Expected levels for year 7

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin What Happened In 2022 Even before a months-long winter engulfed the digital-assets market, 2022 was shaping up as the year that Washington began to get serious about regulating the cryptocurrency business. That resolve was bolstered throughout the year by a series of calamities that included a massive stablecoin failure of terraUSD and the associated luna, with contagion effects that impacted BlockFi, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital exchange that called into question the ability of crypto exchanges to be digital asset custodians that would protect investors’ assets. Essentially, the crypto industry managed to recreate the same risks of the traditional banking system, in which the institutions that were responsible for holding customer’s assets were simultaneously lending funds, leading to leverage, liquidity and capital conflicts. Before the year could end, the third-largest exchange, FTX – previously seen as a … [Read more...] about 2022 Year In Review: Crypto Policy Experiences Massive Turbulence In Congress Amid TerraUSD And FTX Failures

The economy is slowing down and inflation is cooling, with no mass layoffs in sight—that’s not supposed to happen. Friday’s news that employers kicked hiring into high gear in January by adding 517,000 jobs came as a surprise for a number of reasons. Layoffs at Google ( GOOGL) and other tech companies have dominated headlines . Other parts of the economy have been slowing down , with a multitude of indicators flashing warning signs of a recession. The domino effect of a slow down usually causes a surge in the unemployment level, and economists had expected those headwinds to at least curb the pace of job gains. “It’s clearly the tale of two economies,” said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “The labor market is extremely tight. It's very strong, but the rest of the economy is slowing down.” Those two things don’t usually go together, but the pandemic may have overturned the old rules. “Historical experience may prove to be misleading in 2023,” said … [Read more...] about The Job Market Is Defying Economic Gravity

Larry Page (Image: Reuters) Last month, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders, held several meetings with company executives. The topic: a rival’s new chatbot, a clever A.I. product that looked as if it could be the first notable threat in decades to Google’s $149 billion search business. Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, who had not spent much time at Google since they left their daily roles with the company in 2019, reviewed Google’s artificial intelligence product strategy, according to two people with knowledge of the meetings who were not allowed to discuss them. They approved plans and pitched ideas to put more chatbot features into Google’s search engine. And they offered advice to company leaders, who have put A.I. front and center in their plans. The re-engagement of Google’s founders, at the invitation of the company’s current chief executive, Sundar Pichai, emphasized the urgency felt among many Google executives about artificial intelligence and that chatbot, … [Read more...] about Google calls in help from Larry Page and Sergey Brin for A.I. fight

Not just Bengaluru, many towns and cities across India — Jodhpur, Patna, Guwahati, Silchar, Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Gurugram (above), to name a few — were flooded after spells of intense rain that overwhelmed their poor and choked urban infrastructure. (Image: @ashwinning/Twitter) While there are a host of manmade and natural factors behind the increasing incidence of floods in Indian cities, it is the former that is more to blame, experts have warned, emphasising that the environment must be respected and things set right before it is too late. Unplanned construction in low-lying areas and wetlands, rampant concretisation, choked and overwhelmed storm-water drains, as well as disappearing water bodies and natural water channels are responsible for urban floods, which throw life out of gear in cities every monsoon. A spurt in spells of very heavy rainfall in short durations triggered by erratic weather patterns is a double whammy for already-choked urban infrastructure, … [Read more...] about Intense rain, choked infrastructure: Why urban India sinks every monsoon

Much of the hope for a revival of India’s jute industry rests on bans on single-use plastics that dozens of countries, including India, have enacted in recent years (Representative Image) Sameer Yasir NADIA, India — When shoppers in places like America take a woven reusable bag to the store, they aren’t just saving the planet. They are reviving a storied industry thousands of miles away in India. Jute, a coarse fibre used to make fabrics like burlap, has been cultivated for centuries in the warm and humid climate of the Ganges Delta. Some of India’s jute factories have been in operation for more than a century, and today the country is the world’s largest producer. But in recent decades, the industry has struggled as less expensive synthetic substitutes have flooded the market. Farmers turned to other crops, cheap labour moved elsewhere and mills deteriorated from lack of investment. Now, though, what had been jute’s weakness is its potential strength. As much of the … [Read more...] about That reusable Trader Joe’s bag? It’s rescuing an Indian industry

Smog tower in Anand Vihar, Delhi, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav on the occasion of the second International Day of clean Air For Blue Skies, virtually inaugurated the first functional smog tower at Anand Vihar, Delhi. The inauguration of the smog tower comes a month before the pollution level increases in Delhi usually due to stubble burning by the farmers in neighbouring states. Delhi's pollution is widespread concern for overall pollution levels. Minister for environment, forest and climate change, Yadav, while inaugurating the smog tower expressed hope that the smog tower project will yield fruitful results and supplement the air quality improvement efforts. Earlier in August this year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also inaugurated a smog tower at Connaught Place that's supposed to purify 1,000 cubic metres of air per second within a radius of around 1 km. A smog tower is a structure designed as a large/medium scale air purifier to reduce air pollution, … [Read more...] about Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates Delhi’s first functional smog tower

FM Nirmala Sitharaman breaks Budget 2023 down in an exclusive interview with Network18. While giving a boost to the new income-tax regime, the government has set no time frame to phase out the older tax regime that offers popular exemptions and deductions under various sections, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor Rahul Joshi . Sitharaman stressed that the new tax regime offers reasonable tax rates and simpler compliance. The new tax regime, which offers lower tax rates but minimal exemptions, was introduced in Budget 202 0. “The Prime Minister was clear that the tax-payer should know how much they are paying actually and feel the comfort of not paying much and file tax returns from the comfort of their home,” she said. She expects around 50 percent of tax-payers in "certain layers" to switch to the new tax regime voluntarily. With the new income-tax regime having completed three years, and the FM making big … [Read more...] about FM Nirmala Sitharaman interview | New tax regime the future, old tax regime to stay

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Apple leaks claim that iPhone 15 Pro models are getting more expensive , and now a new leak breaking down iPhone 14 sales data may explain why. According to display analyst Ross Young, iPhone 14 sales are falling behind the iPhone 13. Apple confirmed this in its Q4 earnings call , citing supply chain constraints, but Young revealed something altogether more shocking: iPhone 14 Plus sales have collapsed. And this adds considerable weight to multiple leaks claiming Apple will shake up iPhone 15 pricing to fix this. Young, highly respected for his near-perfect track record, broke down display shipments for all iPhone 14 models in a graph (below). It shows Apple procuring a roughly equal number of displays for iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models ahead of their release in August. By October, iPhone 14 Plus orders had halved before dropping a further 80% in November, with orders … [Read more...] about New Apple Leak Adds To iPhone 15 Price Fears

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin 01/01 Update below. This post was originally published on December 29 iPhone 15 range leaks have revealed a number of potentially tantalizing upgrades coupled with jaw-dropping price increases . But now a new report claims Apple may slash prices. In a blog post, historically reliable industry insider yeux1122 reveals that Apple’s internal analysis of underwhelming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus sales concluded that their decline is “far beyond the range predicted” — even allowing for ongoing component shortages caused by the pandemic. And as a result, Apple will aggressively price its successors. “The biggest problem is the price,” the insider reports. This makes sense. The $899 iPhone 14 Plus costs just $100 less than the iPhone 14 Pro, despite having an inferior display, chipset, camera and older design. With most buyers spreading purchase costs over a two-year carrier contract, the reason to go Plus … [Read more...] about Insider Claims iPhone 15 Will Be ‘Aggressively’ Priced

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin While the furor around robots taking our jobs has largely died down in recent years (not least due to the lack of any real evidence that it's happening), it remains inevitable that the introduction of new technologies will cause disruption in the labor market. "Throughout history the introduction of new technologies has had an inevitable impact on the labour market, whether through displacing jobs, creating new ones, or significantly altering those that already exist," Alexander Dick, Executive Chairman of cloud technology firm VeUP says. "Technologies like AI and robotics are not going to be any different and we're already seeing this across the economy at the moment, with some new jobs being created, some being displaced, and many being altered by the introduction of these new technologies." Research from the Kellogg School explores historical periods of technology-driven disruption to see if there are any patterns … [Read more...] about What Can Past Technological Revolutions Tell Us About Today?