Cockpit windows, Vermont says, are “totally different”.

They are generally made of glass, which is chemically reinforced by adding potassium to it. This involves swapping smaller sodium ions for larger potassium ions, which helps to fill out the molecular structure of the glass, meaning that when it cools during production, it compresses into an extra strong, tight formation as it cools.

Some of the latest aircraft feature cockpit windows that are also curved, to make the plane more streamlined, which improves fuel efficiency. But curved cockpit windows are challenging to make – the slightest distortion or defect is clearly visible to the pilot.

Quality control checks are used to ensure no such impediments exist in the final product.

All aircraft windows must be resistant to impacts but cockpit windows, at the front of the plane, are especially vulnerable to bird strikes, says Vermont: “The issue is not the speed of the bird, the issue is the speed of the aircraft.”

Saint-Gobain uses numerical simulations and “physical tests representative of a sizeable bird impact” to test its windows against this threat.

“Typically, if you go through a hailstorm or if you hit a large enough bird, the external ply will crack,” says Vermont. “The cockpit window is designed for that.”

A London to Londonderry flight was recently affected by a cracked cockpit window. While a mid-air emergency was declared, the plane landed safely. “There can be [such] cases,” says Vermont, though he adds that Saint-Gobain’s windows have not been involved in any recently.

“You’re obviously dealing with a surface that is interfacing with two very different environments,” says Stengel. “That’s why these are more highly-engineered products.”

Those lessons shaped a career that has spanned sacred writing, Hebrew calligraphy, Judaica art, and education. Today, his work continues to focus on preserving Jewish heritage while sharing those traditions with future generations through teaching and craftsmanship.

“I have always believed that making a positive difference in people’s lives is what matters most,” Rabbi Karro says.

From Russia to a Life of Learning in Jerusalem

Rabbi Steve Karro was born in Russia before moving to Jerusalem with his family at the age of 10. The move marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to Jewish education and personal growth.

He attended Hebrew school before continuing his studies at Yeshiva Ponevezh in Bnei Brak, where he immersed himself in rabbinical studies. During this time, he earned his rabbinical diploma while also developing a passion for Hebrew calligraphy and art.

For Rabbi Karro, education was never simply about acquiring knowledge. It was about preparing to serve others.

“Learning never really ends,” he says. “The more we learn, the more we can share with others.”

That philosophy continues to influence both his work and his outlook on life.

A Career Dedicated to Sacred Writing and Art

After completing his studies, Rabbi Karro devoted his career to sacred writing and traditional Jewish craftsmanship. His work includes writing Torah scrolls, mezuzot, and tefillin, as well as restoring older Torah scrolls so they can continue serving communities for generations.

Every project requires careful attention to detail and respect for traditions that have remained largely unchanged for centuries.

Alongside his work as a scribe, Rabbi Karro is also a Judaica artist who creates oil paintings and Hebrew calligraphy inspired by Jewish history and culture. Together, these disciplines allow him to combine creativity with preservation.

“I believe making good changes is important,” he says. “Every piece of work should leave something positive behind.”

Why Teaching Has Always Been Part of the Mission

While craftsmanship has defined much of Rabbi Karro’s professional life, education has always been equally important.

Throughout his career, he has shared his knowledge of Hebrew calligraphy, sacred writing, and Jewish tradition with others, believing that preserving knowledge is just as important as preserving artifacts.

He hopes that by teaching others, these skills and traditions will continue long into the future.

“Teach what I learned so more people will be able to do good for our universe,” he says.

Rather than keeping specialized knowledge to himself, Rabbi Karro sees education as an opportunity to multiply positive influence.

Staying Focused Through Challenges

Every career brings obstacles, and Rabbi Karro has faced his share of personal challenges.

He has spoken about experiencing attempts to damage his identity and reputation. Instead of allowing those experiences to define him, he remained committed to his values, faith, and work.

“Many challenges came when enemies tried to take my identity away and put me through worldwide embarrassment,” he says. “I’m still standing and going with God and what I have always believed in.”

His response has been to continue creating, teaching, and helping others rather than becoming distracted by negativity.

That resilience has become one of the defining characteristics of his journey.

Building a Legacy Through Service

For Rabbi Karro, success has never been measured by recognition alone. Instead, he believes lasting impact comes from helping people and preserving traditions that matter.

Whether restoring a Torah scroll, teaching a student, or creating a work of art, he approaches each opportunity with the same sense of purpose.

“When I make a happy difference in people’s lives,” he says, “that is what matters most.”

He also believes that good actions inspire more good actions.

“My goal is to duplicate my good actions so others continue believing they are important and can make positive changes.”

That philosophy has guided his work for decades and continues to shape his future.

Looking Ahead While Preserving the Past

Today, Rabbi Steve Karro continues his work as a Hebrew calligrapher, Judaica artist, educator, and scribe. His career reflects a deep respect for history while emphasizing the importance of passing knowledge from one generation to the next.

Although his work centers on ancient traditions, his message is timeless. He believes every person can make a meaningful contribution by acting with integrity, serving others, and remaining committed to lifelong learning.

“When your close family is happy, others around them become happier too,” he says.

For Rabbi Karro, preserving tradition has always been about more than protecting the past. It is about ensuring future generations inherit the knowledge, values, and craftsmanship needed to continue making a positive difference.

 

Shares of Juniper Hotels gained nearly 2% on Thursday, hitting a day’s high of Rs 219.07 on the NSE, after the company announced a proposal to acquire the operating Novotel Imagicaa hotel in Khopoli, Maharashtra, for an aggregate lumpsum consideration of Rs 248 crore.

According to an exchange filing, the company said the proposed transaction involves the acquisition of Novotel Imagicaa, an operating hotel undertaking in Khopoli, Raigad district, Maharashtra. The aggregate lump-sum purchase consideration is Rs 248 crore, or approximately Rs 86 lakh per key, subject to the terms and conditions of the definitive agreements.

Also Read | Juniper Hotels plans Rs 248 crore acquisition of 287-key Novotel Imagicaa

The proposed acquisition relates to an operating hotel business. Imagicaaworld Entertainment Limited owns the Hotel Undertaking.

The hotel undertaking comprises approximately 11 acres of land, with a built-up area of approximately 2,80,000 sq. ft., comprising 287 guest rooms, along with restaurants, banquet and meeting facilities, recreational amenities and other associated hotel infrastructure.

The proposed acquisition is aligned with Juniper’s hospitality business and adds an established, cashgenerating, 287-key hotel in the Mumbai–Pune corridor, catering to leisure, social and MICE demand.
The company further said that the Board of Directors in its meeting held on September 16, 2026, approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be entered with Imagicaaworld Entertainment (Previously known as Adlabs Entertainment) for acquisition of operating hotel, Novotel Imagicaa.The proposed transaction does not involve any issuance of shares by the company. The acquisition advances Juniper’s long-term objective of building a portfolio of large, high-quality hotels in India’s most compelling business and leisure destinations.

“At Juniper, our growth journey has always been guided by a simple principle: grow with purpose and create value for the long term. Novotel Imagicaa represents the kind of asset we look for. It is an established hospitality property with scale, a strong destination proposition, and multiple demand generators,” said Arun Kumar Saraf, Chairman & Managing Director, Juniper Hotels.

“Our upcoming developments will significantly expand the company’s scale. We remain focused on owning the ‘Right Assets’ in the right markets, large, capable of generating diversified revenue streams across rooms, F&B, MICE, serviced apartments, commercial spaces and other hospitality offerings. We intend to pursue this growth with capital discipline, strong internal cash generation and a healthy balance sheet, and selectively evaluate acquisition opportunities where we see a compelling strategic fit,” Saraf further said.

The company also highlighted that this transaction offers several strategic advantages such as the acquisition will result in the addition of an established, operating 287-key hotel expected to generate stable cash flows from day one, without any lead time of greenfield development.

It will help in strategic presence in the Mumbai–Pune corridor catering to leisure, social, and MICE segments; will give potential to add incremental banqueting and ballroom capacity immediately to strengthen its social and MICE, from the adjacent Imagicaa parks and an opportunity to rebrand into the upper-upscale segment and drive higher revenue over the long term.

Also Read | Hyatt-owner Juniper Hotels to double portfolio to 4,000 rooms, earmarks ₹1,930 crore

The diversified demand generators resulting in multiple revenue streams across leisure, social, MICE, and weekend travel; and the opportunity to leverage Juniper’s asset management and hospitality expertise to drive long-term value creation.

Juniper Hotels share price movement

In the last one month, the stock of Juniper Hotels went up 12.97%. In the current calendar year and in the last one year, the stock was down 13.37% and 26.59% respectively.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Surbhi Khanna, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an investment advisor . Surbhi Khanna does not hold any financial interest in Economic Times as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of the EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.

But while many buyers focus on choosing the right make and model, they often overlook the small financial decisions that can quietly add thousands of dollars to the overall cost.

The good news is that overpaying isn’t inevitable. By spending a little extra time researching prices, comparing new car loans, and understanding where unnecessary costs can creep in, you can enjoy your next vehicle knowing you’ve secured far better value for your money.

Buying smart isn’t about finding the absolute cheapest option. It’s about understanding the total cost of ownership and making informed choices before signing any contracts.

Research Before Visiting a Dealership

Walking into a dealership without preparation puts you at a disadvantage.

Before you begin negotiating, research:

• Typical market prices
• Available promotions
• Vehicle reviews
• Running costs
• Common optional extras

Knowing what similar vehicles are selling for gives you greater confidence when discussing pricing and makes it easier to recognise a genuinely competitive offer.

Separate the Vehicle Price From the Finance

One of the most common mistakes buyers make is negotiating only around the monthly repayment.

Instead, focus first on agreeing to the purchase price of the vehicle before discussing finance or trade-ins. Combining everything into one negotiation makes it much harder to determine exactly what you’re paying for each part of the transaction.

Keeping these discussions separate gives you a clearer picture of the overall deal.

Don’t Assume Every Optional Extra Is Worth It

Dealerships often offer additional products designed to protect or enhance your vehicle.

These may include:

• Extended warranties
• Paint protection
• Fabric protection
• Window tinting
• Accessory packages

Some buyers genuinely benefit from these extras, while others end up paying for products they neither need nor use. Taking time to research each option independently can prevent unnecessary spending.

Compare More Than One Finance Offer

Convenience shouldn’t be the only reason for choosing a finance provider.

Different lenders may offer varying interest rates, fees, repayment flexibility, and loan features. Comparing several options allows you to understand which offer represents the best overall value rather than simply accepting the first proposal.

Even a modest improvement in your interest rate can produce significant savings over the life of the loan.

Consider the Total Cost of Ownership

The purchase price is only the beginning.

You’ll also need to budget for:

• Insurance
• Registration
• Fuel or electricity
• Scheduled servicing
• Replacement tyres
• Unexpected repairs after the warranty expires

Choosing a vehicle with lower ongoing ownership costs may save considerably more than negotiating a slightly lower purchase price.

Don’t Stretch Your Budget Too Far

It’s easy to become tempted by higher trim levels or additional features once you’re sitting in the showroom.

Before upgrading, ask yourself whether those extras will genuinely improve your daily driving experience or whether they’re simply increasing your repayments.

Buying slightly below your maximum budget often leaves room for life’s unexpected expenses without reducing your enjoyment of the vehicle.

Time Your Purchase Carefully

Many buyers don’t realise that timing can influence pricing.

Dealerships may be more willing to negotiate during:

• End-of-month sales periods
• End-of-financial-year promotions
• Model changeovers
• Clearance events

While there’s never a guarantee, shopping during these periods can sometimes result in better pricing or added incentives.

Take Your Time Before Signing

Excitement can sometimes lead people to make rushed financial decisions.

Before signing any paperwork, review every figure carefully and don’t hesitate to ask questions if something isn’t clear. Reading the contract thoroughly may reveal fees, conditions, or optional products that weren’t fully discussed during negotiations.

Taking a little extra time now can prevent expensive surprises later.

Smart Buyers Focus on Value

Avoiding overpayment isn’t about negotiating every last dollar or delaying your purchase indefinitely. It’s about understanding where costs come from, comparing your options carefully, and making decisions based on long-term value rather than short-term excitement.

When you combine careful research, sensible budgeting, thoughtful finance comparisons, and patience throughout the buying process, you’ll be far more likely to enjoy your new vehicle knowing you’ve made a financially sound decision that will continue to pay off for years to come.

 

NEW YORK — Shares of Cipher Digital Inc. jumped 11.25% to $16.79 in Tuesday trading, adding $1.70, as the New York-based company’s rapid transformation from a bitcoin mining operator into an AI data center developer continued to draw investor interest ahead of the planned commercial activation of one of its flagship hyperscale facilities this month.

Formerly known as Cipher Mining, the company formally rebranded to Cipher Digital in February, a name change the company said reflected its strategic pivot toward developing high-performance computing, or HPC, data centers for hyperscale cloud computing tenants rather than continuing to focus primarily on bitcoin mining. That shift has accelerated sharply over the course of 2026, with the company winding down bitcoin mining operations at its Black Pearl site in Texas in order to redirect power capacity and land toward AI infrastructure customers.

Central to that transformation is Cipher’s Barber Lake campus in Colorado City, Texas, developed under a 10-year hosting agreement with Fluidstack, an AI cloud platform backed by Google. Under the agreement, Cipher will deliver 168 megawatts of critical IT load, supported by up to 244 megawatts of gross capacity, across the site’s 587 acres, with potential for further expansion to 500 megawatts of total capacity. Google has agreed to backstop $1.4 billion of Fluidstack’s contractual obligations under the deal and, in exchange, received an equity stake of approximately 5.4% in Cipher. According to the company’s own project timeline, the Barber Lake facility is expected to commence operations this September, with delivery of capacity occurring in phases as individual data halls reach “rack-ready” status between September 2026 and February 2027.

Barber Lake represents just one leg of a broader contracted backlog that has transformed Cipher’s financial profile over the past year. The company’s total contracted backlog now stands at approximately $9.3 billion, anchored by three separate hyperscale leases. The largest is a 15-year, 300-megawatt agreement with Amazon Web Services at Cipher’s Black Pearl campus, structured through a joint entity and representing roughly $5.5 billion in contracted revenue on its own. Amazon has agreed to cover construction cost overruns at the site exceeding $9.5 million per megawatt of critical IT load, helping de-risk the buildout for Cipher, which has separately said it expects an initial rent commencement date at Black Pearl of October 1. A third hyperscale campus lease, signed with an unnamed investment-grade tenant in late March, rounds out the company’s current anchor contract portfolio.

To fund that expansion, Cipher closed a $2 billion high-yield bond offering to finance the Black Pearl buildout and separately secured a $200 million revolving credit facility in March, providing up to $250 million in total committed capacity when including the facility’s accordion option, according to the company’s regulatory filings. Cipher has said the financing leaves it with strong liquidity and no near-term need to raise additional equity.

The financial results of that transition have been visible in the company’s recent quarterly reports. Cipher’s second-quarter 2026 revenue, released August 4, fell to $25 million as the business shifted away from bitcoin mining revenue toward the still-ramping contracted data center business, with the company posting a net loss of $114 million for the period. Bitcoin mining revenue specifically fell to $34.8 million for the quarter, down from roughly $60 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting the deliberate wind-down of mining operations at Black Pearl. For the full 2025 fiscal year, Cipher reported revenue of $223.94 million, up 48% from the prior year, even as full-year losses widened sharply to $822.24 million.

Despite those losses, which reflect the heavy upfront capital investment required to build out large-scale data center infrastructure, Wall Street analysts have grown increasingly bullish on the stock as its hyperscale contracts have taken shape. Seventeen analysts currently cover Cipher Digital, with a consensus rating of Strong Buy and no analysts recommending the stock be sold. The average 12-month price target sits at approximately $32, implying substantial potential upside from current trading levels, with individual targets ranging as high as $69 and as low as $22. Bernstein reaffirmed its own Buy rating on the stock in a research note published September 1.

That bullish shift in analyst sentiment has been dramatic relative to where coverage of the stock began. According to one recent analysis of the company’s valuation history, the mean analyst price target on the stock stood at just $7.77 in March 2025, before climbing to nearly $28 by the spring of 2026 as the company’s pivot toward AI infrastructure gained traction with investors and analysts alike.

Cipher’s stock has remained volatile even as its underlying contract backlog has grown, with shares trading within a wide 52-week range spanning roughly $10 to just above $30. The company’s market capitalization currently stands at approximately $6.3 billion, reflecting a valuation increasingly tied to the pace at which its hyperscale data center capacity comes online and begins generating contracted revenue, rather than to bitcoin prices or mining output, a shift that has fundamentally changed how investors approach the stock compared with its earlier years as a pure-play cryptocurrency mining company.

With Barber Lake’s operational launch expected this month and Black Pearl’s initial rent commencement targeted for October, investors are likely to watch closely in the coming weeks for confirmation that both facilities are meeting their construction and delivery timelines, developments that could determine whether Tuesday’s rally marks the start of a more sustained re-rating for the stock or another short-term swing within its historically volatile trading pattern.

Speaking to the Today programme on Thursday, he said if firms continue to create AIs that create their own objectives, earn money and own assets, they are “essentially seeding a new silicon species which will no doubt compete with us for resources, no matter how much it cares about humanity and loves us”.

The AI leader’s comments to the BBC follow an essay he published earlier this week, where he warned about Anthropic’s approach to training its AI model Claude.

He heavily criticised Anthropic for teaching its AI to have human-like qualities, a practice known as anthropomorphising, which he said made it seem as though Claude had its own desires, values and sense of self. The BBC has contacted Anthropic for comment.

In the essay, he warned tech firms risk creating something “impossible” to control by treating the technology like a human.

“AIs are not conscious,” he wrote. “They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They do not have innate preferences or underlying motivations.

“They are sequence completion engines, internally hollow, designed to follow instructions, and accomplish goals set by humans.”

Speaking to the BBC about an upcoming AI summit, he called for “alignment” to create technology that must be “subordinate” to humanity.

“I think that the good news here is that everybody who is human is going to have a very strong interest in making sure that the systems that we all create and… are used around the world in every nation are safe and controllable and subordinate to humanity.

“Everybody must be aligned,” he said.

In his lengthy essay, Suleyman also praised Anthropic boss Dario Amodei and his team for being “thoughtful, principled, and intellectually honest people” – but nevertheless questioned the company.

Suleyman argued “consciousness is biological”, saying there is “no evidence to suggest that AI is conscious”.

As well as calling for a debate on the issue, Suleyman said greater transparency around how AI systems are trained and evaluated was needed.

This, he said, included independent scrutiny of AI behaviour and stronger tools to monitor and control the technology.

“We must not sleepwalk our way into a decision we later come to bitterly regret,” he wrote.

Dame Wendy Hall, professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, described the comments as “the sort of conversation we need to be having internationally”, contrasting it with the “histrionics” from some AI companies which she said only served to “scare everyone”.

SAN FRANCISCO — Shares of Salesforce Inc. traded nearly flat Wednesday morning, down just 0.18% to $255.20, showing little sign of investor alarm despite a global service outage that disrupted the company’s cloud platform for customers worldwide on the same day as its flagship Dreamforce conference.

The muted stock reaction stands in contrast to the scale of Wednesday’s technical disruption. The outage began around 8:30 a.m. UTC and affected hundreds of Salesforce instances across markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, India and Japan, according to the company’s own status updates. Salesforce said its investigation traced the problem to an internal login service, where stalled requests consumed available server resources and cascaded into broader access failures. The company said it validated a fix on a test instance and began rolling it out across affected systems by 10:56 a.m. UTC, though the incident remained classified as a major disruption for several hours.

Options market activity ahead of the session had implied a potential swing of roughly plus or minus 4% in Salesforce shares, according to market data, a range that Wednesday’s relatively steady trading fell well short of by mid-morning. Shares had closed Tuesday at $259.43, before slipping 1.46% to $255.65 in the prior session, then trading around $254.40 in Wednesday premarket activity, before recovering modestly to trade near $255.20 shortly before 10 a.m. Eastern time.

Several factors appear to have helped cushion the stock against a more severe reaction. Salesforce shares are scheduled to trade ex-dividend on September 17, with the company set to pay a quarterly cash dividend of 44 cents per share, a routine corporate event that can influence short-term trading patterns independent of other news. More broadly, Wednesday’s outage arrived during a period in which Salesforce’s stock has already shown a notable disconnect between its underlying AI business growth and its share price performance over the trailing year, according to recent analyst commentary.

That disconnect has become a recurring talking point among analysts covering the stock. Salesforce’s Agentforce artificial intelligence platform has posted annual recurring revenue exceeding $1.5 billion, up more than 240% year-over-year, with Agentforce combined with the company’s Data 360 offering reaching nearly $3.9 billion in annual recurring revenue, an increase of more than 210% from a year earlier. Despite that rapid growth, Salesforce shares had gained just 1.65% over the trailing 12 months heading into this week, according to recent market commentary, a far more muted performance than the pace of the company’s AI-driven revenue expansion might otherwise suggest.

Salesforce has also faced a volatile few weeks of trading heading into Wednesday’s outage, unrelated to any single company-specific catalyst. Shares fell 4.7% in a single session on September 8, a decline market analysts attributed at the time to a mix of macroeconomic pressure and profit-taking following a sharp rally after the company’s late-August earnings report, rather than any new problem specific to Salesforce. That August 26 report showed fiscal second-quarter revenue growth of approximately 11%, accelerating growth in current remaining performance obligations, and a raised full-year revenue outlook, results the company credited in part to strong momentum in Agentforce and its broader partnership with Anthropic, tied to the companies’ Claudeforce initiative unveiled earlier this year.

Institutional investor activity around the stock has shown a mixed picture in recent months. Regulatory filings covering the second quarter of 2026 showed JPMorgan Chase substantially increasing its Salesforce holdings, adding more than 10.4 million shares valued at approximately $1.64 billion, while Morgan Stanley reduced its position by roughly 26%, trimming holdings valued at approximately $1.31 billion, and Capital World Investors cut its stake by nearly half, a reduction valued at more than $1.2 billion. That divergence among major institutional holders illustrates the split sentiment that has characterized investor attitudes toward the stock even before Wednesday’s outage added a fresh variable to the mix.

Wall Street’s overall consensus on Salesforce has remained solidly positive despite the stock’s choppy performance. Analyst price targets have averaged around $268.87 in recent coverage, with a majority of analysts rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy against a smaller number of Hold ratings, implying analysts broadly see room for the stock to appreciate from current levels even amid the recent volatility.

Wednesday’s outage occurred against the backdrop of Dreamforce, Salesforce’s flagship annual conference running from September 15 through 18 in San Francisco, an event the company has used this year to showcase an expanded set of AI agent products alongside its deepening partnership with Anthropic and a broader push into what Salesforce calls the “Agentic Enterprise.” The timing of a major technical outage during an event specifically designed to demonstrate the platform’s reliability to tens of thousands of attendees added a layer of reputational risk that, while difficult to quantify in dollar terms, stood in some tension with the muted market reaction reflected in the stock’s trading Wednesday morning.

For now, with shares trading little changed and the technical issue resolved according to the company’s own updates, investors appear to be treating Wednesday’s outage as a transient operational hiccup rather than a signal of deeper concern about Salesforce’s underlying business, even as the incident adds another data point to an already eventful and closely watched stretch of trading for the stock heading into the back half of the year.