The Signal Brief

In this episode of The Signal Daily, we are bringing back two of our timeless stories. Not as many tourists are coming to India. Before the pandemic hit, we had around 11 million foreign visitors in 2019. But now, those numbers have dropped, mainly because of global political issues. Meanwhile, in a popular tourist destination, Himachal Pradesh, a basic crypto scam managed to trick the police offi...

In this episode of The Signal Daily, we are bringing back two of our timeless stories. In today’s episode, we are discussing Nightshade, a tool capable of making AI think a dog is a cat, a hat is a cake, and a car is a crow, thus causing image-generating models to malfunction in unexpected ways. At the same time, AI is also making waves by replacing human CEOs. Curious to know more? Check out this...

In this episode of The Signal Daily, we are bringing back two of our timeless stories.   For the first story we are talking about the hunger for instant noodles is growing across the world.  Meanwhile,iIn India, streamers are on a self-censorship overdrive. Netflix and Prime Video have put quite a few finished films on the backburner, presumably because they were deemed too political. The Signal D...

In this episode of The Signal Daily, we are bringing back two of our timeless stories.  Food from the two most populous countries is everywhere now. You can find Indo-Chinese dishes in Indian and Nepali restaurants across the US. People are loving the mix of flavours! In other news, regular diamonds aren't as popular as they used to be. More and more folks are going for lab-grown diamonds because...

In today's episode, we delve into the delicate topics of death, loss, grief, and the emergence of technology aiming to alleviate the pain of losing a loved one. Companies like Replika, StoryFile, and Seance AI are introducing services that enable individuals to converse with AI avatars resembling their departed family members. Meanwhile in India, we explore a growing trend among the youth who are...

At the start of 2023, Bitcoin was trading at just $16,600. But now, we’re in the last month of the year, and Bitcoin is rising. On December 11th, it hit a two-year high of $45,000. So what is at play here? Why is bitcoin rallying? Is cryptowinter behind us? Tune it to today’s episode to find out the answers.  In other news, the Koo family, which controls South Korean electronics company LG, is in...

Science magazine has crowned GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy as Breakthrough of the Year. In today's episode, we'll dive into whether these drugs can actually deliver on their promise and give doctors a genuinely effective option for treating patients suffering from obesity. In other news, the controversial chat show Koffee With Karan is rolling in dough.     The Signal Daily is produced in...

In India, iPhone sales are projected to go up to 9.5 million units this year. But the tier-1 metropolis crowd will claim less than half. Per market research firm Counterpoint, a staggering 60 percent of those sales are set to materialise in India’s smaller towns. In other news, young Indians are splurging on stargazing vacations. Tune in to today’s episode as we discuss Apple’s impressive India gr...

After made-in-India cough syrups were implicated in the deaths of at least 141 children in Cameroon, Gambia, and Uzbekistan, and made-in-India eye-drops were recalled in the US and Sri Lanka due to contamination, a recent Bloomberg Businessweek investigation has now linked a made-in-India anticancer drug to the deaths of at least four children in Colombia.  Also, in today’s episode, expectant moth...

Netflix is suddenly all transparent. On Tuesday, the streamer came out with a viewership engagement report, ranking almost all of its titles by number-of-hours-watched between January and June 2023. But there are a few caveats. Tune in to find out what the Netflix data dump reveals — and what it conceals.   In other news, China  is planning to grow an army of lawyers with expertise in internationa...

We’re saying so because domestic cats are amongst the most efficient predators on the planet. A recent study revealed that cats around the globe prey on more than 2000 species. Of them, around 17% are endangered, while over 60 species that cats hunted are already extinct. The study labelled cats as “one of the most problematic invasive species in the world.”  In other news, Bloomberg recently call...

Last week, Las Vegas saw the 4th edition of the Microsoft Excel World Championship, in which die hard data geeks fiddled with spreadsheets to emerge victorious. Good heavens.  Also, in today’s episode, we are discussing Apple’s India dreams. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Apple and its suppliers are hopeful that within a year or two, a quarter of the world's iPhones will be manufac...

Well, that’s precisely what the consumer trends of 2023 reveal. While demand for fancy cars, big houses and luxury items went through the roof this year, sales of affordable, budget-buys remained, at best, flat. Tune in to today's episode as we discuss what this contrasting pattern tells us about the Indian economy. Hint: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. On today's epis...

Law is catching up with Artificial Intelligence. Last week, the European Union reached a deal on laws to regulate the use of AI. Tune in to today’s episode as we discuss how Europe and the rest of the world are planning to police AI — and how their approaches differ from each other.  In other news, millennials are reinventing the classic lungi. With pockets, waistbands and stylised borders, the fr...

According to a recently published study conducted by the International Labour Organization, long workdays are a leading occupational hazard. More than 750,000 people die every year because of the stress of long working hours. Tune in to today’s episode as we discuss productivity, 70-hour work weeks and the overall job market. We’re also discussing how China got around its air pollution problem, wh...

That is because Delhi’s Municipal Corporation is waging a war on charcoal-fueled tandoors. Hindustan Times reported that over the past month alone, the civic body has destroyed about 1,322 tandoors in several Delhi restaurants. They’re calling it tandoor demolition drives. In other news, an American startup is promising that you can control your dreams with the help of its device, suitably named H...

Spotify is laying off about 1,500 employees, i.e., 17% of its workforce. Additionally, Bloomberg reported that the Stockholm-based audio streamer has also axed two of its critically acclaimed in-house podcasts, Heavyweight and Stolen. Tune in to today’s episode to find out why Spotify is on a cost-cutting spree. In other news, the legacy of Bobi the dog, whom Guinness World Records declared the ol...

Note: Since our host and producer, Manaswini, is travelling, The Signal Daily team could not produce a new episode today. No worries, though – we'll be back on track tomorrow. In the meantime, tune in to two of our timeless stories. Move over K-dramas; Thai queer dramas are the latest craze in India, and AI is now coming for India's saas-bahu serials. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

Post-pandemic, videos of young Indians having unexpected heart attacks are going viral, possibly linked to COVID-19 effects and inactive lifestyles. And in other news, last Thursday in Dubai, leaders and diplomats from across the globe gathered to tackle the climate change issue. But what went on during the meeting? Tune in to this episode of The Signal Daily to find out! The Signal Daily is produ...

Bloomberg reports that Alibaba's value dropped by as much as 1.4% in Hong Kong, bringing its market worth to about $187 billion. If this trend continues until closing, Alibaba could lose its title as China's top ecommerce company to the rising star, Pinduoduo. In other news, the US is accusing an individual described as an 'Indian Government Employee' of being involved in a plot to assassinate an...

Elon Musk's Tesla threw some legal punches at Sweden on Monday, filing two lawsuits. Why? The EV maker claims it is facing an unjust and discriminatory attack in Sweden. Tune in to find out the details of the story. In other news, we talk about why everyone's been vibing with the word 'authentic' lately. What's the deal with that? We'll break it down for you. The Signal Daily is produced in associ...

Food from the two most populous countries is everywhere now. You can find Indo-Chinese dishes in Indian and Nepali restaurants across the US. People are loving the mix of flavours! In other news, regular diamonds aren't as popular as they used to be. More and more folks are going for lab-grown diamonds because they're cheaper. In India, some businesses are jumping on this trend, and the government...

While demand for electric cars is cooling off, hybrid cars are staging a comeback. On this episode of The Signal Daily, we are discussing the latest battlefront in the world of cars. In other news, Chandrayan-3 has helped Ramesh Kunhikannan, a 60-year-old electrical engineer from Mysore, become a billionaire. The Signal Daily is produced in association with IVM.The episode was researched and writt...

So, in the latest update, the breakup saga took an unexpected turn – Sam Altman is back as OpenAI's CEO. Tune in as we uncover the underlying reason for his initial departure, delving into the world of effective altruism. Also in today's episode, we shine a spotlight on Manoj Punjabi, the influential media figure shaping the landscape in Indonesia. Finally, in our third segment, we take a look at...

Yep, scammers are getting a taste of their own medicine. How? Borrowers are cooking up fake IDs to outwit those fake loan apps, and guess what? It's actually working. On another note, as we gear up for the end of 2023, Uttarakhand is dealing with yet another mess—the collapse of a tunnel under construction. Tune in to The Signal Daily for more! The Signal Daily is produced in association with IVM....