Bringing Air Quality Data Closer to People
Rainmatter Foundation has unveiled an open, pan‑India air‑quality platform that aggregates data from government sensors, satellites, and crowd‑sourced monitors. The service delivers neighbourhood‑level PM2.5 and AQI readings, filling a long‑standing gap where official data is either inaccessible or too coarse. All information is freely available via a web portal and open API, enabling citizens, schools, and local governments to monitor pollution in real time. The launch positions the foundation as a key data‑infrastructure player in India’s environmental ecosystem.
Plastic Pollution Could Drop 98% with Better Waste Systems
New analysis shows that aligning plastic waste management in low‑ and middle‑income nations with the systems used by high‑income countries could slash global plastic pollution by roughly 98%. The study finds that improving collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure is far...
Is GDP the Right Measure of Progress?
The gross domestic product was devised in the 1930s by Simon Kuznets to gauge national welfare, deliberately omitting military spending and other distortions. During World II the metric was repurposed as a production gauge, treating every dollar spent on war material the...
Where AI Fits in Trading
The author argues that AI will not magically generate trading profits because markets are largely efficient and human psychology drives most losses. Consistent winners are high‑frequency firms and market makers that have built deep data and infrastructure moats. AI’s true...
Intermission by The Ken, Documenting the History of Indian Businesses
The Ken has launched a new podcast series, Intermission, aimed at documenting India’s largely untold business history. The inaugural episode focuses on Asian Paints, highlighting its deliberate strategy of hiring below‑market salaries while investing in long‑term employee welfare. The host...
Do Banking Apps Really Need All These Permissions?
Banking apps frequently request broad device permissions such as SMS, contacts, and phone access, raising privacy concerns. The author argues that these demands conflict with the Principle of Least Privilege, which advocates minimal access for security. Zerodha’s Kite trading app...