DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ State of emergency issued for NYC area as heavy rain, flooding expected to last hours
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Maria Larosa | Janice Huff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Forecasts are reinforcing the potential for heavy rain centered around the NYC area from Friday into Saturday morning. Parts of New York City have already seen five inches of rain as of 11 a.m. People walk under umbrellas amid heavy rain on September 29, 2023 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn borough New York City. Bouts of heavy rain made morning commute nightmarish and conditions only continued to worsen; it will be even more widespread throughout the afternoon and evening. Cars drive through slight flooding on Ocean Avenue amid heavy rain on September 29, 2023 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn borough New York City.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Michael M, Kathy Hochul, Hochul, Ophelia, Taylor, Janno Lieber, Lieber, it's, Spencer Platt, It's, Zach Iscol, Phil Murphy, Murphy, Ravi Bhalla, Bhalla Organizations: NYPD, Reuters, LaGuardia, Brooklyn borough New, Santiago, Getty, New York Gov, Yorkers, NBC, Sunday's Chiefs, Jets, New, NOAA MTA, MTA, Prospect, The New, The New York City Emergency Management Department, Emergency, Getty Images New, Getty Images New Jersey Gov, Schools, New York Public Schools, Mets, Phillies, Citi Field Locations: Manhattan, Williamsburg, New York City, U.S, NYC, New Jersey, Hudson, Connecticut, Flatbush, Brooklyn borough, Brooklyn borough New York City, Long, NBC New York, Ocean, Monmouth, Jersey Shore, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Borough, The New York City, Getty Images New Jersey, Hoboken

☆ Cognizant appoints former Wipro finance chief Jatin Dalal as CFO
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 28 (Reuters) - Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH.O) on Thursday named former Wipro (WIPR.NS) chief financial officer Jatin Dalal as its CFO, a week after his resignation from the Indian information technology (IT) major. The pace of executive churn has picked up in the Indian tech industry in recent months. Dalal became Wipro's CFO in 2015, and with CEO Thierry Delaporte steered the company through the pandemic as demand for digital services boomed. "We are pleased to welcome Jatin to Cognizant and confident he will help us achieve our goals as we continue to focus on driving revenue growth," Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said in the statement. Cognizant projected third-quarter revenue above estimates in August as more businesses turned to the IT services provider to digitize their operations.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jatin Dalal, Ravi Kumar S, Dalal, Jan Siegmund, Rajesh Gopinathan, Mohit Joshi, Wipro's, Thierry Delaporte, Jatin, Cognizant, Jaspreet Singh, Hritam Mukherjee, Varun Organizations: REUTERS, Technology Solutions, Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys, Indian, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

Biden and Trump bid for blue collar votesIn an extraordinary show of support, President Biden plans to join striking autoworkers on the picket line in Michigan on Tuesday. It comes a day before Donald Trump is expected to speak to union members in Detroit instead of participating in the second Republican primary debate. The competing visits come as the two home in on battleground states ahead of next year’s election. But their appearances also reveal a political battle to become the voice of blue collar workers at a time when both candidates are struggling to win over mainstream voters and even some within their own parties. is somewhat troublesome for him: It includes incentives for automakers to make more electric vehicles, which labor leaders say will depend on non-union jobs and require fewer workers.

Persons: Biden, Trump, Donald Trump Organizations: Republican Locations: Michigan, Detroit

Demonstrators hold placards next to a banner as they attend a protest against the sharing of Cauvery river water with neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, in Bengaluru, India, September 26, 2023. Schools and colleges were shut in the capital of the southern state of Karnataka, home to more than 3,500 tech companies. "I can shed my blood but I don't want to give water to Tamil Nadu," said one protester, Ravi Mallikarjuna. The delay provoked small demonstrations near a railway station in Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery river originates in the Karnataka region of Talakaveri, flowing through Tamil Nadu into the Bay of Bengal.

Persons: Dhanya, Santosh Babu, Ravi Mallikarjuna, Shivakumar, Ramachandra, Rupam Jain, Miral Fahmy, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Inc, Walmart, Police, Farmers, Google, Schools, Supreme, Tamil, Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Thomson Locations: Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru, India, BENGALURU, India's, Karnataka, Farmers, Bengal

The work stoppage isn’t officially over yet, and actors remain on strike. attained suggest that as organized labor enjoys a surge in popularity across a variety of industries, its muscle-flexing is achieving results. “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional,” the W.G.A. News reports suggest the deal includes provisions for residual payments from streaming, minimum staffing of shows and limits on the use of artificial intelligence. Until then, writers are still on strike, though they’re not actively picketing.

Persons: isn’t, they’re Organizations: Guild of America, Hollywood

☆ India's Wipro slides after CFO Dalal resigns in latest high-profile exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBENGALURU, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Wipro (WIPR.NS) slid almost 3% on Friday, a day after long-serving CFO Jatin Dalal resigned in a surprise move, the latest senior level exit at the fourth-largest Indian IT services provider. Dalal's exit follows those of Chief Operations Officer Sanjeev Singh and several senior vice presidents as Wipro wades through a years-long turnaround of its business. Wipro has already forecast revenue from IT services would remain largely flat for the current quarter as clients cut spending. Shares of the company hit a near three-week low after news of the CFO change announced Thursday. Reporting by Chris Thomas and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jatin Dalal, Sanjeev Singh, Dalal, Aparna Iyer, Rajesh Gopinathan, Mohit Joshi, Ravi Kumar, Chris Thomas, Nallur, Nivedita Organizations: Wipro, REUTERS, Rights, Indian, Wipro wades, Kotak, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Thomson Locations: India, United States, Bengaluru

☆ Counting the cost of contagion fears from Africa coups
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Libgeorge Marc Jones | Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Gabon coup leader General Brice Oligui Nguema is sworn in as interim president during his swearing-in ceremony, in Libreville, Gabon, September 4, 2023. The putsch not only sent Gabon's bonds tumbling 10%, but also hit those issued by a number of other countries including neighbouring Cameroon, as jittery investors scanned for who might be next. The apparent coup trend is adding to other major concerns deterring many investors from Africa - a wave of debt crises, tense geopolitics and an extreme vulnerability to climate change. "Nearly all markets in that region are paying some price in terms of rising cost of debt," said Sergey Dergachev, portfolio manager at Union Investment. There have been scores of coups and attempted coups in recent decades including in Thailand, Ecuador, Egypt and Turkey.

Persons: General Brice Oligui Nguema, Stringer, Sergey Dergachev, Paul Biya, Macky Sall, Denis Sassou Nguesso, Eamon Aghdasi, Fitch, Moody's, Thailand's, Ravi Bhatia, Bongo, Simon Quijano, Evans, Libby George, Marc Jones, Karin Strohecker, Emelia Sithole Organizations: REUTERS, UNDP, Union Investment, Investors, Reuters, General Assembly, Burkina, P Global, Reuters Graphics, Monetary Fund, Central, CFA, Peace, Thomson Locations: Gabon, Libreville, Africa Mali, Guinea, Africa, Cameroon, Mali, Thailand, Ecuador, Egypt, Turkey, crackdowns, Senegal, Congo Republic, New York, Niger, Burkina Faso, Kenya

Oil rigs are seen at Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas drilling, in the Patagonian province of Neuquen, Argentina January 21, 2019. He said oil and gas reserves are depleting at 5-7% annually, and output will decline if companies stop investing to replace them. The Canadian government has not finalised subsidies for projects to capture and sequester emissions and is developing a cap on oil and gas emissions. Not all oil companies are reducing spending on production. Greater oil production could provide the revenue to pursue net-zero aims, Rath said.

Persons: Agustin Marcarian, Darren Woods, Amin Nasser, ", Aditya Ravi, Rystad's, Alex Pourbaix, Pourbaix, that's, Chris Severson, Baker, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Ranjit Rath, Rath, Carlos Travassos, Yrjo Koskinen, Rod Nickel, Nia Williams, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, World Petroleum Congress, Exxon Mobil, Aramco, Rystad Energy, International Energy Agency, Cenovus Energy, Canadian, European Union, Deloitte, African Petroleum Producers ' Organization, United Nations, Oil India, Investment, Petrobras, PETR4, University of Calgary, Thomson Locations: Vaca, Patagonian, Neuquen, Argentina, Rights CALGARY , Alberta, Calgary, United States, Paris, Pembina, India, SA, Calgary , Alberta

Looking beyond the Fed’s rate decisionThe markets on Tuesday are betting that the Fed will stand pat on interest rates on Wednesday. The higher-for-longer policy would probably deal a blow to prospective home buyers and businesses, and could undermine President Biden’s message of economic growth heading into an election year. Investors will focus on the Fed’s quarterly economic projections. With Brent crude hitting a 10-month high of more than $95 a barrel on Tuesday morning, however, fears on inflation still loom large. Investors on both sides of the Atlantic dumped bonds on Monday, with yields on a 10-year inflation-adjusted Treasury note hitting a 14-year high on fears that the Fed would stay hawkish on interest rates.

Persons: Biden’s, Brent Organizations: Fed, Investors

Other unions are digging in as well. The Writers Guild of America is in the fourth month of its strike against major Hollywood studios, while the actors’ union, known as SAG-AFTRA, is in its second. A Gallup poll published in August found that 67 percent of Americans approve of unions, the fifth straight year such support has exceeded the long-term polling average of 62 percent. Time is running out for Congress to reach a compromise to keep the government running past Oct. 1. The confab is part of an effort to lay groundwork for a meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November.

Persons: Drew Barrymore, Biden, Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy, Jake Sullivan, Wang Yi, Xi Jinping Organizations: Guild of America, Hollywood, SAG, Labor Department, Gallup, Republican, Biden, U.S Locations: U.S, California, Malta, Ukraine, Taiwan, San Francisco

Autoworkers put down their toolsThousands of autoworkers walked off the job on Friday morning at three Midwest plants in an unprecedented strike, as the United Automobile Workers and Detroit’s three big carmakers remained miles apart on contract talks. A lengthy strike could dent the Big Three’s profits, analysts say, at a time when the companies are investing heavily in electric vehicles to catch up to Tesla and Chinese rivals. Mary Barra, G.M.’s chief, warned that meeting all or most of the union’s demands could hobble the company’s prospects. “Make no mistake: If we don’t continue to invest, we will lose ground, and it will happen fast,” she said. “Nobody wins in a strike.”

Persons: Autoworkers, autoworkers, Biden, Ford, Mary Barra, ’, “, ” Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Dodge, Chrysler Locations: Stellantis, Amsterdam, G.M

The company priced its shares on Wendesday at $51 each, the top end of its range, valuing it at about $54.5 billion. Arm’s I.P.O. SoftBank had initially wished the company would be valued at as much as $70 billion. And it had pitched Arm as a major player in designing chips for artificial intelligence applications, a tech sector that investors have flocked to. But valuations of privately held companies have fallen sharply over the past year, and investors were reportedly concerned about Arm’s so-so financial performance of late.

Persons: SoftBank Organizations: Nasdaq, Wendesday

☆ DoorDash will switch to Nasdaq from the NYSE in blow to Big Board
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

DoorDash said on Thursday that it will transfer its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq, a potential blow to the NYSE. "We are delighted to join a community of leading technology companies with our transfer to Nasdaq," DoorDash Chief Financial Officer Ravi Inukonda said in a statement. The NYSE has been attempting for years to secure more tech company listings and gain share against the Nasdaq. DoorDash initially began trading on the NYSE in December 2020, with a price of $182 per share. Its debut came at a popular time for tech IPOs, within months of the IPOs of Airbnb , Roblox and Wish , the discount marketplace.

Persons: Tony Xu, DoorDash, Ravi Inukonda, University of Florida's Jay Ritter, DoorDash's, Instacart Organizations: DoorDash Inc, Street, Tech, New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, NYSE, University of Florida's, Cloud, Big Board Locations: Laguna Beach , California

Artificial intelligence is again in focus this week in Washington, as leading tech executives — including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and Sam Altman — as well as labor leaders and civil society groups meet on Wednesday with lawmakers behind closed doors. The gathering is the first of a series of Schumer’s listening sessions before lawmakers start writing rules. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for Congress—we need AI experts, ethicists, labor leaders, civil rights groups, the world of academia, defense and beyond helping us with the work ahead,” he wrote Tuesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Two separate Senate hearings devoted to A.I. It includes an independent office to oversee A.I., licensing and safety standards, and making executives liable for their tech.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman —, Chuck Schumer, ”, Richard Blumenthal, Josh Hawley Organizations: Elon, Democratic, Twitter Locations: Washington, New York, Connecticut, Republican, Missouri

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's government deployed army troops at railroad stations as railway employees continued with their strike that paralyzed train services across the country for a second day Wednesday, a day after two passengers were killed while attempting to travel on a packed train. Tens of thousands of passengers have been greatly inconvenienced because of the strike. The strike was launched by the Sri Lanka Locomotive Operating Engineers Union, which includes engine drivers. Sri Lanka's train services are substandard, with poorly maintained compartments and tracks because of years of mismanagement and a lack of proper planning. Ravi Herath said armed troops were deployed “to provide security for the public, railway passengers, employees of the railway and also to protect the government property.”

Persons: Bandula Gunawardena, S.R, Senanayake, Ravi Herath, ” Organizations: Passengers, Sri, Sri Lanka Locomotive Operating Engineers Union, Trade, Military Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Sri

game (and the injury-shortened debut of Aaron Rodgers as the New York Jets quarterback) live at home. The early verdict: Disney gave up less than expected — but made concessions that could eventually remake the pay-TV business. Disney will gain more reach for its streaming services, which the company views as a vital part of its future. Charter also agreed to provide ESPN+ (largely a companion to its cable-channel sibling) as part of its sports-focused bundle. More important, when Disney finally introduces a direct-to-consumer version of ESPN that includes streaming of big sports events, the broadband provider can also offer that to its consumers.

Persons: ”, Aaron Rodgers Organizations: Disney, Charter Communications, New York Jets, ESPN

That’s far less than what Instacart fetched in a fund-raising round two years ago. But like Arm, the SoftBank-owned chip designer set to price its own stock offering on Wednesday, Instacart’s shift reflects investor caution as Wall Street slowly warms up to I.P.O.s again. In 2021, the company was valued at a heady $39 billion, as venture capitalists poured money into start-ups, especially those that benefited from stay-at-home pandemic restrictions. But investors had expected it to pursue a valuation as high as $70 billion. (The projected appraisal is higher than the $32 billion that SoftBank paid for Arm in 2016.)

Persons: I.P.O.s Instacart, I.P.O.s Organizations: U.S Locations: I.P.O.s, what’s

☆ An A.I. Leader Urges Regulation and a Rethink
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Ravi Mattu | More About Ravi Mattu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Suleyman wants governments to regulate A.I. and appoint cabinet-level tech ministers, and says the United States should use its dominance in advanced chips to enforce global standards. He has also called for the creation of a governance regime modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to make the work of private companies in A.I. Such arguments may be difficult to achieve at a time of growing global tensions, but they are timely as lawmakers unveil proposals about how A.I. Chuck Schumer, the Senate leader, will meet top tech executives, including Elon Musk and Satya Nadella, the C.E.O.

Persons: Suleyman, Chuck Schumer, Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, DealBook, ” Organizations: Elon, Microsoft Locations: United States, A.I

Some deal makers wonder whether tennis, which has already confirmed initial talks with Saudi Arabia, will be the fund’s next target. “Of all the important sports around the world, I think tennis is clearly the one with the greatest opportunity for financial growth and the most unrealized value,” Maria Sharapova, the retired tennis star, told DealBook. Despite the popularity of tennis, the sport brings in only 1.3 percent of earnings from global media sports rights. That’s partly because tennis is made up of myriad entities — including the Women’s Tennis Association; the U.S. Tennis Association; and independent tournaments. The independently operated organizations make scheduling tournaments difficult and diminish bargaining power for sponsorship and media deals.

Persons: Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, ” Maria Sharapova, DealBook Organizations: U.S, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Women’s Tennis Association, U.S . Tennis Association Locations: Saudi Arabia, U.S

Putting a price on celebrityIn buying a majority stake in the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency, François-Henri Pinault showed that high-ticket M.&A. is a game that more than one French luxury billionaire can play. Acquiring CAA — which represents stars including Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie and Pinault’s wife, Salma Hayek Pinault — underscores Pinault’s ambitions, and reinforces the growing importance of celebrity in the luxury sector. Like his archrival, Bernard Arnault of LVMH, Pinault used a series of acquisitions to assemble the luxury empire now known as Kering, starting with Gucci and later adding Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and more. The agency will be run separately from Kering; Bryan Lourd, the superagent who represents Scarlett Johansson and Brad Pitt, will become C.E.O.

Persons: Henri Pinault, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Pinault’s, Salma Hayek Pinault, Bernard Arnault, Pinault, Saint, Bottega, Alexander McQueen, —, Bryan Lourd, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Pitt Organizations: Hollywood, Creative Artists Agency, CAA, Gucci, Puma Locations: Bottega Veneta, Kering

Apple’s China conundrumShares in Apple, the world’s most valuable public company, suffered their biggest single-day fall in a month on Wednesday following a report that China would extend a ban on iPhones for government workers. China may be making things tougher for Apple. (Some Western governments, including the United States, already bar public employees from using TikTok, the Chinese-owned video platform, and devices made by China’s Huawei.) Apple manufactures most of its hardware in China, and the country accounted for about a fifth of total revenue last year. Apple doesn’t break out iPhone sales in the country, but TechInsights, a market research firm, estimates that in terms of second-quarter shipments, China was a bigger market than the United States.

Persons: China’s Organizations: Apple, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, China’s Huawei Locations: China, United States

For the Biden administration, “the only thing they can pretty much do to counteract Saudi cuts is to bring more oil into the market from other countries,” León said. “Iran and Venezuela are the best candidates,” he added, even if it’s politically unpalatable to fully reopen talks with them. Domestic producers of oil from shale won’t fill the void in the short term. The SPAC buying Donald Trump’s social network gets more time for its deal. Shareholders in Digital World Acquisition Corporation voted to give the firm 12 more months to close its merger with Truth Social.

Persons: Biden, ” León, León, ’, Margrethe Vestager, Didier Reynders, Vestager, Donald Trump’s Organizations: European Investment Bank, European Commission, Truth Locations: Iran, Venezuela, States, Washington

The strong labor market is propping up U.S. households. “Real disposable income looks set to reaccelerate in 2024 on the back of continued solid job growth and rising real wages,” Jan Hatzius, Goldman’s chief economist, wrote in a client note. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that wage gains had cooled in August, but real wages, adjusted for inflation, are trending higher. In March, the bank raised its recession odds to 35 percent in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and worries that contagion could hurt other lenders. Poll numbers released on Monday by The Wall Street Journal showed that President Biden’s popularity is still sagging, partly because of his track record on the economy.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, ” Jan Hatzius, Goldman Organizations: Labor Department, Bloomberg, Wall Street Locations: United States, U.S, Bidenomics

☆ Singapore’s central bank boss faces a tough start
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Sept 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Central banks pride themselves on being predictable. He is a former deputy to Menon, and currently a permanent secretary at the manpower ministry after spending 18 years in various stints at the central bank. He has led MAS’ financial stability assessment of the city state and completed a two-year secondment to the International Monetary Fund. During his 12-year term, he built up Singapore’s reputation as a global fintech hub and boosted its appeal as a leading financial centre. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Ravi Menon, Chia Der, There’s, Chia, Menon, Pernod Ricard, Una Galani, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Monetary Authority of, MAS, International Monetary Fund, X, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore, China

☆ Singapore picks Chia Der Jiun as central bank head from next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Singapore named Chia Der Jiun as chief of its central bank on Monday, replacing Ravi Menon, the city state's longest-serving central banker, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said. Menon, who turns 59 this year, had been re-appointed as recently in May for two more years in his role but will retire from public service after more than a decade at the central bank, MAS said. Chia, a permanent secretary at Singapore's manpower ministry, had previously spent 18 years at the MAS and led major functions from implementing monetary policy to managing reserves. Singapore's central bank was one of the earliest to tighten monetary policy as the country of 5.6 million exited the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of who is at the helm the independence and high standing of the central bank is unlikely to change," said OCBC economist Selena Ling.

Persons: Chia Der Jiun, Ravi Menon, Menon, Chia, Selena Ling Organizations: Monetary Authority of Singapore, MAS Locations: Singapore

Search resuls for: "ravi"

25 mentions found