Arvind's Newsletter- Weekend edition

1.Russia makes up 40% of Indian oil imports, dents OPEC's share, reports

The share of Russian oil in India’s overall imports rose to about two-fifths in the first half of fiscal 2023/24, consolidating Moscow’s position as the top supplier as refiners curbed purchase from the Middle East, industry data showed.

India, the world’s third largest oil importer and consumer, has emerged as the top buyer of the discounted Russian seaborne oil after Western nations stopped buying from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

Middle Eastern supplies are also likely to tighten further following Saudi Arabia’s decision to extend its voluntary output cuts through the end of this year, prompting India to consider other options.

India imported on average 1.76 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil from April to September, or the first half of fiscal 2023/2024, more than double the about 780,000 bpd in the same year-ago period, tanker data from industry sources showed.

Last month, India’s imports from Russia, which had slipped in July and August, recovered to 1.54 million bpd, up 11.8% from August and 71.7% from a year ago, the data showed.

2.The Octopus Ascends: The Rise of Crazy Rich Indians; Marcellus blogs presents an interesting point of view.

A new generation of around 200,000 super rich families (or 1 million individuals) are making their spending muscle felt.

Their wealth is a result of: (a) the financialisation of physical assets;
(b) the networking of India which has resulted in affluence spreading to smaller towns & cities;
(c) the rise of a cadre of highly paid executives working in fast growing companies;
and (d) the concentration of political & financial muscle in the hands of a handful of families in most towns & cities.

Unafraid to indulge in conspicuous consumption, these 200k families, whom we call Octopi families, are now the main engines of consumption growth in India. It behooves us, therefore, to tilt our portfolios away from ‘mass’ and towards ‘class’ based consumption. Read on.

3.Belt and Road : Xi Jinping’s signature infrastructure gambit was supposed to connect Asia, Africa and Europe through a network of railroads and trade deals, cementing China’s global influence.

A decade on, it’s run into a diplomatic wall at the European border. The lack of European leaders at this week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing pointed to growing skepticism among Western democracies about what Xi once described as a “project of the century.”

EU Set for Own Summit in Bid to Rival China Belt and Road
The Bloc will host leaders of around 20 partner nations next week.
Plan rivals China’s investment push celebrating 10th year.

4.Go ahead, hit that snooze button

Many sleepers worry that it’s bad to snooze their alarms in the morning, and even worse to silence them a second, third or fourth time. But new research out of Sweden suggests that you may not need to worry. When participants in a study were allowed to snooze for an extra 30 minutes, they performed slightly better on some cognition tests immediately after they woke up — and their sleep quality wasn’t significantly worse.

Still, most sleep experts advise against it. Many snoozers are simply sleep deprived, and if you need to sleep longer, try getting to bed earlier or setting your alarm for later in the morning.

5.Amazon will start testing drones that will drop prescriptions on your doorstep, literally (But for moment only in College Station, Texas)

Amazon will soon make prescription drugs fall from the sky when the e-commerce giant becomes the latest company to test drone deliveries for medications.

The company said that customers in College Station, Texas, can now get prescriptions delivered by a drone within an hour of placing their order.

The drone, programmed to fly from a delivery centre with a secure pharmacy, will travel to the customer’s address, descend to a height of about four meters — or 13 feet — and drop a padded package.

Amazon says customers will be able to choose from more than 500 medications, a list that includes common treatments for conditions like the flu or pneumonia, but not controlled substances.

6.Israel plans to sever links with Gaza after three-phase war, reported the Financial Times.

In the most explicit comments yet on the government’s strategy, defence minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset foreign and defence committee that Israel would no longer have “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip” once the war was over.

He added that the conflict, which he said would take place in three phases, would create “a new security reality” for Israeli citizens.

Israeli forces have been bombarding Gaza since Hamas militants staged the deadliest-ever attack on Israeli soil almost two weeks ago. But while officials have made clear they intend to destroy Hamas, they have not detailed their plans for the territory after the war.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but in the years since it has continued to provide some electricity to the enclave. It has also allowed a limited number of Gazans into the country to work, and some goods to enter the territory.

A second Israeli official said: “Israel will not be part of the solution in terms of giving [Gazans] work. We’ve disconnected the umbilical cord.” The official added that the crossings from Gaza to Israel that functioned before the war would not be reopened, saying: “That’s over.”

Gallant said Israel’s war with Hamas would fall into three phases, with the first consisting of the current aerial bombardment and ground operations aimed at “neutralising terrorists and destroying Hamas infrastructure”.

He said the second phase would involve lower-intensity fighting to eliminate “pockets of resistance” in Gaza, and the third would require the “removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a new security reality” for Israelis.