Latest news with #COVID-induced
Eater
11-07-2025
- Business
- Eater
A Tenderloin Bathhouse-Restaurant Is (Finally) Taking Dinner Reservations
is the associate editor for the Northern California and Pacific Northwest region writing about restaurant and bar trends, coffee and cafes, and pop-ups. The combo Japanese-style bathhouse and restaurant Onsen is not only back from its pandemic-induced shutdown, but about to serve dinner to San Franciscans once again. In an Instagram post, ownership for Onsen let fans know a summer of pop-ups is on the horizon. Installations include newcomer Dostee, traveling operation Aku's BBQ, tried and true Claws of Mantis, and more. Dinners run from July 19 through August 31, with two soaks and seatings per shuttering due to COVID-induced restrictions, Onsen was an only-in-San Francisco kind of phenomenon. Former San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer penned a positive review in 2017. It was a top 100 restaurant pick in 2017 and 2018 for the paper, too. General manager Adam Wren told the Chronicle he'd reopen the bathhouse in late 2024. The upcoming meals and bathhouse experiences start at $110 for parties no larger than four. Saluhall gets a familiar face Dominic Prado and his Tacos El Ultimo Baile are coming to San Francisco. He'll take his Fruitvale-born business to mid-Market's Saluhall, taking over one of the former tenant spaces on the second floor. Tacos and burritos full of 12-hour smoked brisket or topped with mozzarella, vampiro-style, are on the menu. This location will run seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m as of Saturday, July 12. Coffee phenom location up for lease Local fruit coffee innovator Outset has a big 'for lease' sign up in its Valencia Street location following a few weeks of smaller 'closed temporarily' signs in the window. Owner Heng Qiu says his business partner is in direct negotiations regarding the space with the landlord to try to reopen, and he is unsure of the status of the negotiations. The FiDi outpost remains open. Michelin-approved pairing hits Van Ness Food security nonprofit Farming Hope will host Hilda and Jesse for a chef dinner on Thursday, August 14. Chef Ollie Liedags' work at the North Beach restaurant has cemented the relative newcomer as a mainstay fine dining player in San Francisco. Expect three to five courses with an optional drinks pairing, proceeds of which support the nonprofit's second chance hiring programs and community gardening efforts. Early bird tickets are available until Monday, July 14, and can be purchased online. Eater SF All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
‘At 1,000 feet above ground, the aircraft engines suddenly lost power': how a Pune pilot survived a crash, learnt to fly again
Written by Shubham Kurale, The morning of July 25, 2022, started like any other training day for Bhavika Rathod. The 24-year-old pilot trainee from Pune's Swargate had already completed 150 flying hours towards her commercial pilot licence. She was confident, attentive, and just 50 hours away from achieving her childhood dream. But at 11.30 am that day, everything changed in an instant. A talk that ignited a desire Bhavika studied in Pune's Muktangan English School, where a guest lecture by a pilot planted the first seeds of her aviation dreams. 'That lecture stayed with me throughout school,' Bhavika recalls. 'I kept thinking about what it would feel like to be up there, responsible for taking people safely to their destinations.' 'After completing Class 12 in 2019, I took my dream of becoming a pilot seriously and started searching for flying schools. The process got delayed due to the COVID-induced lockdown, and finally, in October 2021, I got into Carver Aviation flying school in Baramati,' she says. To obtain a commercial pilot licence, one needs to complete 200 flying hours and clear six theory papers, which usually takes around two years. 'After completing 150 flying hours, it was a normal day for me. I took off from Baramati in a Cessna-152 aircraft for a routine cross-country flight,' Bhavika remembers. 'Just 15 nautical miles into the journey, at about 1,000 feet above ground, the aircraft engines suddenly lost power.' With no option to return to the departure point, Bhavika's training kicked in. 'I spotted a slightly moist patch of farmland in Kadbanwadi village in Indapur, exactly what my instructors had taught me to look for to reduce landing drag,' she said. In those terrifying moments between engine failure and ground contact, Bhavika managed to safely crash-land the aircraft. She survived with only minor scratches on her chin. No one on the ground was hurt, despite the plane crashing less than 100 feet from the nearest house. 'I was completely in shock,' she says. 'This is the worst thing that could happen in the flying sector. But by God's grace, I was alive.' The crash led to a mandatory investigation by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). After three intense days of questioning, Bhavika was put on a cooling period – a mandatory break from flying that follows any aircraft accident. 'It was traumatising. I gradually lost confidence, hope, and courage to fly again,' she says. 'I started self-doubting and slowly faced depression. After two months, I decided to quit and pursue a BBA instead to join my family business.' Bhavika's near and dear ones, however, had other plans. 'My family and friends counselled me to help recover my self-belief. They helped me scrap my thoughts about ending my flying career,' she says. Five months after the accident, in December 2022, Bhavika received a no-objection certificate for corrective training, a period in which trainee pilots fly with instructors until they regain confidence to fly solo. In January 2023, Bhavika walked back into Carver Aviation – saw the same corridors, the same runway where her dreams had once crashed. 'My colleagues and staff at the academy, particularly my instructor Captain Madhav Raj Singh, instilled confidence back in me,' she says. The journey back was not easy. Every take-off brought back memories of that fateful day. In September 2023, Bhavika secured her official Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL). 'Social media became helpful for me,' she reveals. 'After getting my CPL, candidates who faced similar crashes contacted me asking how to tackle negative thoughts. I was able to help them because I had been through the same experience.' 'My message to all those who feel dejected in their life would be to remain courageous and never lose hope. This will definitely help them achieve their dreams,' she says. Last year, Bhavika completed her type rating course, a specialised 45-day training programme on the Airbus 320 in Spain. Currently, she is preparing to join an aircraft carrier and has set her sights on an even bigger dream: flying an Airbus A380 someday. Shubham Kurale is an intern with The Indian Express.
Business Recorder
18-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
LSM: Time machine the wrong way
The latest data from Pakistan's Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector paints a troubling picture: not of a comeback, but of an industry stuck in a prolonged state of regression. Yes, May 2025 marked a 2.3 percent year-on-year growth — the third positive monthly print this calendar year — but this is no sign of a turnaround. It's more of a dead cat bounce than a structural recovery. Cumulatively, LSM contraction has now entered its ninth straight month, with 10MFY25 output down 1.52 percent. The headline figure for March, previously celebrated as a return to growth at 1.78 percent, has been quietly revised down — and how. The revised March figure now shows a contraction of 2.78 percent, marking the lowest reading since the start of the current LSM base, barring the COVID-induced collapse of FY20. The culprit? A massive downward revision in the food index, led by sugar. March's sugar output was chopped significantly in the revised data, dragging the entire sector down. Seasonal production of sugar now clocks in at 5.78 million tons — nearly a million tons short of last year's haul. And with May historically contributing little to sugar output, the final season numbers are likely to be 8–9 percent below last year. Despite the recent uptick, the broader reality remains grim. The LSM index for April is barely above readings from the past two years, and still a full 10 percentage points below its FY18 level. In fact, output levels are now back to where they were in FY17 — wiping out nearly eight years of supposed industrial progress. On a cumulative basis, output is even lower than FY19 and only marginally ahead of FY21 — and that's saying something. To put it bluntly: Pakistan's industrial time machine isn't broken. It's just been set permanently in reverse. The diffusion index — a measure of how widespread growth is — offers some surface-level hope, with 12 of 22 tracked sectors in the green. But scratch the surface, and the optimism fades. Only a handful of these are growing with any real momentum. The rest are dragging their feet. Pharmaceuticals and textiles are barely growing at under 3 percent. Readymade garments have lost steam since earlier this year. The one relatively bright spot is automobiles, buoyed by a low base and some modest demand recovery. Meanwhile, the industrial backbone continues to deteriorate. Cement, steel, chemicals, and white goods — once the bellwethers of economic progress — are stuck in the red. Food has now officially joined that club, led by the sugar slump. 10 LSM subsectors are still operating below the index level that marked the beginning of this base year. Some may never climb back. That's not cyclical weakness. That's structural decay. To be fair, there are glimmers of hope. The State Bank's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for May reached a 12-month high. Capacity utilization across industries is holding steady at 65.7 percent — broadly in line with the last year's average. And while the central bank kept interest rates unchanged in its latest policy meeting, it did signal expectations of recovery led by services and industry in FY26. But the devil is in the details — or in this case, the omissions. The Monetary Policy Committee avoided naming any specific LSM sectors poised for growth. That's because, apart from autos, the cupboard is nearly bare. Growth in private sector credit, sentiment indicators, and import flows were cited instead. Translation: there's hope, but not a whole lot of substance behind it — at least not yet. Lower industrial electricity tariffs and cheaper credit might help slow the bleeding. But resurrecting industrial momentum is a different beast altogether. The highs of FY22 aren't just out of reach — they're not even on the industrial engine isn't revving up. It's idling in neutral — and sometimes slipping into reverse. And unless there's a concerted effort to address the structural issues holding LSM back, no amount of sugar-coating is going to change that.
Sydney Morning Herald
11-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brace yourself: Energy, internet and insurance price rises are coming
In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes – and price rises. Australians have been warned to brace for heftier household bills due to begin next month – or, in some instances, have already begun. Although inflation has been steadily slowing since its peak in December 2022, pushed up by COVID-induced global supply chain knots and Russia's war on Ukraine, consumers will have to fork out more for essential expenses such as electricity, phone and internet bills, with energy and telco giants signalling price rises to begin on July 1. 'The financial year definitely aligns with significant price changes, but for different reasons,' said Finder personal finance spokesperson Sarah Megginson. 'For many businesses, the end of the financial year is a time to finalise their budgets, review their operational costs from the previous year, and forecast for the next 12 months. If their costs have increased, there's a good chance they're going to pass those increased costs on to customers.' Loading But retail industry consultant Trent Rigby said price rises were becoming less tied to these points of the year. 'I think previously, with customers, it was ingrained in their minds that it was a new year, or a new financial year, so it was probably easier to get that price rise through,' said Rigby. 'One thing we've noticed working with retailers is there's no methodology behind it. We're just seeing price rises throughout the year.'
The Age
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Brace yourself: Energy, internet and insurance price rises are coming
In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes – and price rises. Australians have been warned to brace for heftier household bills due to begin next month – or, in some instances, have already begun. Although inflation has been steadily slowing since its peak in December 2022, pushed up by COVID-induced global supply chain knots and Russia's war on Ukraine, consumers will have to fork out more for essential expenses such as electricity, phone and internet bills, with energy and telco giants signalling price rises to begin on July 1. 'The financial year definitely aligns with significant price changes, but for different reasons,' said Finder personal finance spokesperson Sarah Megginson. 'For many businesses, the end of the financial year is a time to finalise their budgets, review their operational costs from the previous year, and forecast for the next 12 months. If their costs have increased, there's a good chance they're going to pass those increased costs on to customers.' Loading But retail industry consultant Trent Rigby said price rises were becoming less tied to these points of the year. 'I think previously, with customers, it was ingrained in their minds that it was a new year, or a new financial year, so it was probably easier to get that price rise through,' said Rigby. 'One thing we've noticed working with retailers is there's no methodology behind it. We're just seeing price rises throughout the year.'
