Early warning that this newsletter will become less frequent when I will be travelling for 2-3 weeks from June 14 onwards

1.Indian Premier League's business value chalks up $16.4 bn on scoreboard

The business value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has soared to $16.4 billion in 2024, marking a 6.5 per cent increase over the previous year, according to a report released on Wednesday by global investment banker Houlihan Lokey.

Besides, the extensive increase in revenue from IPL media rights last year has nearly doubled the league’s valuation from 2022, which was pegged at $8.5 billion.

The collective brand valuation of the 10 franchises grew by a modest 6.3 per cent in 2024 over the past year, reaching $3.4 billion

2.Universities will be allowed to offer admissions twice a year: UGC

University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced that universities in India will soon be able to offer admissions twice a year much like international universities. From the 2024-25 academic year onwards, the two admission cycles will be July-August and January-February.

This new policy aims to provide greater flexibility for students who might miss admissions due to delay in board results, medical or personal reasons. Additionally, this will allow for two campus recruitment rounds improving the employment opportunities for students.

3.Only 14% Indian workers ’thriving’; rest ’suffering’ or ’struggling’: Gallup Workplace Report

Fewer Indians feel they are 'thriving' in their life as compared to their global counterparts, findings of a report released on Wednesday showed. It said that only 14 per cent of Indians feel that way as compared to 34% globally. It showed that 86 per cent of Indians felt they were either struggling or suffering.

The findings were a part of the 2024 Gallup State of the Global Workplace report. It calculated the "Life Evaluation Index" and divided employees into three categories: thriving, struggling and suffering.

Among all regions, South Asia had the lowest percentage of people thinking that they were "thriving" at 15 per cent. It was followed by Sub-Saharan Africa at 17 per cent and Middle East and North Africa at 25 per cent.

4.Festival favourites struggle for screen time in Indian cinemas

Here are some movie names for you: All We Imagine As Light, All That Breathes, Agra, Kennedy. What’s common to them? They’re all international film festival-winning films from India. You know what else they have in common? You probably haven’t seen any of them.

The Indian cinema industry has made it difficult for independent movies to get a theatrical release in the country, writes Mint’s Lata Jha. Such movies need to spend at least ₹3-4 crore to market their movies—a budget they can’t afford. And if they are good enough to receive international acclaim, some might make it to theatres, but only in the top metro cities.

It’s an unfortunate development, but the industry has shifted to a model where it wants to squeeze every last rupee out of the viewer, and indie movies aren’t part of that ecosystem.

5.Apple reclaims ‘world’s most valuable company' title, surpasses Microsoft

Apple reclaimed its position as the world's most valuable company, surpassing Microsoft, on Wednesday. Apple's shares rose over 2 per cent to $211.75, resulting in a market valuation of $3.25 trillion. In comparison, Microsoft's market capitalization fell to $3.24 trillion, placing it behind Apple for the first time in five months.

The surge in Apple's stock followed the company's unveiling of AI-enabled features and software enhancements for its devices, which analysts believe will boost iPhone sales.

6.Apple is promising personalized AI in a private cloud. Here’s how that will work reports MIT Technology Review

At its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, Apple for the first time unveiled its vision for supercharging its product lineup with artificial intelligence.

The key feature, which will run across virtually all of its product line, is Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI-based capabilities that promises to deliver personalized AI services while keeping sensitive data secure. It represents Apple’s largest leap forward in using our private data to help AI do tasks for us. 

To make the case it can do this without sacrificing privacy, the company says it has built a new way to handle sensitive data in the cloud. The pitch offers an implicit contrast with the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, or Meta, which collect and store enormous amounts of personal data. So how will it work? Read on

7.Mass General Cancer Center Researchers Identify Gene That Helps Cancer Cells Spread Throughout the Body

Investigators have identified a gene whose expression confers a growth advantage to metastatic cancer cells, which cause 90% of cancer-related deaths

The team showed that silencing this gene in lab models of cancer prevented metastatic cells from growing and spreading

The findings could lead to new strategies to treat metastatic cancer and would be particularly impactful for patients with pancreatic cancer

8. TradeWars: EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs of up to 48%

Brussels will impose tariffs of up to almost 50 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles, brushing aside German government warnings that the move risks starting a costly trade war with Beijing.

The European Commission notified carmakers on Wednesday that it would provisionally apply additional duties of between 17 and 38 per cent on imported Chinese EVs from next month. The duties will be applied on top of existing 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese EVs, depending on the extent to which they complied with an EU investigation into electric carmakers that was announced last September.

Major exporters including BYD, the world’s largest electric-vehicle manufacturer, and Geely will be hit with additional individual tariffs of between 17 and 20 per cent. European brands such as Mercedes and Renault exporting EVs made in China will pay 21 per cent while Tesla “may receive an individually calculated duty rate”, the commission said.