WORDS WORTH WELL BEING MIND & GAMES ARE WE TAKING TOO MANY ANTIDEPRESSANTS? Startups vs innovation A new book warns that the startup boom is not the same as technological sovereignty or deep innovation Page 4 Is bio-based packaging really sustainable? While SSRIs are among the most-prescribed psychiatric drugs, doctors caution against their everyday use Page 9 VOL.NO.XVI SL.NO.41 Plastic alternative works or not depends on what happens to it after use Page 11 LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM CATCHING ‘EM YOUNG CHENNAI/KOCHI 14 Pages, `12 P U B L I S H E D FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2026 F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , How Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reshaping industries Page 5 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E Diwali fervour engulfs the gaming world FESTIVE UPDATES ● Gaming giant Krafton drops Indian character, themes ■ Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) introduces ‘The Indian Bazaar’ themed around Diwali KUNAL DOLEY New Delhi, October 3 IN A BID to tap the growing gamers’ base in India — the second-largest in the world at 591 million — global game developer and publisher Krafton is giving a major festive makeover to its flagship title and highly popular game, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), previously known as PUBG Mobile India. Come October 8, and BGMI players won’t just be parachuting from a plane onto ■ LIVING, P8 Is it a shower, is it a spa? The ritual of bathing is now elevated to an experience, integrating design, tech, wellness FPI withdrawals from India highest in Asia 635 627 -7,723 592 Japan -43 591 Philippines South Korea 581 Malaysia Indonesia Source: Bloomberg 464 Taiwan Thailand -46 -105 -70 -13 -15 52 India -4,143 -1,717 0 34 18 464 8,314 were relatively small. Japan recorded the highest equity outflows of $7.7 bn, but attracted $8.3 bn in bond inflows, resulting in net inflows of $592 mn. — Compiled by Kishor Kadam FPIs investments during past one month ($ million) -29 rewards even higher. Gamers can purchase festive goodies from the ‘nakshatra’ collection, con- sisting of several themed items,and even participate in BGMI’s first ‘prize path’ built for India. However, the most Continued on Page 2 Today’sstrength noimmunityfor future: RBI Guv ● Confident India approaches future with strength How young founders are proving that ambition and innovative thinking aren’t bound by age -175 any random location but right into a special Diwalithemed ‘bazaar’ where the stakes are high, and the Amid global uncertainty, resilience a must, says FM Trailblazers under 25 -5,860 ■ In the past, Garena's Free Fire Max & SuperGaming's Battle Stars also had Diwali updates STRUCTURAL AUTONOMY PRIORITY FOR INDIA ■ SPOTLIGHT, P6-7 Equity Debt Total participate in BGMI’s first ‘prize path’ built for India purchase goodies, collect rewards from the festive collection ■ Kiaraa, BGMI's first made-in-India character IP, to go live from Oct 8 WHAT'S INSIDE FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTORS (FPIs) withdrew $5.9 bn from Indian equities and bonds over the past one month, marking the highest net outflow among Asian markets, as per data from Bloomberg. Of this, FPIs sold $4.1 bn of equities and $1.7 bn of bonds in India. Besides India, FPIs were net sellers in Thailand and Indonesia, although the outflows ■ Users can also ■ Gamers can notable addition in BGMI’s festive-season content cycle this time is Kiaraa, its first made-in-India character IP with a world of its own.Kiaraa enters BGMI as a part of the 4.6 update and will go live from October 8 onwards. BGMI is an online multiplayer battle royale game, in which up to 100 players compete to be the last person standing.Players can enterthe match as individuals or as a small group of friends of up to four.Thegamehasalreadysurpassed 270 million downloads in the country. ● Flags stretched valuations, global debt, cyber attacks FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 3 FE BUREAU Mumbai, October 3 FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sitharaman on Saturday called for India to keep building resilience and design policy keeping in mind that uncertainty is now a standing condition of the global economy. She said India has weathered the past four years of global shocks remarkablywell, with its fundamentals intact and strong at 7.8% GDP growth in April-June and 4.82% CPI inflation inAugust, speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave in Delhi. “For India, resilience means building upon the structural foundations laid over the past decade to accelerate and broaden growth. The test of the coming years will again be partly invisible: the shocks India absorbs without disruption to households and enterprises. That record is as much a measure of sound economic management as any growth figure,” Sitharaman said. RESERVE BANK OF INDIA (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Saturday cautioned against complacency over the strength of the Indian financial system, saying that “today’s resilience may not necessarily imply tomorrow’s immunity”, as new risks emerge from geopolitical shocks, elevated global debt,stretched artificial intelligence-related valuations and cyber threats. “Overall, the Indian financial system is assessed to be very resilient, supported by FM Nirmala Sitharaman with Institute of Economic Growth President NK Singh, Indonesian economist M Chatib Basri and Cour des Comptes President Amélie de Montchalin While India has built this protection, it needs to look at what the coming decade of shocks will demand, Sitharaman said. “We need to keep building resilience as we go along;itisnotaone-timeexercise. The coming years call for preparation, and India approaches them from strength,”she said. The finance minister said India’sprioritiesforthecoming decade should include structural autonomy in strategic inputs fornational security. Continued on Page 2 PTI ‘Self-sufficiencyworththecost’ FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 3 BUILDING STRATEGIC RESERVES, diversifying suppliers and developing domesticcapabilitiesmaybe more expensive than relying on global markets, but the premium can be justified where vulnerabilities are critical, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra said on Saturday “The world that is coming will belong to those who can be steady without being closed,carefulwithoutbeing fearful,and ambitiouswithout being naive,” he said, speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave. He said economic security can no longer be separated from geography, geopolitics and uncertainty. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 NAYARA Energy has raised petrol prices by `5 a litre and diesel by `3 per litre with immediate effect, as higher international crude and refinedproduct prices squeeze marketing margins. ■ PAGE 3 SEBI IS WORKING on a second surveillance system to identify ‘bad elements’ among listed companies,withtheobjectiveof eventually delisting such entities, its whole-time member Kamlesh Varshney said on Saturday. Speaking at an event in PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, October 3 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, October 3 “While we have a surveillancesystemwherewecanidentifymanipulatorsonbasisoflive data,wehavealmostcompleted a blueprint of our second surveillancesystemtoidentifybad elements in the capital market among listed companies,” Varshneysaid. Sebi scrutinyon‘bad elements’ the capital, Varshney said the regulator is also working on identifyingsmallIPOsthatmay not be suitable for the capital marketandcouldresultinlosses forretail investors. »INSIDE« TO REVIEW NON-AGRI LIMITS FOR LIQUIDITY BOOST PAGE 3 Next financial crisis may not originate in a bank, but a geopolitical event, cyber attack or tech failure in financial systems healthy balance sheets of banks and NBFIs,” Malhotra said at the Kautilya Economic Conclave. “At the same time, I would like to mention that today’s resilience may not necessarily imply tomorrow’s immunity.” Continued on Page 2 Tata,Mahindra in fierce race for No.2 AFTER MAHINDRABEAT both Hyundai and Tata Motors to emerge as the second-largest carmakerin H1FY26 aswell as in FY26, Tata Motors has now toppled Mahindra to take the No.2positioninH1FY27.Sales datasourcedfromtheindustry shows that Tata sold 376,840 carsinH1FY27,almost20,000 units more than Mahindra’s 358,142 units. But just six months ago, Mahindra had a comfortable lead overTata. Nayara petrol prices up `5, diesel rises `3 SANJAY MALHOTRA, RBI GOVERNOR NECK AND NECK (Sales in units) Tata Motors H1 FY26 H1 FY27 Mahindra 273,688 297,570 376,840 358,142 Late gold rush powers India to possible 4th spot at Asiad INDIA END ASIAD WITH 85 MEDALS ●Archer Kumkum, golfer Pranavi Urs script history 21 27 37 MIHIR VASAVDA Nagoya, October 3 THE LAST GOLD India won was also the easiest. So easy that, for the final penalty corner, India had just two players standing on top of Malaysia’s D. And even then, Harmanpreet Singh swept into the net. There was no elaborate variation.No crowding of the circle. Just two players, one set piece and a gold medal that was never really in doubt. Recurve archer Kumkum Mohod (above), golfer Pranavi Urs (right) and India’s cricket team (far right) after winning their respective gold medals on Saturday The 5-1 win was an unfussy ending to an extraordinarily complicated fortnight. For 12 days,India had managedonly10goldmedals.Then, with the Asian Games running out of hours,the medals began to pile up. Six golds on Friday. Five more on Saturday. Indiafinishedwith21golds, REUTERS 27 silvers and 37 bronzes — 85 medals in all — and, perhaps most significantly, pipped Uzbekistan to retain the fourth place it had earned in the last PTI edition. The only rider is an unlikely gold for Uzbekistan in equestrianonSunday.However, India finished 22 medals short overall compared to the 2023 campaign. Both India and Uzbekistan finished with 21 golds, but India’s two extra silvers made the difference. The final ranking, though, barelycaptures the suddenness of the turnaround. On Saturday morning, KumkumMohodwasshooting CHENNAI/KOCHI arrows in a contest that felt like a metaphor for India’s games. The 17-year-old had spent the weekhelpingendSouthKorea’s long reign in the women’s recurve team event.Now,in the individual final,she found herself twice behind Oh Yejin. Twiceshedraggedherselflevel. With the title coming down to the final arrows, Oh shot an eight.Kumkumshota10.Gold. A few hours later, Pranavi Urs nearly threw away a threestroke advantage with a triple bogey on the third hole. The sort of mistake that can unravel a final round. Instead, she responded with birdies on the sixth, 10th and 13th, then held on to win India’s first women’s individual Asian Games golf gold. “I think I purely did it for my parents,” Urs said, as her mother and father watched her stave off the pressure. “They’re here this week and it was always my mum's dream to have me represent the country and win,and then the national anthem and stuff. That was her Bollywood style, typical Bollywood mum. She wanted all that.” Paris Olympics bronze medallistAmanSehrawat’sgold was harder still. He led North Korea’s Han Chong-Song 6-1 in the57kgwrestlingfinal,onlyfor the world champion to claw his wayback and move 7-6 ahead. Continued on Page 2