7 interesting Forbes India reads for the weekend

 Images (Clockwise from top right): Shah Rukh Khan by Sachin Gokhale; Anil Mehta by Amit Verma

The long weekend is upon us, and it's the best time to catch up on the long reads of the week. This week, our compilation has our exclusive stories on the divide at Infosys and an interview with Vishal Sikka along with some stories from our Hidden Gems series.

1) It's critical for Infosys to be a company of innovators: Vishal Sikka
This week saw a major upheaval at the country's second largest information technology (IT) company - Infosys - when the managing director and chief executive Vishal Sikka stepped down after a long-drawn battle of words and allegations. The shock decision came only three years after Sikka had taken the role and was operating from Palo Alto. Soon after his decision to step down, Sikka spoke to us exclusively about his decision, the way forward for the company and why he has immense confidence that the iconic company will prevail. Click here to read more

2) Murthy is a hero. Yet, he faltered
Infosys has been known as an ethical company from the early days of the IT major's existence. This story recounts instances where the founders - while they were still running the company - took steps to disclose all information to shareholders whether it was necessitated by the laws or not, which brought them a lot of goodwill. Was it fair on the part of the co-founders to expect the same principles to be upheld under the realm of the company's first professional CEO? Or should they have stepped back and let Sikka run the company his way. Click here to read more

3) Two sides of the Infosys coin
A cover story on Infosys put together by our Editor (Technology) Harichandan Arakali and associate editors Aveek Datta and Anshul Dhamija explores two sides of the Infosys coin in the light of its CEO and managing director Vishal Sikka stepping down last weekend under mounting pressure from the co-founders over the past several months. This story argues both the cases - from Murthy's point of view and from the point of view of the next person who fills the corner office. It also explores the challenges in store for the next CEO. A search has started, but filling those shoes as well as making the co-founders happy will be a tough job for the new CEO. Click here to read more

4) India Shelter: Lending a helping hand
India Shelter Finance Corporation, a company set up in 2010, aims to solve the problem of extending finance to customers who may not have a regular income, no credit history, and at times, no clear idea of his/ her monthly expenses too. With the use of technology that the company invested to use and develop from early on, the company takes its decisions of creditworthiness based on a set of predetermined criteria. The platform also helps standardise credit assessment such that a branch doesn't get to get an approval from the head office before approving a loan. With NPAs above 90 days at less than 1 percent, India Shelter was picked as a hidden gem. Written by our Associate Editor Samar Srivastava, you can click here to read the full story .

5) Shah Rukh, Salman, Akshay among world's top 10 highest-paid actors
Forbes's world's top ten highest paid actors list is out and this time, three Bollywood superstars made it to the list. No guesses for the highest paid Indian actor on the list - Shah Rukh Khan - who ranked No 8 this year. The other two actors in the top 10 were Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. Our Online Editor Neeraj Gangal breaks down the list for you. Guess who's the highest paid actor in the world? Click here to read more

6) There is immense potential in the bancassurance model: RM Vishakha
Despite being the 23rd life insurer to start operations in the country - there are total 24 players - IndiaFirst Life Insurance, which relies on the bancassurance model, has made its mark in the market. RM Vishakha, IndiaFirst's managing director and chief executive, says there's enough headroom for her company. She speaks to our Associate Editor Aveek Datta about the trends in the way people buy life insurance, their experience with PMJJBY and the online insurance business. Click here to read more

7) Securens Systems: No cause for alarm
Our Senior Associate Editor Pravin Palande tells you about Securens System, a hidden gem company which we discovered, that calls itself a new-age Internet of Things company that specialises in electronic surveillance, with banks as a key market. What makes the company special, you say? They install e-surveillance and video and two-way audio systems at ATMs across the country thus eliminating the need for security guards. The concept has helped banks bring down their cost of security and surveillance at remote branches and ATMs. After getting ICICI Bank as its first customer in 2012, it boasts of more than 50 percent of the ATM surveillance market share in the country. Click here to read more about Securens Systems