1.Bengaluru, Pune among most congested city in the world in 2022. As a Pune resident of last 5 years I have seen the rising congestion on Pune roads year by year, especially after the commencement of metro construction, nonetheless I was surprised to find Pune in the top congested cities globally; Bangalore in this is no surprise ( only surprise is how London beat it to the top spot, well maybe 😀)

Bengaluru drivers spend a whopping 260 hours (nearly 11 days) a year stuck in rush hour traffic. The city has been ranked as the second-most congested in the world, in the TomTom Traffic Index Ranking 2022.

2 Women in India: Educated, aspiring but struggling work opportunities. This article courtesy the FoundingFuel blog is thought provoking.

“On the face of it the government and policy thrust on increasing literacy rates amongst women in the last few decades should have naturally transitioned to a growing participation of women in the workforce. In reality the abysmally low figures of 21.6% participation of women in the workforce tell a different story.

The World Bank reports that India’s GDP growth rate would climb above 9% if women had an equitable share of jobs, and that India could boost its growth by 1.5 percentage points per year if just 50% of women could join the workforce.” Read on

3. Putin’s war in Ukraine augurs a golden era for the military-industrial complex, opines Marc Champion et al of Bloomberg. Countries around the world are drawing lessons from Europe’s first high-intensity war since 1945, reassessing everything from ammunition stocks to supply lines. A new arms race has arrived

   “Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the government in neighboring Poland passed a law to more than double the size of its military, and went shopping for weapons.

   With President Vladimir Putin's war heading into its second year, the Polish expansion plan has become jaw dropping in scale. It includes close to 500 HIMARS or equivalent long-range multiple launch rocket systems, just 20 of which allowed Ukraine to inflict serious damage on Moscow's military machine.

   There are also more than 700 new self-propelled heavy artillery pieces planned, over six times as many as in Germany's arsenal, and three times as many advanced battle tanks as Britain and France can field, combined.” Read on

4.Tigers Rule India's Most Majestic National Park- Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR).

“Watching three young tigers drink from a watering hole might seem like a “Pinch me, I must be dreaming” kind of moment, but at Tadoba National Park in India, this is just a normal, everyday occurrence. In fact, Tadoba has around 115 tigers, among the highest concentration of these big kitties found in India’s tiger reserves, and according to Wild Trails India, the likelihood of seeing a tiger in Tadoba National Park is almost 80%”. Read on from this article in Thrillist.

5. The highest earning men aren’t especially intelligent. What explains their success?

   A new study out of Sweden finds that cognitive ability is strongly linked to higher earnings — until the very top of the income ladder. Intelligence among the top 5% of earners plateaus and even decreases slightly. The findings suggest that other factors drive extreme success, including luck, family resources, ambition, and emotional intelligence. The highest earners in society are often revered, but they are by no means more intelligent, or deserving, than the rest of us.