In this week’s wrap up, we talk about the Airbus scare, DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations’ alleged misuse of IPO funds, the Meesho IPO, why Apple is worried about India’s Competition law and the economics of Pantone.

Also, in this week’s Markets edition, we discuss whether the Indian Rupee is too weak or the US Dollar too strong. You can click here to read it.

But here’s a quick sidenote before we begin. This weekend, we’re hosting a free 2-day Insurance Masterclass where we’ll walk you through simple rules to pick the right insurance plan and the common mistakes you should avoid.

📅 Today, 6 Dec ⏰at 10 AM: Life Insurance
How to protect your family, choose the right cover amount, and understand what truly matters during a life claim.

📅 Tomorrow, 7 Dec ⏰at 10 AM: Health Insurance
How hospitals process claims, common deductions, the mistakes buyers usually make, and how to choose a policy that won’t disappoint you when you need it most.

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With that out of the way, let’s take a look back at what we wrote this week.

What the Airbus scare tells us about modern infrastructure

Airbus had a rough week. One of its A320s suddenly dipped mid-flight, and the investigation didn’t lead to a faulty sensor, loose bolt, or software bug. It led 150 million kilometres away straight to the Sun.

A burst of solar radiation had quietly meddled with the jet’s flight-control computers, making the control surfaces respond a split second too slowly. The pilots recovered, but the scare was enough for Airbus and global regulators to scramble, because aircraft are built with layers of redundancy.

With the Sun hitting the peak of its 11-year cycle, these flares are now brushing up against the weak points of our modern world, like distorting GPS signals, stressing satellites, overloading power grids, and even disrupting financial systems that run on precise timestamps.

So, how do we protect ourselves against this?

Check out Monday’s newsletter to find out.

DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations has landed itself in SEBI’s bad books

DroneAcharya looked like the perfect startup story — celebrity investors, a blockbuster IPO debut, and a shiny narrative about drones powering India’s future. But behind the spotlight was a very different script.

Last week, market regulator SEBI unearthed a massive fraud by the management and an advisor linked to the company, revealing bonus shares magically multiplying investor wealth, money routed through shady “software” deals, inflated revenues, and missing disclosures. This meant retail investors were left holding the bag while insiders quietly cashed out with massive returns.

But how did a dream IPO turn into a maze of manipulation?

Check out our Tuesday newsletter to find out.

The Meesho IPO explained

While Amazon and Flipkart fought over India’s metros, Meesho quietly built the country’s biggest e-commerce engine by order volume. Meesho has some of the lowest prices, zero-commission sales, and a good discovery-led shopping experience (kind of like shopping on Instagram).

However, its IPO filing tells us a more complicated story of rising revenues, but mounting losses, and a business model strained by cash-on-delivery failures.

So, how did a company that cracked India’s rising rural economy still struggle with profitability?

To find out, check out our Wednesday newsletter.

Why India’s Competition law has Apple on edge

Look back at any major fines on multi-billion-dollar companies, and there’s a high probability that it came from US or EU courts. Some examples that stick out are the €2.95 billion fine on Google or the $2.5 billion settlement by Amazon over Prime subscriptions. You’ll also notice how India hasn’t been on that list.

Our anti-trust and competition laws haven’t been as strong as other courts, but all that changed in 2023-24 with a subtle but costly tweak: global turnover.

That one change has Apple sweating over the current anti-trust case it’s fighting against a group of Indian startups called the Alliance of Digital India Foundation and also Tinder-owned Match. On the surface, it looks confusing yet also surprising: Why would a trillion-dollar tech conglomerate worry about a lawsuit involving its commission fees on the App Store?

To find out, and also understand how our competition law got here, read our Thursday story here.

The economics of Pantone and its colours

Ever wondered why Coke’s red feels different from Colgate’s red? Turns out, that’s an American company called Pantone at work.

From Kodak’s yellow to Heinz’s red, Pantone quietly dictates how brands look, and how we perceive them.

But here’s the catch. Pantone isn’t a colour lab or paint maker. It simply sells colour recipes, yet it has become a global monopoly influencing trends, purchases, and even this year’s pastel-white “Color of the Year”, Cloud Dancer.

Which makes you wonder — how did a booklet of swatches turn into billion-dollar global soft power?

We answered that, and a lot more about the economics of Pantone and its colours, in Friday’s newsletter. Click here to read it.

Finshots Weekly Quiz v2.0 🧠

Hey folks! A few months ago we hit pause on the Finshots weekly quiz for a bit because we were cooking up something new. And now, the wait’s finally over. Say hello to the upgraded Finshots Weekly Quiz v2.0!

This one’s going to feel a little different from the Finshots quizzes you’ve taken before. We’re adding a weekly leaderboard and a monthly winner. Basically, a bit more competition. So here’s how it works:

1. Each weekly quiz has 6 questions, worth 10 points each. All the questions come from our Finshots Daily newsletters (excluding the Sunny Side Up) and Markets newsletter. You’ll get one minute per question, just like before.
2. Now for the twist, instead of picking a winner every week, there will be just one winner each month. To qualify, you must attempt the quiz every single week. Getting answers wrong is fine. You just lose points. But if you skip a week, you’re automatically out of the race to win that month’s Finshots merch.
3. We’ll track your weekly scores and publish a top-5 leaderboard in the Weekly Wrapup, showing who’s leading and how many points they’ve earned so far. The topper at the end of the month gets crowned the winner and walks away with exclusive Finshots merch.
4. If the same person keeps topping the leaderboard month after month, we’ll give the next highest scorer a chance instead. This way, 12 different people get to win across the year.

Sounds exciting? Then what are you waiting for? Click on this link to take the quiz! This week’s quiz is open to answer till Friday, 12th of December, 2025. The more answers you get right, the better your chance of appearing on the Finshots Weekly Quiz leaderboard. We’ll start publishing it from next week every Saturday in the Weekly Wrapup. And the first winner will be announced in the first week of January.

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