Australia is all set to introduce a law that would force companies like Google and Facebook to pay media companies for their news content. As chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission noted — “There is a fundamental bargaining power imbalance between news media businesses and the major digital platforms, partly because news businesses have no option but to deal with the platforms, and have had little ability to negotiate over payment for their content or other issues. We wanted a model that would address this bargaining power imbalance and result in fair payment for content, which avoided unproductive and drawn-out negotiations, and wouldn’t reduce the availability of Australian news on Google and Facebook.” And while there is considerable euphoria surrounding this bill, there is also good reason to exercise caution. So we thought we could look at this more closely and see how it might impact the media ecosystem in Australia. Possibly even the world?

On Monday, news agencies started reporting that President Nicolas Maduro had seized total control of Venezuela’s political institutions with a sweeping victory in legislative elections. And while there was considerable euphoria within the Venezuelan ruling class, ground reports from the country are truly disheartening, to say the least. 96% of the country’s population currently lives in poverty and about one-third of these people lack enough nutritious food for normal human growth and development. According to one survey, 60% of Venezuelans shed at least 11 kilograms in weight over the recent past due to malnutrition. And with the pandemic and the lockdown in place, the food crisis has reached truly incredible proportions. Whatever little food that Venezuelans still produce is currently rotting because farmers don’t have the means to carry their produce to the markets due to an unprecedented shortage of overpriced fuel. Imagine this happening in a country that boasts the largest oil reserves in the world. It is simply crazy. So we thought maybe we could look at how Venezuela got here and see why the government's policies to control prices have failed so miserably.

Spotify has reportedly confirmed that they are testing a Stories feature within the app. And while reactions to the announcement were mixed, we thought we could look at the feature more closely and see why so many companies are adopting “Stories”.

This week Shree Cement’s stock price breached its yearly high. And while that isn’t surprising in itself, the rally came against the backdrop of stellar results for the months of July, August and September, when most businesses were still struggling to cope with the pandemic. So we thought we could look at Shree Cement and its performance, particularly considering it’s part of the Nifty 50 now.

In today's Finshots, we talk about pepper imports and RBI's latest diktat for HDFC Bank.

What happens when a multinational corporation is forced* to delay a product launch because someone else owns the right to use the name? Well, ask Sony. *While there were rumours circulating that Sony was forced to delay the launch of their much-anticipated console in India because of the trademark issue, it’s still not quite clear if this was the principal reason for the apparent delay. After all, despite the gentleman withdrawing the application. Sony is yet to announce a launch date for the PS5 in India. So who knows?

We’ve been bombarded with questions about the Burger King IPO. So we thought we could answer all your queries with this one story.

In today's Finshots, we talk about data breaches and how they affect people and businesses alike.

During the 1st ODI between India and Australia, two protestors barged into the Sydney Cricket Ground holding a sign that said "No $1B Adani Loan." And yeah, we need to talk about it.

Last week, Motherson Sumi unveiled its detailed 5-year plan where it set an ambitious target of reaching sales figures totalling ₹2.6 lakh Cr by 2025. That means they’ll have to quadruple sales over the next five years. And while such lofty proclamations are usually met with derision, investors and analysts have been quite optimistic about the company’s prospects. In fact, its stock price made a yearly high right after the announcement. So we have to look at this more closely and ask — Do these claims warrant serious consideration or are they mostly fluff? Well, in today’s Finshots Markets, we will discuss this and more.