Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, April 12, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Indian markets ended Thursday on a robust note with the benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex both ending the day in the green. Touching an all time high of 22,775 points, Nifty closed just 22 points below it, up 0.49 per cent from its previous close. Sensex too closed on a higher note, up 0.47 per cent from its previous close.

Equity trading at record levels, which has been going on for some months now, may soon hit its peak. Fresh data from the National Stock Exchange shows that retail investors as well as high net-worth investors have turned bearish on index futures amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. This group of investors became net sellers of more than 16,000 Nifty and Bank Nifty futures contracts, after the NSE index hit a fresh high on Thursday. Mint’s markets correspondent Ram Sahgal reports on the significant shift in sentiment from this group of investors. This comes after 84 days of bullish stance from the group of investors referred to as ‘Client’ by the NSE. Historically, the positioning of clients in index futures has been a reliable indicator of market tops or bottoms. When these positions turn light or negative, it often signals a market peak, while a substantial increase in bets typically indicates a market bottom.

Generative AI - buzzword of the decade - is still a concept people are trying hard to grasp. It is important that people understand what generative artificial intelligence is. But it is even more crucial for lawmakers of the world to have a good understanding of the concept because laws around Gen AI will shape the technology’s future. One such law that could prove to be crucial for AI’s future has been tabled in the US Congress. The proposed “Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, 2024”, introduced by US Congressman Adam Schiff, addresses growing concerns over the fair use of copyrighted materials in the development of AI models. So what does the bill propose to do? This bill mandates that tech firms like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, which have developed large AI models trained on vast amounts of data, disclose the use of any copyrighted data in their training datasets. So what does the bill mean for innovation in AI? If passed, will it set a precedent? Will AI models be able to train themselves on copyrighted work? Mint’s Shouvik Das tackles these questions in today’s Primer.

It hasn't been smooth sailing lately for Tata Group’s Vistara. The airline has been seeing some turbulence after it had to ground 30 to 50 flights a day with pilots calling in sick as a protest against an imminent cut in their salaries. The carrier even blamed botched up rostering for the delays and cancellations. Now the airline’s CEO, Vinod Kannan, has addressed the airline's recent operational challenges in a reassuring message to employees. Kannan emphasised that the difficult period marked by flight cancellations and scheduling disruptions is now in the past. The troubles, as Kannan explains, were a mix of things out of their control like air traffic delays, some unexpected bird encounters, and maintenance that just had to be done. These hiccups threw a wrench into their finely tuned schedules and, with pilot rosters already maxed out, it was tough to keep everything running smoothly. Mint’s aviation correspondent Anu Sharma reports on the latest development surrounding Vistara’s struggle to keep its flights on time and running smoothly.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, India’s political landscape is buzzing. Leaders of all political parties are out there campaigning, electioneering and asking for people’s support. The election, which is planned to be conducted over seven phases, will kick off in exactly a week’s time. Uttarakhand happens to be one of the key states going to polls in the first phase on April 19. Amidst the ongoing Game of Thrones for 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, its incumbent, the ruling party’s star campaigner for over a decade and the nation’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat down for an interview with Hindi Hindustan’s editor-in-chief Shashi Shekhar. The prime minister seemed  confident about returning for a third term. He listed out his government’s achievements during the course of the interview, with special focus on Uttarakhand, which is one of the states voting in the first phase. Modi talked about issues ranging from his government’s approach towards corruption to its stance on renewable energy.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the prime minister refuted any claims of an anti-incumbency wave in the country. He said his party has robust on-ground support.

Last week, Thierry Delaporte stepped down as the CEO of Bengaluru-based IT giant Wipro. To fill in his shoes, Srinivas Pallia was chosen. But Pallia isn't just any new CEO on the block; he's a seasoned Wipro veteran who's weathered the ups and downs of the company for 32 long years. However, as Pallia steps into the limelight, it won't be an easy road ahead for him. He faces a mammoth task of steering the company back to its former glory and reclaiming its spot among India’s top 3 IT companies, a position it lost to HCL in 2022. Wipro's recent years have been anything but smooth, with the company grappling to keep pace with its peers. Mint’s Shelley Singh spoke to critics and analysts, who echo this sentiment. According to many of them apart from the pandemic boom, Wipro has mostly lagged behind its peers. Adding to the challenge is the instability at the leadership level. More than 20 senior executives left under the watch of outgoing CEO Delaporte. This leadership instability is further underscored by the sheer number of CEOs Wipro has had since the year 2000—Pallia marks the eighth. Shelley takes a deep dive into the challenges awaiting Wipro’s new chief, for today’s Long Story.

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Show notes:

Futures flashing signal that market rally may be about to peak

Mint Primer | American AI bill: Is it a boon or bane for global innovation?

Worst is behind us, says Vistara CEO to employees as airline trims network

Just 3% of ED investigations related to people in politics: PM Narendra Modi

With Delaporte gone, can legacy hand Srinivas Pallia steer Wipro through the AI