Arvind's Newsletter

1.Qualcomm's new chip to push 5G phone prices to below ₹8,000: India president

Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chipset, which will be launched in India before other global markets, will enable 5G devices to be priced at points lower than ₹8,000 ($100), top executives at the chipset design company told Mint in an exclusive interaction.

“This is an India-first chip, and it is going to other markets from here, for instance, Latin America and Central Asia, with a faster ramp-up in India, by Q4 this year," Qualcomm India president Savi Soin said. “We want to bring the 5G devices down to ₹8,000 and below, such that technology becomes more affordable. Our goal would be that hopefully, in a year from now, to get generative AI on lower-tier devices."

2.Toyota Motors greenfield plant in India to manufacture electric and hybrid automobiles to based in Aurangabad in Maharashtra

The company has inked the MoU to examine the setting up of a greenfield manufacturing facility at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

"Under the project, 4 lakh electric and hybrid cars are expected to be manufactured every year with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore, generation 8000 direct jobs and 8000 indirect jobs.”

Meanwhile, Tesla may still set-up a manufacturing plant in India.

Amid reports that Tesla’s investment plans in India have been put on the backburner, sources close to the development indicate that three states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat — are frontrunners for the global major's manufacturing unit in India. A decision in this regard is likely to depend on the product portfolio of the electric carmaker, say industry sources. The company is also in talks to rope in local partners.

3.Hamas’ political leader was killed in an air strike on Tehran, a stunning attack blamed on Israel that amounted to a second senior militant commander dead in as many days. 

Israel did not comment on the strike, which threatened to further divide an international community already polarized over Israel’s war in Gaza: Turkey described the killing as a “perfidious assassination,” China warned of more instability, and Qatar cast doubt on future ceasefire talks. Hours earlier, Israel said it had killed Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah's top military commander, in a targeted airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon; the strike—reportedly killing at least one other person and wounding 20 others was in in retaliation to an attack on Saturday in Israel.

The precision nature of the killings in foreign capitals was noted by journalists, who contrasted them with the country’s heavy handed assault next door in Gaza.

4.Wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in the European Union in the first half of this year. 

Despite increasing demand and prices returning to pre-Ukraine war levels, fossil fuels generated 17% less electricity than the year before, making up 27% of the EU’s electricity, an all-time low. Wind and solar accounted for 30%, and outpaced fossil fuels in more than half of member states.

The rapid growth marks a “permanent structural change,” the analyst group Ember said in a report, as huge amounts of new renewable capacity come online. The next challenge will be to make it easier to link the new resources to the grid and “ensure that economic, security and climate benefits are delivered across Europe.”

5.US accounting firms rethink global networks: Financial Times

Grant Thornton is leading a charge by mid-sized US accounting firms to rethink their global operations in ways that could radically alter the industry below the dominant Big Four.

The tier of firms beneath KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and EY are racing to meet the needs of increasingly multinational clients while at the same time seeking to make better use of their global networks to spread the cost of technology and staff.

Grant Thornton’s US business has proposed acquiring its UK and Irish arms, the Financial Times reported this month. The initiative comes after Grant Thornton US sold a majority stake earlier this year to a private equity firm, a deal that has handed it more firepower to expand.

Crowe, RSM and Baker Tilly are among the mid-tier but still large US accounting firms wrestling with how to make their global operations work more seamlessly and share the costs of new services beyond core auditing and tax. Building corporate advisory and digital transformation services can prove expensive, executives say.

6.The world’s biggest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), will begin constructing its first European plant in Germany next month, Nikkei reported.

The self-governing island’s most valuable company is partnering with European chipmakers including Infineon and Robert Bosch to build the $10.8 billion plant, as the EU hopes to localize chip production. TSMC’s foreign expansion — including two facilities in Japan and Arizona — comes as the company has tried to allay fears that it could abandon its home base amid China’s increasing military aggression toward Taiwan. It could also ramp up its competition with US chipmakers in Germany: Both Intel and Wolfspeed’s plans to build plants in the country have been pushed back.

7.Olympics Redemption

Team USA yesterday clinched its first Olympic gold medal in the women's gymnastics team all-around competition since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Simone Biles—who competed in all four events (bars, beam, vault, and floor) after a calf injury—won her eighth Olympic gold medal and broke her own record as the most decorated gymnast in history. Italy and Brazil finished second and third, respectively. Biles, as well as teammate and defending Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, will return for the individual all-around competition tomorrow.

8.This year’s longlist for the Booker Prize is here

Percival Everett, Hisham Matar and Sarah Perry are among the 13 novelists longlisted for the 2024 Booker prize. The “Booker dozen” also features works by Richard Powers, Tommy Orange, Rachel Kushner and Anne Michaels.

The Booker longlist might just be the most enjoyable of recent years opines Emma Creamer in the Guardian.