Hope the weekend was good. We are guessing you didn’t travel — not with Indian cities reporting covid cases in thousands. The government has started a jab fest but reviving the fortunes of the down-and-out tourism industry will require several quarters. But since we love Himachal Pradesh in the summers, this to-do list is a must read just in case you decide to hit the road.

Scroll down for more on the pandemic. Meanwhile, we also have news around Amazon’s plans, the growing competition for Clubhouse and a fascinating read on the biology of aging. Heard of senolytics?

Infosys results in focus

Okay, the earnings season is here. And three of India's top information technology (IT) companies will release their reports this week: Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro. As always, the guidance for the financial year will be keenly watched. Beyond technology, there are other developments to follow this week. Nikhil Rampal and Tanay Sukumar have a listing. Read more.

The silent rise of India's private ports (Premium)

Led by Adani group, smaller, nimbler privately-run ports are cannibalizing traffic away from govt-operated ports. The private sector's investment in ports have also steadily increased over the last five years. What do private operators offer that the public sector can't? Tanya Thomas explains. Read more.

Clubhouse can hear rival apps rushing

There is excitement around the Clubhouse app, which lets users pop in and out of ephemeral chat rooms and participate in social conversations. But there are downsides to attracting such attention — competitors see opportunity in the space and are eager to stake their claim on it. Which companies are likely to be its rivals? Read more.

Global business news from WSJ

• Some animals hardly deteriorate as they get older. New therapies could help humans to achieve the same healthy longevity. What are those?

  

• Google for years operated a secret program that used data from past bids in the company’s digital advertising exchange to allegedly give its own ad-buying system an advantage over competitors.

• The covid-19 pandemic upended many businesses, but it didn't upend compensation for most business leaders. Median pay for the chief executives of more than 300 of the biggest U.S. public companies reached $13.7 million last year.

• A year after Covid-19 swept through China, the virus is under control. Now authorities have to motivate a population that feels little urgency to get vaccinated by using a mix of social pressure, incentives, education and coercion.

• Many bosses have pleaded with employees for months to use their vacation time. Now some are adding incentives to coax workers into using their bedrock benefit.

The vaccine drive is a massive task for the world’s most populous nations, and the global fight against the pandemic will depend a lot on this. The 10 most populous countries, with nearly 60% of humanity, have vaccinated less than one-tenth of their population so far. The US leads the way at 34%, and India is still at 6% despite the expanded coverage, shows data compiled by Nikhil Rampal.

Indiranagar Ka Gunda

Cred’s business model is still confusing to many. Nevertheless, the bill payments company has been churning out one interesting ad after another. A series of nostalgic 90s ads featured the likes of Madhur Dixit, Anil Kapoor and Govinda. Now comes an ad featuring Rahul Dravid. Known for breaking the backs of foreign bowlers with his stoic batting and calm demeanour, the Team India legend is back in a new avatar — with anger management issues. At the time of writing, the first upload of the video, tweeted by Virat Kohli, already had over 2.5 million views.

source: Nissin

Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles and the founder of Nissin Food Products Co., had his share of bad luck before he became successful. In 1948, he was convicted of tax evasion — he had provided scholarships to students, a form of tax dodging in Japan at that time. And then, in 1957, Ando lost all his property after a credit union he was working in filed for bankruptcy. The chicken ramen, the world’s first instant noodles, came in 1958. Ando’s inspiration: post-war Japan where people went hungry because of food shortages. Today, instant noodles is among the most globalised food products.