Beijing's About to Roll Out Its Harshest Smoking Ban Ever - Bloomberg Business

Beijing's About to Roll Out Its Harshest Smoking Ban Ever - Bloomberg Business: "China has long been one of the most smoker-friendly countries in the world, with few restrictions and virtually no taboos when it comes to lighting up. Go into most restaurants in China, and expect to be engulfed in a choking cloud of tobacco smoke. The bars, not surprisingly, are worse. Offering a cigarette to a new acquaintance is considered polite, while refusing it is often seen as rude. Sparking up next to children, pregnant mothers, or anyone else is pretty much considered normal. Now all that’s supposed to change.
Starting on June 1 in Beijing a blanket ban will be imposed on smoking in public places, after the city’s Municipal People’s Congress passed the tough new law in November. Affected will be all workplaces, schools, hotels, public transport, airports (which will no longer have designated smoking rooms or lounges), and Beijing’s many historic tourist spots, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. The harshest antismoking rules ever to be imposed in China (18 other cities already have lighter bans) is seen as a trial run for a national law, already drafted but still some distance from passage."



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Mastercard CEO: The Rich Should Ride The Bus - Forbes

Mastercard CEO: The Rich Should Ride The Bus - Forbes: "The setting was the first Chicago Forum on Global Cities, and Banga’s remarks followed a debate between the two former treasury secretaries about the relative impact of urban and national policies on growth (video).

With most of the world’s population now living in cities, and billions more expected, Hank Paulson insisted manageable growth depends on well-planned cities.

Robert Rubin contended that national policies have more influence.

For example, Paulson said the environmental footprint of cities would “drive the outcome” of climate change or climate mitigation, and Rubin disagreed:

“It seems to me that the single most important thing we can do is change the price of carbon,” Rubin said, “and that can only be done at the federal level.”

 Rubin served as treasury secretary from 1993-99, Paulson from 2006-09. Both men worked together at Goldman Sachs in the 1970s and 80s.

“You need enlightened national policies, I don’t want to even debate that,” Paulson agreed, ”but we are going to have a heck of a mess on our hands if we don’t get the urbanization policies right.”"



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Is demand pricing coming to Disneyland? - LA Times

Is demand pricing coming to Disneyland? - LA Times: "In an online survey sent to annual pass holders, the Walt Disney Co.'s theme park operation sought opinions on a pricing schedule for daily tickets to the company's resorts in Orlando, Fla., and Anaheim. A three-tiered pricing system would mark daily tickets as Gold, Silver and Bronze.


For Disneyland's 60th, there's Mickey, Minnie and cutting-edge technology
Gold tickets could be used every day of the year, according to the survey; Silver tickets could be used every day except peak days and popular holiday weeks. Bronze admission passes could be used only on off-peak weekends.

Under the scenario depicted in the survey, one-day, one-park admission prices for Disneyland would range from $115 for Gold tickets, $105 for Silver and $99 for Bronze tickets."



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The middle-class malaise that dare not speak its name | Zoe Williams | Comment is free | The Guardian

The middle-class malaise that dare not speak its name | Zoe Williams | Comment is free | The Guardian: "Private school fees are paid by 7% of the population; private health insurance is taken out by 11%. This isn’t really the middle: the determination to retain the term middle class for those who are actually wealthy is akin to the care with which the right wing never describes its views as rightwing, preferring “commonsense”. It is a constant project to reframe what is normal in the image of what is normal for one person in 10.

But actually, on this matter, the middle classes are pretty normal. Income has stagnated across every section of society apart from the top 1% (whom the Telegraph would probably call upper middle or well-to-do). GDP per capita is lower than it was seven years ago. “That,” said the economist Joseph Stiglitz in an interview on Sunday “is not a success.”

The extent to which we are all in this wage-stagnating swamp together is a question of age rather than class
It’s hard for the wealthy to mobilise around their declining living standards. Their options are limited. When so much of your wealth is spent avoiding the social structures on which solidarity is based – education, the health service, our crap dentistry of international renown – who do you complain to? Who are you going to stand shoulder to shoulder with? Your outrage at the world is limited in its expression to your power as a consumer. That’s why the incredibly angry, bright pink man yelling at a BT helpline is such a staple of modern British sitcoms; as a guardian angel against feelings of impotence and injustice, BT can’t really help – even if it does answer the phone.

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So there’s the stain of self-interest barring entry to the language and power and solace of unity. There’s also a huge amount of shame involved in being in debt or struggling, especially against the backdrop of assumption that privilege is somehow the result of a lifetime’s sound financial decisions."



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GM Ignition Probe Said Advancing as U.S. Mulls Criminal Case - Bloomberg Business

GM Ignition Probe Said Advancing as U.S. Mulls Criminal Case - Bloomberg Business: "The U.S. government is determining whether charges will be brought against General Motors Co. or its employees over the handling of a faulty ignition switch, a person familiar with the investigation said.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, is reviewing evidence tied to the safety defect that was linked to more than 100 deaths and is attempting to determine whether anyone at the automaker broke the law, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
The investigators have several options available, including charging the automaker, individuals who work or worked at GM, or reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with the company under which the automaker would pay a fine and change the way it operates in exchange for not being charged, the person said. While the investigation has progressed, no decision is imminent, the person said."



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Indian version of Integrity

Teams gave IPL ‘integrity officers’ expensive gifts | The Indian Express: "ANTI-CORRUPTION officials connected with Chennai Super Kings and Sun Risers Hyderabad had informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Ravi Sawani that they were given expensive gifts by the two franchises — a watch and a Mac Air laptop — last year.
After the spot-fixing scandal of 2013, an integrity official was attached with each IPL team. In a letter to the BCCI during IPL-7, Sawani informed that two integrity officers had reported receiving gifts.
“Major I C Yadav, who was with Sun Risers Hyderabad was given a Mac Air Laptop as a gift whereas Brigadier (retd) Vijay Singh, who was attached with the Chennai Super Kings team as an Integrity Officer during IPL-7, had reported the receipt of a Titan Xylys Watch from the Franchise as a gift,” Sawani writes."



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How Amazon Fresh Works (AMZN)

How Amazon Fresh Works (AMZN): "Using Amazon Fresh is simple: Customers use the Amazon Fresh app or head over to fresh.amazon.com, log-in, and start shopping. Consumers can choose an “Attended Delivery,” where groceries are delivered in plastic bags and must be received by the consumer, or an “Unattended Delivery,” where the food is delivered to a consumer’s doorstep in temperature-controlled tote bags.

Same day and next morning delivery is available and, for consumers who spend more than $50, delivery is free. Along with groceries, Amazon Fresh delivers toiletries and prepared meals.

HISTORY AND COMPETITION
It may be surprising, but Amazon is not the first company to dream up a fast grocery delivery service. Since the mid-1990s, companies like Webvan and HomeGrocer have been shipping food to hungry customers. Today, most brick-and-mortar grocery stores will offer delivery service (provided you do the actual in-store shopping) and, in New York City alone, there are three major competitors to Amazon Fresh: Fresh Direct, Peapod, and Instacart."



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McDonald's must break 'dinosaur' culture to stop the rot, experts warn | Business | The Guardian

McDonald's must break 'dinosaur' culture to stop the rot, experts warn | Business | The Guardian: "The average tenure of McDonald’s governance committee, which is responsible for appointing new directors, is 17 years.
McDonald’s paid more than $150m to companies linked to three of the company’s longest serving board members.
Ten of McDonald’s 13 non-executive directors are from the Chicago business community.
Eight of the 13 non-executive directors had a direct connection with a board member before they joined.
McDonald’s non-executive chairman, Andrew McKenna, is still chairman at 85, despite being meant to retire in 2003 when he reached the company’s then mandatory retirement age of 73.
Analysis of McDonald’s proxy statements reveals that the company’s three longest-serving directors – McKenna, Roger Stone and Enrique Hernandez – have been involved in more than $150m of related person transactions, in which McDonald’s paid companies linked to the directors. The payments were legal and publicly disclosed."



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Atlanta named worst city for Mosquitos | WJCL News

Atlanta named worst city for Mosquitos | WJCL News: "SAVANNAH, GA ( WJCL) – Sumer is right around the corner and the rising mercury means massive spawning for Mosquitos.

Orkin came out with a list of the worst cities for the flying blood-suckers. Atlanta tops the list with Chicago in second place, followed by Washington D.C.

The rankings are based on the number of customers that bought Mosquito control services from Orkin in 2014.

The Center for Disease Control warns that Mosquitos can carry dangerous illnesses like West Nile Virus.

"



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Starbucks Teams Up With Spotify After Abandoning Compact Discs - Yahoo Finance

Starbucks Teams Up With Spotify After Abandoning Compact Discs - Yahoo Finance: "Starbucks Corp., once famous for hawking CDs at its registers, is moving into the age of streaming music.

The coffee chain, which stopped selling compact discs in March after 20 years, announced a partnership with Spotify that will let customers give feedback on the songs played at their local Starbucks. Users of the Spotify and Starbucks apps also will have access to playlists created by the company’s baristas.

“We’re really making the baristas the D.J.,” Daniel Ek, chief executive officer of Spotify, said on a conference call.

In addition to weighing in on the music played at Starbucks cafes, customers who sign up for Spotify premium subscriptions will earn “stars” that can be used through the Starbucks Rewards loyalty program."



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Lucy Kellaway: AOL’s Tim Armstrong proves obnoxious executives thrive

Lucy Kellaway: AOL’s Tim Armstrong proves obnoxious executives thrive: "Last week, when he agreed to sell AOL for $4.4 billion, a Forbes contributor called him a “genius”, arguing that the main reason Verizon wanted to buy the company was to get exposure to the brilliance of its chief executive. Mr Armstrong’s bank manager presumably agrees: the man’s personal gain from the deal is put by the Wall Street Journal at $180 million. Yet as Forbes was cheering others were making ruder noises. A blogger on Gawker was writing a post called “A Salute to AOL’s Tim Armstrong, a Real Shitty Boss”.
Many times I have tried to interview this corporate hero/villain in the hope of understanding how one of the least-appealing figures in corporate life could have done so well, but his zealous PRs have come between us. Instead I have had to content myself with listening to him talk, looking at photos and videos, reading his memos and talking to people who have worked for him."



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Greece Aid Accord Looks Elusive as Tsipras Sticks to Red Lines - Bloomberg Business

Greece Aid Accord Looks Elusive as Tsipras Sticks to Red Lines - Bloomberg Business: "An agreement between Greece and its international creditors to unblock financing and avert a default looked elusive after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he won’t strike a deal at any cost.
“There’s no doubt that an agreement must be reached,” Tsipras said late Friday at a conference in Athens. “But those who think that the Greek side’s resistance can be tested or that its red lines will fade as time passes, would do well to forget it.”"



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Oil CEO Wanted University Quake Scientists Dismissed: Dean's E-Mail - Bloomberg Business

Oil CEO Wanted University Quake Scientists Dismissed: Dean's E-Mail - Bloomberg Business: "Oil tycoon Harold Hamm told a University of Oklahoma dean last year that he wanted certain scientists there dismissed who were studying links between oil and gas activity and the state's nearly 400-fold increase in earthquakes, according to the dean's e-mail recounting the conversation.
Hamm, the billionaire founder and chief executive officer of Oklahoma City-based Continental Resources, is a major donor to the university, which is the home of the Oklahoma Geological Survey. He has vigorously disputed the notion that he tried to pressure the survey's scientists. "I'm very approachable, and don't think I'm intimidating," Hamm was quoted as saying in an interview with EnergyWire, an industry publication, that was published on May 11. "I don't try to push anybody around.""



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No wallet, no worries: Denmark considering cash-free shops | World news | The Guardian

No wallet, no worries: Denmark considering cash-free shops | World news | The Guardian: "In Stockholm you can pay a street hawker with a credit card. In Copenhagen you can buy a single shot espresso with your smartphone. In Helsinki, you can go grocery shopping but leave your wallet at home.

Scandinavia has long been the most cashless place on the planet. Now Denmark is considering whether to go a step further and allow retailers to ban cash altogether.

The Danish Chamber of Commerce is recommending that shops and services be given the option of going completely cash-free. The proposal needs to be approved by parliament but if it gets the green light, retailers could begin rejecting cash from January 2016."



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Thinning Antarctic ice shelf could contribute to sea level rise, says study | Environment | The Guardian

Thinning Antarctic ice shelf could contribute to sea level rise, says study | Environment | The Guardian: "The largest ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula is thinning because of warmer ocean and air temperatures that are driving it towards a collapse that could contribute significantly to sea level rise, a new study has found.

The study by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) analysed the Larsen C ice shelf, which is two and a half times the size of Wales. The team looked at satellite radar imagery taken between 1998 and 2012 to find that Larsen C lost 4 metres of thickness.

Until now scientists did not know whether the losses were coming from above or below. The new work found both play a role, but the main driver is ice loss from below.

Lead author Dr Paul Holland said: “What’s exciting about this study is we now know that two different processes are causing Larsen C to thin and become less stable.”

The major loss occurred underneath the shelf where it floats on increasingly warm ocean currents. Around 28cm every year across the entire area of the ice shelf is being eaten away from below."



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Doctors to withhold treatments in campaign against 'too much medicine' | Society | The Guardian

Doctors to withhold treatments in campaign against 'too much medicine' | Society | The Guardian: "Doctors are to stop giving patients scores of tests and treatments, such as x-rays for back pain and antibiotics for flu, in an unprecedented crackdown on the “over-medicalisation” of illness.

In a move that has roused fears that it will lead to the widespread rationing of NHS care, the body representing the UK’s 250,000 doctors is seeking to ensure that patients no longer undergo treatment that is unlikely to work, may harm them and wastes valuable resources.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges wants to bring an end to a culture of “too much medicine” in which “more is better” and doctors feel compelled to always “do something”, often because they feel under pressure from the patient, even though they know that the treatment recommended will probably not work.

Many patients with asthma, prostate and thyroid cancers, and chronic kidney disease already undergo “unnecessary care” because they are “over-diagnosed” and thus “over-treated”, the academy claims."



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Costco CEO: Values, culture are key | Membership Warehouse Clubs content from Supermarket News

Costco CEO: Values, culture are key | Membership Warehouse Clubs content from Supermarket News: "No matter how big a company gets, it must maintain its core values and its culture or it could fail, Craig Jelinek, chairman and CEO of Costco Wholesale Corp., said in a speech Monday.

“Companies sometimes lose their way because they lose their core values and culture,” he told the Western Association of Food Chains at its annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif. “Your business can evolve, but it can’t afford to lose its values and its culture.""



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Australia to crack down on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinationals - Yahoo Finance

Australia to crack down on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinationals - Yahoo Finance: "SYDNEY, May 11 (Reuters) - The Australian government announced a world-leading crackdown on Monday on alleged tax avoidance by 30 multinational companies that will likely force them to restructure their businesses before next year.

"These companies are diverting profits earned in Australia away from Australia to no-tax or low-tax jurisdictions," Treasurer Joe Hockey told reporters in Canberra.

He declined to identify the targets, but said "it's pretty evident which companies are involved". Google Inc, Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp revealed earlier this year they were under review by the Australian Tax Office.

Australia has joined Britain in moving to tackle companies such as the global tech giants over tax avoidance, particularly the shifting of profits from high-tax countries to more relaxed regimes like Singapore and Switzerland.

Under Australia's leadership last year, the Group of 20 leading economies (G20) endorsed a set of common standards for sharing bank account information across borders with automatic exchange of information among members."



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Farmers feel the squeeze from supermarket deals | Environment | The Guardian

Farmers feel the squeeze from supermarket deals | Environment | The Guardian: "A recent report by market analysts Begbies Traynor said the search by supermarkets for ever cheaper food was having a devastating effect on farmers and food-and-drink producers. It showed that the number of small and medium-sized businesses supplying supermarkets and in “significant” distress has doubled in a year from 728 to 1,414. “UK suppliers could find themselves squeezed even further, if not stamped out altogether,” it concluded.

It all rings horribly true for Steve, whose family farm has been growing lettuce, courgettes and tomatoes in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham for more than 25 years.

“At some point we’re going to be forced to retire because of the prices,” he says. “The government is going to lose all its salad producers. It’s a shame to lose a tradition. Evesham used to be full of market gardeners. It’s empty now; there’s nothing left. There are six to eight growers that are quite big and a few small ones, but they won’t last long.

“Any farmer who says it’s good is lying. People are scared. The supermarkets say, ‘You can’t match the price? Sorry, we’re going elsewhere.’ I was making more money per kilo of lettuce 20 years ago. A box of courgettes went for £4 to £5.20 years ago; now it’s £1.80 to £2. At the same time, labour costs have gone from £2.80 an hour to £6.70. We’ve been forced to stop growing leeks and onionsbecause of the price.”"



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Dead dolphins ashore perturb Mumbai activists - The Hindu

Dead dolphins ashore perturb Mumbai activists - The Hindu: "The washing ashore of carcasses of five dolphins, and finless porpoises, both protected species, along the Mumbai coastline in a short span of two months has baffled marine conservation experts.

As many of the carcasses were disposed of before conducting a post mortem study, there is no clarity on why these animals are being washed ashore and the exact cause of death.

On April 21, a dolphin was found dead at Marine Drive in South Mumbai, which was directly taken to the Deonar dumping ground by BMC officials, according to activists. Another one was found dead at Nariman Point a week later, and a finless porpoise was found dead at Dadar Chowpatty seashore in central Mumbai a fortnight later.

The dolphins, identified to be humpback dolphins, are protected under Schedule 2 under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Although the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) claimed that a post mortem report was sent to the Forest and Wildlife Department, officials in the department’s control room refused to provide further details about the report."



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Bernanke Inc.: Lucrative Life of a Former Fed Chairman - Bloomberg Business

Bernanke Inc.: Lucrative Life of a Former Fed Chairman - Bloomberg Business: "One day only, live from Sin City -- the economist formerly known as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Fifteen months after leaving the Fed and its trappings of mystery and power, Bernanke, 61, is settling into the peripatetic and highly lucrative life of a Washington former.
Beyond the dancing fountains of the Bellagio, in the gilded splendor of the Grand Ballroom, Bernanke will play to a full house at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference on Wednesday: 1,800 hedge fund types who used to hang on his every word. Bernanke is, in a sense, one of them now -- a well-paid investment consultant who can fete clients, open doors and add a gloss of Fed luster to conferences and meetings.
Call it Bernanke Inc., a post-Fed one-man-show that’s worth millions annually on the open market. While the former chairman hasn’t disclosed his fees and compensation -- nor, as a private citizen, is he required to -- he is almost certainly pulling down many times what he did while in government."



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How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world | Cities | The Guardian

How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world | Cities | The Guardian: "Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through the centre of Amsterdam in a car knows it: the city is owned by cyclists. They hurry in swarms through the streets, unbothered by traffic rules, taking precedence whenever they want, rendering motorists powerless by their sheer numbers.

Cyclists rule in Amsterdam and great pains have been taken to accommodate them: the city is equipped with an elaborate network of cycle-paths and lanes, so safe and comfortable that even toddlers and elderly people use bikes as the easiest mode of transport. It’s not only Amsterdam which boasts a network of cycle-paths, of course; you’ll find them in all Dutch cities.

The Dutch take this for granted; they even tend to believe these cycle-paths have existed since the beginning of time. But that is certainly not the case. There was a time, in the 1950s and 60s, when cyclists were under severe threat of being expelled from Dutch cities by the growing number of cars. Only thanks to fierce activism and a number of decisive events would Amsterdam succeed in becoming what it is, unquestionably, now: the bicycle capital of the world."



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Parliamentary Panel raises questions about quality of Ph.D holders in India - The Hindu

Parliamentary Panel raises questions about quality of Ph.D holders in India - The Hindu: "Raising serious questions about the quality of Ph.D holders in the country, a parliamentary panel has sought an evaluation report to understand why suitable candidates were hard to find for vacant teaching posts.

With over 7,000 research scholars being awarded Ph.D every year, the panel has suggested “reorienting” the entire system of evaluation of Ph.D and other research scholars.

In its report tabled in Parliament last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD stressed on increasing the number of research fellowships and new schemes for teaching assistantship, taking into account the shortage of teaching faculty in higher educational institutes.

Drawing attention to the quality aspect of Ph.D holders, the committee said they were rolling out of Indian universities like dime a dozen.

“The Committee would like to have an evaluation report, if any, about the quality and standard of Ph.D holders across the country to understand why suitable candidates are difficult to find for the vacant positions. Maybe we need to reorient the entire system of evaluation of Ph.D and other research scholars,” it said in its report.

Shortage of faculties in premier institutes such as IITs, IIMs and NITs continues to be grim with no improvement foreseen in the near future, it said.

To address the issue, it suggested that if stricter norms for the appointment of faculty are coming in the way, then UGC and other regulatory bodies should review them on regular basis and bring in necessary changes so as to fill up the vacant posts at the earliest."



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Why We Can't Take Chipotle's GMO Announcement All That Seriously : The Salt : NPR

Why We Can't Take Chipotle's GMO Announcement All That Seriously : The Salt : NPR: "Chipotle is trumpeting its renunciation of ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The company says that using GMOs — mainly corn in its tortillas and soybean oil for cooking — "doesn't align" with its vision of "food with integrity." According to Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold, it represents "our commitment to serving our customers the very best ingredients we can find."

Here at The Salt, though, we've been hearing from people who think Chipotle's stance shows little integrity at all. Rather, it shows a double helping of marketing hype, they say. Greg Jaffe, the expert on GMOs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, calls it "hypocritical" and based on "smoke and mirrors." The Washington Post, meanwhile, accused the company of joining a "global propaganda campaign.""



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