The Airbus A320neo planes in the Singapore Airlines group powered by Pratt & Whitney engines are not being grounded for lack of spares, said Leslie Thng, the CEO of Scoot. His remarks on the subject came during an earnings call for Singapore Airlines, which announced positive results for 2019-20. The Pratt engines were in the news this month due to Go Airlines' bankruptcy, blamed on "faulty" power units. While Pratt denies any allegations of engine issues, IBA Aviation said earlier this month that 12% of neos with Pratt GTF engines were inactive, compared with 4% of those with rival engines made by CFM International.
As India prepares to overtake Germany and Japan as the world's third-largest economy, the country's potential for growth is considered by different economists from opposing perspectives. Narendra Modi's pro-business government has invested in initiatives such as digitisation, whilst critics claim the country suffers from the underinvestment in human capital first outlined by Nehru, resulting in an economy that fails to produce enough jobs or skilled workers. Meanwhile, Whole Numbers and Half Truths by Rukmini S provides an empirical look at India's complex society, covering all aspects from consumption to employment and identifies underemployment as behind India's relatively low official jobless rate.
India expands production incentive plan for IT products to $2 bln
Reuters
23-05-17 09:57
India has announced an increase to its IT hardware production incentive scheme, doubling its budget to $2bn. The extra investment is being employed to encourage domestic production of personal computers, tablets and laptops, among other hardware, with the government looking to generate a surge in investments in these industries.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have pledged to increase cooperation on critical minerals and economic security issues. The leaders condemned North Korea’s missile and nuclear development in a joint statement released after their summit in South Korea on 28 September. Trudeau’s visit was the first by a Canadian leader in nine years. The two countries are seeking to increase cooperation on security and critical minerals used in electric vehicles.
The 105th US PGA Championship will be held at the Oak Hill Country Club, with coverage beginning on 18 May. Northern Irishman Rory McIIroy, who has previously won two PGA titles, will be looking to challenge for a fifth major title and bounce back following a recent poor run. Jon Rahm, world number one and recent winner at Augusta, will also be looking for more success, as will Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau, both in search of their maiden major victory. 18 LIV Golf players, including Brooks Kopeka, who finished runner-up at the Masters in April, will also be competing. Pundit Curtis Strange has tipped Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, this year’s Masters champion and defending Phoenix Open champion, respectively, as the main contenders for the trophy. The pair dominate the statistics but Strange believes it will ultimately come down to who can shoot the lowest score on each day.
An opinion poll of 1,100 people in Kazakhstan has shown that 15% now believe that neighboring Russia may invade, double the percentage that held this view 6 months ago, a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Kazakhstan shares its longest continuous border with Russia, and has maintained neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, though remains close in historical, economic and security ties with Moscow.
Global temperatures are projected to cross the 1.5C rise limit above pre-Industrial levels within the next five years, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. The WMO also stated that there is a 98% chance that they will break the record for the hottest year by 2027. As previously reported, a rise of 1.5C will trigger increased negative impacts on the natural world and humans. Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General warned that global impacts will likely "have far-reaching repercussions for health, food-security, water management and the environment" and urged experts to prepare for them.
Is Maths Real?: How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics's Deepest Truths by mathematician Eugenia Cheng aims to answer "stupid" maths questions, all the inevitable childhood queries from subtracting numbers to understanding infinity, and reveal what it's like to be a mathematician. Cheng’s book also looks at what it's like to be a mathematician and she presents herself as a human being, saddled with faulty memories like anyone else. However, the author's desire to smash the "patriarchal power-structures" into sections of her book lead to some hackneyed passages on ethnomathematics.
An 84-year-old Spanish mountaineer has injured his leg as he attempted to reach the summit of Nepal's Dhaulagiri. Carlos Soria fell on his 15th attempt on Mt Dhaulagiri and suffered leg injuries. This comes after Spain recorded a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, leading Soria to dedicate the challenge to elderly victims of the pandemic.
Ford has urged the EU to postpone its requirement for post-Brexit trade rules of origin for EV batteries until 2027. The automaker argued that introducing the rules in 2024 would needlessly raise costs for consumers and slow the transition to electric. A pack of batteries currently accounts for up to half the cost of a new EV and are also cumbersome and costly to move over long distances. The UK also lacks sufficient locally sourced batteries and parts to satisfy demand, Ford noted. The automaker is investing £380m ($480m) to create e-motor capacity in a Liverpool engine plant.
Whirlpool of India reported a 25% drop in quarterly profit for the fourth quarter due to weak demand for its air conditioners, leading to declining sales and lower profitability. The company reported a consolidated net profit of INR626.8m ($7.7m) versus INR838.2m for the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, total revenue fell 2% to INR16.73bn, missing analysts' estimates of INR18.12bn and logging a second quarter of decline, while total costs rose 1% to INR16.25bn.
Southeast Asia is suffering the longest and most extreme heatwave on record, according to Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist. On 13 May Singapore experienced a temperature of 37°C, its highest since 1983. The recent heatwave has caused a high humidity as well, exacerbating the risk to human health in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Bangladesh. These countries all broke their previous temperature records. A report by the World Weather Attribution Project found that climate change had made such events 30 times more likely. However, meteorologists have warned that El Niño, a weather pattern that often increases temperatures, could intensify the effects of the heatwave from later this year, exacerbating also concerns about the spread of haze across the region.
The next five years are likely to be the hottest in history, according to the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The forecast is attributed to the combination of human-caused climate change and the emergence of an El Nino weather pattern. The resulting rise in temperature will lead to risks for health, water management, food supplies and ecosystems. North America, central Asia and Europe are predicted to experience more frequent heatwaves, wildfires and drought. The Arctic region will warm by more than three times the global average in the coming years. Last year was the third hottest globally in history.
Dubai orders Danish tax fraud suspect to repay more than $1 billion
Reuters
23-05-17 17:53
A British citizen accused of defrauding Danish tax authorities has been ordered to pay more than $1bn to Denmark by the Dubai Court of Cassation, which rejected his appeal. Sanjay Shah is accused by the Danes of operating a scheme, nicknamed "cum-ex," that involved investors making double tax reclaims via a sham trading scheme. He has always denied any wrongdoing. The Dubai court said Shah must repay 4.643 billion dirhams ($1.3bn) plus 5% interest to Denmark.
Four Nigerians were killed in an attack on a US government convoy in Nigeria, according to US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The attack was not reportedly directed at the US mission, and nine Nigerians in total were in the convoy, which was carrying US mission staff and members of the Nigeria Police Force. They were travelling ahead of a planned visit to a US-funded flood response project in Anambra state. The US mission and its Nigerian counterparts are working to establish the location of those unaccounted for, said Blinken.
Brazil's antitrust regulator Cade has recommended that L'Oreal's acquisition of Natura & Co's Aesop brand be approved. L'Oreal agreed to buy Aesop for $2.53bn last month. The deal is considered definitively approved within 15 calendar days of its publication, providing no appeals are made.
What does a 1.5 C increase in global temperatures mean for Canada?
CBC
23-05-18 01:55
There is a two-in-three chance global temperatures will temporarily exceed a 1.5°C increase above pre-industrial levels within the next five years, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization. This milestone matters because it's what the 2015 Paris Agreement and subsequent climate accords have set as a threshold to limit the most catastrophic impacts from climate change. Every fraction of a degree that global temperatures rise, losses and damages are expected to mount. However, Canada has already blown past 1.5 degrees of warming over pre-industrial levels.
Leaders from Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam are to attend the Group of Seven summit (G7) in Hiroshima this year, along with the leaders of the G7 nations. Japanese President Fumio Kishida has a determination to make nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation priorities of this year’s summit, with discussions expected to centre on Putin's threats against Ukraine and China's increasing threats against Taiwan.
Air raid alerts sound across Ukraine, military warns of strikes in central regions
Reuters
23-05-18 01:49
Air raid alerts were sounded throughout Ukraine and the country was warned of possible missile strikes by Russia in some parts of central Ukraine early on Thursday. Telegram channels from the country's military issued warnings for regions including Vinnytsya, Kirovohrad, Cherkassy and Dnipropetrovsk, while other channels warned of possible strikes in Poltava in the central region and Mykolaiv in the south.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has met with top executives, including senior representatives from Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, amongst others, ahead of the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Hiroshima to discuss additional investment from global chipmakers into Japan and the G7 leaders’ discussion on stabilising supply chains.
