Top of the Morning: Is a Wipro turnaround in the works?

Wipro Ltd. has announced its biggest-ever buyback, at 19% premium no less, after reporting three straight years of revenue declines. What gives?

It’s simple. There’s excess cash on the balance sheet, so much that the IT firm can finance its M&A ambitions even after repurchasing 600 million shares for ₹15,000 crore.

Still, the contraction clouds sentiment. Wipro’s revenue fell 0.32% year-on-year to $10.48 billion in FY26. Net profit fell even more—8.6% to $1.4 billion. Analysts are already flagging a slowdown in client additions delays in deal ramp-ups.

While operational profitability improves and deal pipelines remain strong, macroeconomic uncertainty, rising automation, and cautious client spending continue to weigh on India’s IT/ITeS sector. The Wipro buyback may support investor sentiment, but a sustained turnaround will depend on reviving organic growth. Read more.

THE MAIN STUFF

India’s farm reforms, one state at a time: India is shifting to a state-by-state farm policy approach, moving away from one-size-fits-all reforms. The central government is co-designing agriculture roadmaps with states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to tailor strategies to local conditions, improve climate resilience and boost farm incomes.

The shift, which comes amid forecast of a sub-par monsoon, sheds light on a deeper imbalance: Agriculture contributes 15.6% to GDP but employs 46.1% of the workforce. Growth has averaged about 4.4% in recent years, driven more by livestock and fisheries than crops. Read more.

Govt plans to double minimum wage in India: The government is finalising plans to double the national floor wage to 350-450 per day, as worker protests and uneven wage growth weigh on policy.

The move, under the Code on Wages, will set a binding national baseline, forcing states to revise wages upward. The monthly salary will be pegged at 26 times the daily wage.

The push comes as corporate profitability stays strong while real wages lag. States like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have already raised wages, with others expected to follow. Experts say regular, inflation-linked revisions are key to avoiding sudden shocks and labour unrest. Read more.

India’s trade engine hits a war-sized snag: India’s trade has ran into turbulence, and West Asia is at the centre of it. Exports fell 7.4% and imports were down 6.5% in March, but the headline numbers mask a sharper regional shock.

Trade with key Gulf partners such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has fallen steeply, dragging overall flows lower.

Exports to the UAE fell over 60%, while imports from major oil suppliers like Iraq and Qatar shrank steeply. The trigger? The escalating conflict in West Asia, disruptions in oil infrastructure, and the closure of critical routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. Read more.

Is weight-loss drugs a treatment for PCOS? A 34-year-old Pune woman, diagnosed with PCOS as a teenager, saw her first natural menstrual cycle in February—six months after starting Mounjaro for weight management. This spotlights a broader shift, as more women with the condition turn to weight-loss drugs for metabolic relief and, in some cases, improved fertility.

The trend is accelerating across India, doctors said, even though these drugs are not officially approved for treating PCOS and are prescribed primarily for Type-2 Diabetes and obesity. Read more.

The crude dynamics of Russian oil for India

India will keep buying Russian crude even after the US’s one-month waiver on sanctions lapses, two people said, with one of them saying that the imports would not depend on it.

Now, Indian refiners are in talks for future imports after recently tying up a total of 800,000 tonnes of LPG supplies from Russia, Australia and the US, the first person said. Read more.

AROUND THE WORLD

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• More and more countries are banning kids from social media
• Why everyone hates the Ivy League

NEWS IN NUMBERS

• $12 million: The amount Roblox, an online gaming platform, will pay Nevada for enhanced child safety protections, including $10 million toward youth programs and age verification requirements.
• $500 million: The projected annual revenue from New York City's first pied-à-terre tax on luxury secondary residences valued above $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city.
• ₹202 crore: The value of the two-year export contract awarded to Elitecon International by South Africa-based Bozza Tobacco for supply of cigarettes and tobacco-related products.
• 2,000: The number of jobs the BBC plans to cut, roughly 10% of its workforce, to reduce annual operating costs by £500 million over the next two years.
• ₹27.38 crore: The CCI penalty on Intel Corp. for its discriminatory India-specific warranty policy on boxed microprocessors, whose recovery the NCLAT has now stayed pending Intel's appeal.
• ₹622.66 crore: The consolidated profit reported by HDFC AMC in Q4 FY26, down 2.5% from ₹638.46 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.
• 2,000: The number of new employees Novo Nordisk has hired so far in 2026, after cutting roughly 7,800 jobs in 2025 under CEO Mike Doustdar.

CHART OF THE DAY

2026 is expected to be an El Nino year. Almost all such years have seen sub-par monsoon in India, while La Nina years have supported normal to above-normal monsoon rain.

LOUNGE RECOMMENDS

Easy Diner: India's dining scene may be getting bigger and better, but the experience of eating out increasingly feels like a battle. As diners continue to be spoiled for choice, it doesn't help when finding a table is next to impossible especially on weekends. More often than not, the buzz around the latest restaurant openings only makes the process more cumbersome. Read more.

WHAT THE FACT

A tower that grows: On a hot summer day, the Eiffel Tower isn’t quite the same height as in winter. Built entirely of iron, the structure expands during summer—a basic principle of physics known as thermal expansion. At its peak, the tower can grow by as much as 15 cm, subtly stretching upward as the metal warms. Come winter, it contracts to return to its usual size. Invisible to the eye but scientifically precise, the Eiffel Tower quite literally breathes with the seasons.

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