Arvind's Newsletter

1.Women representation in mfg sector to touch 40% by year-end: TeamLease

There has been a significant increase in demand for women apprentices in the manufacturing sector, as factories are increasingly adopting gender-agnostic recruitment practices, a sharp departure from traditional hiring norms and underscore the industry's commitment to fostering inclusive work environments.

According to staffing company TeamLease, in the past 8-10 months, there has been a remarkable five-fold surge in demand for young women who have completed class 10/12 to be appointed as apprentices, reflecting a shifting landscape in India's workforce dynamics.

The surge in demand for women apprentices is primarily driven by the booming sectors of auto, Electric Vehicle (EV), electronics, and phone manufacturing.

"This surge is anticipated to lead to a significant increase in the representation of women apprentices, reaching up to 40 per cent by the end of the year," said Sumit Kumar, Chief strategy officer at TeamLease Degree apprenticeship.

2.India is on track to surpass Japan as the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2025, a year earlier than the International Monetary Fund previously projected. 

Driven by an expanding population, middle class, and auto market, India’s economy has rapidly grown in recent years, while the depreciation of the Japanese yen 

is set to hurt Tokyo’s economy in dollar terms, according to the IMF. Investors and businesses are increasingly looking to India as an alternative to China, but New Delhi must take broader steps including expanding the tax base and increasing research and development funding to sustain its next wave of growth, The Economist wrote. A Mumbai-based corporate economist, meanwhile, argued that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party isn’t talking enough about the economy in its reelection pitch.

3.An ongoing slump in electric vehicle sales should be temporary, the International Energy Agency said. 

European battery EV sales dropped 11.3% year-on-year in March, and global sales growth has also slowed. But the IEA’s annual EV report forecast that almost one in five cars on US and European roads — and one in three on Chinese ones — are expected to be electric by 2030. Manufacturers are engaged in a price war: Tesla slashed prices in China over the weekend, and rival Li Auto immediately responded, as the two fought over a tightening market. Tesla will announce its results today and is expected to report a 40% drop in operating profit off the back of the cuts, Bloomberg reported.

4.A startup edited human DNA using generative AI 

It aims to make the new wave of CRISPR faster and more powerful. 

Generative A.I. technologies can write poetry and computer programs or create images of teddy bears and videos of cartoon characters that look like something from a Hollywood movie.

Now, new A.I. technology is generating blueprints for microscopic biological mechanisms that can edit your DNA, pointing to a future when scientists can battle illness and diseases with even greater precision and speed than they can today.

Described in a research paper published on Monday by a Berkeley, Calif., startup called Profluent, the technology is based on the same methods that drive ChatGPT, the online chatbot that launched the A.I. boom after its release in 2022. The company is expected to present the paper next month at the annual meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

5.India seeks to secure critical mineral resources in race for lithium

India is seeking to shore up its access to critical minerals such as lithium, a government official said, as the world’s most populous country rushes to catch up with rivals including China in the race to build next-generation energy supply chains.

New Delhi is pushing state-owned mining groups to pursue mineral reserves in South America and Africa as well as inviting bids to develop domestic mining blocks as it seeks to expand industries such as electric vehicles and renewables, where Beijing has a commanding lead.

The importance and requirement and need for critical minerals is exponentially increasing because of the technology, growth and climate goals we have set for ourselves, VL Kantha Rao,a secretary in India’s ministry of mines, told the Financial Times.

Lithium, a critical component for EV batteries, has been found in India’s northern territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the central state Chhattisgarh.

India plans to earmark about half of its planned domestic exploration projects over the coming year for critical minerals such as graphite, molybdenum, nickel, cobalt, lithium and potash, Rao said. The government also plans to announce the successful bidders from a November auction for 20 mining blocks next month.

6.Indonesia is enlisting dozens of social media influencers to gush about the country’s planned new capital of Nusantara.

President Joko Widodo’s decision four years ago to move the capital from Jakarta — which has been plagued by rising sea levels, congestion, and pollution — to Borneo has been met with opposition: A recent survey found that just over half of the population approves of the under-construction “sustainable forest city,” and environmentalists oppose the large-scale deforestation and displacement of Indigenous communities. The government is relying on influencers to convince skeptical Gen Zers that Nusantara will have adequate entertainment options, but one politics professor told Rest of World that their posts “don’t feel like an impression that emerges out of pure admiration towards the new capital. It feels scripted.”

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