8 stories · 3 min read

India bets on cheaper AI and fuel. The world’s lesson: what you show, ship or see can be taken.

Markets at the last close before this edition · 25 Sep

Nifty 5023,141On the day, up 0.34%. 1 wk: −0.88%
S&P 5007,743On the day, up 0.51%. 1 wk: +1.21%
US 10-yr yield5.18%On the day, up 2 bp. 1 wk: +19 bp
Brent crude$104.32On the day, down 2.14%. 1 wk: +0.43%
Gold$4,321On the day, up 0.54%. 1 wk: −2.34%
USD/INR₹96.16On the day, up 0.44%. 1 wk: +0.38%Close of 24 Sep

Yahoo Finance daily closes. Not investment advice.

4 croreLIC forms being digitised with custom AI models, says Sarvam’s Pratyush Kumar.~1,300China-to-Iran shipments with dual-use parts for Iran’s defence ministry, January to June.

India edition

What moved in India

1Artificial intelligence

Sarvam: India will be AI’s biggest user in five years (opens the source in a new tab)

Co-founder Pratyush Kumar calls this “year one for India AI”.
He says India should speed up how it builds and adopts AI.
The catch: the cost of using AI has to keep falling.

30B + 105B: open-source models, March
Scratch: both trained in India

Why it matters Scale is India’s edge; price sets the pace.

Source:Moneycontrol (free to read) ↗

Govt weighs a ₹20,000 cr fund for frontier AI (opens the source in a new tab)

Proposed ₹15,000–20,000 cr anchor under the IndiaAI Mission.
Would back AI startups, clusters and data centres.
Could be set up as a SEBI-regulated Category I AIF.

₹10,372 cr: current IndiaAI outlay
Draft: size and structure not final

Why it matters The state wants to be AI’s anchor investor.

Source:The Economic Times (free to read) ↗

Gadkari: a pure-ethanol car at ‘₹25 a litre’ (opens the source in a new tab)

Toyota’s 100% ethanol Innova launches in October, he says.
Claims running cost equals petrol at about ₹25 a litre.
No complaints so far on ethanol-blended fuel, he adds.

October: Innova flex-fuel launch
₹25/litre: claimed petrol-equivalent

Why it matters A minister’s claim; the proof is at the pump.

Source:The Economic Times (free to read) ↗

4SafetyCaution

YouTuber flaunts gold online; burglars strike (opens the source in a new tab)

Nagercoil home broken into while the family was out, Sept 24.
Thieves forced the back door and took gold kept in a bureau.
Police are checking the videos; no link confirmed yet.

118: sovereigns of gold, ~944 g
~₹1 cr: estimated loss

Why it matters Your reel can be a burglar’s recce.

Source:India Today (free to read) ↗

5EconomyOpinion

The ‘India shock’: exporting workers, not goods (opens the source in a new tab)

About 1mn join the workforce each month; too few good jobs, so talent heads abroad.
Backlash abroad is rising, and brain drain may cost $35–50bn a year.

$150bn: remittances, ~3% of GDP
18.5mn: Indians abroad, 2024
~70%: of US H-1B approvals

Why it matters Remittances ease the strain; only jobs at home solve it.

Source:Financial Times (may need a subscription) ↗

World edition

What moved everywhere else

Iran’s secret weapon against America: China (opens the source in a new tab)

As Beijing hailed its role in a US–Iran truce, a Chinese plane landed in Tehran.
China is now the only major buyer of Iranian oil.
Chinese front companies and banks help move the money.

$6M+: drone-usable parts in 12+ shipments
Only: major buyer of Iran’s oil
Jan–Jun: customs data window

Why it matters Peacemaker in public, supplier in private.

Source:Mint (free to read) ↗

F-35 parts bound for US repair end up in Hong Kong (opens the source in a new tab)

Sent from Australia for US repairs, it went to Hong Kong.
Australia is investigating how the parts went missing.

Hong Kong: diverted there
Canopy: among the parts

Why it matters A stealth jet is only as secure as its courier.

Source:The Guardian (free to read) ↗

8Tech

Meta doubles down despite the ‘pervert glasses’ jibe (opens the source in a new tab)

Videos of men secretly filming women sparked the backlash.
Meta now disables the camera if the LED is tampered with.
Snap, Google and Samsung are pushing their own AI glasses.

4.2m: AI glasses shipped, H1
2×+: year-on-year growth

Why it matters Stigma hasn’t stopped sales; trust is next.

Source:The Economist (may need a subscription) ↗

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