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- Arvind's Newsletter
1.Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd is in advanced talks with global investors to raise $1-1.3 billion by selling shares in its electric vehicles (EV) unit, people familiar with the development said, adding the move is aimed at accelerating the expansion plans of its newly formed subsidiary, EV Co.
Mahindra is likely to raise capital in multiple tranches over the next two fiscal years, primarily through stake sales in the EV subsidiary, which is currently valued at over $9.1 billion.
Bill Gates in the past has been early in hyping new technologies. In this case, when he says AI is most important tech advance in decades, he is, by his past self, later than usual.
In a blog post in Gates Notes, he called it as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone."It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other," he said.
He was writing about the technology used by tools such as chatbot ChatGPT.
The Economist Paul Krugman opines on the dilemma facing the Federal Reserve of USA- should it continue raising rates to tame inflation or should it hold doing it for now given the turmoil in the banking sector?
“Depositors don’t seem to be demanding cash and putting it under their mattresses. They are, however, moving funds out of small and medium-size banks, to some extent into big banks, and to some extent into money market funds.
Both types of institution are likely to do less business lending than the smaller banks now under pressure. Big banks are more tightly regulated than smaller banks, required to have more capital (the excess of assets over liabilities) and more liquidity (a higher proportion of their assets devoted to investments that can readily be converted into cash). Money market funds also face quite stringent liquidity requirements. Add in the likelihood that even banks that haven’t experienced a run on their deposits will become much more cautious, and we’re probably looking at a serious reduction in credit. In effect, banking turmoil will act a lot like a rate hike by the Fed.
What this probably means in practice is that the Fed should pause its rate hikes until there’s more clarity about both the inflation picture and the effects of the banking mess — and it should be clear that that’s what it is doing.”
Interesting trend in Europe -the growth of heat pump sales based on rising price of gas, which is positive from climate change perspective.
Heat pump sales in Europe hit three million in 2022, up 38% from the previous year and double the sales in 2019, Carbon Brief reported. The increase was driven by the increased cost of energy caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and aided by subsidies. In Poland, sales more than doubled in 12 months, while Belgium and the Czech Republic saw almost as impressive growth. Heat pumps can hugely reduce energy demand: A recent report from CleanTechnica suggested that if used more widely, they could reduce U.S. energy requirements by 50%, while all new Teslas now come with heat pumps to maintain battery performance in cold weather.
What Indian’s have known for generations Americans may just be discovering the superfood that is lentils. Michael Coren writing for the Washington Post articulates why Americans should eat more lentils every day as it also good for climate change.
“Pound for pound, raw lentils have more protein than steak. While not as protein-dense once cooked, they pack even more iron than meat, in addition to other vitamins and minerals.Fast to cook, easy to store and exalted enough to be buried with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, these seeds have sustained empires. Roman soldiers lived on the essential portable protein over their long campaigns.
Today, the lentil is again on the front lines. This time, against climate change. While start-ups scramble to engineer a sustainable protein, from lab-grown meat to fake burgers, lentils are a ready solution, one with a proven record.”