U s business culture

In May this year, a huge company listed on the London Stock Exchange found itself in the midst of controversy about a prison it runs for the government – Thameside, a newly built jail next to Belmarsh, in south-east London. A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate found that 60% of its inmates were locked up all day, and there were only "vague plans to restore the prison to normality". The prison campaign group the Howard League for Penal Reform talked about conditions that were "truly alarming". Two months later, the same company was the subject of a high- profile report published by the House Of Commons public accounts committee, prompted by the work of Guardian journalist Felicity Lawrence. This time, attention was focused on how it was managing out-of-hours GP services in Cornwall, and massive failings that had first surfaced two years before. Again, the verdict was damning: data had been falsified, national standards had not been met, there was a culture of "lying and … [Read more...] about Serco: the company that is running Britain

A trade group representing Christmas tree growers made headlines this month by noting that tree production is down in 2019. The proximate cause of the slump, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, traces back to the Great Recession, when farmers cut back on plantings amid sluggish sales. But the industry as a whole is facing a much bigger challenge. According to the USDA's Census of Agriculture, Christmas tree production fell nearly 30 percent from 2017 to 2002, the earliest year for which data is available. National surveys point to the reason: Each year, fewer Americans are putting up trees during the holidays. And those who do are increasingly choosing artificial ones. Aging baby boomers are driving much of this shift, as they opt for the convenience of plastic trees that can be reused year after year. The USDA's census best conveys the scope of the challenge facing the natural tree industry. In 2002, farmers harvested close to 21 million trees. By 2017 that figure … [Read more...] about Boomers have outgrown real Christmas trees

INDORE: Swachh brand ka kamaal — Indore stands vivid in the memories of guests, who left after attending the investors’ summit. Top babus, honchos to industrialists, everybody chirped about Indore’s cleanliness on social media. Tweets highlighting the tales of city’s exemplary initiatives trended as they bid adieu with big promises. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant in multiple tweets described his journey to Indore as motivational and inspirational while Nasscom president Debjani Ghosh amused by the cleanliness drive claimed that India will change if other cities also show the same passion. “What other municipalities must learn from Indore? Use of 12 automated road sweeping machines which daily sweep all major city roads (500 KM) from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. The bio CNG plant where 20 TPD of organic waste is processed and 800 kg of bio CNG is generated to run 15 city buses,” Kant tweeted. Kant posted three tweets about Indore in last two days. On the day of … [Read more...] about Business bigwigs chirp about Indore’s Swachhta on social media

Whisper it quietly, but the traditional saloon car is dying a slow death in the US. The monsters that were half a block long are long gone and now many of the more modest sedans – as they are called in America – are said to be on death row. Question marks have been raised over the long-term future of the Chevrolet Impala and Ford Taurus. Many experts believe they will follow the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart into the motoring history books. It is as if the US is turning the page on its motoring past, rejecting cars that have been serenaded for decades in popular culture. Countless songs have been written about what are now considered “classic cars” – from Prince’s Little Red Corvette to Chuck Berry’s... … [Read more...] about Last chance saloon? Icon of America overtaken by SUVs

If Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro), the central figure in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, has a theme song, it’s “In the Still of the Night,” a mid-’50s doo-wop hit from the Five Satins. A romantic ballad that evokes images of soda fountains and high-school dances, it nevertheless has a mournful quality, with a haunting, repetitive backing track beneath the sappy lyrics. Besides the sorrowful tone, though, Scorsese undoubtedly picked “In the Still of the Night” as a leitmotif for his new film because its title describes exactly how Sheeran operates. He arrives unseen in the night with hardly a sound, does his deadly business, and departs just as quietly.That quietness is the distinguishing feature of this film, a staggering three-and-a-half-hour gangster epic. The Irishman marks Scorsese’s first collaboration with De Niro in decades, and features some of his other stalwarts, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel (as well as Al Pacino, a … [Read more...] about Martin Scorsese’s Epic Funeral for the Gangster Genre