Ninan: “The underlying issue is that there hasn’t been enough of a structural change in the [Indian] economy since the launch of reforms in 1990-91, despite per capita incomes multiplying nearly five-fold. Industry accounted for a quarter of GDP then, as it does now. The share of agriculture has declined, with crop yields in many cases well below world standards (necessitating a high level of tariff protection, bedevilling trade negotiations). The service sector has become the largest chunk of the economy, but much of it remains in the unorganised part of the economy. Gig employment is not a substitute for proper jobs. A productivity uptick depends critically on three structural changes that are yet to happen: A substantially bigger manufacturing sector, greater formalisation of the economy, and rapid urbanisation. There is as yet not enough evidence of any of the three. If anything, urbanisation may have slowed down. While many things have improved in recent years, much work remains to be done before the economy can gain significant momentum.”
Business Standard: “In a world dominated by laptops, tablets and smartphones, the simple act of writing by hand is quietly making a scientific comeback. Neuroscience research now shows that handwriting activates more areas of the brain than typing, leading to stronger memory retention, deeper understanding and better learning outcomes. Neurologists explain that the physical act of forming letters forces the brain to slow down, actively process information and encode it more deeply than typing on a keyboard allows.”
FT: “Simply put, the maths is against AI start-ups: they need to deliver gains large enough to justify the work and risk of managing a separate tool. And established software companies will win by integrating innovation rather than fragmenting it.”
Manu Joseph: “Smartphones once turned every bystander into a witness, flooding the world with extraordinary videos and dulling our sense of shock. That era’s gone, now that AI fakes have taken apart a treaty we’ve long had with nature: that seeing is believing.”
