Arvind's Newsletter

1. U.S. Picks Ajay Banga to Lead World Bank:The Biden administration nominated Ajay Banga, the former longtime chief executive of Mastercard, to be the next president of the World Bank, a selection that is likely to drastically reshape the global development institution and broaden its ambitions to combat climate change.

The nomination will initiate a month long confirmation process before a final decision by the World Bank’s board. It is not clear if any other countries will nominate a candidate. The World Bank president is traditionally an American citizen chosen by the United States.

If confirmed, Mr. Banga will bring vast experience running large organisations and deep knowledge of the digital economy. Raised in India, he would bring a firsthand understanding of the challenges that developing countries face.

Mr. Banga is currently a vice chairman of General Atlantic, a private equity firm. He retired from Mastercard in 2021 after running the company for more than a decade, quadrupling its profits and becoming one of the most prominent Indian American executives in the United States. Before Mastercard, Mr. Banga worked for more than a decade at Citigroup and at Nestlé in India. He is MBA from IIM,Ahmedabad.

2.Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy. Microsoft's new AI-powered Bing Chat service, still in private testing, has been in the headlines for its wild and erratic outputs. But that era has apparently come to an end. At some point during the past two days, Microsoft has significantly curtailed Bing's ability to threaten its users, have existential meltdowns, or declare its love for them.

3.Apple Makes Major Progress on No-Prick Blood Glucose Tracking for Its Watch. Company hits major milestone in creating blood glucose monitor. Apple disguised work behind a secretive health-care startup.

Bloomberg sources claim the company's no-prick monitoring is now at a "proof-of-concept stage" and good enough that it could come to market once it's smaller. The technology, which uses lasers to gauge glucose concentration under the skin, was previously tabletop sized but has reportedly advanced to the point where an iPhone-sized wearable prototype is in the works.

The system would not only help people with diabetes monitor their conditions, but would ideally alert people who are pre-diabetic, the insiders say. They could then make changes that prevent Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes.

4.EXPLAINER- What is causing South Africa's power crisis? What is causing the crisis which lead to 200 days of power outages last year and why has it been so hard to fix?
Meanwhile, the head of South Africa’s struggling state electricity provider was ousted after blaming senior politicians for corruption that he said was driving the country’s worst-ever power blackouts. The utility, Eskom, is saddled with debt, falling behind on new investments in electricity generation, and facing the closure of several aging plants.

5.Venice waterways dry up as Italy braces for another year of severe drought. The dry winter in Italy follows an exceptional drought last year that caused the country to declare a state of emergency for critical agricultural areas surrounding its longest river.