Arvind’s Newsletter

I will be travelling from this weekend for about 3 weeks. Regretfully the newsletter will come out more intermittently than on a daily basis as is normal

1.Foxconn seeks to work with STMicro to build semiconductor factory in India, reported Bloomberg

Foxconn Technology Group is teaming up with STMicroelectronics NV for a bid to build a semiconductor factory in India, seeking state backing to broaden its footprint in the South Asian country. Taiwan’s Foxconn and Franco-Italian STMicro are applying for state support for a 40-nanometer chip plant. Such mature chips are used in cars, cameras, printers and a wide variety of other machines.

Any chip project, including Foxconn’s, will have to make detailed disclosures including whether it has firm, binding agreements with a technology partner for production, as well as financing plans comprising equity and debt arrangements. The applicants also need to disclose the type of semiconductors they’ll make and their target customers.

2.India Inc set for board refresh as 10-year grandfathering nears end

About 375 director posts at 198 cos require to be replenished by March 2024

Under the Companies Act 2013, an ID can serve a maximum of two terms of five years each. However, directors who had already served the maximum termas of the date of the act's amendment were granted an additional 10 years – known as the grandfathering period – to step down from their roles. This period concludes on 31 March 2024.

According to an analysis by corporate governance and voting advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS), nearly 40 per cent of companies in the top 500 could be affected by this directive.

3.Zinc batteries that offer an alternative to lithium just got a big boost, reports MIT’s Technology Review

One of the leading companies offering alternatives to lithium batteries for the grid has just received a nearly $400 million loan from the US Department of Energy. Eos Energy makes zinc-halide batteries, which the firm hopes could one day be used to store renewable energy at a lower cost than is possible with existing lithium-ion batteries.

Eos’s batteries are primarily made from zinc, the fourth most produced metal in the world, and use a water-based electrolyte (the liquid that moves charge around in a battery) instead of organic solvent. This makes them more stable than lithium-ion cells, and means they won’t catch fire.

While the cost of lithium-ion batteries has plummeted over the past decade, there’s a growing need for even cheaper options. The zinc-based technology Eos hopes to commercialise could store electricity for hours or even days at low cost. Read the full story.

4.Every New Car Is a 'Privacy Nightmare,' Mozilla Researchers Conclude, reported in Vice.

Modern cars are a “privacy nightmare” that collect vast troves of personal data and demand owners allow manufacturers to share or sell highly sensitive information such as disability status, genetic information, facial templates, and even sexual activity, according to a Mozilla Foundation analysis of car company privacy policies.

The Mozilla Foundation spent 600 hours of research studying 25 privacy policies for major car brands. None of them met the Foundation’s minimum standards around security and privacy; all of them claim the right to collect huge amounts of personal data in dozens of categories from both the car and associated apps.

5. The Rolling Stones yesterday unveiled details of their upcoming album, "Hackney Diamonds," in a livestreamed event with late-night host Jimmy Fallon (see here), marking the band's first original studio album in 18 years. The 12-track album will be released Oct. 20 and will feature guest appearances from Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder.

The surviving members of the iconic British group—Mick Jagger, 80, Keith Richards, 79, and Ronnie Wood, 76—also premiered the music video for their new single, "Angry," starring 25-year-old actress Sydney Sweeney, known for her role in the HBO series "Euphoria." Watch the music video below