to be a data centre destination because of its real estate prowess? How will we meet the  huge demand for power and water at these data centres? Will India have a tech and R&D advantage in all this? What is India’s gain, and what are the challenges it might face in a journey that has just begun? Experts will share their views on this very pertinent subject at the Business Standard webinar this week.

From monitoring food companies on hygiene, contamination and labelling, to directing restaurants on use of proper kitchen tools, the regulator has been in the headlines recently. The tenth episode of the webinar—Business Standard Dialogue—will discuss the growing significance of food regulation and the role of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) at a time when speed is of the essence.