Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ranked first in the Arab world and 20th globally for economic opportunities offered to residents and investors.
This came according to a report issued by the World Citizenship Report 2023 in ‘Economic Opportunity Rankings’ list of 128 countries, positioning it higher than Iceland, Malaysia, China, Qatar, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and others.
UAE has announced a number of initiatives to make it easier to do business such as introducing a new long-term visa regime, 100 per cent foreign ownership for foreigners, zero income tax, very low corporate income tax, and signing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with a number of of countries to facilitate and facilitate trade with major economies like India, Israel, etc.
Globally, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Japan are among the top five countries with the best economic opportunities.
New Delhi: Open source solution provider Red Hat will lay off nearly 4 per cent of its global workforce, or about 760 employees, the media reported on Monday.
The North Carolina-based software major has about 19,000 employees across the world.
According to The Herald Sun, Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks called the job cuts “a decision our leadership team was truly hoping we could avoid”.
“This decision is now appropriate to ensure Red Hat’s ability to compete in a new environment,” he was quoted as saying.
IBM acquired Red Hat in 2019 for nearly $34 billion in one of the largest software acquisitions in history.
In an email to employees, Hicks said the cuts “will focus on general and administrative” positions, and not affect positions “directing selling to customers or building out products”.
He said employees in some countries would be notified of layoffs on Monday, while others would be told over the course of the current fiscal quarter.
Earlier this year, IBM confirmed it planned to lay off around 3,900 employees from its global 260,000 workforce.
The IBM layoffs are a result of the spinoff of IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl business and part of the AI unit called ‘Watson Health’.
The layoffs were likely to cause a charge of $300 million in the January-March period to the company, according to IBM Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh.
Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked second in the world in societal awareness of artificial intelligence, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
A survey within the Artificial Intelligence Index, in its sixth edition, issued by the American Stanford University, on Thursday, revealed a high rate of confidence of Saudi citizens in dealing with artificial intelligence products and services in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom came after China, which ranked first in terms of positivity and optimism of Saudi citizens towards artificial intelligence products and services provided in Saudi Arabia during the current and future phases.
The survey included a number of criteria, the most important of which was the extent of “society’s knowledge of the benefits and value of artificial intelligence products and services.”
Saudi Arabia came in first place in the world, equal to China and ahead of South Korea and America, in a question about “the positive impact of artificial intelligence products and services on the lives of respondents in the survey during the next 3-5 years.”
Saudi Arabia ranked second in the world, ahead of South Korea and Brazil, when it came to talking about “whether artificial intelligence products and services will make the lives of the respondents easier.”
It also ranked second globally, ahead of India, France and Russia, when respondents were asked “about their knowledge of the benefits and value of artificial intelligence products and services.”
Efforts in Saudi Arabia to develop artificial intelligence do not stop, and Riyadh announced, in 2021, that it aims to establish 400 companies in the field of artificial intelligence and contribute to attracting investments in this field, during the next 10 years, estimated at 80 billion Saudi Riyals.
The head of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence, Abdullah bin Sharaf Al-Ghamdi, said in 2022, that by 2024, 70 per cent of institutions in the Kingdom will use AI-based infrastructure and smart cloud services to activate artificial intelligence.
More than 50 per cent of organizations use hosted AI services; to enhance its application portfolios by 2023, according to Al-Ghamdi.
New Delhi: Apple’s Weather app on iPhone is currently down for many users globally, including India.
On its support page, the tech giant states that ongoing issues are affecting the app.
“Some users are affected. This service may be slow or unavailable” the company noted.
Multiple users report that they aren’t seeing any data when opening up the app. The app’s widgets also don’t seem to be working.
However, other Apple services, including the App Store, Apple TV+ and Apple Music among others are working fine.
“Is there something wrong with the Apple Weather app in #iOS164? The widget and app on my Mom XS Max is very buggy. Now, I’ve seen mine giving the same exact problem,” a user wrote on Twitter.
“Is the Apple Weather app not working for anyone??? I haven’t been able to use it for like 2 days for no reason and it’s driving me nuts lol,” another user wrote.
One more user said: “Apple weather App is down for many users all around the world. I asked Siri what the temperature and precipitation forecast for today was. Workarounds for the modern world. I could have looked out the window. #appleweather”.
New Delhi: Apple’s Weather app on iPhone is currently down for many users globally, including India.
On its support page, the tech giant states that ongoing issues are affecting the app.
“Some users are affected. This service may be slow or unavailable” the company noted.
Multiple users report that they aren’t seeing any data when opening up the app. The app’s widgets also don’t seem to be working.
However, other Apple services, including the App Store, Apple TV+ and Apple Music among others are working fine.
“Is there something wrong with the Apple Weather app in #iOS164? The widget and app on my Mom XS Max is very buggy. Now, I’ve seen mine giving the same exact problem,” a user wrote on Twitter.
“Is the Apple Weather app not working for anyone??? I haven’t been able to use it for like 2 days for no reason and it’s driving me nuts lol,” another user wrote.
One more user said: “Apple weather App is down for many users all around the world. I asked Siri what the temperature and precipitation forecast for today was. Workarounds for the modern world. I could have looked out the window. #appleweather”.
Climate change threatening tea sector globally: ITA (Representative image)
Kolkata: Leading planters body Indian Tea Association (ITA) said climate change is threatening the industry globally which is resulting in lower yields and rise in production costs.
A spokesman of ITA said climate change is also threatening the long-term viability of tea industry, which is also causing increasing pest infestations making pesticide residue management surfacing as a major challenge.
To mitigate this, ITA said that the industry needs to adopt a multi-faceted to address the climate change issue by way of sustainable farming practices and reduction in carbon footprint.
In this context, the association maintained the industry involving all the stakeholders to invest in research to come out with mitigating solutions.
There has also been a decline in rainfall and increase in temperature in the tea cultivating regions for the last several years, ITA said.
According to the association, future projections indicate a substantial reduction in suitability in tea cultivation in areas where the crop is grown.
The other major area where work is needed to be done by the industry is that optimisation in the use of chemical fertilisers and greater use of renewable energy.
In the latest data compiled by Tea Board, production in January 2023 in the country was 13.43 million kilogramme as against 16.22 million kilogramme in the same month of last calendar year.
London: Swedish telecom gear-maker Ericsson is laying off about 8 per cent of its workforce, around 8,500 employees, to cut costs in the ongoing global macroeconomic conditions, the media reported on Friday.
According to an internal memo sent to employees, the company said the headcount reduction has been conveyed to employees in several countries.
“We see a potential to simplify and become more efficient throughout the company, especially when it comes to structural costs,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.
The telecom networking company earlier laid off at least 1,400 employees or 10 per cent of its workforce in Sweden after negotiating with unions.
The company said in a statement earlier this week that the company intended to conduct the job cut process through a voluntary programme after closing negotiations with employee unions, Barron’s had reported.
“Reducing headcount is never easy, and we will manage this with the utmost respect and professionalism. Further details are always communicated to the relevant staff first,” Ericsson said.
“The cost savings cover various areas such as reduction of consultants, streamlining of processes, reduced facilities, etc. As previously announced, it will also include head-count reduction,” Ericsson had added.
The Stockholm-headquartered company in December last year said it was aiming to slash costs by $880 million by the end of 2023.
Last month, Ericsson missed expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings.
The company joins a growing list of tech firms which have laid off thousands of employees in the recent months.
It had warned of reduced spending from customers in the US and other developed markets.
Soaring energy prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict could push up to 141 million more people around the globe into extreme poverty, a study has found.
The cost of energy for households globally could have increased by between 62.6% and 112.9% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a modelling study by an international group of scientists published in Nature Energy.
The study modelled the impact of higher energy prices on the spending of 201 groups, representing different expenditure levels, in 116 countries, covering 87.4% of the global population.
Despite efforts by governments to insulate consumers from the price rises, researchers estimated that overall household expenditure rose by between 2.7% and 4.8%.
As a result, they estimate that an additional 78–141 million people worldwide could be pushed into extreme poverty.
One of the report’s authors, Yuli Shan, a professor at the University of Birmingham, said: “High energy prices hit household finances in two ways: fuel price rises directly increase household energy bills, while energy inputs needed to produce goods and services push prices up for those products as well, and especially for food, which affects households indirectly.
“Unaffordable costs of energy and other necessities will push vulnerable populations into energy poverty and even extreme poverty.”
Shan added: “This unprecedented global energy crisis reminds us that an energy system highly reliant on fossil fuels perpetuates energy security risks, as well as accelerating climate change.”
Household gas and electricity bills rose sharply last year, while petrol and diesel prices hit record highs.
A report prepared for the World Economic Forum in Davos last month said soaring prices for energy and food could persist for the next two years.
The energy crisis has led to calls for nations to move faster in building renewable energy sources, while governments have turned to polluting fuels such as coal to ensure security of power supplies.
Another of the report’s authors, Klaus Hubacek of the University of Groningen, said: “This crisis is worsening energy poverty and extreme poverty worldwide. For poor countries, living costs undermine their hard-won gains in energy access and poverty alleviation.
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“Ensuring access to affordable energy and other necessities is a priority for those countries, but short-term policies addressing the cost of living crisis must align with climate mitigation goals and other long-term sustainable development commitments.”
The UK and Europe have been urged to follow the US’s lead in encouraging green investment through Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Western nations have attempted to put a dent in the Kremlin’s coffers by placing a price cap on Russian oil while still allowing it to flow to avoid spiralling fuel prices.
In recent weeks, wholesale gas prices have fallen as the mild winter and strong gas storage levels in Europe have boosted confidence that countries will not experience energy shortages this winter. However, concerns remain over how nations will replace Russian gas supplies next winter.
In the UK, energy bills are to rise by 40% in April when government support for bills becomes less generous. National Energy Action estimates there are now 6.7 million UK households in fuel poverty – a figure that has more than doubled since 2020.
Last week Greenpeace threatened to take legal action against the UK government as it emerged that a target to lift millions of struggling households out of fuel poverty was likely to be missed.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
New Delhi: More than 17,400 employees in the tech industry have lost jobs in the month of February globally to date, with many workers in India receiving pink slips amid deepening global macroeconomic conditions.
In 2023 so far, around 340 companies have laid off more than 1.10 lakh employees worldwide, and there appears to be no respite from job cuts.
Major companies which commenced layoffs this month include Yahoo, BYJU’s, GoDaddy, GitHub, eBay, Autodesk, OLX Group and others.
In January, close to 1 lakh of them lost jobs in the month of January globally, dominated by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and others, according to layoff.fyi, a website that tracks job cuts globally.
More than 3,300 tech employees lost jobs daily on average by more than 288 companies worldwide in January alone.
More job cuts are likely coming in days to come amid recession fears.
After firing 11,000 employees in November last year, Meta (formerly Facebook) is reportedly planning to reduce headcount further in its “year of efficiency”.
Aviation giant Boeing is slashing 2,000 jobs in finance and HR verticals this year and the company outsources about a third of those jobs to Tata Consulting Services (TCS) in Bengaluru.
In 2022, over 1,000 companies laid off 154,336 workers, as per the data from the layoffs tracking site Layoffs.fyi
So far, more than 2.5 lakh tech employees have lost their jobs.
New Delhi: In what could be touted as the worst month ever for tech workers, close to 1 lakh of them lost jobs in the month of January globally, dominated by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and others.
It means that more than 3,300 tech employees lost jobs daily on an average by more than 288 companies worldwide.
Barring Apple, every other Big Tech firm has slashed jobs, led by Amazon with 18,000 job cuts, followed by Google with 12,000 and Microsoft 10,000 job cuts in January.
Salesforce (7,000), IBM (3,900) and SAP (3,000) were other tech companies that announced layoffs last month.
In 2022, over 1,000 companies laid off 154,336 workers, as per the data by layoffs tracking site Layoffs.fyi.
So in total, more than 2.5 lakh tech employees have lost jobs in 2022 and now.
As more and more Big Tech companies continue to sack employees, they listed various reasons behind the move — over-hiring, uncertain global macroeconomic conditions, strong tailwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic and more.
After laying off 11,000 employees, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg now wants 2023 to be the “year of efficiency”.
Joining the mass layoff season, online marketplace OLX Group slashed 15 per cent of its workforce, or more than 1,500 employees, globally including in India as part of restructuring amid the global meltdown and recession fears.
Edtech major BYJU’s has laid off further 15 per cent of its employees from its engineering teams.
According to sources, the company in a fresh round of layoffs asked more than 1,000 workers (or 15 per cent) to go, mostly from its engineering teams.
