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Ford takes a $2.7 billion charge for Argo startup in driverless cars and says  fully profitable fully autonomous vehicles at scale are a long way off. Ford and VW have each a 40% stake in Argos startup. Ford will now concentrate on partial automated features already offered.

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It might come as a surprise to know as Roshan Kishore points out in this analysis in The Hindustan Times that the educational levels and incomes of Tory or Conservative voters in the UK are the opposite of what they used to be. The graphs shown here show that as education levels increases in different income segments there are significantly more Labour supporters than Conservative supporters. For Rishi Sunak this means he runs into the same problems that faced Johnson and Truss, of matching austerity cuts in spending that will be unpopular with the lower income support base with lower educational levels in the Tory party. His privileged background will only make the cuts in the middle of interest rate hikes and inflation appear as basically unfair to this support base. This is what Gerard Baker pointed out in the WSJ calling it an invitation for "abject chaos" that comes from Tories trying to represent working class families. Others in the The Guardian call it some form of myth that is far from reality with the myth and reality getting further and further apart. ...

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When Hyderabad was designated capital of the new Telengana state formed from Andhra Pradesh state the idea of a new capital city that would cost 1 lakh crores for basic infrastructure to be set up at Amravati was suggested. The current Chief Minister Mr. Reddy says there is already infrastructure at Vizag, and this would make it a natural choice.

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In commenting on Rishi Sunak, a former hedge fund manager's sudden rise from anonymity three years ago when Boris Johnson became prime minister to leadership of the Tory party and prime minister, The Hindu cautions that it is of limited symbolic value, this kind of connection between India and the UK. The Tories are a house divided against itself, with many factions. Truss was brought down by Gove and others on the backbench who were not included in the government. Other Conservatives on the backbenches today, and Johnson, Jacob Rees Mogg, represent factions that are not represented in this government as was evident in questioning by Opposition leader Starmer in QA in the House of Commons. Other problems remain also evident in Starmer's questioning for Labour in parliament, including questioning about non domicile status in the family for tax purposes. Privileged Tories with connections to free markets such as Jacob Rees Mogg or Sunak without an awareness of the pain of ordinary working families, are not what a country with a cost of living crisis sees as leaders who can point to the way forward for Britain. As The Hindu points out he faces the same difficulty that Johnson with his style and personality was able to sidestep, that Truss naively tackled with quick unraveling of tax cuts for the upper incomes, and which Sunak with his experience with financial hedge funds may appear to have grasped but find escaping his grasp. This is the difficulty of matching traditional Tory policy of tax cuts and austerity, at a time when all major countries of Europe and the US are providing significant cost of living assistance to working families. Even small bits of austerity policy, or lack of conviction to help working families may now be seen by the Opposition, Labour, and even within some part of the Tory party and the vast majority of working families as oppressive.  Starmer is keen to remind working people of where Sunak stands as he did with the question in parliament Q&A about the comments made by Sunak at a small gathering that he had transferred money from poor districts to more affluent Tory districts. Would Sunak correct these erroneous funding formulas, Starmer asked. The Hindu also mentions Suella Braverman's appointment as Home Secretary only weeks after her resignation. It was poor judgement shown by Johnson in an appointment that cost him Tory support a few weeks before his resignation. Starmer brought this up from the beginning of parliament Q&A- asking whether a deal was made for her appointment to get far right wing Tory support from Braverman's faction in the party. For India and the Indian people there are so many genuine connections with Britain and the British people, some set when Mohandas Gandhi won the hearts of English working families during his visit for negotiations with the British that are are a better basis  and that will be remembered forever in the hearts and minds of the British people. ...

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The redevelopment of the classic Egmore railway station in Chennai at a cost of 734 crores is set to take off. It is a much needed renovation for Chennai and will take 36 months and bring it to international standards under PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Inter Modal Connectivity. Egmore station handles 1.2 million people daily and is one of the oldest rail stations in India, and one that connects the south with Sri Lanka. Hyderabad based DEC is beginning the initial survey and plans to make this a showcase for other rail stations in India in the drive to modernization.

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Finance Minister Sitharamn calls on the private sector in India to make greater investments in manufacturing, a key to future growth of the Indian economy. "This is the time for India... we cannot miss the bus."

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Germany's Foreign Ministry warned in a cabinet note that investment by China's COSCO in Hamburg port terminal "disproportionately expands China's influence on German and European transport infrastructure as well as Germany's dependence on China." Germany handed over a 25% stake in the Hamburg port terminal to China's COSCO shipping with the decision approved by chancellor Scholz. Several government ministries in Germany including the Economy ministry headed by Habeck and the Foreign Ministry have opposed the bid which is seen as having geopolitical aspects as Germany has no stakes in Chinese ports. "On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, I point out the considerable risks that arise when elements of Germany's transport infrastructure are influenced and controlled by China- while China itself does not allow Germany to participate in Chinese ports," said the note from the Foreign Ministry brought forward by Anna Luhrmann, Minister of State for Europe.  China is seen by Germany and NATO as posing security challenges. "In this respect the acquisition of the container terminal does not only have an economic aspect, but also a geopolitical aspect."  ...

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The gaps between myth and reality of the Conservatives continues to grow says this view from Labour expressed in The Guardian. With the chaos in the Conservatives and three prime ministers out in a short period- first with Brexit, then with the factions supporting and against Boris Johnson who led the fight to take Britain out of the European Union, the promises made to the North of England that led to Johnson's win in the election are falling by the wayside. There is no real progress in levelling up wealth and development gaps between regions in Britain, the commitment to tackling climate change is wavering and inconsistent when the rest of Europe and the US is moving forward with clear intent and funding, and the effort to tackle the cost of living crisis lacks conviction and plan changing by the day.     

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After being immersed in the world of science the host of many BBC scientific documentaries is now confronted with emotions. Her experience with the pandemic and her own encounter with cancer has changed her conceptions of science. With advanced degrees and work in physics she calls herself intellectually promiscuous. Yet she says when asked about a simple concept of probability she says if something is with 95% probability going to happen, don't be surprised if it doesn't. Emotions matter and she does see the other side of fears when doing a BBC documentary on vaccination, and the emotional response to all the statistics shown to support vaccination efforts by people who are skeptical and have their own emotional responses and fears.

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Keir Starmer of Labour in the first parliament QA after Mr. Sunak assumes office as Conservative's PM following Liz Truss. Keir Starmer asks about Conservatives out of touch with working people and families across the UK and false promises of leveling up the North of England.

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Perceived average savings needed for retirement in the US shown in surveys are 20% higher in 2022 over 2021. Americans believed about average $1.25 million would be needed for retirement. This varies by state and the cost of living by state, and whether they would be supporting older parents, grownup children.

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With the cost of food soaring in Canada there is a sense that there is "greedflation" in grocery stores. A recent bread price fixing scandal has raised public awareness about this problem.