Podcasts heating up 🔥
India wins at UNSC, Apple store closures, and Robots deliver packages.
Hi 👋, Tanvi here.
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Let’s go ahead and get started:
Stock market summary:
US - S&P 500 down 0.56% 🔽
India - Sensex up 1.53% 🔼
India to serve as UN security council President 😎
India has been elected to serve as the non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and will serve as the President of the 15 nation body for the month of August 2021.
The election process was odd and unique this time with ambassadors and diplomats casting votes wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
India won by a thumping majority, earning 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast. This is the 8th time that India will sit at the UN high table along with the 5 permanent members - China, France, Russia, UK and USA.
Can’t get enough of the podcasts 🎙️
Streaming giant Spotify has entered a multiyear podcast production deal with Warner Bros and DC, to create podcasts based on characters in the DC universe and the audio streaming platform will be in-charge of the marketing and distribution on its platform while Warner will be the producer.
Last week alone, Spotify also signed a deal with Kim K West for a criminal justice reform podcast. Also, a deal with comedian Joe Rogan for him to move his podcast to their platform for about $100 Million made a ton of noise a couple weeks ago.
The streaming company believes that original content gives it a strong chance to capitalize on the rise of podcasts for passive consumption of content.
Wave 2 causes retail closure - including Apple 🍎
Apple is all set to close some of its stores again after second wave fears and rise in cases in the US show no sign of the pandemic ending any time soon.
The decision to close stores is limited to a few states right now, affecting about 40 stores. Apple is the world’s largest company right now, and the impact on its business will trickle down to other participants in the stock market, which has investors worried.
After controlling rises in hot beds like New York, cases in the United States are again steadily rising. 2.2 million people have been infected until now and at least 118,000 have died.
AI to ensure you wash your hands, son 👀
Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd. has developed an artificial intelligence monitor to make sure that healthcare workers and hotel industry employees wash their hands properly.
The AI can detect when people aren't using soap and is based on crime surveillance technology which can detect strange body movements as well as checks if people are following the 6 step scrub procedure.
It was being developed before the pandemic struck, for companies that wanted more strict hygiene regulations in workplaces, but now has a new purpose. Read more...
AMC reveals plans of reopening 🎟️
After nearly 600 of its theaters across the US were closed due to the pandemic, AMC is thinking of making a comeback on 15 July and reopening around 400 locations.
AMC plans on reducing seating capacity to abide by social distancing, contactless payments, and regular hand sanitization. But mask-needed policy will be enforced. The reopening plans come after former hotspots of the virus such as NYC have seen a sharp decline in new cases.
In similar events:
Bars, wineries, tattoo parlors were allowed to open in Los Angeles by health officials, but the city is not allowing movie theaters to reopen even though health officials gave theaters a green signal to open.
LA is the home of Hollywood. The news is a disappointment to owners who had spent to make necessary changes to make their theaters safe.
Tweet of the day -
Robots delivering pizza - thanks to the pandemic, the reality may be here faster than we imagined.
What else are we Snackin’ 🍿
🤗 IBM is planning on reducing office space by nearly 50% in India - capitalizing under the global shift to remote work, IBM has some aggressive plans to cut costs and keep a large amount of workforce working from home permanently. Since IBM added Arvind Krishna as new CEO, the company is in an aggressive mode to change directions.
🚨 Former officer has been charged with murder for shooting Rayshard Brooks- last week in another police shooting, a man sleeping in his car was shot after police questioning led to altercations. Yesterday, the Atlanta prosecutors brought charges against the ex-officer. Atlanta is a southern city in the USA and one of the largest black majority cities in the country.
😷 In the highest single say spike India adds another 13,000 cases total now at 3.8 lakh - what do you get when you take one of the most densely populated countries in the world and add a contagious pandemic to it? We’re still figuring out. But yes, expect cases to continue to rise. The good news however is that people are recovering well too.
💰 RIL is now net debt free months before target - Mukesh bhai is writing a chapter that will be etched into business books forever. RIL has reduced its debt to zero in no time by selling stake into its digital arm in no time, raising nearly 1.15 Lakh Crore in the process that saw the world’s who’s who investors line up for a piece.
Hope you took a thing or two away from today’s edition. 😀
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