Inside Bangkok’s zero-carbon footprint restaurant

Hello,

Are you planning to buy a new car soon? Here’s some news for you: They are getting expensive, starting April 1.

In the face of a tariff war, rising input and commodity prices, along with escalating operational expenses, numerous auto manufacturers, including Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki, have decided to raise their prices by 1-3%.

However, young Indians are not deterred by such price hikes and are getting fast and furious with their luxury cars. According to Reuters, Lamborghini, fresh from a year of record sales, is exploring a fourth showroom in India, while Mercedes-Maybach sees the country as a potential top-five market by sales.

Meanwhile, in the US, motorists are trading in their Teslas in a protest against its CEO Elon Musk. A report found that Tesla cars from model year 2017 or newer accounted for 1.4% of all the vehicles traded in until March 15, up from 0.4% in March last year.   

Moving on. London’s Heathrow Airport has finally reopened after a recent power outage following a fire at a nearby electrical substation. Nonetheless, airlines have warned of significant delays as they scramble to resume flights and return stranded passengers.

ICYMI: Here’s what happened at one of Europe’s busiest airports.

Lastly, meet the world’s first ‘sharktopus’ that has even stunned marine scientists! 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Inside Bangkok’s zero-carbon footprint restaurant
• Women leaders leading with resilience
• Exploring the life of C Raja Raja Varma

Here’s your trivia for today: What is a group of bears called?

Wine and Food

Inside Bangkok’s zero-carbon footprint restaurant

Founded in 2009 by husband-and-wife duo, Chefs Duangporn Songvisava (also known by ‘Bo’) and Dylan Jones, Bo.lan—a Bangkok-based Michelin star restaurant—draws inspiration from an extensive collection of rare and antique Thai recipes and the founders’ travel around the country. 

It is acclaimed for its stand on sustainable practices, and advocating bio-diversified produce and practices with its ever-changing menu comprising local, seasonal flavours. Working with a wide network of farmers and artisans, the restaurant is constantly pushing its boundaries to achieve a zero-carbon footprint restaurant.

Unique take:

• Bo.lan is not just ‘green-washing’ its principles, but has incorporated initiatives like replacing bottled water with in-house reusable glass bottles to minimise single-use plastic waste.
• It makes staff uniforms from organic materials, sans toxic dyes; and reduces chemicals used for cleaning by producing in-house soaps from waste cooking oil. It has also set up a never-ending exchange system of reusable crates and cloth bags with its farmers; among other things. 
• “Our culinary philosophy is rooted in what nature provides, so we will do our best to make sure we are not making a negative impact on that,” Chef Jones says.

SheSparks

Women leaders leading with resilience

Knowledge, confidence, assertiveness, and persistence. These are some of the key tenets that define Dr Ekroop Caur's journey in the male-dominated field of governance. 

At SheSparks 2025, Dr Caur, Secretary of the Department of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, shared her journey of resilience and leadership in high-stakes roles, in a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory.

Navigating roles:

• Born and raised in Chandigarh, Dr Caur’s path to governance was not preordained. Her decision to join the IAS in 2001 led her to Karnataka, an unexpected posting that soon became a defining chapter in her life.
• Dr Caur has often been the only woman in decision-making rooms. Undeterred by the challenge, she has consistently countered biases with knowledge, confidence, and strategic execution. 
• She rejects the ‘superwoman’ myth, which pressures women to excel in all areas without compromise. “Women have multiple dimensions to their lives, not just work. We can’t do everything perfectly.”

Art and Culture

Exploring the life of C Raja Raja Varma

Raja Ravi Varma, often regarded as the ‘Father of Modern Indian Art’, laid the foundation to make art accessible to the common man. With the use of European art techniques, Varma became the pioneer of blending Indian subjects with a sense of realism and depth. 

A lesser-known fact, however, remains the contribution of C Raja Raja Varma—the brother of Raja Ravi Varma—to the latter’s success. Raja Raja Varma was a co-worker, assistant, secretary, and business manager to his artist brother. 

Forgotten tales:

• C Raja Raja Varma kept a journal that over the years has become one of the most authentic source material on the last ten years (1894-5 to 1905) of Raja Ravi Varma’s life and work. 
• The book—‘The Diary of C Raja Raja Varma’—published in 2005 by Oxford University Press, in collaboration with the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, includes over 1,000 entries and expansive notes and chronology of the artist’s achievements, travels, relationships, personal stories, and more. 
• In an attempt to bring the journal entries to life, the Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation in Bengaluru recently unveiled a multi-sensory experience, blending art, archival research, and technology, bridging the gap between past and present.

News & updates

• US Fed: Some European central bank officials are questioning whether they can still rely on the US Federal Reserve to provide dollar funding in times of market stress. They consider it highly unlikely the Fed would not honour its funding backstops, and the US central bank has given no signals to suggest that.
• Crypto: The US SEC’s crypto task force will focus on how securities laws might apply to digital assets as the Trump administration looks to overhaul cryptocurrency regulations. The industry has long clashed with regulators over how federal securities laws translate to digital assets, with many arguing that crypto tokens are more akin to commodities. 
• Sales: Nike’s shares plummeted as investors grew wary about new CEO Elliott Hill’s turnaround plans after the struggling sneaker giant warned that sales could plunge by double digits. The company reported a 9% sales decline during the holiday season quarter and forecast a steeper-than-expected drop in Q4 revenue.

What is a group of bears called?

Answer: Sleuth or sloth. 

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