Business Standard: “To increase manufacturing’s share of GDP from 13 per cent to 25 per cent over the next decade — assuming GDP growth of 6.5 per cent — the sector must grow at an average annual rate of 13.6 per cent. This level of growth cannot be achieved through domestic demand alone. A much stronger export performance, built on the suggested policy reforms, is essential. India’s window of opportunity is open — for now. Seizing it requires bold coordinated action across these four pillars to unlock manufacturing’s full potential.”
John A. List: “An interviewer just asked me what skills AI will make more important. My response? Critical thinking skills. This is because in the past there was value in creating large quantities of information. That is now costless. The new currency is how to generate, assimilate, interpret, and make that large amount of information actionable.”
WSJ: “A new generation of customer-service voice bots is here, spurred by advances in artificial intelligence and a flood of cash. Automated voice programs are being upgraded from old-school systems with little or no AI to newer speech-to-text and text-to-speech models combined with large language models. If the technology lives up to its promise, the shift might improve the customer experience at a range of companies and reduce their costs in the process. But there are questions, too, about consumers’ comfort level with the technology and how best to keep the AI from spitting out false information.”
Business Standard: “Research shows that light walking for 2 minutes after every 20 minutes of sitting may significantly lower post-meal blood sugar levels…When you sit for extended periods, especially after eating, your muscles become inactive. This slows glucose uptake and can lead to spikes in blood sugar levels. Over time, these spikes contribute to insulin resistance, a major risk factor for Type 2 diabetes…[Here is how to] follow the ‘2 per 20’ rule effectively: set a timer: use your phone, smartwatch, or a reminder app to alert you every 20 minutes; walk for 2 minutes: pace around your room, stretch, walk to the kitchen, or take a call standing up; be consistent: over time, this small habit can lead to measurable metabolic benefits.”
Ben Thompson: ““The Original Sin” of the Internet lacking native payments was not, in my opinion, a sin at all: advertising supported the human web not because Andreessen failed to make a deal with the credit card companies, but because it was the only business model that made sense. No, the real neglect and missed opportunity in terms of payments is happening right now: Microsoft is on to the right idea with its adoption of MCP and introduction of NLWeb, but its proposal, by virtue of not including native payments, isn’t nearly as compelling as it should be. The key difference from the 1990s is that on the agentic web native digital payments are both viable and the best possible way to not only keep the web alive, but also in the process create better and more useful AI…What is possible — not probable, but at least possible — is to in the long run build an entirely new marketplace for content that results in a new win-win-win equilibrium.”
