1.India signs $4 bn deal for 31 Predator drones from US-based General Atomics

India on Tuesday signed an agreement with the United States (US) to acquire 31 Predator high-altitude, long-endurance drones from American defence company General Atomics, under the foreign military sales programme. The deal, valued at nearly $4 billion, is aimed at enhancing the combat capabilities of the Indian military, particularly along its disputed borders with China.

The agreement, concluded in the presence of senior defence and strategic officials from India in the national capital, represents a significant development in the military relationship between the two nations.

2.How the quick comm brigade sparked a fall in Damani’s blue chip stock (opines Mint)

Once seen as a trailblazer of sorts in offline food and grocery retail (along with Big Bazaar), Avenue Supermarts, which started out in 2002 and operates 377 ‘DMart’ stores across multiple states today, may be paying the price for not responding to the threat from quick commerce.

In a scathing note, brokerage Morgan Stanley said. “We have been defending DMart’s business model for a while. However, we now believe the company’s slow response to steadfast market changes toward convenience is starting to hurt the business." It added, “We note DMart management didn’t view this (growth of quick commerce) as much of an issue a couple of months ago. We believe aggressive scaling strategies from quick commerce players are hurting brick and mortar businesses, implying further deterioration in operational metrics could be coming up."

3.Google backs new nuclear plants to power AI

Google will back the construction of seven small nuclear-power reactors in the U.S., a first-of-its-kind deal that aims to help feed the tech company’s growing appetite for electricity to power AI and jump-start a U.S. nuclear revival.

Under the deal’s terms, Google committed to buying power generated by seven reactors to be built by nuclear-energy startup Kairos Power. The agreement targets adding 500 megawatts of nuclear power starting at the end of the decade, the companies said Monday.

The arrangement is the first that would underpin the commercial construction in the U.S. of small modular nuclear reactors. Many say the technology is the future of the domestic nuclear-power industry, potentially enabling faster and less costly construction by building smaller reactors instead of behemoth bespoke plants.

4.Crude oil tumbles as Middle East fears recede

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday as fears that Israel would attack Iranian facilities receded and new forecasts damped the outlook for Chinese demand. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell as much as 5.3 per cent in early trading to $73.34 a barrel, before staging a partial recovery to trade 4.9 per cent lower.

WTI, its US counterpart, dropped as much as 5.6 per cent. The declines meant crude prices have fallen by a fifth from its peak this year, above $90 a barrel in April.

Prices have jumped in recent weeks over fears that the conflict between Israel and Iran would disrupt supplies. Tuesday’s sell-off was partly prompted by reassurances overnight from Israel that it would not seek to attack Iran’s oil infrastructure.

5.Chinese and Russian spies are wreaking havoc on Western governments; The Economist

In the last six months, France, Germany, Poland, and the UK have all identified Russian sabotage schemes while American intelligence officials say Moscow is meddling in the US election through disinformation campaigns, The Economist wrote: “These efforts are generally crude and ineffectual. But they are prolific, intense and sometimes innovative.”

Western officials are also warning the public and businesses about the unprecedented scale of Chinese espionage, including photographing US military exercises and hacking British voting records, The Wall Street Journal reported. But given China “is deeply entwined in the global economy, it is proving a Sisyphean task.”

6.The world's sixth 'Blue Zone': Why Singapore values both quantity and quality of life

When it comes to longevity, few places in the world have seen such a drastic jump in life expectancy as the island city-state in Southeast Asia.

A child born in the country in 1960 was only likely to live (at the time) to 65, but a child born in Singapore today can expect to live to more than 86 according to estimates. In addition, the number of centenarians in Singapore doubled over the 10-year period from 2010-2020.

This huge leap in longevity has largely been driven by intentional government policy and investment. The distinction even was enough to have the country named the world's sixth "Blue Zone" in August 2023.

7.80% software engineers could lose jobs to AI if they don’t upskill, Gartner analysts warn

Over 80 per cent of software engineers need to pick up new skills such as natural-language prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) in order to secure their jobs amid the generative AI boom, according to analysts at Gartner Inc.

In a recently published note, the global research firm said that AI was not going to replace software engineers but spawn new roles for them. “Bold claims on the ability of AI have led to speculation that AI could reduce demand for human engineers or even supplant them entirely […] While AI will transform the future role of software engineers, human expertise and creativity will always be essential to delivering complex, innovative software,” Philip Walsh, a senior principal analyst at Gartner, said.

Underlining the importance of investing in AI developer platforms, Walsh further said, “This investment will require organisations to upskill data engineering and platform engineering teams to adopt tools and processes that drive continuous integration and development for AI artifacts.”