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daily record (2003) 35: E.P.A.’s safe daily levels 377: Wednesday in New York City Source: New York City Community Air Survey and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Data shows hourly concentrations of PM2.5 particles, measured in micrograms per cubic meter, for seven N.Y.C. The air in New York City on Wednesday wasn’t just bad by the city’s standards. It was historically bad, even compared with places around the world that generally experience much more air pollution. Wednesday’s daily average was the highest since recording in New York began in 1999. Wednesday’s pollution, of course, was not caused by a power plant or vehicles, but by major wildfires in Canada, mostly in Quebec.

Persons: San Francisco —, Eric James, James Organizations: New York City, New York City Community Air Survey, New York State Department of Environmental, Records, Protection Agency, state’s Department of Environmental, Environmental Protection Agency, University of Colorado, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Administration Locations: New York, Portland ,, San Francisco, New York City, Canada, Northern California, Quebec, North America

☆ Metaverse user laughed at Apple Vision Pro's $3,499 price tag and said he'd only be willing to pay $700, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Metaverse user thinks Apple's eye-watering price tag for its new Vision Pro is laughable. The user told the Financial Times he was only willing to pay around $700 for Apple's new headset. The $3,499 price tag was met with an exasperated response from audience members on Monday. A Metaverse user thinks the high price tag for Apple's Vision Pro headset is laughable. However, its price tag has been somewhat controversial.

Persons: Jiople15, groans, Pete Syme, Anisha Bhatia Organizations: Financial Times, Worldwide Developer Conference, Vision Pro, Apple Locations: Texas

☆ The crowd at the unveiling of Apple's Vision Pro headset let out a collective groan when they found out how wildly expensive it is
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple announced its Vision Pro headset at the WWDC on Monday. There's one product which has been making all the headlines from Apple's WWDC on Monday. The Vision Pro headset marks the tech giant's foray into the metaverse — although the company stayed clear of using that branding. Check out the symphony of boos, groans, and sighs as the Cupertino crowd is told Apple's headset will start at $3,499. "The Vision Pro is Apple's attempt at cracking open the extended reality (XR) door to create an addressable market with iterations of Vision Pro in the years to come."

Persons: WWDC, everyone's, TikTok, Tim Cook, they've, Anisha Bhatia, Apple Organizations: Apple, Twitter, Wii Sports, Nintendo, Senior, Pro Locations: Cupertino

BALASORE, India, June 3 (Reuters) - Ompal Bhatia, a survivor of the three-train crash in India on Friday, had first thought he was dead. When the train he was traveling in went off-track, Bhatia was with three friends on his way to Chennai for work. The 25-year-old had spent most of the four-hour journey on the Coromandel Express standing. The train, traveling past hills along India’s eastern coast, takes more than 24 hours to complete the journey of more than 1600 kilometres. Archana Paul, a housewife from West Bengal, was in the other train, the Howrah Yesvantpur Express, when the crash happened.

Persons: Ompal Bhatia, Bhatia, Moti Sheikh, Sheikh, ” Bhatia, ”, Archana Paul, Paul, “, Das, Jatindra Dahs, Krishn Kaushik, Christina Fincher Organizations: Reuters, Express, Thomson Locations: BALASORE, India, Chennai, Bangalore, West Bengal, Howrah, Balasore, New Delhi

David Solomon has been Goldman Sachs' CEO for over four years since succeeding Lloyd Blankfein. There's been a lot of talk about the morale at Goldman Sachs. Solomon said there were fewer "partner transitions at Goldman Sachs" in 2022 than any year "going back to 2014." Meanwhile, Solomon's expensive foray into consumer banking raised the ire of some longtime Goldman partners, as Insider has previously reported. The fresh faces among the Goldman Sachs executives who took the stage at the bank's investor day highlight the leadership changes under Solomon.

☆ Student loan payments are set to resume. Here's a potential winning play for investors, BofA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Federal student loan debt repayments are expected to resume later this year – and one winning stock could emerge from the fallout, according to Bank of America. Payments on federal student loans have been on hold since 2020 as part of pandemic relief measures. The Supreme Court is weighing President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, and repayments on federal student loans are expected to resume 60 days after the court makes its decision. But SoFi Technologies could benefit from the resumption of loan payments as borrowers try to refinance their federal student loans, Bhatia said. Refinancing may make sense if the original federal loans have a higher rate than what's available through a private lender.

☆ Twitter's new CEO Linda Yaccarino held intense SoulCycle sessions with her favorite employees in a former role, new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk announced Friday that Linda Yaccarino will take on the role of CEO of Twitter. One source said she would invite favored staffers to do intense SoulCycle workouts as a form of bonding. Twitter's new CEO Linda Yaccarino reportedly organized SoulCycle workout sessions with favorite employees in a previous role, Fortune reported Sunday. One unnamed source told Fortune that Yaccarino can play favorites and would invite chosen employees to intense SoulCycle spinning sessions. There's now speculation as to whether other NBCUniversal employees will follow Yaccarino to Twitter.

The departure of ads chief Linda Yaccarino to Twitter has thrown NBCU into chaos. The exit comes on the heels of the departure of NBCU CEO Jeff Shell after sexual harassment allegations. One advertising executive who works closely with NBCUniversal described the situation inside the company as a "Cuban missile crisis." NBCU does have a deep bench of ad executive talent that's highly regarded in the ad industry. Although Yaccarino's departure from NBCUniversal to Twitter was a surprise, she had been close with the company and its billionaire owner.

☆ Watch an A.I. Learn to Write by Reading Nothing but Jane Austen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Aatish Bhatia | Aatish Bhatia Spent Weeks Reading Dozens Of A.I. Research Articles | Training Tiny Language Models On His Computer. Before Coming To The Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

This is how language models usually start off: They guess randomly and produce gibberish. Over many, many rounds of training, language models can learn to write. As language models grow larger, the patterns that they learn can become increasingly complex. More is differentOther than the additional fine-tuning stages, the primary difference between nanoGPT and the language model underlying chatGPT is size. Large language models can become highly unpredictable, as evidenced by Microsoft Bing A.I.’s early interactions with my colleague Kevin Roose.

☆ ChatGPT course instruction is the newest side hustle on the market. Meet the teachers making thousands from the lucrative gig.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ChatGPT course instructors told Insider they have made between $10,000 to $52,000 in a few months. In late December, he launched a ChatGPT course on online education platform Udemy called "ChatGPT Masterclass: A Complete ChatGPT Guide for Beginners." But some struggle to integrate ChatGPT into their workflow, three ChatGPT course instructors told Insider. Skillshare, another online learning platform, offers 61 ChatGPT courses, while online course provider Coursera offers 10, according to searches made at the time this story was published. ChatGPT instructors aren't necessarily AI expertsThe ChatGPT course instructors who spoke to Insider are all self-taught.

☆ Tim Cook opens first Apple store in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“We’re excited to build on our long-standing history — supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future.”Apple's newest store in Mumbai, India. AppleIn a separate statement Monday, Apple (AAPL) shared a peek of its new Mumbai store, located at a property owned by Reliance Industries, the conglomerate of Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani. Apple products are considered too expensive by many consumers in the country. In 2020, Apple launched an online store in India, allowing customers to buy its products and, for the first time, customize certain devices. Apple had previously planned to open its first physical store in the country in 2021, though that was derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

☆ Temasek buys 41% stake in India's Manipal Health for $2 bln- source
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUMBAI, April 10 (Reuters) - Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund Temasek said on Monday that it is acquiring an additional 41% stake in India's Manipal Health Enterprises from investors including TPG, boosting its stake in one of the country's largest hospital chains to 59%. While Manipal did not specify the deal value, Temasek has paid about $2 billion for the additional stake, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Private equity firm TPG, an investor in Manipal since 2015, will fully exit its stake, though it will reinvest via a new fund. India's sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), will also sell its full stake to Temasek, while Manipal founder Ranjan Pai's family holding will reduce from about 50% to 30%. "By re-investing through our new Asia fund – TPG Asia VIII, we look forward to continuing to support Manipal's mission of bridging the quality healthcare infrastructure gap in the country," said Puneet Bhatia, co-managing partner of TPG Capital Asia.

Based on traditional and long-abandoned fixed policy models, Cleveland Fed researchers reckon policy is already more aggressive than any of those rules suggest. The political and policy appetite for zero interest rates or quantitative easing - which seemed to chase estimates of R-star ever lower over the past decade - is gone. At the same time, real yields above 4% have proven unsustainable historically. Bhatia feels real yields somewhere in the middle is where markets will settle. Given the economy-wide accumulation of debt over recent years, real 10-year yields in a 1.5%-2.0% range probably works.

☆ Since David Solomon became Goldman Sachs CEO, more than 80 partners have left. See the running list here.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Carter Johnson | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

David Solomon has been Goldman Sachs' CEO for more than four years since succeeding Lloyd Blankfein. There's been a lot of talk about the morale at Goldman Sachs. In reality, Solomon said, there were fewer "partner transitions at Goldman Sachs" in 2022 than any year "going back to 2014." "At the moment, year-to-date, our turnover is at a 5-year low, not just for partners, in the whole firm," Solomon added. Here is a running list of Goldman's partners that have retired from the firm — or moved on to roles at other companies — since Solomon became CEO.

☆ Leaked document lays out Salesforce's plan to hit over 30% margins, directing the company to 'run lean and mean' and stop 'using culture as an excuse'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An internal Salesforce business plan details how the company plans to get profit margins over 30%. One obstacle toward reaching the margin is "using culture as an excuse," the plan states. A draft of Salesforce's annual planning document details how the company plans to exceed 30% profit margins, including significant cost cutting and new releases for Slack, Mulesoft, and Tableau. Insider obtained a full draft of Salesforce's V2MOM document, which stands for Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measurements. Arjun Bhatia, an analyst at William Blair, recently noted that Salesforce's current sales and marketing spending is much higher than peers.

☆ Why Goldman’s consumer ambitions failed, and what it means for CEO David Solomon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

That's because many of the decisions Solomon made over the next four years — along with aspects of the firm's hard-charging, ego-driven culture — ultimately led to the collapse of Goldman's consumer ambitions, according to a dozen people with knowledge of the matter. Goldman executives were eager to seal the deal with the tech giant, which happened before Solomon became CEO, they added. The rapid growth of the card, which was launched in 2019, is one reason the consumer division saw mounting financial losses. Within months, Ismail left Goldman, sending shock waves through the consumer division and deeply angering Solomon. Goldman should plow some of those volatile earnings into more durable consumer banking revenues, the thinking went.

☆ Analysis: Goldman Sachs CEO, after missteps, to take center stage at investor day
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Saeed Azhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"It's a pretty important investor day," said Mike Cronin, investor director at fund manager abrdn, which owns a stake in the bank. In 2020, Solomon kicked off Goldman's inaugural investor day by telling participants they should feel free to "break into open applause." A deal could broaden Goldman's revenue beyond trading and investment banking, which can be buffeted by economic cycles. The investor day is also an opportunity for the company to address questions around Solomon's leadership after bad press, Mayo said. But several presenters from the 2020 investor day have since left.

Some staff members were asked to remain at the offices overnight on Tuesday, the BBC said. But the offices are now open for people to enter and leave as needed. A special investigation team appointed by India’s Supreme Court in 2012 found no evidence to suggest he was to blame. India’s main opposition Congress party described the ongoing tax searches at the BBC offices as a “brazen attack” on India’s free press. The raids raised fears of censorship in India, with several media organizations issuing statements condemning the government’s actions.

BBC News reported on television that people had not been allowed to enter or leave the offices. The raids come after the Indian government said it used “emergency powers” to block the documentary from airing in the country, adding that both YouTube and Twitter complied with the order. A BBC spokesperson told CNN that the organization was “fully cooperating” with authorities. The two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” criticized the then-chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out between the state’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims. But the riots remain one of the darkest chapters in India’s post-independence history, with some victims still awaiting justice.

☆ Goldman’s Marcus is a lesson in self-made failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Being a consumer bank was a good idea when Goldman’s leaders cooked it up eight years ago. Fast forward to 2023, and consumer banking is still highly lucrative. The practice of working through the night is common in the investment banking division Solomon once headed but rare in consumer banking. For example, Goldman’s engineers had to fight to host consumer banking systems on the cloud rather than on the bank’s own servers. That year, nobody from the consumer bank was promoted to the firm’s prestigious partner level.

☆ Iron ore prices could rally as one leading producer remains reluctant to share, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Indian iron ore exports … have really come off in the last few months. India's exports of iron ore plunged by 90% year on year in October last year, and recorded an year-on-year decline as steep as 96% in September. Udit Kulshrestha | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAccording to Refinitiv, around 60% of global iron ore exports are destined for China. Iron ore exports from India were affected by a 50% tax on low-grade iron ore exports, which was reversed in late November. India's iron ore exports won't be the biggest factor in price volatility, however.

☆ Bank of America announced a new class of managing directors — here are all 87 names in corporate and investment banking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America has announced a new class of 360 managing directors. Insider has the list of the 87 new MDs for the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank. It's managing director promotion day at Bank of America. On Thursday, the class of 360 managing directors across the firm were announced internally, up 15% from the 314 promoted in 2022.Insider has the list of the 87 employees who were promoted in the firm's Global Corporate and Investment Bank — the division responsible for dealmaking. That's down 17% from 105 new MDs last year in the division, likely a reflection of a difficult year in investment banking across Wall Street that saw revenues drop in excess of 50%.

☆ Goldman Sachs' consumer banking unit head steps down - memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - The head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) direct-to-consumer unit, Swati Bhatia, is stepping down from the role, according to an internal note seen by Reuters. The move comes as Goldman Sachs in October signaled it was scaling back its ambitions for the loss-making consumer unit, Marcus. read more read moreChief Executive Officer David Solomon, who took the helm in 2018, has tried to diversify the company's operations with Marcus. Bhatia, formerly the chief payments risk officer at digital payments company Stripe, had joined the bank in February 2021. Separately, the bank appointed Zeeshan Razzaqui as co-head of merchant point-of-sale lending at Platform Solutions, its unit focusing on financial technology products.

☆ Watch How Arctic Air Blanketed the U.S. Last Week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Aatish Bhatia | Margot Sanger-Katz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Air temperature ⭠ Warmer air Colder air ⭢ Freezing +80°F +60°F +40°F +20°F 0 -20°F Source: NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction Note: The map depicts air temperatures two meters above ground. It shows a detailed simulation of air temperatures that was created by blending high-resolution weather forecast models with recent observations from satellites and over 30,000 weather stations. The polar vortex spins in a counter-clockwise direction, creating the path of cold air that traveled south, then east, and finally north again. It became “pretty breezy” as the freezing air shifted east, said Caleb Grunzke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Chanhassen, Minn. As the cold air traveled down the central part of the country, its path was deflected by the Rocky Mountains.

☆ Explainer: India G20 presidency 2023: what does it mean and what can we expect
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Devjyot Ghoshal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

During and after the 2008 global financial crisis, the G20's coordinated efforts helped tamp down panic and restore economic growth. WHAT DOES G20 PRESIDENCY ENTAIL? After India, Brazil will take over the presidency of the G20, followed by South Africa in 2025. WHAT DOES THE G20 MEAN FOR INDIA AND MODI? "The country has not invested much in multilateral rule-making institutions like the G20, but it is never too late to start."

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