1.Manipal Health Enterprises may soon become India's largest hospital chain

Singapore-based investment company Temasek-backed hospitals Manipal Health Enterprises and Medica Synergie Pvt Ltd are likely to merge soon and operate as a single entity under the Manipal brand, sources close to the development said.

 Manipal Health Enterprises (Manipal Hospitals) has a capacity of 9,500 beds in 33 hospitals in India, while Medica has a presence in eastern India with 1,200 beds. Both the hospitals are in expansion mode — with Manipal Hospitals eyeing another 1,200 beds in 18-36 months, and Medica 450-500 beds in two-three years.

 “In Manipal Temasek owns around 59 per cent, while in Medica about 90 per cent. Therefore, it makes sense to operate as a single entity to leverage synergies.”

The process will begin in the next few months, and next year Medica and Manipal will merge, making the amalgamated entity the largest corporate hospital chain in the country, overtaking Apollo Hospitals Enterprises. The move will help the hospital groups to collaborate in regional expansion plans and have better hub-and-spoke operations.

2.Interesting post by Marcellus Investment Managers in a blog post on, “How Policymakers Have Driven Economic Change in India.”

“Post-1947, India’s economy has been through four distinct eras. Now, with socialism fading away and with the country increasingly operating as a free market economy, we see five distinct directions in which India’s economy will evolve over the next decade: (1) Profits will polarize in the hands of a few highly efficient companies; (2) Wealth will polarize in the hands of well-educated & well-connected businesspeople; (3) Economic growth will polarize in favour of a few highly developed states; (4) Fiscal transfers will have to increase (See Exhibit 1 in article below) to mitigate the polarizing effects of the preceding bullets; and (5) Foreign capital will flood into India.”

3.Stop saying "there is no decoupling". There is ! writes Economist Noah Smith in his blog Noahpinion, refuting the opinion of The Economist.

Decoupling will take time, and it won't look like the Iron Curtain, but it's happening.

4.Sultan al-Jaber, the president of COP28, provoked anger by saying there is “no science” behind claims that a “phase out” of fossil fuels would limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

The comments overshadowed an otherwise productive weekend at the summit, with 110 countries pledging to triple renewable-energy output, nearly 60 countries including the US swore off coal at the UN’s climate summit, fossil-fuel companies agreeing to reduce methane leaks, and the heads of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and World Trade Organization all calling in the Financial Times for the imposition of carbon pricing to redistribute revenues from rich, polluting countries to poorer ones which will be most damaged by climate change.

5.NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the moon by 2025 looks likely to be delayed by at least two years.

Progress on key components in the Artemis mission —including the Space X built lunar lander and Prada designed space suits — is behind schedule, a U.S. government report said, meaning the first human return to the moon since 1972’s Apollo 17 is unlikely to happen until 2027.

If the timeline is delayed, it would mean a significant gap between missions: A preliminary crewed flight around the moon is set for 2024. Also, it could push the later Artemis trips back, with more moon landings currently planned for each year from 2028 to 2031.

6.Finally, These 15 Photos Capture the Beauty of the Northern Lights

Spiking solar activity could mean more chances to see the awesome aurora borealis