1.TCS market cap share in Tata group falls below 50%, a first in more than a decade

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS’) contribution to the overall market capitalisation (mcap) of listed Tata group companies has slipped below 50% (to 49.2%) for the first time in over a decade. This has happened amid a rally in other Tata stocks, led by smaller companies, even as TCS, the group’s largest company by mcap, has lagged.

In recent quarters, Tata’s listed firms have emerged as leading performers on the bourses, with the group’s combined mcap  crossing Rs 30 trillion early last week — a first for a private sector conglomerate. The milestone signifies a near doubling of the Tata group’s mcap in the past three years, from Rs 15.6 trillion at the end of December 2020.

Since the end of December 2022, TCS’ share in group market capitalisation has declined by 740 basis points, thanks to a sharp rally in other group companies, such as Tata Motors, Trent, Tata Consumer, Titan Company, and Indian Hotels, as well as the initial public offering and listing of Tata Technologies. At its peak in March 2020, TCS accounted for 74 per cent of the combined market capitalisation of all listed Tata group companies.

2.Third offshore campus of IIT likely to be set up in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will likely host the Indian Institute of Technology’s (IIT) third offshore campus, in partnership with IIT Madras. A campus in Sri Lanka would be IIT Madras' second, after Zanzibar in Tanzania.

Meanwhile, Wharton regains status as best business school for MBAs, according to FT ranking.

Wharton has regained its position as the world’s leading provider of MBAs in 2024, according to the latest FT ranking of the top 100 global business schools.

The US school, based at the University of Pennsylvania, topped the assessment, which takes into account measures including value for money, alumni study aims achieved, gender and international diversity, the quality of academic research and school environmental policies, as well as salary and increases in pay. Schools’ participation is voluntary.

Wharton was followed by Insead in France, in second place, then Columbia in New York, SDA Bocconi in Milan and IESE in Barcelona.

5 Indian b-schools made the FT top 100 ranking: with ISB at 31, IIMA at 41, IIMB at 47, IIMC at 67, IIML at 85 and XLRI, Jamshedpur at 99.

3.JSW Group to set up nearly $5 billion in EV projects in eastern India, reports Reuters

Billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group, which recently bought a 35% stake in Chinese SAIC-owned MG Motor India, will spend ₹40,000 crore (~$4.82 billion) to set up electric vehicle and battery manufacturing units in Odisha. 

4.An electrifying new ironmaking method could slash carbon emissions, reports Science

A new zero-carbon ironmaking process using saltwater is cost-effective, new research suggests. Iron production accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions, as much as all passenger vehicles. 

The current method, which involves heating iron with high-carbon coal and using the carbon atoms to strip the oxygen from iron oxide ore, is very energy intensive.

 The new system involves using the sodium in salt to do the oxygen-stripping. If powered by renewable energy, the process could even be carbon-negative — consuming more carbon dioxide than it emits, Science reported. But scaling up the operation would come with challenges: The process generates about as much chlorine gas as it does iron, possibly leading to pollution.

5.NATO leaders and the White House slammed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks suggesting Russia should attack alliance members he accused of shirking their financial obligations. 

Some Republicans downplayed the comments, pointing to a Senate measure advancing a $95 billion military support package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that comfortably passed despite Trump’s opposition.

 European capitals have reportedly begun steeling themselves for a Trump return to power, however, which could leave them more responsible for their own security amid growing fears of a Russian attack on a NATO country in the coming years. “The recent statements by Donald Trump have yet again raised profound questions about the future of transatlantic security,” the Ukraine-focused analyst Olga Lautman wrote.

If the U.S. cannot be counted on to help its European allies, then other countries with mutual security agreements — like Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama — can hardly be sure of its help, either.

6.Do your kids want a dog? Science may be on their side reported NPR.

A new study finds that getting a family dog is linked with a big jump in physical activity in younger kids – especially in young girls. The finding is part of a growing body of research investigating how dogs can boost health, not just for kids but for people of all ages.

In the study, Australian researchers followed 600 children over a three-year period, starting at preschool age. They tracked the kids' physical activity using monitors that measured things like how fast, long and intensely they moved. They also surveyed parents about their children's activities – and whether they had a family dog.

Half of the children didn't have a dog. About 204 kids had a dog the entire time, while 58 kids got a dog during the study period — and sadly, 31 kids lost a dog. That created a natural experiment for researchers to see how dog ownership affected the kids' activity levels.

Perhaps not surprisingly, both boys and girls in the study engaged more frequently in activities like dog walking and playing in the yard after getting a dog. But the impact was particularly pronounced in girls.

7.What do some of the US’ most prestigious B-schools—Harvard, Cornell, Kellogg, the Chicago Booth School, Stern, and McDonough—have in common? They all either had or have people of Indian origin as deans reported Financial Times.

Some excerpts from the article in FT:

Consider that over 80 Indian-Americans serving as deans and senior academics are part of a WhatsApp group.

Indians’ increased presence among the leaders of US business schools brings some distinctive cultural characteristics and demonstrates both the social mobility afforded by US universities and the weaknesses of India’s own higher education system.

Many of those in top positions share a similar profile: they were raised in India, studied in prestigious technology and management colleges in the country and then came to the US for postgraduate work. A large number stayed on and worked their way up to the top of university administrations. 

Today, this widespread presence of senior Indian academics in the US is one factor inspiring a new generation of Indians to attend US business schools. Their numbers are swelling thanks to a growing middle class that can afford to pay for an MBA, the greater availability of tuition loans in the US, and the continued constraints on domestic academic opportunities.

By contrast, the large numbers of Chinese doctoral students in the US often have a less strong command of the English language, and far greater incentives to return home to pursue academic careers— aided by their government’s funding of leading universities.

Madhav Rajan, the dean at Chicago Booth School of Business, whose undergraduate studies were at the University of Madras, got his start on the US academic path when Srikant Datar — now dean at Harvard Business School — persuaded him to switch to a PhD from a masters’ programme at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.