Arvind's Newsletter

1.India cynosure of all eyes as Morgan Stanley, S&P turn bullish on economy

India's status as the bright spot in an uncertain global economy is seemingly getting brighter as key global voices have weighed in with their bullish hopes about the future of the economy, reported MoneyControl.

In a report titled 'Look Forward: India's Moment', global data, research, and analytics firm S&P Global said "everyone is watching India" at a time when the world is in the midst of disruptions.

"The trillion-dollar question is whether India can sustain high growth… Our answer to the sustained growth question is a conditional 'yes'," S&P Global said in its report, released on August 3.

"We expect India to grow 6.7 percent per year from 2023-24 to 2030-31, catapulting GDP to $6.7 trillion from $3.4 trillion in 2022-23. Per capita GDP will rise to about $4,500," the agency added.

The thumbs-up from S&P Global came hours after Morgan Stanley upgraded its view on India to 'overweight' – even as it downgraded China to 'equal weight' and Australia to 'underweight' – as it thinks the country is poised for substantial and sustained economic growth at a time when the rest of the world is slowing down.

2.India has abruptly restricted the import of personal computers including laptops and tablets as the country works to boost local electronics manufacturing, reported the Financial Times.

In a notice issued on Thursday, the commerce ministry’s directorate general of foreign trade said companies would with immediate effect need a “restricted imports” licence to ship such devices into India. Analysts said the new rule would create a barrier that could slow the flow of imports. The directorate gave no reason for the sharp policy shift or say what it expected its impact to be, but India is trying to grow its electronics industry amid a shift away from manufacturing in China.

New Delhi in May launched a Rs170bn ($2.1bn) incentive scheme for IT hardware manufacturing that is designed to encourage companies to set up factories in India.

But the new import restrictions could hit companies such as Apple, which has a 14 per cent share of India’s laptop market, according to analysis firm Canalys. Apple assembles iPhones in India as part of its effort to reduce reliance on China, but imports all its laptops and iPad tablets. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

3.Temasek to invest ₹1,200 crore in Mahindra Electric to acquire up to 3% stake

The investment will result in Temasek’s ownership of a 1.49% to 2.97% stake in Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MEAL), M&M said in a release.

Temasek will join British International Investments (BII) as an investor in MEAL. With this investment, Mahindra’s EV subsidiary’s valuation goes up by 15% from up to ₹70,070 crore to up to ₹80,580 crore.

4.There is an interesting piece in the Wired on “A Vast Untapped Green Energy Source Is Hiding Beneath Your Feet” which details the quest to tap into geothermal energy using drilling techniques originally developed for fracking gas.

Some excerpts:

“The project is trying to create an “enhanced” geothermal system, or EGS, by reaching hot, dense rock like granite, cracking it open to form a reservoir, and then pumping in water to soak up heat. The water is then drawn up through a second well, emerging a few hundred degrees hotter than it was before: an artificial hot spring that can drive steam turbines. That design can sound straightforward, plumbing water from point A to point B, but despite a half-century of work, the complexities of engineering and geology have meant no one has managed to make EGS work at practical scale—yet.”
“Most experts agree that baseload power that can be turned on 24/7 is necessary moving forward. Solar and wind are pretty space-intensive, and building them out is going to get trickier as we run out of optimal places for them. While batteries help, it's not the most efficient way to do things.”

“The question is whether EGS will be more or less practical than building a nuclear plant or a dam or installing carbon capture at a natural gas plant. There are good reasons to think it will be—especially if you factor in safety and ecological concerns presented by the alternatives—but it's early.”

5. The No 1 way to strengthen your mind is to use your body

Exercise can have surprisingly transformative impacts on the brain, according to neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. It has the power not only to boost mood and focus due to an increase in neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline, but it also contributes to long-term brain health.

Exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells, particularly in the hippocampus, improving long-term memory and increasing its volume.

Suzuki notes that you don’t have to become a marathon runner to obtain these results — even just ten minutes of walking per day can produce noticeable benefits. It just takes a bit of willpower and experimentation.