1.Dharavi Redevelopment Project: Adani group signs planner, designer up

The Adani Group has brought leading global experts in city planning including architect Hafeez Contractor, design firm Sasaki, and consultancy firm Buro Happold, among others, on board for the ambitious Dharavi redevelopment project in Mumbai.  

Led by Contractor, the consortium will also boast experts from Singapore as they work on rehabilitating Asia's largest slum that nearly a million call their home.

2.How IIT Madras’s cutting-edge research on the human brain can help treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

The scientists at IIT Madras are trying to decode the hidden secrets of the human brain down to the cellular level under the project called “whole human brain neuro mapping”. They are using an indigenous proprietary technology to slice the brain into sections only a few microns thin, from which they will build a bank of images that are several times sharper in resolution than the ones produced by the most sophisticated MRI techniques. The petabytes of images thus gathered will provide insights that can help researchers make breakthroughs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

3.A now-forgotten magazine shaped the life of Indian teenagers. 

The cult magazine JS ran from 1967 to 1977: It was originally the Junior Statesman, a spinoff to the Kolkata-based Statesman newspaper. An Indian MP, Shashi Tharoor, who wrote for JS as a child, told the BBC that “Anyone who was a teenager in India between 1967 and 1977” would recognise the impact JS had on teen culture: “I still meet middle-aged matrons who wax eloquently about the magazine.” It featured Bollywood stars alongside Led Zeppelin and managed to sneak an interview with Paul McCartney in Mumbai airport and George Harrison in Kolkata. Critics called it “frothy and un-Indian,” encouraging teens to “ape the West,” but for its many fans, it created a “distinctly Indian cosmopolitanism.”

4.Global minimum tax on MNCs goes live to raise $220 bn, reports Financial Times

 Big multinational companies will from Monday be subject to a global minimum tax for the first time, as landmark cross-border tax reforms go live, seeking to raise up to $220bn in extra annual revenue.

Almost three years after 140 countries struck a deal to close glaring loopholes in the international system, some major economies will from January start to apply an effective tax rate of at least 15 per cent on corporate profits.

Under a series of interlocking rules, if profit by a multinational is taxed below this rate in one country, other countries will be able to charge a top-up levy. The OECD, which drove the reforms, estimates it will increase annual tax revenue by as much as 9 per cent, or $220bn worldwide.

The first wave of jurisdictions implementing the global minimum tax from January include the EU, UK, Norway, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Canada. The rules will apply to multinational companies with an annual turnover of more than €750mn.

Several countries long seen as havens by multinationals will take part, including Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Barbados, which previously had a corporate tax rate of 5.5 per cent.

Neither the US nor China have introduced legislation to do so yet despite backing the deal in 2021. But the global reforms are designed to still have a significant impact.

5.AI wearable revolution is coming, market size expected to cross $250 billion by 2032

According to Acumen Research, the wearable market is starting to see an increasingly growing trend of AI integration.

In 2022, the AI wearable market size was capped at $24.4 billion and is expected to grow at an annual compound growth rate of 26.7 percent from 2023 to 2032, i.e. $252.4 billion.

AI is increasingly being integrated into smartwatches, AR glasses, and fitness trackers. According to the report, there is a demand from consumers for holistic devices that not only help them stay connected but offer other experiences such as health monitoring, real-time data analysis and personalized user experiences.