Top Christmas destinations in India; Dating trends in 2025

Hello,

AI and the chocolate factory, anyone?

Oreo maker Mondelez is using tools like AI to speed up the creation of snack recipes and optimising them to fit certain taste profiles.

Human tasters are, however, still required to approve the final product.

With each passing day, it feels like the world is getting closer to a sci-fi dystopia.

Case in point: a school in Arizona will reportedly give teaching duties to AI in 2025. While the specifics regarding the company providing support for this tech drive are unclear, the school maintains that it will improve learning. The school will also keep teachers around–just fewer of them.

ICYMI: In 2024, edtech startups tried to regain their footing after two turbulent years. They hope 2025 will bring them some relief. 

Meanwhile, Chinese media is abuzz with excitement around humanoid robots. Agibot, a robot startup launched in February 2023, has reportedly already begun mass production of general-purpose humanoid machines. 

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 has changed the AI landscape, with the combined market capitalisation of the six Big Tech companies growing by $8 trillion since then. NVIDIA, followed by Microsoft and Amazon have been the biggest gainers. 

In other news regarding AI, chatbots are showing signs of cognitive decline akin to older humans. According to a study in BMJ, almost all leading large language models show signs of mild cognitive impairment in tests widely used to spot early signs of dementia.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Top Christmas destinations in India
• Dating trends in the year 2025
• AI in wealth management

Here’s your trivia for today: In 2021, a team of mountaineers completed the first winter ascent of which mountain?

Travel and leisure

Christmas destinations in India

‘Tis the season for joy! Christmas marks the birthday of Jesus Christ and all things festive. Homes are decorated and streets buzz with activity, with church choirs singing classics like ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Silent Night’. 

YS Life has curated the top travel destinations for the season.

Lights and music:

• Goa is a must-visit for Christmas. Head to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Sé Cathedral, and St. Cajetan Church to marvel at the decorations or attend midnight masses.
• Every year, the century-old 80-foot rain tree at Veli Maidan in Kochi, Kerala glitters with bells, streamers, and even baby Santa! Lit up every year, it is popular for photo-ops for Instagram.
• For a white Christmas, head to Lansdowne, a cantonment town in Uttarakhand. The town is home to the St. John’s church, which has iconic whitewashed walls and a sloping red roof. Step inside and you will be awestruck by its arched ceilings and the use of woodwork. That’s not all—the paintings and murals on the walls depict scenes from the Bible.

Lifestyle

Dating trends in the year 2025

While dating apps might have made finding potential partners easier, relationships are still tricker than ever. In a departure from “situationships” of the past, millennials and Gen Z are making more focussed approaches to building relationships. YS Life explores dating trends of the upcoming year.

For love:

• For young adults, anything remotely vague isn’t acceptable in dating. Dating app Tinder’s Year in Swipe 2024 report revealed that over half of young adults are setting boundaries upfront, emphasising more on quality conversations. 
• In 2025, AI will creep into our dating lives.  According to Ravi Mittal, Founder and CEO of India-based QuackQuack, AI will hold Gen Z’s hand as a friend, philosopher, and guide.
• As far as millennials are concerned, they are likely to move away from archaic norms and shift their prioritisation on personal desires, emotional fulfilment, and value-driven connections over societal expectations. 

Startup

AI in wealth management

LotusDew, a Hyderabad-based startup, leverages tech to modernise the role of registered investment advisors (RIA), which offer tailored financial guidance and stock analysis. 

Unlike traditional RIAs, which rely on manual processes, LotusDew automates deep data analysis to create curated stock baskets.

Sound investment:

• LotusDew's 22-member team creates portfolios using proprietary datasets and AI-driven strategies, focusing on board governance, global investor behaviour, and institutional disclosures.
• Its Listed Venture Capital basket analyses data points such as board composition, tax litigation histories, and even the educational backgrounds of directors to assess a company’s governance and potential growth.
• Operating in the liquid alternatives space, LotusDew competes with established firms like Deepak Shenoy’s Capitalmind, Wright Research, and Premji Invest-backed Dezerv but distinguishes itself through a technology-driven approach.

News & updates

• Search engine: Alphabet's Google has proposed a loosening of its agreements with Apple and others to set Google as the default search engine on new devices, in a bid to address a US ruling that it unlawfully dominates online search.
• Spyware: WhatsApp has claimed legal victory over the maker of Pegasus spyware. The Israeli company, NSO Group Technologies, was accused in a lawsuit by Meta’s messaging app of infecting and surveilling the phones of 1,400 people over two weeks in May 2019 via its notorious Pegasus software.
• Royal family: Members of Greece’s former royal family have applied for Greek citizenship and formally acknowledged the country’s republican system of government, in a landmark move 50 years after the monarchy was abolished, officials have confirmed.

In 2021, a team of mountaineers completed the first winter ascent of which mountain?

Answer: K2. On January 16, 2021, Nirmal Purja and a team of Nepali climbers were the first to climb K2 in winter. 

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