1.JSW group enters the race for copper

India's steel-to-power conglomerate JSW Group plans to set up a 500,000 metric ton capacity copper smelter in the eastern state of Odisha by 2028-29 with feedstock of copper concentrate from Peru and Chile, a source directly aware of the matter told Reuters.

In January, JSW said it was foraying into the copper business with a $301.22 million investment to operate two copper mines from government-owned Hindustan Copper for a period of 20 years, with the option to extend it for another decade. The group now plans to set up its own smelter facility in Odisha with an investment of around 120 billion rupees and scale up the capacity to 1 million metric tons by 2033-34.

Currently only Hindalco Industries, part of India's Aditya Birla Group, and state-run miner Hindustan Copper Ltd, produce copper in the country. Last year, another Indian conglomerate, the Adani Group, entered copper industry by setting up a $1.2 billion copper smelter, the world's biggest single-location plant of its type in Gujarat. 

Also, in less than a month, two big conglomerates have pushed their way into the cables & wires (C&W) sector which has been traditionally dominated by smaller companies and unorganised players. Adani Group has launched a joint venture, after Aditya Birla Group entered the sector last month.

Their entry may lead to increased competition and potential consolidation in the market. Domestic and global demand for C&W products remains strong, with the sector poised for steady growth driven by infrastructure and industrial expansion.

2.India’s pet boom puts it on track to be among Mars Petcare’s top five markets

Surging pet ownership and growing demand for branded pet food could propel India into Mars Petcare’s top five markets within the next decade, a senior company executive said.

India currently contributes only 2% to Mars Petcare’s global business, but that share is expected to rise, driven by increased investment and higher pet food adoption.

Mars Petcare, the world’s largest pet food company and a division of family-owned Mars Inc., owns brands such as Pedigree, Royal Canin, Whiskas and Sheba. The Virginia-based conglomerate, with more than $50 billion in annual revenue, also sells packaged food brands like Snickers and M&M’s.

3.Eli Lilly launches blockbuster anti-obesity drug Mounjaro in India.

US pharma major Eli Lilly launched the much-awaited diabetes and obesity management drug Mounjaro in India at one-fifth of US price.

Lilly launched the drug in a single dose vial following the marketing authorisation from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). It has been priced at Rs 3,500 for a 2.5 mg vial and Rs 4,375 for a 5 mg vial.

The drug, usually taken once a week, would cost in the range of Rs 14,000 to Rs 17,500 for a month’s therapy depending on the dosage recommended by the doctor. The average monthly price of Mounjaro in the US is around 1000-1200 dollars a month (or Rs 86000-1 lakh).

4.Hindalco to Spend $5.2 Billion to Expand Into New Businesses: Bloomberg

India’s Aditya Birla Group plans to invest 450 billion rupees ($5.2 billion) across its aluminum, copper and specialty alumina businesses as unit Hindalco Industries Ltd. seeks to expand into high-precision engineering and upstream operations.

Hindalco will offer solutions in “electric vehicle mobility, renewable energy, energy storage, semiconductors and high-end electronics,” Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said at a conference on Thursday.

The fresh investment is aimed at repositioning Hindalco to target new-age businesses from being a traditional metal manufacturing company.

5.Remittances to India from advanced economies surpass Gulf inflows: RBI

Share of inward remittances from advanced economies, including the US and the UK, has risen, surpassing that of Gulf economies in 2023-24, reflecting a shift in migration pattern towards skilled Indian diaspora, said RBI March Bulletin released on Wednesday. 

India's remittances have more than doubled from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24. While financing around half of India's merchandise trade deficit, net remittance receipts have been an important absorber of external shocks during this period. 

An article 'Changing Dynamics of India's Remittances – Insights from the Sixth Round of India's Remittances Survey' published in the Bulletin captures various dimensions of inward remittances to India – country-wise source of remittances, statewise destination of remittances, transaction-wise size of remittances, prevalent modes of transmission. 

It noted that India's stock of international migrants has tripled from 6.6 million in 1990 to 18.5 million in 2024, with its share in global migrants rising from 4.3 per cent to over 6 per cent during the same period.

6.US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic setbacks in Ukraine, Gaza, and Panama cast doubt on his dealmaking reputation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to have rejected Trump’s bid for a full ceasefire in Ukraine, instead agreeing only to a limited truce: “Putin told Trump today that he wants a lasting peace, but his negotiating position suggests otherwise,” one expert wrote.

At the same time, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — pushed by Trump before his inauguration — appeared to be in tatters. And Chinese authorities were angered by an agreement by a BlackRock-led consortium to take control of Panama Canal ports, which the White House had celebrated. Even a deal to address security concerns over TikTok, reportedly nearing agreement, drew criticism from a Republican lawmaker.

7.European Union leaders will seek to beef up their military might and claw back influence on Ukraine at a summit today.

The bloc is scrambling to transform itself into a “military superpower” in the face of a US pullback on defense, Politico said, while the continent has been locked out of truce negotiations between Washington, Moscow, and Kyiv.

The rush to unify saw Europe’s leaders this week flesh out plans to bolster defense spending as they discuss stationing peacekeepers in Ukraine.

But deep divisions remain over how to approach the war: Finland’s president told Politico he wants to “militarize Ukraine to the teeth,” but as Le Monde put it, while “the declarations are strong… the facts are more ambiguous.”

8.How Jeff Bezos made peace with Donald Trump: Financial Times

“In October 2019, Amazon sued the Pentagon, alleging that President Donald Trump had blocked the company from securing a $10bn cloud-computing contract because of his animus towards The Washington Post and its owner Jeff Bezos — whom the US president derided as “Jeff Bozo”.

At the time, the dispute was just one example of the near-constant skirmishes between Trump’s White House and corporate America. But the episode left an enduring mark on Bezos, the Amazon founder and the world’s second-richest person.

Over the past year, Bezos has executed a sharp public reversal in his relationship with Trump — whom he previously criticised as a “threat to democracy” — that has surprised even longtime associates and has stunned the Post’s newsroom.

On inauguration day, Bezos stood dutifully beside other tech billionaires as Trump was sworn in. The ceremony, which was supported by a $1mn donation from Amazon, was streamed live on Prime Video. The platform has also paid $40mn for a Melania Trump documentary — nearly tripling the bid from rival studio Disney, though Amazon’s offer was for a limited series rather than a one-off programme. Roughly $28mn of that sum will go directly in the first lady’s pocket, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

Amazon recently paid to air old episodes of The Apprentice, Trump’s 2004-2017 reality TV show, on Prime Video — another way to send both money and flattery to the president. At The Washington Post, Bezos killed an editorial board endorsement of Kamala Harris and ordered the Post’s opinion section to only run articles about “personal liberties and free markets”, pledging never to publish views contrary to these principles.”

9.The Art of Losing: Why Embracing Failure is the Key to Winning: Paddy Upton in LinkedIn

“If you want to win at anything worthwhile, you’ll need to learn how to lose. And not just in a “dust yourself off and try again” kind of way, but in a deeper, more accepting, and ultimately liberating way.

Because here’s the reality—whether in sport, business, or life, if you play big enough, long enough, you’re going to lose – fairly often. You’re going to fail. You’re going to come up short. The best athletes in the world lose games. The most successful business leaders have repeatedly faced rejection. And every high performer, no matter how polished they look on the outside, has had their share of setbacks.

So the question isn’t how to avoid losing, but how to lose well.”

“The Paradox of Losing

Here’s a reality worth pondering—if you worry about losing, you’re going to lose. And if you don’t worry about losing, you’re still going to lose. So why worry?

Instead, focus on doing what it takes to win. Specifically, focus on the most immediate next step forward. And do this with full acceptance that losses will happen. Don’t judge yourself by them, and don’t let them define you. The best in the world aren’t the ones who avoid losing—they’re the ones who accept mistakes and failure happen, they learn from them and keep moving forward, wiser, more experienced, and, most times, grateful for the lessons. They don’t get this right every time, just more often than most.”

Read on

10.MF Husain’s Gram Yatra smashes all Indian painting records with $13.75 million sale at Christie’s in New York

The 1954 painting — which is 14 feet long and depicts village life in rural India after independence — shattered both the auction house’s estimated price of $2.5 million to $3.5 million, and the prior record of $7.4 million, for Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Story Teller. South Asian modern and contemporary art “continues to gather momentum,” Artnews reported, even as the wider art market is struggling.