Arvind's Newsletter

1.Future of jobs: From creative thinking to talent management - These are 10 fastest growing skills by 2030

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on 7 January released a report titled 'Future of Jobs Report 2025', saying 170 million new jobs will be created, while 92 million jobs will be displaced resulting in a net increase of 78 million jobs by 2030.

Among the other findings, the WEF's report mentioned the top 10 fastest-growing skills by 2030. It said Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data will emerge at the top of the list, followed by networks and cybersecurity.

Technological literacy will be the third fastest-growing skill by 2030, followed by creativity in the fourth spot and resilience, flexibility, and agility in the fifth position, said the WEF report.

Curiousness and lifelong learning skills rank sixth, superseding leadership and social influence. Talent management, analytical thinking, and environmental stewardship rank eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively, in the top 10 fastest-growing skills by 2030.

2.BP Secures Bid To Operate ONGC's Mumbai High Field With 60% Output Boost

In a first-of-its-kind appointment of a foreign oil major by a public sector player, BP has been selected by state-run national oil company ONGC to boost production at the Mumbai High offshore oilfield.

BP Exploration (Alpha) Ltd, a wholly-owned step-down subsidiary of London-based BP Plc, has been appointed as a technical services provider (TSP) to enhance recovery from the mature oilfield, ONGC announced in a filing on Wednesday. "The TSP has indicated a substantial increase in oil and oil-equivalent gas production (up to 60 per cent) from baseline production levels (reputed third-party vetted production estimates with natural decline) over a 10-year contract period," ONGC stated.

3.India’s Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules: Key highlights

The much-anticipated draft rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA) have been published for public consultation. Nearly 16 months after the DPDPA's passage in August 2023, these rules mark a key step in India’s journey towards a robust framework for safeguarding personal data in an increasingly digital economy. Titled The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 (Rules), the draft provides clarity for data fiduciaries and other stakeholders on compliance with the provisions of the DPDPA.

The Rules address a range of issues, including consent, privacy notices, processing of children’s data, consent managers, data breaches, security safeguards, and breach notifications. They have been drafted in a straightforward manner, with examples, to aid understanding. The Government aims to balance individual privacy protection with the promotion of business innovation, ensuring that India’s digital infrastructure advances while respecting privacy rights.

4.10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025

Each year, MIT Technology Review spends months researching and discussing which technologies that will make the cut for our 10 Breakthrough Technologies list, which highlights a mix of items that reflect innovations happening in various fields. We look at consumer technologies, large industrial­-scale projects, biomedical advances, changes in computing, climate solutions, the latest in AI, and more.

Read the innovations make the current year’s list

5.Earthquake strikes Tibet

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Shigatse region of Tibet yesterday at 9:05 am local time, causing widespread damage and claiming at least 126 lives. The epicentre was located in the high-altitude Chinese county of Dingri, about 47 miles northeast of Mount Everest, at a depth of 6.2 miles. The tremors were felt across Nepal, India, and Bhutan.

More than 1,000 homes were damaged, and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors; however, efforts are being hampered by freezing conditions, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shigatse is the second-largest city in Tibet and the traditional seat of the Panchan Lama, the second-most significant figure after the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibet remains a focal point of India-China tensions, despite a recent thawing over the countries’ decades-long border dispute. The simmering strains were evident in the Indian government’s statement on the earthquake that made no reference to China, instead mentioning the “Tibetan Autonomous Region.”

6.Donald Trump refuses to rule out force to take Greenland and Panama Canal

Donald Trump took aim at Denmark at a wide-ranging press conference, threatening the country with high tariffs as part of his push to bring Greenland under American control. The president-elect refused to rule out the possibility of military action over the Arctic island territory as well as the Panama Canal. 

He also suggested using “economic force” to compel Canada to become the 51st state and talked about potentially renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Canada’s outgoing leader said there is “not a snowball’s chance in hell” of his country being absorbed by the US as Trump had suggested, while Panama’s foreign minister said his country’s control of its eponymous canal — which Trump has not ruled out seizing by force — was “non-negotiable.” And the Danish PM has stated that “Greenland was not for sale.”

7.Investors rushed to back artificial intelligence ever more strongly even as other industries expressed concern over the technology’s impacts on jobs. 

The AI company Anthropic is expected to raise $2bn in funding at a $60bn valuation, tripling its value since last year. Rivals OpenAI, xAI, and Perplexity also saw huge recent rises.

The rise of AI is causing rapid change throughout the economy: The stock-photo giants Getty and Shutterstock plan to merge, creating a huge image library in the face of competition from AI image-generation tools.

And the growth of robotics has led groups as disparate as dockworkers, cooks, factory workers, and window cleaners to fear that their jobs will be automated away.

8.Easier Visa Rules Propel Thai Tourism to Near Pre-Covid Levels

Tourism is recovering in Thailand, where foreign visitor arrivals jumped 26% after the country eased entry rules and waived visas for Chinese, the largest group of visitors. The nation expects arrivals to reach a record 40 million and—along with about 200 million domestic trips—to generate 2.8 trillion baht ($81 billion) in revenue. 

Relaxed visa rules and longer stays per visit aren’t the only reason tourism is expected to recover, Hollywood is also lending a helping hand. The third season of hit television series The White Lotus—set to air in early 2025 and featuring Thai luxury hotel—is expected to draw in more visitors.

The legalization of same-sex marriage is also expected to be a boon for the nation, and may boost “rainbow tourism” by attracting 4 million arrivals annually, and generate about $2 billion in revenue, according to travel platform Agoda. 

Thailand has even approved 2 additional holidays to encourage domestic people to travel and accelerate growth in the tourism-reliant country. 

And India’s peak foreign tourist arrivals was 10.9 million in 2019.