Can Modi make India the new China?

Narendra Modi will be sworn in as prime minister on Monday.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney)

But is he the leader to haul India out of its funk, and put the world's second most populous nation back on track to rival China?

Investors think so. The prospect of a government led by Modi has boosted Indian stocks by 15% so far this year. The rupee has responded too, gaining 6% against the dollar after a dismal performance in 2013.

An economic turnaround will be more difficult to execute. It will require a level of political skill and collaboration that has eluded top Indian policymakers for years.

India's growth potential was once mentioned in the same breath as that of China. But the world's biggest democracy has failed to deliver and its economy is just a fifth the size of its Asian rival.

Related: We're itching to break into India

Growth has fallen below 5%, and inflation is now running above 8%. Manufacturing has slowed and the country's fiscal deficit has ballooned.

Structural reforms have fallen foul of political gridlock. Analysts say India needs to simplify its tax code, encourage foreign investment and streamline agricultural production. Modi will have to move fast.

"The markets have high hopes for the new government but the economic reality will eventually replace election euphoria," said IHS analyst Hanna Luchnikava.

Related story: Modi win boosts Indian markets

Modi likes to emphasize his management credentials. He campaigned on a record of low unemployment and high foreign investment in Gujarat, the state he has led since 2001.

He has promised to end policy paralysis, reduce inflation and tackle corruption. He also pledged to establish manufacturing hubs and industrial corridors, improve the tax code and reform the banking sector.

The campaign was so successful that voters gave his Bharatiya Janata Party a majority in the lower house of parliament, sparing Modi the hassle of a coalition. Still, the BJP will face opposition from the Congress Party and other rivals in the upper house.

Related story: What India can learn from China

Modi will also be challenged by members of his own party who would like to remove Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan. The former IMF chief economist has helped restore investor confidence by pushing through unpopular interest rate hikes since taking office last September.

Analysts at the Eurasia Group think Modi will try to get some quick wins under his belt by pursuing reforms that can be implemented through executive action.

But in the long term, they're less optimistic about his chances of implementing a more substantial overhaul of the economy.

"Although the BJP's hugely impressive victory means that Modi will be much less dependent on partnerships and alliances than we had envisioned, it does not in and of itself fundamentally change the fractious nature of India's political landscape," the Eurasia Group analysts said.

First Published: May 22, 2014: 9:29 PM ET

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Army of robots to invade Amazon warehouses

These robots scoot around warehouse floors picking up items to fulfill customers' orders.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

CEO Jeff Bezos told investors at a shareholder meeting Wednesday that he expects to significantly increase the number of robots used to fulfill customer orders.

There are currently about 1,000 robot workers on Amazon floors. The increase won't change the number of actual people employed, an Amazon spokeswoman said.

Related: Robots will replace fast-food workers

The robots are made by Kiva Systems, a company Amazon bought for $775 million two years ago.

They are tied into a complex grid that requires months of planning and testing. But once the system is in place, it can save time and cut down on fulfillment costs.

While robots are playing a growing role in fulfilling orders in the warehouse, it could still be years before Amazon sends packages via drones to customers' homes. Bezos plans to have drones deliver packages to your door in 30 minutes, but there are a number of legal and technological hurdles before that can happen.

For now, you'll have to visit the warehouses to see a robot helping to deliver your package. Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) started offering public tours this month.

First Published: May 22, 2014: 6:02 PM ET

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GM recalls may continue, says Barclays

According to a new report GM may continue recalling cars into the summer.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

That's according to a research report from Barclays Capital.

Auto analyst Brian Johnson says he met with senior management at GM (GM, Fortune 500)on Wednesday and listed "continued recall announcements" as a key takeaway from the meeting.

GM declined to comment on the report.

Barclays said that GM hired 30 more investigators to mine data and that it hopes to be done with the recalls by mid-summer.

In the meantime, however, it's tough to say if recalls from past vehicles has already peaked, as the team has not yet completed mining the data," Johnson said. "Given the datamining is being conducted on an issue by issue, and not on a make and model year basis, it is possible that GM may issue further recalls for vehicles which have already been recalled," he added.

Related: GM's recall nightmare

GM has issued more recalls this year than ever before. There have been 29 separate recalls covering 13.8 million U.S. cars and trucks, and 15.8 million vehicles worldwide.

In fact, General Motors has already recalled more cars and trucks in the U.S. this year than it has sold here in the five years since it filed for bankruptcy.

Related: GM to lawmakers: We're working on it

Barclay's Johnson also said that GM management - despite recall headlines - thinks that the pace of sales in the U.S. appears unaffected.

First Published: May 22, 2014: 6:17 PM ET

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Hackers can 'un-brick' stolen iPhones

A Twitter user in Mexico shows off four iPhones that were unlocked with this hack.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The hackers have discovered a method for bypassing a protective feature on Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) devices. Lost your iPhone? No worries. Something called "Activation Lock" turns it into a useless brick by connecting to Apple servers via its iCloud service.

But a Dutch hacker going by the name AquaXetine and a Moroccan hacker with the name MerrukTechnolog have discovered a way around that.

By plugging your iPhone or iPad into a computer and altering a file inside, you trick the device into connecting to the hackers' server instead. Once connected, the server will tell the iPhone or iPad to unlock.

The process is clunky, but folks around the world are already celebrating that it works.

Related story: eBay hacked

In recent days, the hackers' Twitter pages have been filled with photos of unlocked iPhones and iPads uploaded by grateful people in Brazil, Mexico, Russia, the United States and elsewhere.

A Twitter user in China, @t_ai_ya_ki, posted photo of a liberated iPhone on his bed and wrote, "thanks bro :)" Another in Poland, Maciek Walczykowski, showed his unlocked iPhone with a hacker's Twitter feed in the background. Dozens of others did the same.

The hacking duo, Team DoulCi (iCloud backwards), posted instructions on its website with this caveat: This runaround is only meant to be used for good. The hack was "built with love" for those original owners who lost access to their own devices, they said. No stolen Apple devices, please.

Right. Here's a reality check: So far, most of those taking advantage of this trick are posting photos of several unlocked devices at once.

For example, someone in the Philippines using the name @esonglance showed off six unlocked iPhones. Another user, @illPaick in Mexico, showed off six iPhones and an iPad. Who accidentally locks himself out of a half dozen of his own devices? No one.

Apple did not immediately return calls for comment.

Mark Loman, a malware analyst for cybersecurity company SurfRight, described the hack as a "man-in-the-middle attack." To make it work, these hackers place themselves between your device and Apple.

It's inherently unsafe. On their website, the hackers promise "more information" at midnight Thursday (EST).

First Published: May 21, 2014: 1:20 PM ET

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Are GM cars safe? Yes, they are

The Chevrolet Equinox, shown here in a crash test, earned a "Top Safety Pick Plus" award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

You can rest assured that GM cars are about as safe as any others on the road.

Why are there so many GM related recalls lately?

GM has cranked up its recall machine. Having been caught needlessly delaying a recall for years, whether by massive corporate sloppiness or willful foot-dragging, GM (GM, Fortune 500) is now working to make sure that won't happen again. The automaker is going back through past problems with any of its cars and, if safety seems to be in question, recalling them.

If GM is recalling so many vehicles, then its cars must be unsafe, correct?

Recalls aren't a good way to judge safety. While recalls should always be taken seriously, the fact is that not all recall-related issues are equally dangerous.

Some recalls are for things that are unlikely to ever actually happen. Some recalls are because someone could cut their finger or burn their leg on an exhaust pipe. Many recalls are for things that would never cause a crash, period. For instance, some are for "compliance" issues, such as a sticker on the door frame that says the car seats five when it actually only seats four.

Besides, while any death is a tragedy for the families involved, deaths caused by vehicle defects are actually extremely rare. Of the 34,000 traffic deaths that occurred last year, the number that were directly caused by vehicle defects is so small, it's not even a statistic. If it were officially tallied, it would be a fraction of 1%, experts say.

So, what's the best way for me to judge a vehicle's safety?

Crash test results are the best way to judge safety. Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has shown that crash tests, such as those done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and by IIHS itself, really do predict real-world safety. All else being equal, fatality rates are lower for occupants of vehicles that get good crash test results.

These days, the vast majority of new vehicles get good crash test results. GM is no different. On average, GM vehicles get 4.4 stars in NHTSA's 5-star safety rating system. That's about the same as the industry overall, according to analysts at the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Related - GM's recall nightmare

The IIHS, meanwhile, has given its "Top Safety Pick" award to four GM models -- the Chevrolet Malibu, Equinox and Spark and the GMC Terrain. That compares to five models for Ford and four for Toyota. The manufacturer with the most "Top Safety Pick" awards is Honda which has a record eight award-winning models.

Can I look at real-world crash statistics to determine vehicle safety?

Real-world crash statistics can be confusing, Insurance Institute spokesman Russ Rader said. That's because they can be influenced by a number of factors such as the age of the drivers and the way people drive different types of vehicles.

One of the biggest predictors of real-world crash safety is size, according to the Insurance Institute. In a crash between a big heavy SUV and a small car, the bigger vehicle will transfer more of the impact force into the small vehicle. As a matter of physics, alone, the people in the bigger vehicle are more likely to walk away unharmed.

For reasons like these, other than confirming that vehicle size and crash tests can predict safety, real-world fatality statistics aren't terribly helpful, Rader said.

Based on the factors that really matter, the cars and trucks GM sells today are about as safe those built and sold by other manufacturers. If you're concerned about your safety behind the wheel, check the crash test ratings and drive safely.

First Published: May 21, 2014: 5:20 PM ET

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110 arrested outside McDonald's HQ

Police said they arrested over 100 protesters.

CHICAGO (CNNMoney)

The group of protesters had marched up the driveway of McDonald's sprawling campus in suburban Chicago. They were met by about 250 law enforcement officers, including state police in riot gear, and were asked to leave. When they refused, the strikers were taken into custody, according to the Oak Brook police department in Illinois.

The protests took place a day before McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500) annual meeting on Thursday, when more protests are planned.

It was the latest chapter in the broader fast food protest movement that began over a year ago, with workers demanding their wage be raised to a minimum of $15 an hour.

"We want to make sure that McDonald's shareholders and CEO Don Thompson hear us and see us and know that these are the workers they are pushing into poverty," said Kendall Fells, a spokesman of the workers organizing group Fast Food Forward.

Related: "My boss doesn't rule my destiny"

Earlier in the day, McDonald's shut down its main headquarters building ahead of the protests. A company spokeswoman said: "The police advised us to close in advance for security and traffic purposes."

That led the crowd of about 1,500 people to march through another entrance in the campus. The protesters included McDonald's and other fast food restaurant workers, clergy and community leaders.

In a statement, McDonald's said: "We respect everyone's rights to peacefully protest. We are focused on welcoming our shareholders to McDonald's annual meeting."

Related: Faces of May 15 fast food strikes

The issue of fast-food industry pay has been in the headlines over the past year.

While the federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour, several states and cities have recently enacted laws to increase their wage floor to an average of $10.10 in most places and as much as $15 in Seattle.

Just last week, protesters in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles joined strikes outside of fast-food restaurants demanding their minimum hourly wage be raised to $15 an hour.

Related: McDonald's scary Happy Meal mascot

The average hourly wage of fast-food employees is $9.09, or less than $19,000 per year for a full-time worker.

A recent report from public advocacy group Demos found that CEOs at fast-food companies earn 1,000 times what the average fast-food employee earns, making it one of the biggest pay disparities in the American economy.

-- CNN'sTed Rowlands contributed to this report.

First Published: May 21, 2014: 1:47 PM ET

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McDonald's scary Happy Meal mascot

Meet "Happy," McDonald's new ambassador for Happy Meals.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

But within hours, the new square-faced red and yellow mascot with big white teeth was scaring away people on Twitter and had become the butt of jokes.

@DrZombield said: THAT! Is scary!

@CraigGrannell warned: "HE WILL EAT YOU ALIVE! RUN!"

@Naive_Steve came up with his own tag-line: "Happy", "It's the meal that eats you."

And @jrichardmiller said: "Happy" looks happy bc he just finished off a family of six #RIP #HappyMeal."

Related: McDonald's prepares for melee

"We are not un-happy about" the response, said Julie Wenger, senior director of U.S. marketing for McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500). "Happy is not for everyone. He's about having fun. Really for kids and families."

Wenger said: "Happy is promoting healthy choices through fun and lightheartedness."

But not everyone was on board with McDonald's message, especially given the fast food chain's reputation for peddling calorie-laden fare.

@samkamani said, "In order to fight obesity in kids, McDonalds introduces its new mascot to scare children."

@erikbransteen said, "Congrats #McDonalds, first you fatten our kids, then you haunt their nightmares."

The Happy Meal mascot launches this Friday.

First Published: May 20, 2014: 3:58 PM ET

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3 reasons interest rates will stay low for years

New York Fed President Bill Dudley predicts interest rates will remain historically low for the long-term.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

In a speech Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley laid out three key reasons why the Fed may keep its short-term interest rate -- the federal funds rate -- below historic averages for the long haul. That rate is important, because it impacts rates for mortgages and loans.

Listen up, because Dudley is a top decision maker at the central bank and closely aligned with current Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

1) The economy remains weak: Like it or not, the economy is still disappointing on several fronts, and that may not change anytime soon.

"Economic headwinds seem likely to persist for several more years," Dudley said in a speech to the New York Association of Business Economics.

He notes that the Great Recession "scarred households and businesses," which is likely to dampen their spending and investment for a long time.

Meanwhile, the housing sector is facing "several significant headwinds," he said.

Related: Janet Yellen's big concern is a housing slowdown

Take these three, for example: Mortgages are still hard to come by for homebuyers with all but the most pristine credit histories. High levels of student debt are delaying young people from becoming first-time home buyers. Finally, housing supply remains limited.

2) Our future potential is declining: Remember the economic good times? Say, the Clinton years or the mid-2000s? In the future, the U.S. economy has lower potential to grow at the strong rates it did in the 1990s and 2000s, mainly because a huge portion of the population is retiring. (Yes, we're talking about you, baby boomers!)

Lower economic potential implies interest rates will have to remain low, even after the economy starts revving up again, Dudley said.

3) Bank regulation: Following the massive crash in 2008, banks these days are required to hold a larger cushion of cash on the sidelines for emergencies. While these higher capital requirements are "essential in order to make the financial system more robust," Dudley said, this is likely to cause the Fed to keep low interest rates in place in the future.

Why? Traditionally, banks make their money by taking in your deposits and paying you a certain interest rate, but then lending that money out to someone else at a higher rate. If banks are forced to hold more cash on the sidelines, they may become less profitable and may slow their lending.

If the Fed wants to continue stimulating the economy, this means it may have to keep interest rates lower than usual, to achieve its desired impact on the economy.

Just how low are we talking about?

Okay, so you may have missed the boat on locking in a 3.4% 30-year mortgage last year, but even so, rates on mortgages and other loans will probably stay near their historic lows for years to come.

Since 2008, the Fed has kept the federal funds rate near zero, but in better economic times, that rate averaged 4.25%. Going forward, Fed officials have said they expect to start raising rates sometime next year, but even so, Dudley expects it to remain "well below" the 4.25% level for the long run.

"Precisely how much lower is difficult to say at this point in time," he said.

First Published: May 20, 2014: 1:47 PM ET

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Koch brothers' group fights Detroit bankruptcy aid

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A political group backed by the Koch brothers wants to stop the state from providing $195 million in aid. The money would be used to limit deep cuts to retirees' pensions and avoid selling off the artwork in the city-owned museum.

If the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is successful, it would derail a series of deals that would allow Detroit to emerge from the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy case later this year.

The group is writing letters to legislators vowing to campaign against those who vote yes. A vote on the package could come as soon as this week or early next week.

Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan director of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), said his group wants Detroit to sell its artwork and other assets, and dump traditional defined benefit pension plans in favor of 401(k) type of plans.

"Detroit has behaved like this for 30 years," Hagerstrom said. "Politicians there won't change their behavior if they keep getting bailouts from the hardworking taxpayers of Michigan."

Related: Detroit bankruptcy vote - Key to comeback

The package of bills has the support of leadership of the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature, as well as Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

"This is a settlement. This not a bailout," said Snyder. "And I want to be very, very clear about that."

Snyder and other supporters insist that Michigan would be better off with the legislation because it reduces the risk that the state could eventually be on the hook for billions in benefits promised by Detroit's underfunded pension plans.

Related: Democrats vs. the Koch brothers

"Drawn-out bankruptcy litigation would have dire consequences for Michigan taxpayers, from years of costly, prolonged lawsuits to uncertainty on the part of investors and job providers," Jase Bolger, speaker of the Michigan House, said earlier this month when the legislation was introduced.

The Koch brothers have become major forces in American politics. An official with AFP's national office told CNN that it is on course to spend $125 million in this year's mid-term congressional, state and local elections.

Hagerstrom said his group will look at the full range of ways to take targeted action against supporters of the package, including television, radio and billboard ads as well as direct mail campaigns.

"You have people on the record for smaller government," he said about the Republican support for the package. "The people in Michigan and this country just want to hold their legislators accountable and have them do what they say they're going to do."

Bill Nowling, spokesman for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, the man overseeing the city's bankruptcy reorganization, had no comment on the Koch brothers' efforts to derail the state's rescue package.

Ari Adler, Bolger's spokesman, said that the leadership is still confident it can find the votes to pass the package despite the AFP threat .But he admits it will be a close vote.

"We have Democrats on the far left and Republicans on the far right who are opposed for very different reasons," he said. "But we have a growing majority of members in both caucuses that understand how doing nothing now could cost Michigan taxpayers dearly later."

First Published: May 20, 2014: 1:58 PM ET

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Sprint hit with largest-ever 'Do Not Call' fine

This man either received an unwanted marketing call from Sprint or is seeing a photo of his sideburns for the first time.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The Federal Communications Commission announced Monday that the wireless carrier will pay a $7.5 million fine for failing to honor requests from consumers to opt out of phone and text-message marketing campaigns. As part of the settlement, Sprint (S, Fortune 500) has to set up a compliance program and provide regular reports to regulators for the next two years.

The fine comes after Sprint reached a similar settlement over "Do Not Call" violations with regulators back in 2011, paying a $400,000 fine.

"When a consumer tells a company to stop calling or texting with promotional pitches, that request must be honored," FCC enforcement chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement.

Related: Republican robocall firm slapped with $3 million fine

Sprint said the settlement "relates to issues resulting from technical and inadvertent human errors, which Sprint reported to the FCC."

"We have conducted a thorough, top-to-bottom evaluation of our Do Not Call data management systems, and significant capital investments have been made to improve our Do Not Call/SMS Message architecture, oversight and compliance," the company said.

The fine is the largest ever from the FCC in a "Do Not Call" case, though it's safe to say Sprint's not sweating it -- the company brought in $8.9 billion in sales in the first three months of this year alone.

Americans can opt out of telemarketing communications thanks to a 2003 law that set up the national "Do Not Call" registry. You can sign up for the registry online at www.donotcall.gov.

First Published: May 19, 2014: 3:53 PM ET

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