Arvind's Newsletter

1.India Infrastructure:Competition among Delhi, Noida airports expected to be intense: CAPA India

Among India’s network of airports, a clash has already been foretold between a newbie in Noida and a veteran in neighbouring Delhi. On Wednesday, aviation consultancy firm CAPA India said that the competition between the two airports is expected to be intense and could play out even before the airport in Jewar, Noida, begins operations this year.

“Currently, the VAT (value added tax) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for domestic services is 25 per cent at Delhi airport, but it will only be 4 per cent at Noida airport. This will have a bearing on capacity allocation (by airlines) and expansion,” CAPA India’s report mentioned. ATF constitutes roughly 40 per cent of an airline’s costs in India.

A key development to monitor is whether Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, operated by the GMR Group, will allocate exclusive terminals to Air India and IndiGo. A decision on the matter could be taken in 2024 and its long-term implications on international traffic would have to be assessed, the report added.

The Delhi airport, India’s busiest, handles approximately 1,200 flights per day. The Noida airport, developed and operated by Swiss firm Zurich Airport International, is expected to commence operations with 65 daily flights.

Between December 2024 and April 2025, two of India’s primary metro cities — Delhi and Mumbai — will have dual airport systems that will change the dynamics of the National Capital Region and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), even beyond aviation.

A crucial distinction is that both airports in MMR will be operated by the Adani Group, whereas in Delhi-NCR (Jewar falls within it) separate entities will run the two airports, resulting in intense competition.

The Maharashtra cabinet on 4 January cleared a proposal to charge ₹250 for the toll for a single trip for cars on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), India’s longest sea bridge – also known as Atal Setu.

The 21.8-kilometre-long MHTL bridge will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 January.

2.Namibian cheetah Aasha gives birth to 3 cubs in Kuno; ‘indicator that animals are acclimatising’

A cheetah named Aasha, which was relocated from Namibia to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park in September 2022, has given birth to three cubs. Six of the 20 cheetahs brought to India have died.

3."A landmark generation": Introducing Gen Alpha

It's the only generation born fully in the 21st century: the oldest are about 13, and the youngest will be born in the coming year.

The big picture: Enter Generation Alpha, the first entirely online cohort. Its members have grappled with a climate crisis and pandemic — and can spend money more easily at their age than even their savviest close elders.

• Seen as "a landmark generation," Gen Alpha — born between 2010 and 2024 — is expected to be the largest in history at more than 2 billion people, per Mark McCrindle, a social researcher who coined "Generation Alpha" and determined its bounds.

• Mostly the children of millennials, their immediate predecessors belong to Gen Z, who could overtake baby boomers in the workplace in 2024, per Glassdoor.

• This generation is still being born (plus "generation" framing itself is always under revision), so Alpha's future impact isn't yet totally known. But existing indicators are already too big to ignore.

These kids literally got the baton in the year the iPad was launched and don’t know what life was like before the internet. Unlike their predecessors—specifically (older) Gen Zs, who were either in university or finished college when Covid-19 surfaced—Alphas’ schooling and formative interactions were/are mostly online. They are more likely to have virtual playdates or be in virtual spaces, and also suffer worse test score results and absenteeism.

4.A terror attack in Iran, growing tensions in the Red Sea, Israel’s continued pounding of Gaza, and the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon fueled fears of a metastasizing conflict in the Middle East.

Border clashes intensified between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese group, after a senior Hamas leader was killed in Beirut, a strike blamed on Israel and for which Hezbollah’s leader vowed “response and punishment” The U.S. and several allies separately warned Yemeni Houthi militants, also supported by Iran, of unspecified “consequences” if they persisted in attacking vessels in the Red Sea, a key route that shipping companies are increasingly avoiding, disrupting global trade.

Twin bombings in Iran at a memorial for a revered general, meanwhile, ramped up worries further — despite being apparently unrelated to the Israel-Hamas war and not yet claimed by any group. The developments mean that “the chances of a regional war in the Middle East go up from 15 percent to as high as 30 percent,” a retired former NATO commander told The New York Times. “Still relatively low, but higher than before, and certainly uncomfortably high.”

5.2024 is shaping up to be a big year for space exploration. 

SpaceX plans to launch 124 rockets this year, a major increase over the 98 it sent to space last year: No other organisation has managed more than 63 in a single year. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will also launch in 2024, looking for life in Jupiter’s icy moon, and the Artemis mission will fly humans to the moon’s orbit for the first time in a half-century, although a landing on the moon’s surface is not scheduled until 2025. An Asian space race is likewise expected to hot up as Japan’s, China’s, and India’s space programs all aim for milestones. Japan hopes to land a spacecraft on the moon this month.

6.An interesting interview with former British diplomat Alastair Crooke in the Judging Freedom podcast in which he clearly and lucidly articulates why Russia has won the war in Ukraine despite the narrative in most western media. The interview (27 mins) can be watched on YouTube below or listened on Spotify using another the link below.