Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Imagine a volcano so special that it’s been granted the same legal rights as a person. While this might sounds like something straight out of a quirky sci-fi movie, this is no fictional tale. It’s a real, living, breathing part of New Zealand’s landscape — <keyword id="24070380" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mount-Taranaki" source="keywords">Mount Taranaki</keyword>. Tucked away on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, Mount Taranaki is not only a towering 8,261 feet (2,518 meters) of volcanic might, but it also holds a sacred place in the hearts of local Māori tribes. In 2017, New Zealand made history by granting the volcano <keyword id="19969897" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="legal-personhood" source="keywords">legal personhood</keyword> — a first in the country. This means Mount Taranaki has the same legal rights as you, me, or any other human being. No, it can’t file taxes or sue anyone just yet, but it is now legally protected in a way that’s tied directly to the cultural significance it holds. <h2>Why does Mount Taranaki get all the attention?</h2>First, let’s talk about the volcano itself. Its snow-capped peak is stunning, poking up through a lush, dark green forest. This forest, known as Egmont National Park, forms a near-perfect circular ring around the volcano, and within it, you’ll find the curious "<keyword id="24070386" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="goblin-forest" source="keywords">Goblin Forest</keyword>." The kāmahi trees here are twisted and warped, growing around fossilized tree remains from past eruptions. The trees are also covered in hanging moss and liverworts, giving the whole place a hauntingly magical vibe. The volcano itself is a near-perfect cone, which is so symmetrical it served as the double for Mount Fuji in The Last Samurai (yes, Hollywood can’t get enough of this beauty!). But don’t let its picturesque shape fool you — Mount Taranaki has been through some serious transformations. Over the past 135,000 years, it has erupted multiple times, changing its shape dramatically and leaving behind signs of its violent past. In fact, studies suggest there have been at least 16 major shifts in the volcano’s structure. Talk about a dramatic personality! <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="115475455" title="From skin injections to swallowing a camera, here are some things Bryan Johnson has done to age in reverse" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>And yes, Mount Taranaki is an <keyword id="23386638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="active-volcano" source="keywords">active volcano</keyword>. While its last major eruption occurred about 200 years ago, the mountain is far from dormant. Scientists estimate there’s a 30% to 50% chance of a major eruption within the next 50 years. For the 100,000+ people living nearby, this is a real concern. But don't worry — the volcano isn’t planning on exploding any time soon (hopefully), though it does occasionally spit out volcanic mudflows, also known as lahars. <h2>A sacred ancestor</h2>Now, you might wonder, why does this mountain get its own legal rights? The answer lies with the Māori people. For centuries, the Māori have considered Mount Taranaki to be more than just a mountain. They see it as a relative, even an ancestor. The relationship between the Māori people and the mountain is rooted in deep respect and cultural significance. In 2017, the New Zealand government recognized this profound connection by giving the volcano legal personhood, meaning that harming the volcano could be treated the same as harming a member of the tribe. It’s a powerful statement of the Māori worldview, where the land, mountains, rivers, and nature are seen as living, breathing entities deserving of respect and protection. By granting Mount Taranaki personhood, New Zealand is acknowledging this deep-rooted cultural connection and ensuring that the volcano’s rights are taken seriously. Having a mountain with human rights may sound like a quirky twist, but it’s part of a larger global movement towards recognizing the rights of nature. Similar legal actions have been taken in places like Ecuador and India, where rivers, forests, and even specific animals have been granted personhood to ensure their protection.

Do you know about the volcano that has the same rights as a human person?

Sustainable Forest Management

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Carsten Brinkschulte, who founded Dryad Networks, built an IoT network to detect wildfires.</li><li>He's motivated by the impact of his work and urges founders and engineers to move to green tech.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Carsten Brinkschulte, the CEO of Dryad Networks, an IoT company offering wildfire-detection tech. The following has been edited for length and clarity.You know the saying "Once you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail"?That's what happened when I started learning more about the planet's growing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-migration-where-moved-escape-natural-disasters-extreme-weather">wildfire problem</a> and its impact on climate change. With 25 years of experience scaling three startups in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/5g-transforms-businesses-better-security-remote-capabilities-2024-5">telecommunications</a>, I wondered how I could apply that technical and business knowledge to solving this problem.What if we could create sensors that could detect wildfires and then have those sensors communicate back to authorities before the fire is a major issue? With these questions in mind, I cofounded <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dryad.net/">Dryad Networks</a>.<h2 id="89eba62a-12a8-4c0f-b628-46d2f454c838">A series of technical challenges</h2>While the vision for our solution was clear from the start, there were a lot of technical hurdles in making it real.The first was how to detect fires. Instead of relying on vision via satellites and cameras, which only work when fires are already large, we focused on smell to catch fires at the early smoldering stage. We built a "digital nose," a gas sensor sensitive to hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds, with built-in AI to detect fire patterns in a distributed, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-edge-computing-5g-cloud-artificial-intelligence-2024-3">edge-computing</a> manner.<div type="image" title="A green and black sensor device on top of tree bark." height="3194" width="2396" msid="113885493" hostid="261" sizebytes="850234"></div>Building these sensors happened relatively quickly — but training the AI to work reliably took years. Every forest and tree species smells different when they're burning, so we've gathered data from customers around the world and even burned tree samples in our lab.Another challenge was powering the devices. Unlike with at-home IoT devices, replacing batteries in millions of forest sensors every two years isn't feasible. We aimed for 10 to 15 years of battery life, added <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-panel-industry-electricity-generation-us-eia-tariff-prices-trade-2024-2">solar panels</a>, and used supercapacitors to store power instead of lithium-ion batteries to avoid fire risk.Finally there was the question of how the devices would communicate information. As you know if you've been hiking, there's often no mobile network in the forest. To solve for this, we developed our own solar-powered mesh gateway that could connect to sensors via an IoT network and relay information back to a cloud platform.<div type="image" title="A green device with a black grid screen in the middle, attached to a tree trunk in a forest." height="3456" width="2592" msid="113885494" hostid="261" sizebytes="1568642"></div>Given how much technology needed to be engineered from the ground up — the electronics, the embedded software, the cloud platform, the AI — we started with a team of seven cofounders and took three years to develop the technology and another year and a half to prepare it to scale.<h2 id="ce79374e-13ac-41bc-9adb-fb00e4258e7f">Proving value beyond money</h2>A persistent challenge with green tech is that many solutions require hardware — something VCs traditionally avoid. Getting the necessary funding for development can be tricky.Fortunately, there are now plenty of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/esg-investing">impact investors</a> who prioritize making a difference on global issues. Yes, they also want to see that you can build a profitable business, but they're willing to accept more capital requirements or a delay in return if you can prove your solution will have a meaningful and measurable impact.Many <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/green-energy-transition-saves-millions-years-healthy-human-life-2023-11">green-tech</a> companies claim wonderful things about what their solution will do, but they need to quantify it. When working toward <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/03/20/2849406/0/en/Dryad-Networks-Announces-Initial-Closing-of-5-6-Million-in-Convertible-Financing.html">our fundraising goal</a>, we took months to calculate how many global CO2 emissions come from wildfires — a staggering <a target="_blank" href="https://ourworldindata.org/wildfires">5 billion to 8 billion tons a year</a> — and then project how much of that could be prevented with our sensors. Our financial plan includes those numbers to show the impact we can have alongside the money we can make.<h2 id="1863b547-6fd5-4c92-9756-e121e4390171">A wealth of possibilities</h2>Our ultimate goal is to develop applications that utilize the network infrastructure we put in place to protect and restore one of our most important assets: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-groundbreaking-new-reason-to-plant-more-trees-2024-7">forests</a>. The first is fire detection, but in the future we may add sensors that measure the environmental risk of fire before one even starts, monitor tree and soil health, and detect gunshots or chainsaws to prevent poaching and illegal logging.I encourage other engineers and founders to get out of building the next smartphone and do something impactful with the knowledge they've gained. Getting into green tech is the best thing you can ever do — it's rewarding financially and motivating to see that you're building something useful.

I'm a telecommunications expert — here's how I think IoT can help prevent wildfires and save our forests

I've been to 20 national parks and forests around the US. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is the most underrated.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A soldier in Ukraine's first wave at Kursk said Russian troops were unarmed and not expecting an attack.</li><li>He told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/bc695adf-bd17-4242-b4bc-82235a97edbf">the FT</a> that his Stryker unit found its enemies "drinking coffee at a table."</li></ul>A Ukrainian soldier who participated in the first forays of last week's Kursk incursion said his unit caught Russian troops completely by surprise as the latter were having coffee.His account, published by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/bc695adf-bd17-4242-b4bc-82235a97edbf">The Financial Times</a>, adds to a chorus of assessments that Russia had been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kursk-russia-looks-caught-off-guard-by-ukraine-attack-2024-8">unprepared and blindsided</a> by Ukraine's rare cross-border attack on August 6.The FT wrote that the soldier, identified as Volodymyr, was part of a unit operating a US-provided Stryker armored fighting vehicle.Volodymyr told the outlet that his unit entered Kursk in the late morning of August 6, and soon found a group of Russian troops "sitting in the forest, drinking coffee at a table.""Then our Stryker drives right into their table," he said, per the FT."We killed many of them on the first day. Because they were unarmed and didn't expect us," he added.Volodymyr said "dozens" of other Russian troops surrendered afterward.The FT's Ukraine correspondent, Christopher Miller, wrote that he interviewed Volodymyr's crew on Sunday when they returned to Ukraine.Their Stryker had been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on Friday, which gave the driver a concussion, Miller reported.Ukraine's attack on Kursk has recentered global attention on the war to southern Russia, though fighting remains fierce and dire for Kyiv's troops on the older frontline in the east.Ukrainian leaders claimed on Monday to have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-captured-hundreds-square-miles-russian-territory-general-2024-8">seized 1,000 square kilometers</a>, or about 380 square miles, of Russian soil, as well as 74 villages and towns.The fog of war has made it difficult to assess the true progress of day-to-day battle — unusual for a conflict that's been characterized by an excess of war footage posted online. Ukraine <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-west-in-the-dark-ahead-ukraine-kursk-assault-report-2024-8">said nothing officially about its attack for days</a>, even after its forces were spotted fighting miles past Russian defensive lines.Meanwhile, the Kremlin has, since the initial days of the incursion, called the Ukrainian attack a "terror" operation and repeatedly said it had stopped Kyiv's advance.But geolocated footage and reports from the ground suggest Ukraine is still pushing deeper into Kursk even after those claims. The speed at which Ukraine was able to force its way into Russia has surfaced new questions about the region's military preparedness and intelligence."The Ukrainian operations across the border in the Kursk and, possibly, Belgorod regions have been of longer duration and reach than either the Russians or Ukrainians initially expected," US Navy Ret. Vice Adm. Robert Murrett told Business Insider in an email.The Kremlin <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kursk-ukraine-exploited-russias-dysfunctional-military-command-2024-8">is still consolidating its defense of Kursk</a>, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin vowing that Ukraine would receive a "worthy response.""The next two to three days will be critical for both sides as this 'Battle of Kursk' takes on additional significance," added Murrett, who is now deputy director of Syracuse University's Institute for Security Policy and Law.Notably, Russian state media has not made any mention of an "invasion," instead referring to a "situation" in the country's south, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/BBCSteveR/status/1823311156427243713">according to the BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.</a>Press services for the Russian defense ministry and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

A Ukrainian soldier said Russian troops in Kursk were 'sitting in the forest and drinking coffee,' unaware they were being invaded

See inside Pinterest's quirky Dublin office, which has a pub and a workspace resembling a Celtic forest 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A US woman was found chained to a tree in Maharashtra, India.</li><li>Lalita Kayi, 50, said her husband had chained her to the tree and left her without food or water.</li></ul>The case of a US woman who was discovered chained to a tree in a rural part of the western <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/india">Indian</a> state of Maharashtra is puzzling investigators.Lalita Kayi, 50, was found last week in the state's Sindhudurg district after her screams were heard by a local, according to local media reports.A cow herder who found Kayi told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4ngne7g5v3o">BBC Marathi</a> that he had heard screams "coming from the forest on the side of the mountain" as he took his cattle to graze."When I went there, I saw that one of her legs was tied to a tree. She was screaming like an animal. I called other villagers and the local police," he said.Police said the 50-year-old was found with a copy of her passport, an Indian ID card, a cellphone, a tablet, and 31,000 rupees (about $370), per the BBC.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/us-woman-chained-to-tree-india-decade-ago-to-learn-yoga-9485315/">The Indian Express</a> reported that she also had a medical prescription with her.She appeared emaciated and was reportedly taken to hospital and then on to a psychiatric facility to recover. Doctors said Kayi seemed to be experiencing a mental health condition.Unnamed sources told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/attempted-murder-case-against-husband-of-us-woman-tied-to-tree-in-maharashtra-2574172-2024-07-31">India Today</a> that after her rescue, Kayi provided police with a written statement in which she alleged that her husband had chained her to the tree and left her without food or water."Injection for extreme psychosis which caused a severely locked jaw and inability to drink any water. Need intravenous food. 40 days without food and water. Husband tied me to a tree in the forest and said I would die there," she wrote on a pad.Police said it was unlikely she would have survived for so long, however.Sindhudurg police have since registered a case of attempted murder against Kayi's husband.Details about Kayi's life are scant, and it remains unclear exactly how she ended up in the forest.Police believe Kayi moved to India from the US around a decade ago to study yoga and meditation. She had previously lived in the state of Tamil Nadu in the south of the country, where authorities are now searching for her husband.The Indian Express said that Kayi had recently fallen out with her husband and had been staying in Goa, a small neighboring state on India's southwestern coast.Authorities are reportedly still searching for the husband.A spokesperson for the US embassy in Delhi told the BBC that it would not respond to questions "due to the US Privacy Act."

Indian police launch murder investigation after a US woman was found screaming and chained to a tree in the middle of a forest

<ul><li><keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword>’s MPC keeps <keyword id="6371181" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="interest-rates" source="Orion">interest rates</keyword> unchanged in the first policy of FY25.</li><li>Most experts had expected the RBI to maintain the status quo on interest rates.</li><li>A few, however, expected it to soften its hawkish forward guidance. </li></ul>The Indian central bank’s rate-setting panel, the <keyword id="6357126" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="monetary-policy" source="Orion">Monetary Policy</keyword> Committee (MPC), kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% on Friday. It remained focused on the withdrawal of accommodation in the first monetary policy of FY25. Both these decisions were taken with a majority of five to one. “Two years ago, around this time, when CPI inflation had peaked at 7.8% in April 2022, the elephant in the room was inflation. The elephant has now gone out for a walk and appears to be returning to the forest. We would like the elephant to return to the forest and remain there on a durable basis,” said Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The second advance estimate (SAE) placed real GDP growth at 7.6% for the recently concluded FY24 — the third successive year of 7 per cent or higher growth. RBI projects FY25’s real GDP growth at 7%. “Robust growth prospects provide the policy space to remain focused on inflation and ensure its descent to the target of 4%. Under these circumstances, monetary policy must continue to be actively disinflationary to ensure anchoring of inflation expectations and fuller transmission of the past actions,” said Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India. His speech pointed out that uncertainties in food prices continue to pose challenges especially as temperatures are expected to be above normal. The MPC remains vigilant to the upside risks to inflation that might derail the path of disinflation. “Elephant moves slowly, and last mile inflation tends to be sticky,” said Das at the RBI press conference. RBI sees FY25’s consumer price inflation (CPI) inflation, assuming a normal monsoon, at 4.5%. The RBI had repeatedly insisted that it intends to bring down retail inflation below 4%. “It is essential, in the best interest of the economy, that CPI inflation continues to moderate and aligns with the target on a durable basis. Till this is achieved, our task remains unfinished,” said Das pointing to frequent incidences of supply chain shocks. He also added that the crude oil price movements in the last few days. GDP growth &amp; inflation projections by RBI for FY25 <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Time period </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Real GDP growth </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">CPI inflation </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">FY25 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.5% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q1 FY25 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7.1% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.9% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q2 FY25 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6.9% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3.8% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q3 FY25 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q4 FY25 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">7% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.5% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Hot inflation keeping RBI in wait-and-watch mode say economists This is the seventh consecutive policy review cycle where the MPC has chosen to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%. Most experts have been expecting the RBI to maintain the status quo. Its current decision, most say, is a balanced approach towards growth while being vigilant over headline inflation. “This careful stance reflects concerns over potential inflationary pressures arising from volatile food prices, recent upticks in oil prices, and robust economic growth. While there was some anticipation of rate cuts by the end of 2024, the RBI seems inclined to adopt a wait-and-see approach before initiating a rate cut cycle,” says Sujan Hajra, chief economist &amp; executive director at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. Volatile food inflation in the last few months has been worrying economists. The ongoing heatwave combined with the persistent El Niño impact brings back worries about cereal and pulse price hikes. While the wheat crop has by and large been harvested, vegetable prices also pose an additional worry. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted higher-than-normal maximum temperatures across the country this summer. While core inflation has been softening, in the last few days, crude oil prices have inched up to cross $90 per barrel. "The monetary policy stance announced today reflects that the RBI is evenly balancing the two divergent objectives of growth and inflation. It seems a case of full commitment to growth with an even higher commitment to inflation targets. I hope we will see sustained growth and softened inflation,” Anu Aggarwal, president &amp; head of corporate banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank. The RBI governor’s stance on bringing down inflation has made economists delay their rate cut expectations as far as Q3 of FY25. The Bank of Japan has recently ended its negative interest rate policy and the US Fed has also delayed its much anticipated easing cycle. Most economists believe that RBI policy is pegged to the Fed, especially in the last two years, even as it formally targeted inflation. “External dynamics have been fluid, implying that the policy prerogative needs to be flexible for ensuring financial stability. We maintain the RBI’s tone will slowly tiptoe to ‘Gracklish’ from the usual ‘Hawk-Dove’ signaling, implying a non-committal stance and limited definite forward guidance ahead,” said Madhavi Arora, lead economist, Emkay Global Financial Services.

We want the elephant of inflation to walk back to the forest: Shaktikanta Das

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Malaysia may add a casino to Forest City, a mega-development that has turned into a ghost town.</li><li>The casino, which would be the second in the country, could rejuvenate the struggling property.</li></ul>Malaysia's Forest City mega-development started with big ambitions and big money.Announced in 2006, the luxury housing project in the south — easily accessible from Singapore — would house 700,000 people and feature a waterpark and hotels. The whole project cost its developers $100 billion.But, eight years after construction began, only a few thousand people live there. The project has turned into a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forest-city-ghost-town-malaysia-hotel-golf-beach-tourist-singapore-2024-3">ghost town</a> — and a major liability for its developer, which is facing sizable financial issues elsewhere.Now, Malaysia is in talks with several high-profile investors to add a casino to Forest City, people familiar with the matter told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-24/malaysia-weighs-opening-casino-in-forest-city-in-potential-boon-for-king-ibrahim?srnd=homepage-asia">Bloomberg on Wednesday.</a>The southeast nation's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with the heads of a Malaysian property development firm and a resort company at Forest City last week. A representative of Malyasia's billionaire king, Ibrahim Iskandar, also attended, the people told Bloomberg.King Ibrahim owns more than 20% of Forest City as part of a joint venture with Chinese real estate developer Country Garden, Bloomberg reported. The king took the throne in January for his five-year term and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-19/malaysia-s-king-vows-real-way-of-ruling-after-honeymoon-period">said last month</a> he is ready to "begin my real way of ruling." The other partner, <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bonds/china-economy-country-garden-defaults-property-real-estate-bonds-dollar-2023-10">Country Garden,</a> is facing significant financial issues from China's floundering property market and had nearly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/country-garden-how-bad-are-its-debt-problems-2024-02-28/">$200 billion in liabilities</a> at the end of last June.The two tycoons who met with the prime minister last week own some of Malaysia's most prominent businesses. One of the companies is Genting Group, a resort and theme park operator that owns Malaysia's only casino, located in a central Malaysian hill town. Genting operates other casinos in Singapore, the US, and the UK. The other, Berjaya Corp., runs hotels and develops properties, among other businesses.The casino talks are in early stages and it is unclear if Prime Minister Anwar will allow such a business. Malaysia has a Muslim-majority population and those following Islam are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/gambling-prohibited-in-islam-office-of-the-mufti">prohibited</a> from gambling.Forest City did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.<h2>Expensive, empty apartments</h2>A casino — which would only be the second in Malaysia — could help struggling Forest City.While advertised as a "popular short-haul tourist destination," the complex, which includes apartments, hotels, a waterpark, and a mall, only sees a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forest-city-ghost-town-malaysia-hotel-golf-beach-tourist-singapore-2024-3">few dozen visitors</a> each day, Business Insider reported in April. Those who do come are typically on a budget and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forest-city-ghost-town-malaysia-hotel-golf-beach-tourist-singapore-2024-3">don't spend </a>much.As of last year, only about 15% of the planned property had been completed,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/johor-country-garden-forest-city-property-crisis-debt-china-3715791"> local media reported.</a><div type="image" title="a corridor in the apartment complex" height="1536" width="2048" msid="109591797" hostid="261" sizebytes="191428"></div>Most apartments look like they've never been lived in, a BI reporter who visited earlier this year observed. They're almost twice the price of other apartments in the city, and wealthy people prefer to buy single-family homes, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/forest-city-apartment-property-price-ghost-town-malaysia-photos-china-2024-4">BI reported in April</a>.A new casino could attract tourists from Singapore. Singapore's government disincentivizes gambling by taxing residents <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mha.gov.sg/docs/default-source/media-room-doc/annex-a---media-factsheet.pdf?sfvrsn=e6b19ea_0#:~:text=It%20underscores%20the%20message%20that,%243%2C000%20for%20the%20annual%20levy.">150 Singapore dollars</a>, or $110, to enter local casinos. Singapore is connected by a one-kilometer bridge to the state of Johor, where Forest City is.Cities around the world are similarly looking to add casinos to boost tourism.The United Arab Emirates, another majority-Muslim country, is betting big on gambling. Earlier this year, it launched a federal-level gaming authority, and plans are in place to create an "<a target="_blank" href="https://skift.com/2023/09/12/middle-east-gaming-authority-paves-way-for-arabian-strip-gambling-zone/">Arabian Strip</a>," an Emirati version of the Las Vegas Strip of hotels and casinos on the island of Al Marjan.New York City is also looking to cash in. In April last year, the state government authorized <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/nyc-casino-tracker.html">up to three casino</a> licenses for downstate New York, which includes the city and surrounding counties.

You Searched For "Forests" and got 9 results

Do you know about the volcano that has the same rights as a human person?

BI India Bureau

Sustainable Forest Management

I'm a telecommunications expert — here's how I think IoT can help prevent wildfires and save our forests

Erin Greenawald

I've been to 20 national parks and forests around the US. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is the most underrated.

Joey Hadden

A Ukrainian soldier said Russian troops in Kursk were 'sitting in the forest and drinking coffee,' unaware they were being invaded

Matthew Loh

See inside Pinterest's quirky Dublin office, which has a pub and a workspace resembling a Celtic forest

Jyoti Mann

Indian police launch murder investigation after a US woman was found screaming and chained to a tree in the middle of a forest

Rebecca Rommen

We want the elephant of inflation to walk back to the forest: Shaktikanta Das

Katya Naidu

Malaysia might add a casino to boost troubled $100 billion mega-development Forest City

Shubhangi Goel

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides