1.Women's representation in corporate India grows, but challenges remain

About 97 per cent of the listed companies have at least one woman director, but women hold only 21 per cent of directorship positions, according to a study conducted by Prime Database Group ahead of International Women's Day.

The study, involving 2,133 NSE-listed companies, highlights the "leaky bucket" phenomenon, which implies that the proportion of women decreases while moving up the corporate hierarchy. Women make up 23 per cent of employees, but only 13 per cent of Key Management Personnel (KMPs) and 10 per cent of executive directors.

Only 5 per cent of companies have a woman managing director and a CEO. Women also hold just 480 out of the 4,828 (or 10 per cent) executive directorship positions at India Inc.

2.Challenges in India’s tender-driven renewable energy market

After an initial boom in renewable energy tendering and allotments in India, the sector appears to be struggling, with weak demand, cancellations and delays in power agreements, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysts (IEEFA).

Though the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) issued a record number of 73 GW of renewable energy tenders in 2024, around 8.5 GW went undersubscribed, primarily due to complex tender structures and infrastructure delays. Power developers argue that the government’s strict mandate to meet the 50 GW target each year puts pressure on tendering agencies to issue bids without securing and planning for offtake agreements.

The report recommends the state to focus equally on all stages of the process to combat this issue and meet India’s target of 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030. 

3.Foxconn to get Rs 6,970 crore incentive for iPhone unit in Bengaluru

The Taiwanese giant, the first electronics manufacturer to be given such a large incentive by Karnataka, plans to assemble 20 million smartphones annually, on a 300-acre plot spread across the Doddagollahalli and Chapparadahalli villages in Devanahalli taluk, near Bengaluru.

Karnataka has an ESDM policy in place, which offers a production-linked incentive (PLI) of 1% of annual turnover for five years from the first year of commercial operation, among other incentives.

Announcing a new initiative called local economy accelerator program (LEAP), the CM set aside Rs 200 crore as the initial part of a Rs 1000 crore grant for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in cities outside of Bengaluru. The initiative, he said, aimed to create five lakh jobs across the state.

4.Women hosts make up 30% of Airbnb India, earned Rs 260 crore in 2024

Indian women hosts, almost 30 per cent of Airbnb hosts in the country, have earned Rs 260 crore in 2024, shaping the future of hospitality with inclusivity and economic opportunities.

Women in India cumulatively earned approximately Rs 260 crore through hosting, with over 56 per cent receiving 5-star reviews from guests, Airbnb said in a statement.

Almost 35 per cent of guest's favourite listings in India are hosted by women, showcasing their excellence in hospitality, it added.

According to data, Millennial travellers (individuals born around 1985-1995) are leading the charge for bookings, followed by Gen Zs, those born between 1997 and 2012.

The majority of women travellers prefer to travel as a pair of two or more in groups, typically taking trips lasting between two to six nights, reflecting a preference for short-yet-immersive experiences, according to Airbnb data.

In terms of destinations, domestically, Goa was the most popular amongst Indian women travellers in 2024, followed by Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, and Jaipur.

5.China scales up ties with Bangladesh government with extension of loan repayments, duty free access offers

 India has been Bangladesh’s most important ally since the latter gained independence from Pakistan, with Indian military support, in 1971. But New Delhi has given shelter to ousted former Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina, raising tensions with the interim Dhaka government: It wants her returned to face charges, including crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi delegation just ended a trip to China that one member of Bangladesh’s ruling party described as “basically a goodwill visit, initiated by Beijing”

China is already Dhaka’s biggest trading partner and military supplier, and Beijing is increasingly targeting South Asian nations as it jostles with New Delhi for regional influence.

6.Israel’s military has trained a powerful AI model on intercepted Palestinian data

Israel’s military surveillance agency has used a vast collection of intercepted Palestinian communications to build a powerful artificial intelligence tool similar to ChatGPT that it hopes will transform its spying capabilities, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.

The joint investigation with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found Unit 8200 trained the AI model to understand spoken Arabic using large volumes of telephone conversations and text messages, obtained through its extensive surveillance of the occupied territories.

According to sources familiar with the project, the unit began building the model to create a sophisticated chatbot-like tool capable of answering questions about people it is monitoring and providing insights into the massive volumes of surveillance data it collects.

The elite eavesdropping agency, comparable in its capabilities with the US National Security Agency (NSA), accelerated its development of the system after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. The model was still being trained in the second half of last year. It is not clear whether it has yet been deployed.

The efforts to build the large language model (LLM) – a deep learning system that generates human-like text – were partially revealed in a little-noticed public talk by a former military intelligence technologist who said he oversaw the project.

7.Do We Age Steadily, or in Bursts? What Scientists Know So Far. The New York Times

“Well, it turns out there may be a scientific basis for this experience. By analyzing age-related markers, such as proteins and DNA tags in the bloodstream, some scientists are coming to understand that aging in adulthood is not a linear process, but perhaps one that jumps dramatically at certain points in one’s life."

8.Why most countries are struggling to shut down 2G

Telecom companies aim to profit from the 2G-to-5G transition as governments worldwide face pressure to free up mobile spectrum.

Vietnam is the latest country to shut down 2G by offering free 4G phones to the poor.

India and South Africa have expressed concern that the strategy would cut off phone access for millions of vulnerable people.

9.The 3 cognitive scripts that subtly rule our lives

Cognitive scripts are mental templates that can subtly influence our decisions, career choices, and identities.

Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff outlines three common cognitive scripts: the Sequel Script, the Crowdpleaser Script, and the Epic Script.

Le Cunff advises breaking free from these scripts by questioning the origins of our assumptions and embracing small, low-risk experiments.

“One of the most dominant cognitive scripts is the Sequel Script — the assumption that the next chapter of our lives must logically follow from the last. We stick to careers we no longer enjoy, remain in relationships that no longer serve us, and avoid exploring opportunities that seem inconsistent with who we have been. This self-consistency fallacy stems from our brain’s preference for familiar narratives — stories that make sense and offer direction, reassuring us that we are on the right track.

Another script that subtly governs our behavior is the Crowdpleaser Script. The pressure to conform to social expectations is powerful, often masquerading as wisdom or prudence. From an early age, we internalize socially-sanctified milestones — educational achievements, career ladders, relationship timelines. The desire to be validated by peers and family keeps many from taking unconventional paths, even when those paths are more aligned with our own definition of success (consider someone staying in a career they don’t enjoy just to satisfy family expectations).

The third one is the Epic Script, the belief that life should revolve around one grand purpose. The idea is seductive: Find the “one thing” that’s meant for us and dedicate our lives to it. Yet research suggests this thinking is flawed. Many who chase a singular passion become disillusioned when faced with setbacks, assuming they have chosen wrong rather than adjusting course. Others feel lost when they fail to identify a defining purpose at all. The truth is that most people are multi-potentialites — curious, evolving beings with diverse interests. Embracing this fluidity can lead to a more fulfilling life.

How to break free from cognitive scripts

Cognitive scripts provide useful structure, especially for routine activities, but they shouldn’t define the course of our lives. Recognising these unseen but ever-present cognitive scripts is the first step to breaking free from them. The key isn’t a dramatic overhaul, but rather a mental shift — replacing rigid expectations with an experimental mindset. By allowing ourselves to test new possibilities without the pressure of a fixed outcome, we open the door to a more aligned way of living. Read on

10.Christie’s first auction consisting solely of art augmented by artificial intelligence netted far more cash than experts had anticipated.

The works on sale included a painting that reimagined data from the International Space Station and satellites. It fetched $277,200, exceeding its top estimate of $200,000.

Another artwork was created by a robot during the auction itself — every new bid triggered the bot to paint more, eventually producing a piece worth $8,190.

The auction, in which 37% of bidders were first-timers, had sparked controversy: Critics argued that the art relied on AI models trained on copyrighted material, Artnet reported. But Christie’s said AI only “enhanced” the artists’ work, showing technology is “not a substitute for human agency”

11.How AI is changing and will change the world of writing

David Perell host of popular podcast “How I write” interviews Tyler Cowen on the above topic. Tyler Cowen, who is an economist and writer has been featured many times in my newsletter. He explains a practical way to use AI tools while maintaining your voice. He explains the way he incorporates LLMs in his daily work. He talks about how people will be writing fewer books in the future and how truly human writing will stand out among AI generated content.