Arvind's Newsletter

1.How India pays online: UPI leads with 65% share, EMIs make up 20%

India's digital payment ecosystem has transformed in the past few years, with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) emerging as the most preferred way of payment. According to a report by omni-channel payment processing platform, Phi Commerce, UPI transactions accounted for a commanding 65% of all digital payment volumes in 2024.

Payments via equated monthly instalment (EMI) options comprised 20% of the transaction volume in 2024, while credit cards accounted for 10%. Traditional payment methods like net banking and direct transfers were reduced to just 5% of the total volume, as per the analysis, which was based on digital transactions across 20,000 merchants through Phi Commerce's payment gateway.

2.IndiGo briefly becomes world's most valuable airline by market cap

IndiGo, India’s largest airline, flirted with global supremacy on Wednesday as it briefly overtook US-based Delta Air Lines to become the world’s most valuable airline by market capitalisation, according to Bloomberg data.

Riding high on a rally, IndiGo’s share price soared to a peak of Rs 5,265 during the day. At around 2.30 pm, the airline claimed the top global spot with a market capitalisation of $23.24 billion — nudging past Delta’s $23.18 billion. The lead was short-lived and by market close IndiGo’s valuation slipped to $23.16 billion, just a notch below Delta’s, the data showed. IndiGo is the world’s second most valuable airline by market capitalisation.

 It’s a notable achievement for an airline that started commercial operations only in August 2006. Delta has been flying since 1929.

3.New Aadhaar app to have Face ID, QR code: How will it change identity check

The government is testing a new Aadhaar mobile application that will have features such as Face ID authentication and QR code-based verification.

The app eliminates the need for physical Aadhaar cards or photocopies, which are typically needed to verify identity and checking in at hotels and airports. Instead, people can now authenticate their identity digitally using their smartphones. The app leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure security and privacy measures, giving users complete control over their personal information

4. US Tariff Seesaw

China announced new retaliatory tariffs of 84% against US imports early Wednesday in response to the Trump administration’s 104% tariff on Chinese imports. The escalation came as Trump announced a 90-day pause on most tariffS over 10%—excluding China—later in the day, sparking markets to historic rallies. Trump also increased China’s tariffs to 125%.

The tariff pause came amid warnings from economists—including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon—that the broad tariff program would lead to a recession. Since last week’s announcement of increased tariffs on more than 75 nations, the S&P 500 had entered bear market territory, having shed nearly 20% off its recent high, while all US-listed stocks dropped $7.7T in value. 

Stocks popped on the reversal on Wednesday (S&P 500 +9.5%, Dow +7.9%, Nasdaq +12.2%), with the S&P 500 notching its biggest single-day gain since 2008, but they lost some of the gain on Thursday opening.The blue-chip S&P 500 index, was down 3.2 per cent by late morning in New York.The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite — — was down 3.7 per cent.

5.Changi regains the world’s best airport ranking in 2025, according to Skytrax

Changi is a destination in itself, where early check-in has been introduced to allow passengers to drop their bags off up to 48 hours before their flight so they can make their time at the airport part of the vacation. Skytrax has also recognized the airport as a gastronomic wonderland. It scooped up the award for World’s Best Airport Dining, as well as those for World’s Best Airport Washrooms and Best Airport in Asia, at the World Airport Awards held in Madrid.

The world’s no. 2 airport, according to Skytrax’s global survey of customers at 565 airports around the world, is the artwork-filled and architecturally splendid Hamad International in Qatar, easily one of the most luxurious aviation hubs in the world. It also won awards for Best Airport Shopping and Best Airport in the Middle East.

Asian airports nabbed spots three through six on the list, proving once again that the region is leaving North America and Europe to play catch-up when it comes to air transport excellence.

Tokyo Haneda (also named the World’s Cleanest Airport) was at No. 3, followed by Seoul’s Incheon International (also awarded World’s Best Airport Staff), Narita International (serving Tokyo) and Hong Kong International.

6.Germany’s conservative and center-left parties agreed a deal to form a new government, with the soon-to-be-chancellor saying the country is “back on track.” 

Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union won the most seats in February’s election despite a strong showing from the far-right Alternative for Germany.

His deal with the Social Democrats was given extra urgency by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and is headlined by huge new spending on defence and infrastructure.

But despite concern over the levies and Germany’s ongoing economic stagnation, the incoming coalition’s reforms look “rather unambitious,” a Deutsche Bank analysis argued, with little effort to fix problems in the pension system or labor supply.

7.Google AI Search Shift Leaves Website Makers Feeling ‘Betrayed’

Google's introduction of AI-generated answers and changes to its search algorithm have caused a significant decline in traffic to independent websites, disrupting the relationship between Google and publishers.

Many publishers have reported a 70% or more decline in traffic, leading to lost revenue and some even shutting down their operations, despite following Google's guidelines for creating high-quality content.

Google has acknowledged the impact on publishers but has not provided guarantees for recovery, and its AI Overviews feature is seen as a major contributor to the decline in traffic, as it summarizes content without driving users to visit the original websites.

8.Trump administration continued crackdown on certain universities, freezes $1 billion in funding for Cornell University, and $790 million for Northwestern University

The Trump administration is freezing $790 million in federal funding to Northwestern University and more than $1 billion in funding to Cornell University, a White House official told CNN.

”The money was frozen in connection with several ongoing, credible, and concerning Title VI investigations,” a Trump administration official said, referring to a federal statute that prohibits discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal funding.

The move adds to similar actions the administration has taken against several elite universities, either demanding changes to their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, or in connection with their handling of protests against the war in Gaza.

9.Andreessen Horowitz seeks to raise $20 billion mega-fund amid global interest in US AI startups

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is seeking to raise about $20 billion in what will be the largest fund in its history, to capitalize on global investors' interest in backing U.S. artificial intelligence companies, sources told Reuters.

The tech investment firm, known informally as a16z, has told limited partners that the fund will be dedicated to growth-stage investments in AI companies and draw upon global investors keen on investing in American companies, the sources said. The record fundraising and the goal of capitalising on foreign investment interest in the U.S. tech industry come against the backdrop of a sweeping tariff plan by President Donald Trump to urge companies to manufacture goods in the U.S.

10.Indian Startup Unveils System to Run AI Without Advanced Chips

Ziroh Labs collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to develop an affordable AI system called Kompact AI that can run large AI models without advanced computing chips such as from Nvidia Corp.

The platform enables AI to run on central processing units (CPUs) found in everyday computing devices, rather than graphics processing units (GPUs), and has been tested by US chipmakers Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Ziroh Labs' approach focuses on the process of inference, or operating AI systems after they've been trained, and claims to optimise leading AI models to run on personal computers with high-quality results.