Arvind's Newsletter

A heads up that there will be no newsletter from Oct 2 to 8 as I am travelling.

1.Trump visa curbs push U.S. firms to consider shifting more work to India: Reuters

Donald Trump's H-1B visa crackdown,will hasten U.S. firms' shift of critical work to India, turbocharging the growth of global capability centres (GCCs) that handle operations from finance to research and development, economists and industry insiders say.

The world's fifth-largest economy is home to 1,700 GCCs, or more than half the global tally, having outgrown its tech support origins to become a hub of high-value innovation in areas from design of luxury car dashboards to drug discovery.

Trends such as growing adoption of artificial intelligence and increasing curbs on visas are pushing U.S. firms to redraw labour strategies, with GCCs in India emerging as resilient hubs blending global skills with strong domestic leadership.

2.Andaman Sea offshore well could unlock decades of energy potential for India: Economic Times

India has confirmed a significant natural gas discovery in the Andaman basin, marking a milestone in deepwater exploration. This find, at the Sri Vijayapuram-2 well, validates the region's hydrocarbon potential and aligns with India's energy self-reliance goals. While commercial production is years away, it promises to boost domestic output and reduce import dependence.

The size of the gas pool and commercial viability of the discovery will get verified in the coming months, but establishing the presence of hydrocarbons in the Andaman basin is a major step. The discovery aligns with hydrocarbon finds from Myanmar to Indonesia along the same geological belt.

3.India's 2025 IPO mopup set to cross ₹1 trillion despite weak equities: Business Standard

India’s primary market is on track to cross the ₹1 trillion fundraising milestone this year, once the mega share sales of non-banking financial company Tata Capital and coworking operator WeWork India Management close next week.

The strong pipeline sets the stage for this year’s tally to challenge the record ₹1.6 trillion raised in 2024 through initial public offerings (IPOs). This will be only the third time — the first two being 2021 and 2024 — that IPO mobilisation in a calendar year will be higher than ₹1 trillion. This year’s performance is notable as the surge in offerings has come against a relatively weak secondary-market backdrop.  

The Nifty 50 has gained less than 4 per cent year-to-date, compared to a 19 per cent rally over the same period in 2024.

4.India slips to second as China tops emerging market rankings in August: Mint

After topping the list of emerging market (EM) economies for four straight months, India was dethroned by China in August, as weak stock market and currency performance offset the boost from robust GDP growth and manufacturing activity, Mint’s latest emerging market tracker showed. India slipped to second place with a composite score of 57.5, just behind China’s 58.4.

India was the worst performer among peers on both stock market capitalization and currency movement. Market capitalization fell 2.1% month-on-month, while the rupee depreciated 1.6% against the dollar. Even so, a strong GDP growth of 7.8% in April-June, a manufacturing purchasing managers’ index reading of 59.3, and export growth of 6.7% kept India ahead of most other EMs.

5.Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries joins India's shipbuilding push with Swan Defense and Heavy Industries: Economic Times

Samsung Heavy Industries has announced its entry into India’s shipbuilding sector through a partnership with Swan Defense and Heavy Industries (SDHI) in Gujarat, a move that aligns with New Delhi’s ambition to become one of the world’s top five shipbuilders by 2047.

SDHI, which accounts for 30% of India’s shipbuilding capacity and houses the country’s largest dry dock, will provide a strong base for Samsung to expand into India’s maritime logistics market, projected to grow 6.4% annually through 2030. The tie-up comes as India courts Korean shipbuilders to bolster local capacity.

6.Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel backs Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza: Financial Times and others

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he backs US President Donald Trump’s plan to end Israel’s nearly two-year war against Hamas in Gaza.

The plan proposes an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. European and Gulf leaders hailed the deal, with Italy’s prime minister calling it a potential “turning point”.

The announcement piles pressure on Hamas: Trump told the group to accept the plan or be destroyed. But Israel is under pressure, too. It has received more US aid than any other country since its founding, but American public opinion has shifted spectacularly on its ally, a New York Times poll found. A majority of respondents oppose further aid, and 40% say Israel “intentionally” harms civilians. Read on Gift articles.

7.AI firms are moving beyond simple conversational chatbots, creating increasingly autonomous agents that can do much more than answer queries: Ars Technica

ChatGPT users in the US can now buy things directly within the chat, a step closer to a virtual assistant that can book flights or shop.

Google DeepMind released two robotics models that can “ solve complex, multiple step tasks” in the physical world, while Anthropic said its latest model is capable of working 30 hours on a task, rather than losing focus over time, a major hindrance for AI’s ability to plan and reason.

Firms are investing in training AIs on video and robotic data to learn about the physical world, Ars Technica reported, as returns from training on internet text have slowed.

8.The SEC will fast-track Trump's push to scrap rules on quarterly earnings reports: Paul Atkins in Financial Times

Wall Street’s top watchdog will fast-track President Donald Trump’s plan to scrap quarterly company reporting as part of a deregulation drive on businesses, its chief has said.

Paul Atkins, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said the proposal will allow companies to report twice a year rather than four times, while claiming the move is “not a retreat from transparency."

“It is time for the SEC to remove its thumb from the scales and allow the market to dictate the optimal reporting frequency based on factors such as the company’s industry, size and investor expectations,” he wrote in a column for the Financial Times.

9.Get ready for a new addition to the C-suite: Chief Longevity Officer (CLO): Quartz

Corporate America is tinkering with its alphabet soup again, and this time the new letter is “L.” The chief longevity officer — or CLO, if you’re collecting titles — is pitched as the executive who can help companies adapt to the fact that people are living and working longer. A handful of startups, plus Tony Robbins’ luxury hotel venture, have already adopted the role, and proponents say it’s overdue in bigger firms. The job is to reimagine careers, benefits, and workplace culture and to make work, well, work when “retirement age” is more myth than milestone.

 That can look like phased retirements for older employees, sabbaticals or retraining programs for mid-career workers, and benefits that flex as easily for a new parent as they do for a late-career veteran. A good CLO isn’t just an HR officer with a fancier title — the job is to turn demographic shifts into business strategy, keeping institutional knowledge from walking out the door while also keeping younger employees from burning out. Reverse mentorships, multigenerational teams, and more fluid career arcs are all part of the package.

10.Nine of the world's most unforgettable train trips: BBC

Two hundred years after the first passenger train rolled down the tracks, these iconic rail journeys still inspire awe and wonder.