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India has made remarkable progress in Covid-19 vaccination in a short period of time, but vaccinating the next billion will necessitate reaching a poorer segment of the population, for whom the main barriers to vaccine access may include knowledge, awareness, proximity, and convenience, according to the World Bank. World Bank economists Arushi Bhatnagar and Owen Smith, in their blog, said that a greater focus on these aspects of last-mile service delivery may offer the key to bringing the pandemic one step closer to its conclusion. “From the efforts of frontline workers to the roll-out of an innovative technology platform, the vaccine campaign has been an impressive all-round achievement to protect India’s population from the virus. But the arrival of the Omicron variant has added greater urgency to COVID-19 vaccination efforts worldwide, and so it will be even more important to sustain the momentum achieved so far," it said. The blog said that reaching 2 billion doses and … [Read more...] about World Bank Lauds India’s Covid Vaccination Efforts But Says Reaching Next Billion ‘Could be Challenging’

The two most jarring events in the past decade of American life both had the whiff of a grand con about them. One was the crisis of 2008, after which a lot of ordinary Americans turned their attention to the financial-services industry and discovered something that looked, on the surface, uncannily like a classic bilking: There was a lot of hard-to-follow shifting about of who owned what and who owed what to whom, and in the end a lot of people found that their retirement savings had vanished. The other was the election of Donald Trump, who has always been fairly open about his talent for old-school hucksterism. To the very end, many people were convinced his entire campaign had been a long-game self-promotional exercise — a man wandering past real estate, casinos, reality television, mail-order steaks and wealth-building seminars to arrive at right-wing politics as a high-quality grift. “Grift” and “grifter” are old-fashioned words, but ever more useful ones. “Grift” evokes not so … [Read more...] about Why Are We Suddenly Surrounded by ‘Grift’?

Macroeconomic uncertainties are mounting. Against the backdrop of possible interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the taper tantrum, there is pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to increase its interest rates to prevent capital outflows. The monetary policy corridor is still “accommodative” to support the growth recovery. Globally, central banks have started increasing the interest rates. However, we need to wait for the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in February 2022 to understand the RBI’s decisions regarding policy rates. Inflationary pressures Inflationary pressures are also high. In India, the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose to a record high of 14.32% in November 2021 as per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The WPI decreased slightly to 13.56% in December 2021. The consumer price index (CPI) inflation now is 5.03%, though that is still within the comfort zone of the inflation targeting framework envisaged in India’s … [Read more...] about Dealing with the macroeconomic uncertainties

The school choice movement has picked up steam in recent years—particularly under Betsy DeVos , who served as education secretary in the Trump administration—and the trend only ramped up when the pandemic hit. As parents participated in their children's virtual lessons and watched districts struggle to reopen over the last two years, a considerable number of them have pulled their kids out of the traditional public school system in favor of alternative options, like charter schools and homeschooling. The 2020–2021 school year saw charter school enrollment increase by 7 percent, compared with the year before. A report from the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools found an increase of nearly 240,000 students in 39 states. "Nationally, that's a big jump," Colin Sharkey, executive director of the American Association of Educators, told Newsweek . "Obviously, there have been times, like in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where there have been spikes and there are … [Read more...] about Parents are opting for charter, home school as COVID pushes kids out of public classrooms

[Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up .] It’s Friday. Mother’s Day is Sunday. Here’s a great 2017 Op-Ed from The Times that was inspired by “photos from women of their mothers before they were mothers.” Weather: Grab the umbrella. There’s a chance of showers, with thunderstorms possible after 3 p.m. It may rain on Saturday night — and Sunday, too. Alternate-side parking : In effect until May 27 (Memorial Day). New York is a place where people come to make their fortune. Bloomberg. Murdoch. DeGrom. For Anna Sorokin (you might know her as Anna Delvey), New York wa From the moment Ms. Sorokin arrived in the city in 2014 she seemed to turn Gotham into an archipelago of Pollyannas. She said her dream was to build a members-only arts club on Park Avenue South. She handed out $100 bills as tips, wore fancy clothes and lived in elegant hotels. Yesterday, Ms. Sorokin, 28, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison … [Read more...] about How ‘Anna Delvey’ Conned New York

Embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya has said he is in a “forced exile” and has no plans to return to India where things are flying at him “fast and furious.” Mr. Mallya, >whose passport was revoked this month , said he wanted a “reasonable” settlement with creditor banks for his defunct airline, but they “are not getting any money” by taking his passport or arresting him. “I definitely would like to return to India. Right now, things are flying at me fast and furious. My passport has been revoked. I don’t know what the government is going to do next,” he told the Financial Times . Mr. Mallya, 60, said he remains an Indian patriot, who is “proud to fly the Indian flag”, but as the outcry around him continues, he is more than happy to stay safe in the UK and has no plans to leave that country. “It is important to understand the environment in India today. The electronic media is playing a huge role not just in moulding public opinion, but in inflaming the government to a very … [Read more...] about I am in ‘forced exile’, no plans to return to India: Mallya

The Omicron wave of the coronavirus appears to be cresting in much of the country. But its economic disruptions have made a postpandemic normal ever more elusive. Forecasters have slashed their estimates for economic growth in the first three months of 2022. Some expect January to show the first monthly decline in employment in more than a year. And retail sales and manufacturing production fell in December, suggesting that the impact began well before cases hit their peak. “Those are Omicron’s fingerprints,” said Constance L. Hunter, chief economist for the accounting firm KPMG. “It will slow growth in the beginning of the first quarter.” On Monday, global markets were in a frenzy , with the S&P 500 plunging nearly 4 percent before recovering its losses. Market analysts said the early declines reflected fears that the Federal Reserve might need to respond more aggressively than expected to rapidly rising prices, a prospect that some economists say has been made more likely … [Read more...] about Omicron’s Economic Toll: Missing Workers, More Uncertainty and Higher Inflation (Maybe)

My family managed to get together for a small Thanksgiving dinner last year. It was our first gathering since April 2020. After a big meal, my cousin only wanted to talk about one thing: cryptocurrency. He is a middle-aged Black man from New York, just a few years older than I am, but those years make a huge difference in his job security. When he came of age, he got a blue-collar job working for the city. He has worked at that job since he was 17 years old, so he will be able to retire as a relatively young man. And since the job is unionized, my cousin will retire with a pension and health benefits — the kind of pathway to economic security that is becoming increasingly rare. These days, ours is an information economy that likes credentials, which involves going to some kind of postsecondary school. Even with high wages for skilled trades, like the one my cousin used to get that union job straight after high school, blue-collar trades are a hard sell to young workers. My cousin is … [Read more...] about The Strange Allure of the Blockchain

Celebrities have hopped on the latest viral trend that features a quote from a 2000s reality TV show. America's Next Top Model is a competition show that puts aspiring models to the test with hopes of becoming the nation's latest and greatest "top model."The series premiered in 2003 and the last episode aired in 2018 after 24 seasons. There have been no recent updates on season 25. Now, more than 600,000 videos have been posted on Tiktok with a familiar phrase from ANTM . The sound bite originated when host Tyra Banks gave a competing model a low score after a challenge. "It is so bad I want to give you a zero, but that's not possible so I give you a one," Banks said. The TikTok challenge involves posting embarrassing photos to the tune of Banks' sound bite — and even celebrities have hopped on board. Charli D'amelio Charli D'amelio shared a hilarious, yet cringe-worthy video with her 134 million Tiktok followers using the sound bite. In the video, she shared a photo … [Read more...] about 4 celebrities share their cringiest moments in viral ‘give you a zero’ challenge

LONDON: Saudi Arabia will remain the busiest of the Middle East’s stock markets, even as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pushes more companies to go public, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. John Wilkinson, the bank’s London-based head of emerging-market equity capital markets, called 2021 a “standout year” for the Persian Gulf. Initial public offerings (IPOs) by ACWA Power, Solutions by STC and Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co in Saudi Arabia, as well as several others in Abu Dhabi, pushed Middle East and North African equity issuance to about US$23bil (RM71.57bil). Most of the marquee offerings have posted strong post-IPO performances, sparking further interest from international investors, Wilkinson said. Saudi Arabia remains “the biggest driver for Middle East ECM,” he said in an interview. “However, we’re seeing Abu Dhabi Inc becoming more active and obviously the comments out of Dubai’s government will drive bigger volumes from the UAE going forward.” Riyadh has had … [Read more...] about For Goldman, Saudi Arabia will remain king of Mideast IPO deals