Arvind's Newsletter

1.Core sector growth falls to 2% in July against 6.3% in same month last year: Business Standard

Eight infrastructure sectors' growth fell to a two-month low of 2 per cent in July 2025 due to a dip in the production of coal, crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products.

According to official data released on Wednesday, the output of these sectors had risen by 6.3 per cent in July last year. The production growth was 2.2 per cent in the previous month of June.

The growth was dragged by five key sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, and refinery products, which recorded a decline in output in July.

2.India’s sweeping online gaming ban puts billions in investor capital at risk: Mint

The online gaming bill targeting real-money games jeopardizes a sector that’s attracted a host of global investors, including Tiger Global, ChrysCapital, and DST Global, and $2.8 billion in funding over just 5 years.

“Investors in real-money gaming startups are in wait-and-watch mode after the government unveiled a sweeping ban that could wipe out the billion-dollar industry.

The ‘Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025’ bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by a voice vote amid protests by Opposition members. It will become law after it is cleared in the Rajya Sabha.

The bill treats fantasy games and online gambling alike, effectively criminalizing an industry that generated over $2 billion in revenue last year.

Bankers and investors Mint spoke with said the new law, which would affect leading gaming companies such as Dream11, Gameskraft, and Games24x7, runs counter to ensuring policy continuity and improving the ease of doing business in India. But they also held hope.”

3.Indian Oil, BPCL resume buying Russian oil for September: Reuters

India's state-run refiners Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have bought Russian oil for September and October delivery, resuming purchases after discounts widened, two company officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

The resumption in Russian oil imports by Indian state refiners could reduce supplies for top buyer China which had stepped up purchases during their absence.

Meanwhile,Russia expects to continue supplying oil to India despite warnings from the United States, Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday, adding that Moscow hopes trilateral talks will soon take place with India and China.

4.Aurobindo Pharma closing in on $5.5b Zentiva buyout: Economic Times

Aurobindo Pharma has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Prague-based generic drugmaker Zentiva for $5-5.5 billion (Rs 43,500-47,900 crore) from Advent International, said several people aware of the matter, underscoring the growing consolidation of pharmaceutical assets in Europe.

If successful, this will be the largest-ever acquisition by an Indian pharma company, both at home and abroad, trumping the $3.2-billion acquisition of Daiichi Sankyo’s stake in Ranbaxy in 2014, or Biocon Biologics’ $3.3 billion cash and stock buyout of the global biosimilars business of US-based Viatris.

Aurobindo is competing with US private equity firm GTCR, the other serious contender left in the fray. Both sides are engaged in intense negotiations to finalise the various commercial and operations aspects of the transaction.

Aurobindo’s shares declined nearly 5 percent to ₹1,039 apiece on August 20 after reports suggested that the company had emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Prague-based generic drugmaker Zentiva from Advent International.

5.US tech stocks hit by concerns over future of AI boom: Financial Times

Warning from OpenAI’s Sam Altman and MIT paper puncture Wall Street’s enthusiasm

“US tech stocks sold off on Tuesday as warnings that the hype surrounding artificial intelligence could be overdone hit some of the year’s best-performing shares.

Nvidia, the chips group that has surged to become the world’s first $4tn company on the back of AI, fell 3.5 per cent, while software group Palantir dropped 9.4 per cent and chip designer Arm shed 5 per cent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.4 per cent, the biggest one-day drop for the index since August 1. The blue-chip S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent.

Traders pinned some of the declines in the US on a critical report on Monday authored by a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Researchers said “95 per cent of organisations are getting zero return” from their investments in generative AI, the technology that has sent US stocks soaring to record highs in recent months.

“Just 5 per cent of integrated AI pilots are extracting millions in value, while the vast majority remain stuck with no measurable [profit and loss] impact,” the MIT report said.

The stock drop also came days after OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman signalled an AI bubble might be forming. “Are investors over excited? My opinion is yes,” Altman said late last week.”

He said: “I do think some investors are likely to lose a lot of money, and I don’t want to minimise that, that sucks. There will be periods of irrational exuberance. But on the whole the value for society will be huge.”

6.Madison Avenue Is Starting to Love A.I.- New York Times

“A.I. has come for the commercials.

When Coca-Cola released a holiday commercial with visuals generated entirely by artificial intelligence last year, the use of the technology for a 30-second spot seemed novel. It is quickly becoming commonplace.

Nearly 90 percent of marketers who spent more than $1 million on digital video ads last year are using or have plans to use generative A.I. to create video advertisements, according to an industry report released in July. That can mean using tools to streamline production, but also introducing elements like voice-overs. And A.I. has allowed companies to generate hyper-realistic landscapes, salesman avatars and almost any other visual component.

“The number of different elements that one can change in a piece of creative are almost endless,” said David Cohen, chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the trade group that published the report. “It’s impossible to do that with humans. It needs a technological assist.”

Many small and medium-size companies are wholeheartedly embracing the change, because the technology can sharply lower production costs. Big tech companies including Meta and TikTok are encouraging the use of A.I. tools as well, introducing their own technologies to make advertisements. Read on. Gift article from NYTimes

7.Even as we are experiencing heavy monsoon rains including flash floods in some parts of South Asia, severe droughts hit countries extending from the Middle East through Europe. 

Iraq has seen water levels along its two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, fall by more than a quarter and is grappling with its driest weather since 1933, while Reuters catalogued water shortages in Hungary ,Serbia, Syria , and Turkey, harming livestock, forcing farmers to abandon their land, and driving officials to impose restrictions on the use of water.

The economic consequences of the droughts — which are made more frequent and extreme by climate change —are huge: The cost of a drought today is twice what it was in 2000, and the OECD projects those costs will rise at least a further 35% by 2035.

8.Deep Research with AI: 9 Ways to Get Started: Jeremy Caplan on Substack

The AI search landscape is transforming at breakneck speed. New "Deep Research" tools from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity autonomously search and gather information from dozens — even hundreds — of sites, then analyze and synthesize it to produce comprehensive reports. While a human might take days or weeks to produce these 30-page citation-backed reports, AI Deep Research reports are ready in minutes.

Very useful article which explains how to get started to use Research tools of LLM apps.

What’s in this post

• Examples of each report type I generated for my research, so you can form your own impressions.

• Tips on why & how to use Deep Research and how to craft effective queries.

• Comparison of key features and strengths/limitations of the top platforms.

9.A leadership crisis could derail China’s aim to rival US military strength by the mid-century, analysts say.

The People’s Liberation Army’s stated goal is to challenge the world’s “most powerful military” by 2049, but it has been plagued by internal crises. Since 2022, dozens of officers have been removed, and several seats on a key council are empty after members’ arrests or disappearances.

The extent of the purge could well exceed that under Mao Zedong’s rule, two China experts noted in Foreign Affairs. The crackdown reflects leader Xi Jinping’s “mafia don-like grip over the military, they wrote, and his dissatisfaction with it: Xi is “obsessed” with ensuring the PLA can fight the US military, but isn’t confident it can.

10.The unseen masterpieces of Frida Kahlo: BBC

Lost or little-known works by the Mexican artist provide fresh insights on her life and work. Holly Williams explores the rarely seen art included in a new book of the complete paintings.

“You know Frida Kahlo – of course you do. She is the most famous female artist of all time, and her image is instantly recognisable, and unavoidable. Kahlo can be found everywhere, on T-shirts and notebooks and mugs. While writing this piece, I spotted a selection of cutesy cartoon Kahlo merchandise in the window of a shop, maybe three minutes' walk from my home. I bet many readers are similarly in striking distance of some representation of her, with her monobrow and traditional Mexican clothing, her flowery headbands and red lipstick.” Read on