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☆ Amazon's AWS to launch new infrastructure region in Taiwan amid rapid Asia-Pacific expansion
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Sheila Chiang | In Sheilachiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rio de Janeiro , Brazil - 4 May 2023; Amazon Web Services branding, during day three of Web Summit Rio 2023 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new AWS region in Taiwan will enable firms to capitalize on the cloud and "build with AWS technologies like compute, storage, databases, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence," said Prasad Kalyanaraman, vice president of infrastructure services at AWS, in a statement. An AWS region is a physical location where data centers are clustered. An availability zone is an isolated and geographically separate location with one or more data centers with independent power, cooling, and physical security. AWS had opened a region in the Indonesia capital of Jakarta in December 2021.

Persons: Eóin Noonan, Prasad Kalyanaraman Organizations: Amazon Web Services, Web Summit, Summit, Getty, Web Services, AWS Locations: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Riocentro, U.S, Taiwan, Asia, Pacific, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Jakarta

☆ Mexico Elects Claudia Sheinbaum
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( David Leonhardt | Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When foreigners hear news from Mexico, it can often sound chaotic, involving cartels, crime or migration surges. But last night’s election results make clear that most Mexicans are pleased with their country’s direction. Claudia Sheinbaum — the former mayor of Mexico City and the chosen successor of the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador — won the presidency easily. Sheinbaum, a leftist-leaning engineer, received about 58 percent of the vote, to around 29 percent for Xóchitl Gálvez, a centrist entrepreneur, and about 11 percent for Jorge Álvarez Máynez, a progressive candidate. In today’s newsletter, we’ll explain why most Mexican citizens have been so satisfied with López Obrador (who’s often known by his initials, AMLO) and what challenges Sheinbaum will likely face, starting with violent crime, which is indeed a major problem.

Persons: Claudia Sheinbaum —, Andrés Manuel López Obrador —, Gálvez, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, López Obrador, Sheinbaum Locations: Mexico, Mexico City

☆ India’s scorching heat and lack of water leave Delhi’s poor to suffer worst of climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Esha Mitra | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New Delhi CNN —There’s no fresh water in the slums of Delhi’s Chanakyapuri neighborhood. She tried to run back for it – but it was too late, the water had run out. Residents in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri neighborhood clamber to get water under baking heat on May 31, 2024. As record heat grips northern India, the Delhi government has been forced to ration these free water deliveries. But if they get to the hospital late and the intervention is late, the mortality rate is so high.

Persons: New Delhi CNN —, Shah, Vijay Bedi, ”, it’s, Poonam Shah, Ram Manohar Lohiya, Ajay Shukla, Anupam Nath, ” Dr Shukla, Kali Prasad, aren’t, Farwa Aamer, Aamer Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, CNN, Indian Meteorological Department, Ram, “, Workers, Asia Society Policy Institute Locations: New Delhi, Delhi’s Chanakyapuri, India, Delhi, Guwahati, South Asia

☆ Free Food? Modi Makes Sure Every Indian Knows Whom to Thank for It.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Suhasini Raj | Alex Travelli | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Durga Prasad, an 80-year-old farmer, was resting under the shade of a tree in front of his home when the party workers came. An app on their smartphones could tell them in an instant who Mr. Prasad was, whom he might vote for — and why he should be grateful to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. “You get installments of 2,000 rupees, right?” asked a local official from Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P. Mr. Prasad concurred. He receives $72 a year through a farmers’ welfare program started and branded by Mr. Modi.

Persons: Durga Prasad, Prasad, Narendra Modi, “, ”, Modi’s, Modi Organizations: Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr

☆ Tensions Rise in Silicon Valley Over Sales of Start-Up Stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Sohail Prasad, an entrepreneur, launched a fund in March called the Destiny Tech100. The fund owns shares in hot tech start-ups like the payments firm Stripe, the rocket maker SpaceX and the artificial intelligence company OpenAI. Few people get the chance to invest in these privately held companies since their shares are not openly traded. Mr. Prasad’s intention with Destiny was to let the rest of the world get a piece of them through his fund. But soon after Destiny debuted, two tech start-ups — Stripe and Plaid, a banking service — said the fund did not legally own their shares.

Persons: Sohail Prasad, Destiny, —, Robinhood, Prasad, ” Organizations: SpaceX

☆ When grief and AI collide: These people are communicating with the dead
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

People have wanted to reconnect with deceased loved ones for centuries, whether they’ve visited mediums and spiritualists or leaned on services that preserve their memory. In September 2023, it introduced ChatGPT voice, where users can ask the chatbot prompts without typing. HereAfter AI, founded in 2019, allows users to create avatars of deceased loved ones. “Remembering is very important; it reflects the human condition and importance of deceased loved ones.”But she noted the relationship we have with our closest loved ones is built on authenticity. Creating an AI version of that person could for many “feel like a violation of that.”Bill Abney said he feels uneasy about communicating with his late fiancée through AI platforms.

Persons: Ana Schultz, Kyle, ”, Schultz, “, Schutz, they’ve, ” Ana Schultz, ElevenLabs, Joe Biden, Biden, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Danielle Jacobson, she’s, Phil, Cole, ” Jacobson, “ Cole, Replika, Rohit Prasad, Val Kilmer, It’s, Mary, Frances O’Connor, ‘, ’ ”, Bill Abney, Kari, ” Abney, “ I’m, Jodi Spiegel, Sims Organizations: CNN, Davidson College, Tech, Alexa, MARS, Amazon, University of Arizona Locations: Rock Falls , Illinois, Alabama, Johannesburg, South Africa, “, San Francisco, Newfoundland, Canada

☆ India’s UPI: How e-payments have taken over, from sari shops to street food stalls
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Digital payments are likely to enhance India’s growth by eliminating frictions, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs,” Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University, told CNN. Covid-19 further boosted the adoption of digital transactions, as people tried to protect themselves from the virus. In 2023, the number of UPI transactions topped 100 billion. Azeez, a 34-year-old rickshaw driver in Old Delhi, told CNN that he’s too scared of losing money to use e-payments. Sania Farooqui/CNNConvenience aside, India’s digital public infrastructure has helped it achieve an 80% financial inclusion rate.

Persons: Brij Kishore, ”, Agarwal, tuk, India’s, Narendra Modi, Eswar Prasad, Old Delhi Sania Farooqui, Ramesh Kumar's, Sania Farooqui, Ramesh Kumar, he’s, Azeez, Prasad, Kapil Sharma, “ Organizations: Hong Kong / New Delhi CNN, ”, Unified, “, frictions, Cornell University, CNN, “ UPI, India, National Payments Corporation of India, UPI, Sarojini, Finance, Eiffel Locations: Hong Kong / New Delhi, Chandni, India’s Old Delhi, Delhi, India, Old Delhi, Sarojini, Covid

☆ This fund that lets retail traders invest in SpaceX and OpenAI is trading at a massive premium
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

DXYZ 1M mountain The Destiny Tech 100 fund has seen big swings and is trading well above its net asset value. "It's common for them to not trade exactly at their NAV, but trading at a premium is very strange. Robinhood confusion The popularity of the new fund appears to have caused some confusion on retail brokerage app Robinhood . According to Prasad, the Destiny fund was previously available for trading on brokerage Robinhood, but they started seeing complaints last week that things had changed. "Our focus is not on the premium," but in building out the fund, Prasad said.

Persons: Jack Shannon, Shannon, Chelsea Childs, Sohail Prasad, Prasad, Robinhood, Chelsea, Destiny Organizations: SpaceX, New York Stock Exchange, Tech, Morningstar, Gray, CNBC, Trust

☆ Donald Trump on Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( David Leonhardt | Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A criminal trial is often a contest between competing stories. In the trial of Donald Trump that’s just begun, prosecutors used their opening statement yesterday to tell a story about a man they say lied — and broke the law — to get elected president. The story that Trump’s lawyers offered in their own opening statements had two main features. Second, Trump’s lawyers argued that his attempts to affect the election were ordinary politics. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,” Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s lawyers, said in his opening statement.

Persons: Donald Trump that’s, —, Trump, Michael Cohen, Trump’s, “, ” Todd Blanche, “ It’s, ”

☆ Trump’s Nostalgia Bump
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Trump left office wildly unpopular. A plurality of voters, 42 percent, now say the Trump years were “mostly good” for the country. Biden says he finds the nostalgia “amazing,” and at a time when Trump is a defendant in four criminal cases, it may seem surprising. Today, I’ll explain why voter nostalgia seems to be helping Trump, and how that might change. A longstanding patternDecades ago, the polling firm Gallup started asking Americans what they thought about past presidents.

Persons: Trump, —, Biden’s, Biden, Gallup, John F, Kennedy, Ashley Wu Organizations: New York Times, Siena

☆ D/XYZ CEO dives into launch of new fund to invest in private tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailD/XYZ CEO dives into launch of new fund to invest in private techSohail Prasad, D/XYZ CEO, joins 'Fast Money' to discuss a new way for investors to get into start-ups.

Persons: Sohail Prasad

☆ Want to Invest in SpaceX or Stripe? There’s a Fund for That.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stripe, a payments start-up, is one of the most successful companies to emerge from Silicon Valley in a generation. It is a problem that has vexed retail investors for years, as start-ups like Stripe, SpaceX and OpenAI soar to enormous valuations in the private market. Only so-called accredited investors with a high net worth are allowed to invest in private tech start-ups. It is offering a publicly traded fund that contains shares of 23 private tech companies including Stripe, SpaceX, OpenAI, Discord and Epic Games. Sohail Prasad, the chief executive of Destiny XYZ, the parent company of the fund, said his goal was to let anyone own part of the tech industry’s top private companies.

Persons: Destiny Tech100, Sohail Prasad Organizations: SpaceX, Games, New York Stock Exchange Locations: Silicon

☆ 1 in every 13 bridges in America is in ‘poor’ condition. Thousands could collapse from a collision
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A container ship colliding into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is drawing attention to potential vulnerabilities among some of America’s more than 600,000 bridges. The Key Bridge stood for 47 years, and in that time it never received the sort of jolt that anyone could have thought would bring it down. Extreme weather events, increasingly heavy trucks and collisions from larger container ships pose significant risks to US bridges, engineers and other infrastructure experts say. The Key Bridge was “fracture critical,” the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. To minimize the potential of ships bringing down bridges, bridges need to be built with what are known as redundancies— protections around bridges’ danger points.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Dali, Ananth Prasad, Prasad, ”, Jessie Yeung, Curt Devine, Casey Tolan, Isabelle Chapman Organizations: American Society of Civil Engineers, Congressional Research Service, National Transportation Safety, World Association, Transport Infrastructure, Florida Transportation Builders ’ Association, CNN Locations: Baltimore, America, United States, China, Argentina, Florida

☆ India's small- and mid-cap stock rally: Be selective, says Kotak Institutional Equities
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIndia's small- and mid-cap stock rally: Be selective, says Kotak Institutional EquitiesSanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities says lower-quality stocks have led the rally.

Persons: Sanjeev Prasad

☆ Chinese government's lack of transparency may weaken investor confidence, professor says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailChinese government's lack of transparency may weaken investor confidence, professor saysEswar Prasad, professor of international trade policy at Cornell University, discusses China's annual parliamentary meetings, and says "it's very clear that this is a new ballgame. I think the sense that the government is going to be much more open and transparent in terms of responding to market concerns, trying to show how they're going to alleviate those concerns, is giving way to a 'just trust us' sort of approach."

Persons: Eswar Prasad Organizations: Cornell University

☆ Republicans Who Like Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( David Leonhardt | Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Large parts of the Republican Party now treat Vladimir Putin as if he were an ideological ally. Putin, by contrast, continues to treat the U.S. as an enemy. It does not appear to stem from any compromising information that Putin has about Donald Trump, despite years of such claims from Democrats. Instead, Trump and many other Republicans seem to feel ideological sympathies with Putin’s version of right-wing authoritarian nationalism. Already, House Republicans have blocked further aid to Ukraine — a democracy and U.S. ally that Putin invaded.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, Donald Trump, Trump, Viktor Orban of Hungary, — Organizations: Republican Party, House Republicans Locations: Ukraine, Russia

☆ China's latest market crackdown shows it hasn't learned any lessons
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China has curbed short selling and quant trading activities to support its flailing stock markets. AdvertisementBeijing is now trying to support the flailing Chinese stock markets by pulling a familiar move — cracking down on private sector activities. Remember — China's recent private sector enterprise crackdown wiped out over a trillion dollars from its tech sector alone and spooked entrepreneurs. China isn't the first to curb stock market activities — the US also cracked down on short-selling during the 2008 financial crisis. China's securities regulator said on Thursday it wasn't trying to interfere with trading activities, but will crackdown on "illegal activities" that disrupt market order.

Persons: —, They're, George Boubouras, isn't, Eswar Prasad Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Asset Management, China isn't, Cornell University, International Monetary Fund, Nikkei Locations: China, Beijing, Hong, Melbourne

☆ Cornell professor says China's biggest problem is a lack of confidence in its government
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCornell professor says China's biggest problem is a lack of confidence in its governmentEswar Prasad, professor of international trade policy at Cornell University, says the government is dealing only with the symptoms of its economic problems and "needs a much clearer policy agenda."

Persons: Eswar Prasad Organizations: Cornell, Cornell University

☆ Your next Tesla could be made by China
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk invited the suppliers to Mexico as part of plans for cheaper Teslas, Bloomberg reported. That move could be stoking concerns among US officials and EV makers over China's influence. China has a "highly organized, highly efficient supply chain," Venkatesh Prasad, chief innovation officer at the Center for Automotive Research, told Bloomberg. AdvertisementTesla, which also makes cars in the US, and other US-based EV makers may also be feeling the heat from competitors. Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Bloomberg.

Persons: Elon Musk, —, Tesla's, Venkatesh Prasad, Tesla, stoke, Katherine Tai, Tai, Biden, EVs, China's, Tesla's Musk, Mary Lovely Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Center for Automotive Research, Business, Trump, Chinese Communist Party, US Trade Rep, Nikkei, EV, Peterson Institute for International Economics Locations: Mexico, Monterrey, Shanghai, Mexican, Nuevo Leon, Austin, China, Beijing, Washington, DC, United States

☆ Three Big Legal Questions
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( David Leonhardt | Ian Prasad Philbrick | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a two-hour oral argument at the Supreme Court yesterday, nearly all justices appeared skeptical of Colorado’s effort to keep Trump off the ballot. Maine has also moved to bar Trump, and other states would likely follow if the Supreme Court were to allow it. The legal issues are complex, and we walk through them below. As Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, told us yesterday:Donald Trump is accused of doing grave wrongs in trying to overturn the election. Many legal experts expect the court to rule quickly (as this story explains) and to issue a broad decision that applies to all states.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Adam Liptak, Donald Trump, Neal Katyal, Obama Organizations: Colorado, Trump, The Times, ”, Republican Locations: Washington, United States

☆ El-Erian, Krugman and other economists have very different opinions on China’s struggling economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on New Year's Eve that the nation's economy had grown "more resilient and dynamic this year." Meanwhile, famed hedge fund manager and founder of Dallas-based Hayman Capital Kyle Bass said the country's heavily indebted property market has triggered a wave of defaults among public developers. That's a problem, given China's real estate market can account for as much as a fifth of the nation's GDP. "This is just like the U.S. financial crisis on steroids," Bass said, referring to China's default-ridden property market. The Institute of International Finance said Beijing has the policy capacity to push China's economy toward its growth potential and stuck to its above consensus forecast for 2024 growth at 5%, in a recent blog post.

Persons: Eswar Prasad, Mohamed El, Xi Jinping, there's, Paul Krugman, Krugman, Kristalina Georgieva, Hayman, Hayman Capital Kyle Bass, Bass, isn't Organizations: Future Publishing, CSI, China's National Bureau, Statistics, Allianz, International Monetary Fund, Nikkei, New York Times, Monetary Fund, Economic, IMF, Dallas, Hayman Capital, of International Finance Locations: Jiangsu, China, Nikkei Asia, U.S, Europe, tatters, Davos, Beijing

☆ China Deflation Alarms Raised by Falling Prices for Food and Cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Consumer prices fell last month in China by the most since the global financial crisis in 2009, the latest sign that weak spending and a glut of output from factories and farms are forcing businesses to offer discounts. The decline in consumer prices was mostly confined to food and electric cars. But wholesale prices charged by factories and other producers also fell last month, and have been down from their levels a year earlier in every month since October 2022. A broad decline in the overall level of prices, a phenomenon known as deflation, could be very troublesome for the economy. Falling prices make it hard for households and companies to keep up on monthly payments for mortgages, corporate loans and other debts.

Persons: ”, Eswar Prasad Organizations: Cornell University Locations: China

☆ Xi just fired China's top markets regulator. It shows his focus is still on control above all else.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewChina's extended stock market rout was so bad that leader Xi Jinping was set to personally pay attention to it — and it looks like his solution was to fire the country's top markets regulatory late on Wednesday. After all, there were suggestions earlier that authorities are considering a stabilization fund to rescue the flailing stock market. Stock markets in China and Hong Kong have accelerated losses into 2024. The analysts at the Eurasia Group aren't the only ones who say China needs to double down on economic reforms to shore up its economy.

Persons: —, Xi Jinping, Wu Qing, Xi, Eswar Prasad, China's Organizations: Service, China Securities Regulatory, Bloomberg, Business, Eurasia Group, Eurasia Group aren't, Cornell University, International Monetary Fund, Nikkei, Index, Hong Kong Stock Exchange Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing

☆ China's economy may not overtake the US, but a Trump presidency would still help Beijing: former IMF official
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewChina is taking steps to support its economy and stock markets, but there are limits to what can be achieved, said economist Eswar Prasad. Stock markets in China and Hong Kong have accelerated losses into 2024 after shedding trillions of dollars since 2021. "The likelihood of the prediction that China's GDP will one day overtake that of the US is declining," Prasad added to Nikkei. This is because Trump is likely to ratchet up trade protectionism, causing fragmentation in the trade and financial sectors, Prasad told Nikkei.

Persons: —, Eswar Prasad, Prasad, China hasn't, Trump, Prasad doesn't, Donald Trump Organizations: Service, Cornell University, International Monetary Fund, Nikkei, Business, Stock, Reuters Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Asia

☆ Digital consultancy Bounteous will merge with Accolite Digital, aiming to become a billion-dollar giant in 5 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThe digital consultancy Bounteous is merging with Accolite Digital, and together they plan to become a billion-dollar company in five years. Bounteous and Accolite Digital offer different, yet complementary services. Its clients include Coca-Cola, Caesars Entertainment, Domino's, and others, and it largely competes with other consultancies like Accenture and Deloitte Digital, Bounteous CEO Keith Schwartz told Business Insider. AdvertisementAccolite's clients include telecommunications and financial services companies, including Goldman Sachs, Prudential, and BT. For now, the merged company will be called Bounteous X Accolite, although Kaza said they will finalize its new name in May.

Persons: —, Keith Schwartz, Leela Kaza, Kaza, Goldman Sachs, Prasad Chintamaneni, Schwartz Organizations: Service, Accolite, New, Business, Cola, Caesars Entertainment, Accenture, Deloitte Digital, FedEx, Prudential, BT Locations: Chicago, North America, Dallas, India, Canada, Mexico, Europe, America, Eastern Europe

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