India's whisky drinking landscape is changing.

Indri single malt made at a distillery surrounded by sugarcane farms near Delhi was labelled world's best. France's Pernod this week got Bollywood stars to launch its first local malt 👇🧵@Reuters deep divereut.rs/3tqOxBe Established global brands such as Glenlivet of Pernod and Talisker of Britain's Diageo now fight for shelf space with local rivals Indri, Amrut and Radico Khaitan's Rampur.

It's a massive change - for years Glenlivit of Pernod was the top-selling one, now it's Amrut

Interesting view. Reuters reported on each of these after spotting changes at outlets and seeking company comments and/or using notices and inputs from store managers. It’s a story that impacts the masses and tells us a lot about economy, consumption and challenges of big brands

https://twitter.com/beastoftraal/status/1692741470208594226

One story beyond tomatoes we did was Subway stopping free cheese slices. Spotted when I went for lunch and was told to pay - never happened in 20 years. 15 pct inflation/sub. Store manager gave us cost of free new sauce Vs now paid slice. @RiddhimaTalwanireut.rs/444nZC3

Reuters Story: India's Reliance is reviving the historic Campa brand that was all the rage in 1980s, invoking nationalism & nostalgia to fight Pepsi & Coke. It’s not easy to beat the U.S. firms, but this could be start of the "Cola Wars". A thread 🧵reut.rs/40tqvAw Some history. Campa was one of India's most popular sugary sodas in 1970s, 1980s. Then, the brand disappeared as the U.S. giants expanded rapidly in a liberalising economy. Last year, Reliance acquired Campa for $3 million. Here's a very old ad of Campa

Reuters Story: India's DLF sold a $1 billion upmarket residential project in 72 hours, while rival Godrej is offering $3 million houses to clients by invitation. We visited both sites. There is a trend - luxury housing is booming again in India reut.rs/3KYUE6c 🧵 Developers say spacey high-price apartments that come with add-ons like concierge services are in demand. Many want to upgrade their homes after COVID-19 confined them indoors. And demand for larger houses is supported by rising incomes & India's growing number of nouveau riche

Reuters Insight: As fisherfolk protest, billionaire Gautam Adani's $900 mln south India port hangs in the balance. A shelter built by the fishing community blocks the entrance of Vizhinjam port. Construction is stalled. It's a rare challenge for Adani reut.rs/3Xv6V6u 🧵 Over three weeks, we interviewed protesters, Catholic priests, supporters and reviewed hundreds of pages of court filings, including those in which Adani has sued the Kerala state and priests who are leading the protests. It's a high-stakes impasse. With @MunsifV, @arpanc_

Amazon's journey & regulatory headaches in India. Bernstein says Amazon invested $6.5Bn+ in India, one of its biggest markets, but "profitability remains elusive". Thread on that report, Amazon's journey, @Reuters investigations into its practices & how things changed over time🧵 First, some history. Amazon arrived in India in 2004, when it created a development center to service global ops. Amit Agarwal recalled in 2019 how his team initially rented space and “used to sit on the ground & write code” because they didn’t have chairs aboutamazon.in/news/workplace…

Reuters Analysis: Sony-Zee $10 billion media play may face changes in India antitrust review. Former CCI chair Ashok Chawla says review could lead to a detailed analysis, delaying approval. Lawyers said deal may require structural, behavioural remedies. reut.rs/3RcALcc An initial antitrust review flagged concerns arguing the group would have "unparalleled bargaining power" with 92 channels + Sony's global might. "Such apparently humongous market position would enable the combined entity to enjoy an un-paralleled bargaining power"

Reuters Story: India finds Sony-Zee merger can hurt competition, more antitrust scrutiny needed. Watchdog says it's a "classic" merger case where "combined strength of the parties is likely to be used to entrench their presence & earn higher profits.” reut.rs/3RsSJqN The Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Aug. 3 notice to the two companies stated the watchdog is of the view that a further investigation is merited. Lawyers say such a notice is a significant developement in any case. The findings will delay approval of the deal, they said.

Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance (Indiabulls) @dhanicares with my PAN number & name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN. In default already @RBI @IncomeTaxIndia @nsitharaman Seems I am not alone. Loans being disbursed by @dhanicares to people who submit random PAN numbers. @IncomeTaxIndia @RBI

https://twitter.com/beingpranesh/status/1491775853650395146

Reuters Flash: Amazon tells Singapore arbitrator that India antitrust suspension of 2019 Future deal doesn’t mean transaction is void, source says. This is the first reporting on Amazon’s views after the CCI’s decision. 1/2 Amazon tells arbitrator many grounds exist to challenge India antitrust suspension of 2019 Future deal and the CCI acted beyond its powers by suspending the deal 2/2

Reuters Flash: India antitrust body orders investigation into Apple’s business practices. Reuters had reported the commission was reviewing a case of alleged abuse by Apple, high in-app fee system. Context. Sept 2 story - Apple faces case for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. Case filed by Together We Fight Society reuters.com/technology/exc…

Reuters Insight: India's consumer goods salesmen face ruin as Mukesh Ambani targets mom-and-pop stores. Distributors face an existential threat to their business and say Reliance Retail is luring kiranas with prices they just can’t match. reut.rs/3FAVZKK Reuters spoke to distributors and salesmen of consumer goods giants including Unilever, Reckitt and Colgate and visited "kiranas" (mom-and-pop stores) that are increasingly turning to JioMart to stock up on foreign and domestic brands. They are using the JioMart Partner app.

Reuters Investigation: Internal Amazon documents reveal a systematic campaign of creating knockoffs & rigging search results to boost its own brands like AmazonBasics & Solimo in India. Amazon exploited internal data to copy products of other firms reut.rs/3aBiku9 #Thread This is the second in a series of stories based on internal Amazon documents that provide a rare, unvarnished look, in the company’s own words, into business practices that it has denied for years.

"Amazon urgently recruiting for part-time jobs, you can earn 3000-10000 Rs every day, add Whatsapp: wa.me/+91963XXXXXX"

Have you received this SMS recently? I have, almost daily. This is what this is all about. It involves @amazon, Indian government, @RioTinto! #Thread The person identifies himself RT-Gold. "Amazon's strategic partner," the person says, asking if I want to make money?!!

India reports more than 400,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. Here are some facts, from public statements and the central government's submission in India's Supreme Court on COVID-19 management. What happened between Jan 28 and March 8, 2021? #THREAD #IndiaCOVID Jan 28 - "We used technology to the fullest," PM Modi said, adding, "India beat all odds in the fight against coronavirus." wionews.com/india-news/ind…

Reuters Investigation: Amazon has for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers in India, publicly misrepresented its ties with the sellers and used them to circumvent tough foreign investment rules, company documents show reut.rs/2OCOT2W Amazon says it runs a transparent online marketplace and treats all sellers equally in India. The internal Amazon documents contradict those claims. The documents also show that the company has exercised significant control over the inventory of some of the biggest sellers

Breaking Now @ReutersIndia - India panel working on cloud policy to recommend “localization of cloud data and any data that is stored about Indian entities”, according to its draft report, in what could be a setback for big tech firms #ReutersExclusive Cloud data concerning Indian entities must be available for investigative, national security agencies; India must consider importance of securing "data sovereignty, especially in the context of cross-border data flows", the draft says #ReutersExclusive