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Apple could be changing how its brick-and-mortar stores are laid out, according to a new report.
Apple Store tracker ifoAppleStore.com reported yesterday that Apple is currently testing out a new Genius Bar layout in its stores. Rather than have the table run parallel to the wall at the back of the store, the company is considering turning it 90 degrees to make it perpendicular to that wall.
The blog claims to have obtained an image of the new layout, which shows a table stretched from the back wall, and flanked on two sides with stools. That effectively increases the number of stools for customers and would theoretically increase customer "throughput" at Genius Bars.
It's not clear whether Apple has decided to make this change in a single store or if it's testing the new layout for use in all locations. One odd consequence is that the redesign also appears to nix the kids section in some stores, which is popular among children and parents alike.
As Apple sells more products,in after-sale care. To maintain status quo and not increase capacity could be an issue for Apple and its crowded Genius Bars.
CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the image. We will update this story when we have more information.
All the latest Apple news, featuring developments on the iPhone, iPad, Macbooks, OS X and much more.
Feb 23Apple slams Trump order rescinding transgender protections
Feb 22Apple's next-gen campus nears launch
Feb 22Futuristic Apple 'spaceship' headquarters to open in April
Feb 22A faster way to turn off your iPhone's flashlight


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Dockless E-Scooters is the hottest growing trend in the micro-mobility business. It provides a fresh Eco-friendly alternative to popular ride-sharing apps.
There is a growing amount of United States cities participating in this new transportation market. One of the most recent companies in the industry is Verve Scooters.
The company, Verve Scooters founded by Kevin Thompson (CEO) and Naim Statham (COO) got its start after a trip to Los Angeles. “Once we saw how convenient the scooters were we knew they would be perfect for our home city of Philadelphia and many other cities,” says Thompson.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thompson was forced to grow up faster than most children. He was raised in a poverty-stricken part of the city and was often exposed to the domestic violence that occurred in his home at the hands of his father. These hardships inspired Kevin to pursue a better life for his family and himself. “I dreamed of being able to financially support my family and that got me started in the entrepreneurship,” said Thompson.
Owning businesses in the beauty, real estate and in the social assistance industries, he is a very instrumental member in his community and a wildly successful serial entrepreneur. “I’ve always wanted to help better my community and communities like mine.”
After a few rewarding entrepreneurial ventures, Thompson was given the opportunity to work with Rasheed Wallace, Live Nation and organize the Lil Weezyana Festival in New Orleans.
His most recent venture is his technology-based ride-share scooter company, Verve Scooters. “We wanted to offer a more convenient and environmentally friendly mode of transportation that would reduce traffic congestion,” he said. The Verve Scooters App recently launched and is available in both Apple and Android stores.
After personally overcoming his childhood misfortunes, he is dedicated to making paths to success for people from upbringings like himself.
“I want to see more people of color to participate in the technology sector and I through my businesses produce more opportunities for gainful employment.” Verve Scooters is currently accepting applications.
More information about Verve Scooters can be seen on Instagram @verve.scooters and the Verve Scooters App which is currently available in both Apple and Android stores.

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Read more about The 20 biggest logo redesigns of 2013 at CreativeBloq.com
On the day a new logo design is launched for a familiar brand, the first reactions are usually overwhelmingly negative. Once some time has passed and the new design has entered daily use, though, it can be a different story. So here we take a look back at the 20 biggest brands to release a new logo in 2013. Now you’ve got used to them and see them in context, what do you really think of them? Let us know in the comments below!


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New store shapes up for launch
THE $1 million fit-out for Gympie's new $10 million Sunshine Mitre 10 store at the corner of Langton and Brisbane Rds began on Saturday.
The new super store will be four to five times bigger than the combined floor space of the separate Mitre 10 stores that currently service Gympie.
The $400,000 contents of seven 12m shipping containers were last week emptied out into one side of the completed building, and now the installation of shelving/fixtures is under way.
Group retail manager Darren Fanshaw said the fit-out would take seven to 10 days and would be followed by five weeks of stocking in time for the grand opening on Saturday, September 1 - the first day of spring and the day before Father's Day.
Celebrity appearances, including television personality Scott Cam, will be among the attractions and excitement on the day.
A team of suppliers and staff from all of Sunshine Mitre 10's coast stores will complete the shelving and fixture fit-out, and between 40 and 50 staff will then descend on the site for the stock fit-out, Mr Fanshaw said.
One half of the new 4700sqm building will be divided into a tradesmen's drive-through and a state-of-the-art plumbing, bathroom and lighting department, featuring six ready-built kitchens.
The other half will be the retail section, Mr Fanshaw said.
This will include a 700-800sq m nursery, giftware section, sit-down cafe and eatery, offices and the biggest showroom in the Sunshine Mitre 10 group.
Best of all it will be flood-free, Mr Fanshaw said.
Work is on schedule for the Park Tce enterprise to be closed down on the night of August 31, and the new building to open to great fanfare the next morning, he said.


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– We are the first company in Europe to develop and implement animal-safe and business-scale technology that uses allogeneic stem cells in therapy. Thanks to the use of allogeneic cells, i.e. one donor and many recipients, we have the opportunity to create drugs that will be available immediately, at the clinic, at the veterinarian – says Łukasz Bzdzion, CEO of Bioceltix – Puls Biznesu.
Puls Biznesu about our plans: Bioceltix announces that it will soon debut on NewConnect – the company has recently completed the pre-IPO round. So far, the company has obtained a total of approx. PLN 20 million in financing for the development of a still innovative method of treating pets ...Article
Forbes about Polish start-ups in the coronavirus crisis: “The year 2020 was a big challenge for companies, individual sectors of the economy and probably all of us. In the coming weeks and months of 2021 it will be similar. The condition of start-ups is no exception here. it is easier and ...Article
According to the „Investors’ Zone”, an interesting year is being prepared on the stock exchange: “This year, an exceptionally large group of companies is choosing NewConnect. As many as 63 companies declared their willingness to enter the alternative market, and several more in the ...Article
Gazeta Wrocławska wrote about us: “Bioceltix is working on innovative biological medicines used in the treatment of common autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in companion animals. The company from Wrocław has something to fight for. This is indicated by the numbers on the global drug ...Article
We create at Bioceltix veterinary biological medicines, and in 2020 we announced plans for a stock exchange debut and we obtained a permit from the Main Pharmaceutical Inspector to manufacture veterinary biological drugs. Despite the pandemic, we continue our projects without downtime. You can ...Article
To 2020, the participation of biological medicines in the entire pharmaceutical market will increase to nearly 30%. The veterinary market will ...Read full
One of last year’s beneficiaries of Sub-measure 1.1.1 of the Intelligent Development Operational Program 2014-2020 is Bioceltix, a Wroclaw ...Read full


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Retail sales in the U.K. fell more steeply than expected during the second month of the year as rising prices and the higher value-added tax discouraged consumers from shopping, according to The Daily Telegraph. On Thursday, the Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales in the U.K. fell by 0.8% in February from the previous month, partially reversing at 1.9% monthly gain during January. The drop outpaced economists forecast, raising concerns about the strength of economic growth ahead of government spending cuts.
The drop was driven by a 2.5% spike in retail prices during February, which is the largest monthly jump since 1994. Excluding fuel, retail prices added 2.4% during that time, which is the biggest rise in almost 25 years of records. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said, Given that consumer spending accounts for some 65% of GDP, any sustained weakening in spending would be very worrying for overall growth prospects. Hetal Mehta of Daiwa Capital Markets added, Consumers are being buffeted by falling real wages and high unemployment, which are undermining consumer confidence. The report is likely to increase pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates to curb price growth.


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Welcome to another issue of Crypto Betting Weekly, where we look at the week’s top crypto gambling news!
Stake’s partnership with Watford now includes Dogecoin
Following Stake and Watford’s 3-year sponsorship deal in July which was commemorated with a 10 million DOGE giveaway, the sportsbook has announced yet another sponsorship initiative. Its latest $1 million deal with the Premier League side, sees Watford pumping the much-hyped DOGE as its sleeve sponsor.
In a shrewd marketing move, it was previously reported that Stake would pay its principal sponsorship fee in crypto. The coin remained undisclosed even though it can now be speculated that it was none other than DOGE. If this is indeed the case, and provided Stake hasn’t paid the sponsorship fee in full, this move would allow the sportsbook to fork over fewer coins as the price of DOGE increases.
However, there remains an outside chance that the sportsbook parted with a fraction of its considerable hoard of bitcoin. Stake‘s crypto sportsbook and casino platforms account for over 5% of bitcoin’s total transactions worldwide.
Dallas Mavericks’ owner and billionaire shills Dogecoin
Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks announced on Twitter that the team’s summer merchandise sale would offer special pricing for fans paying with DOGE. Despite the billionaire being an outspoken crypto advocate and investor, he revealed that his DOGE holdings are less than $500 while the Mavs’ holdings are less than $14,500, which seems rather unlikely.
Following several of Cuban’s tweets relating to DOGE, fellow billionaire Elon Musk chimed in that he backs Cuban’s claim that DOGE is the best cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange. It begs the question; why are sycophantic billionaires shilling DOGE? One possible explanation is that these narcissists can’t resist the urge to manipulate markets and remain in the limelight.
PSV becomes the first FC in the EU to receive entire sponsorship in BTC
Eredivisie football club PSV Eindhoven announced that it has partnered with the Dutch crypto exchange Anycoin Direct. The exchange will pay the club an undisclosed amount of bitcoin in the 2-year sponsorship deal.
The club’s official statement indicated that it would hold the bitcoin and that its main goal “is to grow awareness of crypto and Anycoin Direct in Europe.” PSV dabbled in crypto in April when it auctioned off an NFT of the 1988 European Cup Final, which it had won against Benfica. The 20-second long NFT video clip was sold for 1.27 wrapped ETH (wETH).
Vitalik Buterin portraits and Major League Baseball NFTs announced
Following the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) boom, photographer, Matthew Reamer fished out old photographs that he took of Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum and went on to mint them as NFTs. The tokenized pieces of blockchain’s early visual history are now on auction at the NFT marketplace, Foundation. The first of the 3 portraits, was auctioned off for 14 ETH while the remaining 2 are still available.
The photographs were commissioned in 2015 for a profile on the then-21-year-old Buterin by the Swiss publication Das Magazin. Reamer took Buterin’s picture 4 months after Ethereum’s launch in 2015.
Other NFT news this week included the headline that Candy Digital will create NFTs for all of the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) 30 teams. The MLB has announced the Red Sox ‘Fenway Park’ NFT set will be minted first followed by the Yankees, Cubs, Rays, and Nationals.
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For most of the last decade we have enjoyed relatively cheap trips from ride sharing companies. While surge pricing could hit from time to time, for the most part rides were so affordable cities saw a drop in the use of public transportation.
Now gas prices are surging, inflation is on the rise and the labor market is so tight, workers are less likely to need a side hustle.
But there is a driving force beyond those factors that could put the brakes on cheap rides – profit.
According to Slate, since Uber was founded in 2009 it has lost $30 billion.
While that is a jaw-dropping figure, it is not unusual for a tech startup. The companies use venture capital to offer a service below cost to create demand and corner a market.
According to The Atlantic, investors were OK with this arrangement with near zero interest rates, investors took more long-term bets. They were willing to fund aggressive expansion if it meant getting in on the next Amazon on the ground floor.
Now interest rates are up and investors want those money-losing startups to start making some money. That means we will all be paying more for that ride home from the club.


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“Sustainable development is growing, but is it selling?”
To address this question, the Smart Talk “Connecting Consumers to Contemporary Smart Fashion Values” (Tuesday 17 September, 2:30 pm/3:30pm, Innovation Talks Area, Hall 3) invited speakers Antonio Achille (Global Head of the Luxury Practice and senior leader of the Consumer & Luxury team at MacKinsey), Ida Petersson (Menswear and Womenswear Buying Director, Browns), Dio Kurazawa (Founding Partner of The Bear Scouts) and Reece Crisp (Head of Buying, Creative and Styling at LN-CC).
Yes, it sells!
Introduced by Giusy Bettoni (Première Vision’s Smart Creation Sustainable Development Consultant), Antonio Achille provided a very detailed overview of the issue, based on data collected for the “Global Sustainability Report: sustainability matters, but does it sell” produced by CNMI and McKinsey & Company to further explore the issue of sustainability from a retail perspective.
The results are irrefutable: while “it is now essential to have a story to tell about sustainability”, this storytelling must now be accompanied by significant storymaking. Thus, 75% of consumers assign a priority value to Hardcore sustainability (sustainable products and processes, traceability, good working conditions, animal welfare) over Softcore sustainability, which includes all communication campaigns and collaborations that contribute to the company’s public image.
Heightened consumer awareness is demanding a considerable economic effort from companies (8% to 12% more for an improvement in “hard” factors, only 1% to 2% for “soft”), but it goes hand in hand with an awareness of the added value of sustainable products among buyers (1/4 of them say they have already banned non-sustainable brands) and consumers, with over 2/3 of respondents saying they are willing to pay a little more for a sustainable product (+ 5% for 48%, + 10% for 22%).
Defining what is sustainable, and communicating it
While some 23% of the products purchased by department stores are now sustainable, the report estimates that this percentage will rise to 42% over the next 5 years, particularly in Europe and the United States. Defining what is sustainable and communicating it to raise awareness amongst the widest possible audience is therefore a key issue: 40% of department stores say they already use sustainability as a strong communications driver, outlining a near future where the ‘green carpet’ will replace the ‘red carpet’ and sustainability will become an essential precondition for all luxury products.
This issue is precisely the focus of The Bear Scouts, a consulting firm offering brands customised monitoring along the entire production, distribution and communication chain, to help them move towards a more responsible and sustainable approach. From the selection of raw materials to the upcycling of stock remains, to putting them into contact with committed producers and distributors, adopting a sustainable approach involves a series of micro-actions designed to impact the entire supply chain: “All our work is a synergistic affair. For this reason, collaboration is one of the essential keys to the success of our projects,” comments Dio Kurazawa.
On the retail side, Ida Petersson and Reece Crisp confirm the central importance of these issues from the point of view of Browns and LN-CC, both in terms of in- store and online sales. At Browns, sustainability has been a cornerstone of the company’s philosophy for years, with a particular focus on developing targeted communications aimed at the younger generations. The same is true for LN-CC, which deems customer awareness a fundamental step in guiding online purchasing practices towards greater responsibility.
For example, Tom Berry, Farfetch’s Global Director of Sustainable Business, believes that “the primary factors driving purchases remain the same: consumers are still looking for style, quality and value for their money,” but brands that also have a story to tell about sustainable development can be especially attractive. “This is certainly an opportunity for growth and business,” he concluded, “as well as a very good opportunity to do good for the planet.”


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This time, a potential location has yet to be disclosed, but the blog notes the company is planning a mid-2016 debut.
A press released announced that a commitment to build a new World of Beer in the Boston area was signed last week, and the companies behind it will announce more details as they are fleshed out. A new tavern is also coming to Milford, Conn., the release indicates. World of Beer is based in Tampa and has more than 50 locations around the country. Currently, the closest outpost is in West Hartford, Conn.
The taverns have about 50 beers on draft from around the world (get it?) and an additional several hundred available in bottles. There's also a menu of pub fare, with items like German pretzels; fried fish and tots; burgers; and flatbread pizzas; and requisite beer style pairing recommendations.


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DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Thailand Animal Feed Market – Forecasts from 2021 to 2026” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The Thai animal feed market is projected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 2.96% to grow to US$6.985 billion by 2026, from US$5.697 billion in 2019.
With a significant increase in the export of Thai chicken in recent years, together with the opening of new export destinations such as Japan and other European Union countries, the market for animal feed is forecast to grow exponentially in the coming years. For instance, according to the Thai Department of Customs, the country’s chicken meat export has increased from nearly 546 thousand MT in 2014 to 950 thousand MT in 2019.
Growing consumption of meat and other livestock products
Animal feed is considered as the demand-led ‘livestock revolution’ which is taking place because of a rapidly growing population, income growth, and increasing urbanization. Growing consumption of meat and other end products such as milk, eggs across the different provinces is considered as one of the prime factors driving the market growth during the forecast period. In addition, a growing number of supermarkets, convenience stores, and quick restaurant services have impacted the demand for meat and other products which is further driving the growth of the market in the coming years. For instance, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of convenience stores in Thailand has increased from 11,797 in 2015 to over 14,403 in 2019. In August 2021, according to European traders, a group of importers in Thailand had ordered and issued an international tender to buy and purchase up to 139,500 tones of animal feed wheat. The traders had stated that the shipments had to be completed by December 2021.
Cattle is projected to hold a notable share in the animal feed market
By Livestock, Thailand’s animal feed market is divided into aquatic animals, cattle, poultry, and others. Cattle and poultry are expected to hold a significant share in the country’s animal feed market. The prime factor driv ing the segment demand for animal feed is the growing number of cattle populations in the country. Thailand has the largest cattle population in the ASEAN region and is a significant exporter of beef and dairy products. A rising number of cattle heads and heard is expected to drive the market growth.
COVID-19 impact on Thailand animal feed market
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in meat consumption in Thailand, which was a major factor for the decrease in the growth of the animal feed market in the year 2020. The decrease in the number of foreign tourists, a closedown of hotels and other hospitality businesses, and the government’s imposition of stringent measures on social distancing were some of the reasons behind low meat consumption in the country.
According to USDA, foreign tourists in Thailand went from 39.9 million tourists prior to the pandemic to 6.7 million in 2020. Furthermore, the trade restrictions implemented by countries all over the world led to reduced feed imports from the other countries. However, the country increased its domestic production of feed materials such as corn which supported the growth of the market during the pandemic. Furthermore, an increase in the price for broken rice, which is used majorly as swine feed in the country, was seen in 2020.
- Aquatic animals
By Production System
- Commercial Mills
By Raw Material
- Cereals & Grains
- East Hope Group
- Kemin Industries Inc.
- Novus International
- BASF SE
- Simplot Company
- Archer Daniels Midland Company
- Royal DSM N.V
- Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL
- Verde Tech
- Lee Pattana Product Public Company Ltd.
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ogxx54
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
The content is by Business Wire. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the content provided or any links related to this content. Headlines of Today Media is not responsible for the correctness, topicality or the quality of the content.


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Alternative proteins in food culture –chefs serve up wisdom at the Good Food Conference
27 September 2023
Last week’s Good Food Conference was a fantastic opportunity to take stock of how far the global plant-based, cultivated meat and fermentation sectors have grown. Read some key highlights from Carlotte in our corporate engagement team who was on the ground at the event.
Last week’s Good Food Conference was a fantastic opportunity to take stock of how far the global plant-based, cultivated meat and fermentation sectors have grown.
But, with the obstacles facing these sectors feeling more acute than ever, the Good Food Insitute’s flagship gathering was also a crucial reminder of how far we still need to go. And demonstrated the power of reaching beyond the alternative protein world to achieve mainstream consumer appeal.
GFI Europe’s Managing Director Alex Mayers and I made the journey to San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, where we were joined by more than 900 fellow delegates including policymakers, researchers and private sector representatives – from tiny startups to some of the world’s biggest food companies – with another 250 joining virtually.
It was great to see so many European entrepreneurs and researchers – from Portugal to Finland – attending the conference to get inspired by others and pass on their own insights.
Europe plays a crucial role
Cultivated meat was born in Europe, and some of the most important alternative protein research continues to take place here, so it was telling that three out of the six startups showcasing their work at the conference’s Pitch Slam event were European.
These included Switzerland’s Cultivated Biosciences, developing a fat ingredient to solve textural challenges in plant-based dairy, and the UK’s Extracellular, which provides support services to help businesses scale up cultivated meat production. Deimena Drasutyte, GFI’s entrepreneur-in-residence and founder of HERlab, a UK startup using AI to optimise precision fermentation, also showcased the startup’s work during the session.
Alla Voldman of GFI Israel even used the conference to announce a joint call for collaborative R&D projects between Sweden, Switzerland, Israel and Singapore.
Chefs serve up advice to startups
But my personal stand out was the session on ‘bridging the gap between food tech and food culture’, where we heard from some of the most important players in the food system – chefs.
Their message about the importance of building alternative proteins into people’s food cultures is crucial to Europe, where national and regional identities are closely linked to the food we eat.
Nelson German, chef and owner of the alaMar and Sobre Mesa restaurants, spoke about his initial reservations about plant-based meat, and how he changed his perspective after adapting it to dishes his grandmother would have cooked.
Simplicity and familiarity were the message from chef Srijith Gopinathan, co-owner of the two Michelin starred Ettan restaurant and Chief Culinary Officer of Sempera Organics, who spoke about the importance of adding alternative proteins to dishes everyone would know and love.
Spike Mendelsohn, Co-founder and Culinary Director of PLNT Burger, had this advice for startups: “If you guys are running alt protein companies right now and you don’t have a chef working on your team, get them involved!”
Weaving alternative proteins into food culture
The emotional and nostalgic significance people attach to food is something that should be at the forefront of all our minds, as we come to the end of a year that has seen alternative proteins capture mainstream attention.
Diners in the United States are now able to eat cultivated meat and the first applications have been made to sell it in Europe. But as the profile of these foods builds, they are being exposed to intense scrutiny as never before, and new challenges have emerged.
The Italian government plans to ban cultivated meat, while in the plant-based space, some European governments are considering unnecessary plant-based labelling restrictions and economic uncertainty is putting pressure on young companies.
To deliver on their enormous potential, governments, researchers and the food industry need to get involved and support the sector – but we also need consumers to embrace these foods as part of a healthier, more sustainable diet.
The message from this session should resonate among Europe’s startups – the expertise and creativity of chefs will be critical in influencing whether consumers will accept these foods as part of their own cultural culinary stories.


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Indian IT services firms may have outpaced their US counterparts and emerged as the most valued brands globally according to Brand Finance Global 500, 2022, but Indian conglomerates’ ranking appears to be slipping.
Though the Tata Group continues to be the only Indian representative among the top 100 most valued brands globally, its ranking has slipped by one position to 78 this year, from 77 last year.
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (RIL) slipped to the 236th spot, down from 229 last year. It’s subsidiary, Jio, too, slid in the ranking, falling from 409 in 2021 to 451 this year, the lowest ranked Indian firm in the top 500, according to the report. It’s competitor Airtel saw a rise in ranking from 323 last


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Jerry Brown the governor of California, tweeted: "This Sunday will be Steve Jobs Day in the State of California," reports The Unofficial Apple Weblog.
A private memorial is also, with prominent Silicon Valley executives in attendance, along with those close to Jobs. Those attending were asked to respond to Emerson Collective, a philanthropic organisation established by Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell Jobs.
Apple is holding a reports 9to5Mac.for employees on its Cupertino campus on Wednesday. According to the internal memo from CEO Tim Cook, it will be a celebration of Jobs' life. Apple Stores will also be closed for an hour on that day, so employees can watch a live webcast of the celebration,
"Although many of our hearts are still heavy, we are planning a celebration of [Jobs'] life for Apple employees to take time to remember the incredible things Steve achieved in his life and the many ways he made our world a better place," read the email from Cook.
A small private funeral was held for Jobs last week.
Tributes to Jobs have come in many forms, includingand , along with the from statesmen, actors, and technology giants. You can read our here.


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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans have long clamored for the popular first-person shooter to be ported to the Source 2 engine, but it might not be everything they’re hoping for.
A former Valve developer discussed what a Source 2-enabled CSGO might look like, and it’s not exactly what some fans have been expecting. Though other Valve titles have been ported to Source 2 effectively, differences in how the game is processed would likely impact CSGO’s gameplay in unintended ways.
“If CS:GO Source 2 actually comes online there will be differences…The Source 1 version has some really ancient code in there…Even the tiniest detail of rendering contributes to how CS:GO works and feels. If the smallest details are changed the game is different,” developer Richard Geldreich said.
Perfect ports have always been difficult to pull off in multiplayer games, where the differences in how a game runs are most obvious. With the sheer number of moving parts involved in a game like CSGO, there’s a lot more that could be impacted by a move to a different engine. Even a slight change to the physics of CSGO could see a slew of popular grenade lineups disappear, could make bunny hopping work differently, change run boosts, or even affect weapon aim and recoil.
There are still plenty of benefits to CSGO moving to Source 2, but odds are it wouldn’t be the exact same game that fans are used to. Fans ought to keep that in mind when they beg Valve to make the change happen.
Why isn’t CSGO in Source 2 yet?
Possible issues with physics are likely part of why Valve is slow to release a Source 2 port of Steam. This is made worse by the fact that CSGO has long been a mess of spaghetti coding, with parts of the code intertwining in a way that can make significant updates like this problematic. It’s not unusual considering that CSGO has seen nearly a decade of updates layered on top of the original game’s release.
On top of all that, Geldreich suggested that Valve’s staffing practices also likely play a significant role in why CSGO is running on a 16-year-old game engine.
“Valve works on a 1 year cadence. Every year like clockwork you’ve got a company-wide firing cycle, company ‘vacation,’ some sort of bonus, and new hires. So if they can’t fit the port into one of these cycles it may be hard to sustain, if not impossible to sustain because Valve is so quick to fire even its best coders,” Geldreich said.
Valve’s staffing practices have come under the microscope in the last year due to the shutdown of Dota 2 spin-off Artifact. The digital trading card game flopped on launch, prompting Valve to seemingly abandon the game. A relaunch was started after an extended silence. The new Artifact entered into a closed beta period, but Valve then announced that all development on the Artifact franchise had been ceased due to a low player count. Valve gave no explanation for why the player count was deemed unsatisfactory when the game was still in a closed beta phase.
Surrounding Artifact’s death were revelations that part of the reason the game was so quickly abandoned by Valve was the development of Dota Underlords. This second Dota 2 spin-off was reportedly made a priority by staff due to the company’s bonus structure and its timing in the staffing calendar, at the expense of everything else.
Though CSGO wasn’t a part of those discussions, more stories have come out regarding Valve’s corporate structure hurting its games. If that doesn’t change, the Source 2 version of CSGO may never come.


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Alapala supplies mill for Interflour in the Philippines
Posted 6 years ago
by Susan Reidy
LUZON, PHILIPPINES – Alapala was chosen by Interflour for a flour mill project for Mabuhay Interflour Mills, Inc., at the Subic Bay Free Port Zone, Luzon, Philippines.
The $35 million project is located on a 5.8 hectare greenfield site. The initial grinding capacity is 500 tonnes per day for institutional buyers, medium-sized distributors and retail consumers across Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Assembling of the Alapala machines started this March and the mill started to produce wheat flour for the local market in October.
Interflour runs 10 mills, nine in South East Asia and one in Turkey with the capacity to produce over 7,000 tonnes of wheat flour daily.
For additional information about Alapala visit www.alapala.com.


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We all think that indulging in our favourite junk foods once in a blue moon isn’t all that bad. To an extent, that’s true. But if you are cheating on your diet almost every week then it won’t really give you any benefits.
According to a new research eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, has a positive impact on health; but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Now researchers have reported diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those with a high frequency of eating unhealthy foods.
The results of the study, led by researchers from Rush University Medical Center were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Eating a diet that emphasizes on vegetables, fruit, fish, and whole grains may positively affect a person’s health,” said Puja Agarwal, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College.
“But when it is combined with fried food, sweets, refined grains, red meat, and processed meat, we observed that the benefits of eating the Mediterranean part of the diet seem to be diminished.”
A Mediterranean diet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults.
The observational study included 5,001 older adults living in Chicago who were part of the Chicago Health and Aging Project, an evaluation of cognitive health in adults over the age of 65 conducted from 1993 to 2012. Every three years, the study participants completed a cognitive assessment questionnaire that tested basic information-processing skills and memory, and they filled out a questionnaire about the frequency with which they consumed 144 food items.
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The researchers analyzed how closely each of the study participants adhered to a Mediterranean diet, which includes daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish, potatoes, and unrefined cereals, plus moderate wine consumption.
They also assessed to what extent each participant followed a Western diet, which included fried foods, refined grains, sweets, red and processed meats, full-fat dairy products, and pizza. They assigned scores of zero to five for each food item to compile a total Mediterranean diet score for each participant along with a range from zero to 55.
The researchers examined the association between Mediterranean diet scores and changes in participants’ global cognitive function, episodic memory, and perceptual speed. Participants with slower cognitive decline over the years of follow-up were those who adhered closest to the Mediterranean diet, along with limiting foods that are part of the Western diet, whereas participants who ate more of the Western diet had no beneficial effect of healthy food components in slowing cognitive decline.
There was no significant interaction between age, sex, race, or education and the association with cognitive decline in either high or low levels of Western diet foods. The study also included models for smoking status, body mass index, and other potential variables such as cardiovascular conditions, and findings remained the same.
“Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health,” Agarwal said. “Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively.”
Agarwal also said that the results complement other studies showing that a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes and also support previous studies on Mediterranean diet and cognition. The study also notes that most of the dietary patterns that have shown improvement in cognitive function among older adults, including the Mediterranean, MIND, and DASH diets, have a unique scoring matrix based on the number of servings consumed for each diet component.
“The more we can incorporate green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, olive oil, and fish into our diets, the better it is for our ageing brains and bodies. Other studies show that red and processed meat, fried food, and low whole grains intake are associated with higher inflammation and faster cognitive decline in older ages,” Agarwal said.
“To benefit from diets such as the Mediterranean diet, or MIND diet, we would have to limit our consumption of processed foods and other unhealthy foods such as fried foods and sweets.”
The study and its findings cannot be readily generalized. Future longitudinal studies on diet and cognition among the middle-aged population are needed to extend these findings.
So, keep your cheat meals restricted to once or twice in a month otherwise your dieting won’t be of any use.


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A prevailing philosophy in venture capital is that allowing partners to broker personal investments can put their interests at odds with those of the firm. An investor might choose to bid up the valuation of a startup he holds using his employer’s money, in turn increasing his paper wealth.
DST sees things differently. The firm doesn’t typically invest in young companies, so it allows the partners to do so individually or pool their cash. It asks that each deal is approved by the compliance department beforehand, a spokesman for the firm said. DST does this, according to interviews with several founders who took partners’ money, because it allows them to scout entrepreneurs the firm might want to invest in later. And it often does.
The practice is one little-known example of how Milner defies Silicon Valley convention. Milner is the wealthiest and most powerful Russian in global technology, and his position has come under heightened scrutiny in the last couple of months since his birth country invaded Ukraine. His firms have publicly condemned the war, and Milner has made donations to Ukrainian relief efforts, most recently pledging $100 million to Tech for Refugees on April 28.
Milner, a dual-citizen of Israel and Russia, rose to prominence with extremely lucrative bets on Airbnb Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Facebook and Twitter Inc. He built his early fortune — now worth $3.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — with funding from Kremlin-connected sources. DST said it hasn’t tapped Russian money in more than a decade.
Personal investing was another controversial, and ongoing, element of DST’s formula. Here’s how it works: If a partner finds a young startup he wants to invest in, he writes a personal check, a so-called angel investment. If other partners want to back the same company, they finance the deal through a fund they control. There are at least two: an older one called Apoletto and a newer fund, Gemini, a spokesman said. These are sometimes referred to in corporate disclosures as DST Global Partners.
Discover the stories of your interest
Side investments do happen at other firms, but they’re rarely as organized and commonplace as they are at DST. “It’s interesting to have a business model around this,” said Emily Pahnke, who teaches venture capital and entrepreneurship at the University of Washington. “By investing sooner than the investment thesis of the fund, they are getting their leg in the door and keeping that door open.”
The partner funds generally make investments of quite a bit less than $25 million, the spokesman for DST said. Part of the pitch is that the startup could get backing from the main DST fund later, though it isn’t guaranteed, said people familiar with investment negotiations who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. Any future investments will be subject to a diligence and analysis review by the firm, the spokesman said.
Ryan Petersen, the founder of freight startup Flexport, recalls an approach from DST partner Rahul Mehta in 2015. Mehta explained that Flexport, then valued at about $100 million, was too small for DST, which likes to make investments once companies are at least five times the size, Petersen said. Mehta brokered a small investment from the Apoletto fund and made no promises about future money from DST, Petersen said.
Two years later, DST led Flexport’s next funding round valuing the business at more than $900 million, and Mehta was appointed as a board observer. By that point, Mehta “was already super helpful,” Petersen said. Flexport is now valued at $8 billion.
Renaud Laplanche already had a connection to DST by the time he was ready to start his latest company. DST backed his previous startup, Lending Club, which burned hot before Laplanche was ousted over concerns about the company’s loan disclosures. For his next financial-technology venture, Upgrade, Laplanche got money from the DST partners’ fund. “From their standpoint, the early investment gave them the inside track on how the company was doing,” Laplanche wrote in an email.
In November, DST co-led a $280 million investment in Upgrade. “They already knew a lot about the business,” he wrote.
Something similar happened with the Indian vehicle marketplace Cars24, where a personal investment beget a DST-led $200 million round in 2020, said Vikram Chopra, the founder and chief executive officer.
DST does a lot of these deals, but they remain in the minority, a spokesman said. The partners’ funds are used for more than startup investments. Apoletto contains a portfolio of public stocks valued at over $800 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Regulatory filings from Robinhood Markets Inc. and DraftKings Inc. list Apoletto among shareholders, alongside DST.
The funds benefit from a virtuous circle. The vast majority of that $800 million is rooted in shares the partners receive as part of their profits from DST investments, including from Airbnb and DoorDash Inc. Those can eventually be sold for cash to make more startup investments.


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Newspapers are no longer the go-to for loo entertainment
Newspapers are no longer the go-to for on-the-loo entertainment.
In this day and age, our phones quite literally come everywhere with us and the bathroom is no exception.
For some, time on the loo is a great opportunity to check up on their health. For others, it's a great opportunity to catch up on the latest news and events.
After all, the internet, social media and endless entertainment are at our fingertips thanks to handheld devices.
It seems the habit might be more dangerous than we think
But it seems this habit might be more dangerous than we think.
And not just because we risk dropping a highly expensive device into water.
Taking your phone to the loo could actually pose threat to your health, according to Ph.D and professor of environmental health, Kelly Reynolds.
Speaking to Buzzfeed, Dr Reynolds said: “When you flush the toilet, water with faeces and urine sprays about six feet in every direction.
“And the aerosols increase with every flush, so if it’s a public bathroom, there is dirty toilet water coating literally everything — especially the toilet paper dispenser, because it’s right next to the toilet bowl."
Essentially, whatever you touch in the bathroom - be it toilet roll or door handles - there is a high chance tiny particles of faeces will be transmitted onto your fingers.
Then, when you scroll through your latest Facebook updates, you transfer these particles to your phone.
So next time nature calls, best leave your phone at the table.


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While over the past few years, Newcastle's famous shopping centre hasn't been massively hectic for Black Friday, with just days to go now before the shopping extravaganza, it has confirmed its opening hours for November 29.
Like so many other things, Black Friday started as a huge deal in America, before crossing over the Atlantic in a big way a few years ago.
There have been fights over TV sets, cues at the crack of dawn for designer bags and huge queues at shops up and down the country as British shoppers clamour for big bargains.
Last year, Black Friday was relatively quiet in Newcastle but if you're prepared to put the shopping hours in this year, you should be well rewarded during a trip to intu Eldon Square , as the mall's retailers are slashing prices significantly with an array of Black Friday deals.
Big discounts this week with include up to 70% off at Next and The Fragrance Store, up to 50% off at Debenhams and 30% off everything at LEvis.
And if you fancy going shopping 'til you drop, you'll need to be aware of Eldon Square's opening hours for the day itself.
They are 9am - 9pm , so probably not as early as you were expecting!
Over in Gateshead, intu Metrocentre will have the same opening times, with that too open 9am - 10pm.
Follow Whats On NE
We have a dedicated Facebook page for the latest on what to see and where to drink, eat, shop and go out across Newcastle and the North East.
Follow the page here for the best food, drink and shopping deals, information on all kinds of shows and events, and exclusive looks at new restaurants and bars.


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Date : 10 Jun 2018
Hong Kong, China, June 10, 2018: Five elite Hong Kong athletes took a break from preparations for the 18th Asian Games and other international competitions and transformed themselves into fashion models at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Fashion Show 2018. They were Lee Ka-wai (karate), Choi Yan-yin and Law Leong-tim (triathlon) and Chan Tsin-nam and Kwong Hiu-ching (figure skating). The fashion show, which was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on June 5, gave the athletes an exceptional learning experience and a chance to showcase their other talents.
The project marked the first collaboration between the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong Sports Institute’s “Support Hong Kong Sports Aces” programme – part of the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme.
Triathlete Choi said: “Thanks to the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme I have the opportunity to feature in the fashion show with more than 2,000 guests. The venue, the stage and the decorations are all great and stunning. The performance is amazing.”
Law, who will depart for Europe shortly to prepare for the Asian Games, added: “The designer and stylist created a totally new image for me. As I put on the clothing and accessories I am transformed into a different person. It gives me a brand new experience during my Asian Games preparation.”
Two-time Asian Games karate medallist Lee added: “I am very honoured to have this opportunity to perform at this special occasion. It is very different from the arena I am used to in training and competition every day.”
*Established by the Hong Kong Sports Institute in 1994, the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme provides cash incentives to local medal winners at six major games to recognise their hard work and dedication: Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, Asian Para Games, National Games and World University Games.
Issued by: Elite Step Asia Limited, Hong Kong
Any personal data submitted will not be used for any direct marketing or unsolicited follow-up.


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Sounds.com is a subscription-based loop and sample site – but it’s also a glimpse into Native Instruments’ future strategy for digital services for musicians. Today, NI are revealing Sounds.com – a product in 2018 that sounds like someone registered a domain in 1996. That domain name pretty much covers it: it’s a place to go […]
SoundCloud’s do-or-die moment came Friday – and it seems it’s do, not die. The company now takes on new executives, and a new direction.
brings together the latest breaking news on music, technology, gear, and live visuals. Got a project, found a news tip, or want to share your product? Submit to us directly.


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A few weeks ago, Google announced that they will eventually be migrating your Google Drive subscription to the Google Play Store billing system, but didn’t exactly give a timetable as to when this will happen. But now it looks like it has already started as some users are reporting that they’re seeing the change in the system. While this change isn’t really a big deal, it does help to streamline all your subscriptions into just one place, if you’ve always wanted that to happen.
It actually makes perfect sense for Google to do this since the Google Storage page is only for the shared storage subscription. But all your other subscriptions to any games or apps are billed through your Google Play Store account. You will continue to be able to get customer support through the help center and the subscription prices and tiers remain the same. It also won’t change any access to files or basically anything, except for where you will be billed and where you can manage this subscription.
Google sent the email a couple of weeks ago to those who have a Google Drive subscription. In it they also state that the management of the subscription will be governed by the Google Play Terms of Service. But the Google Drive Terms of Service will remain the same and you don’t need to do anything or accept anything while this change happens.
So if you’re excited to have all your billings under just one digital roof, you can check your Google Play account page and see if that change has already rolled out to you.


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Apple likes to tout the security of its iOS platform, but no operating system is perfect. We’ve seen hacks targeting the iPhone, but they’re rarely so-called “zero-day” hacks that catch Apple off guard. Researchers from security firm ZecOps now say they’ve found such an attack in the wild. According to ZecOps founder Zuk Avraham, a flaw in Apple’s Mail app allows attackers to infect a device with malware without any interaction from the user, and it’s being used against high-profile targets right now.
Avraham, a former Israeli Defense Force security researcher, says the company began investigating the vulnerability last year after several clients reported unusual crashes in the Mail app. The company traced the errors to a pair of previously unknown vulnerabilities in the latest versions of iOS. One of them is a “zero-click” flaw, meaning the user doesn’t have to interact with the malicious message at all. Simply receiving it in the Mail app is enough to trigger the payload.
This Mail flaw is reportedly clunky compared with some other attacks. It relies on sending very large emails that may be blocked by some email providers. It’s also limited to the iOS Mail client. If someone chooses to use Gmail or another app, the attack will not work. Even though it’s not the most sophisticated method, it’s still a zero-day, and that means Apple had no defense in place. That alone would make the hack highly valuable. Zero-day attacks of any type are valuable, but iOS flaws are particularly sought after. Android is open source, so there’s a high chance someone else will spot vulnerabilities. With the closed-source iOS, having a reliable hack could pay off for a much longer time until someone with more scruples stumbles upon it.
Avraham believes the attack originated with an unknown third-party but has been sold to at least one group of state-sponsored hackers. Current targets include high-level executives at large and mid-sized companies. So, you probably don’t need to be too worried right now. Worst case, you can stop using the iOS Mail app until there’s an update. You won’t have to wait very long, either. Apple confirms the vulnerabilities identified by ZecOps are patched in the latest iOS beta. That version should roll out to the general public in the coming weeks.


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Full profile →'">
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
Analysts have become increasingly bullish on Baxter International in the month leading up to the company's first-quarter earnings announcement scheduled for Thursday, April 17, 2014. The consensus earnings per share estimate has moved up from $1.08 a share to the current expectation of earnings of $1.10 a share.
Over the past month, the consensus estimate has jumped from $1.08, but it's below the estimate of $1.13 from three months ago. Analysts are projecting earnings of $5.16 per share for the fiscal year. Revenue is expected to be $3.88 billion for the quarter, 13% higher than the year-earlier total of $3.45 billion. For the year, revenue is projected to roll in at $16.59 billion.
Over the last four quarters, revenue has fallen an average of 10% year-over-year. The biggest drop came in the first quarter, when revenue fell 2% from the year-earlier quarter.
The company's revenue has risen for two straight quarters. In the most recent quarter, revenue rose 27% year-over-year to $4.37 billion. The quarter before that, it rose 9%.
Baxter International is a company that develops and manufactures healthcare products that save and sustain the lives of people with chronic, acute illnesses. C.R. Bard, also in the medical equipment and supplies industry, will report earnings on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. Analysts are expecting earnings of $1.86 per share for C.R, down 29% from last year's earnings of $1.44 per share. Other companies in the medical equipment and supplies industry with upcoming earnings release dates include: Covidien, ICU Medical and Haemonetics.
Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.
Narrative Science, through its proprietary artificial intelligence platform, transforms data into stories and insights.


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Rush Street and Boom Gaming – A Match Made in Heaven
The US based online casino operator Rush Street Interactive Incorporated have taken a minority investment in casino game software provider Boom Entertainment. The news was announced in a press release on August 11th and will mean that Rush Street's domains, BetRivers.com and PlaySugarHouse.com, will now feature games that are supplied by Boom Entertainment.
Rush Street emphasised that this investment would result in their players being able to play a range of unique games, which include the popular NBC Sports Predictor.
The president of Rush Street Interactive, Richard Schwartz, stated that one of the reasons for the investment was to exploit Boom Entertainments positioning with land-based casinos in Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi subject to the obvious regulatory requirements.
Schwartz said in his statement, "By bringing this content to BetRivers.com and PlaySugarHouse.com, our investment and partnership with Boom Entertainment are consistent with our strategy to offer customers the best user experience and widest range of games available in the industry.
Moreover, we are very pleased to add Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico to the growing list of states in which we have obtained market access relationships as we continue to expand across the country and position ourselves to reach gaming enthusiasts wherever they may be."
Stephen Murphy of Boom Entertainment added his thought on the arrangement, "We are excited to partner with Rush Street Interactive Incorporated, an industry leader that understands and appreciates the importance of high-quality game design. We have long discussed collaborating with Rush Street Interactive Incorporated on innovative games and products, and we are excited to bring many of these opportunities to live in the coming months and years."
More Business News
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Virginia Convenience Stores Halt Lottery Sales over Skill Games DisputeApr 16, 2024
RELATED TOPICS: Business


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Chef turned rapper Action Bronson is embarking on the newest phase of his career; that of a food show host. It’s part of the new online food network from Vice called MUNCHIES, and the title alone differentiates it from programming on the Food Network right off the bat: The name of the show is Fuck, That’s Delicious.
Fuck, That’s Delicious will follow Action Bronson as he travels the world in search of new and interesting foods to eat. In the first episode alone, he hits up restaurants in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa, where Bronson traveled with Eminem’s Rapture Tour. And after that, Bronson will sample delicacies of the American Southwest, Eastern Europe, and much more.
Now, a trailer for Fuck, That’s Delicious has hit the internet in advance of its release next month. You can watch the trailer below, and get more from the MUNCHIES website here.


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$ADC said it has upsized and priced underwritten public offering of 2.5MM common shares for expected gross proceeds of about $99.4MM before deducting underwriting discount and offering expenses payable by it. $ADC granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy up additional 375,000 common shares. The offering will close on May 10.
$NFLX a monster move, going up. Expect making some money on Monday.
$AMD down more than 6% even after posting above consensus third quarter results.
$MCD stock rose more than 2% after it posted better than expected 3Q16 results, driven by global same-store sales growth. Meanwhile, earnings and revenue were lower than last year, hurt by refranchising efforts.


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The Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) has floated draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 on the recommendation by a panel chaired by former Supreme Court justice B N Srikrishna.
Official sources in London confirmed that the documents had soon after been submitted to UKCA this week, setting the extradition process in motion.
Through a zero hour mention, K K Ragesh (CPM) said govt has granted the status of 'Institution of Eminence' to six higher education institutions.
"Consumers are facing problems while doing transactions in e-commerce," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, MoS for Finance P Radhakrishnan said "the government has cleared 67 FDI proposals worth Rs 11,703 crore during the period April 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017".
Prabhu said this in a statement in the Rajya Sabha on India's stand at the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Paswan said the cabinet has approved a new bill and urged the lawmakers not to refer it to the Standing Committee and delay the approval process.
Ajay Tamta said during the Question Hour that "the Handloom weavers do not come under the GST regime as their total turnover is below Rs 20 lakh.
The objective was to provide support to thousands of khadi artisans producing cloth, blankets, carpets, and the like which could be distributed to refugee camps of the UNHCR.
Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said for prepaid payments including e-wallets, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started maintaining provisional data of fraudulent transactions.
A mobile app has been launched by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which allows the users to see the features of Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series Rs 500 and 2,000 notes to check their authenticity.
After nod from Rajya Sabha, state assemblies will now have to pass the state GST law.
The government plans to bring a new Consumer Protection legislation shortly, he said in the Rajya Sabha, adding that it would be sent to the Cabinet and then brought to Parliament.
The GST Council has approved a four-tier tax slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28% within an overall cap of 40%.
The initiative will enable them to sell their products internationally, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said .
NGOs and women's rights organisations have been pressing for passage of this amendment bill for a long time.
Chemists involved in retail sale of drugs can register in the proposed national web portal to carry out online sale of drugs.


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NEW DELHI: The wholesale price-based inflation rose to 2.03 per cent in January, 2021, even as food prices cooled.
The WPI inflation was 1.22 per cent in December, 2020 and 3.52 per cent in January last year.
While food articles saw softening in inflation in January, manufactured items witnessed hardening of prices, as per data released by the Commerce and Industry ministry.
Food inflation in January stood at (-) 2.8 per cent, against (-) 1.11 per cent in the previous month.
Inflation in vegetables and potatoes was (-) 20.82 per cent and 22.04 per cent during January, while in the fuel and power basket it was (-) 4.78 per cent.
In non-food articles inflation was higher at 4.16 per cent during the month under review.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its monetary policy decision on February 5, kept interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting and said that the near-term inflation outlook has turned favourable.
Meanwhile, retail inflation, based on the consumer price index, was at 4.06 per cent in January, data released last week showed.
Among the exits are Chief Commercial Operations Officer Manoj Gandhi, Chief Business Officer of fashion division Gopal Asthana, and Chief Executive Officer of wholesale business Vikas Gupta - all executives of Nykaa.
New Delhi, Mar 14 (PTI) American toy and clothing retailer Toys 'R' Us is said to have shut within 24 hours a store it opened in Hyderabad to mark its second entry into India over some legal complexities with the mall owner, sources said.


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Zero-waste grocery store Scoop Marketplace will soon open a new brick-and-mortar shop in Kirkland.
The company is a relatively new venture. Scoop owner and CEO Stephanie Lenz was inspired to start an eco-friendly, zero-waste business in 2017 after becoming a parent. Until then, she hadn’t realized how many more goods are disposed of when you have children.
After researching the many negative impacts of plastics, microplastics, and other forms of disposable waste pollution on the environment, she knew it was time to take action.
“We began to make a lot of changes in our lifestyle, and started using reusables wherever possible and just making some little adjustments,” said Lenz.
→ Continue reading at 425 Magazine


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A new survey of 402 decision-makers in UK small and medium-sized businesses has identified the main challenges facing UK businesses in the new financial year.
SMEs held back by rising energy prices
Rising energy prices are a “major” challenge for a third of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a new study by NerdWallet.
The financial comparison website surveyed 402 decision makers within British SMEsand found that more than two-thirds (67%) of decision makers find long-term financial planning difficult due to the current economic climate.
Nine in ten (89%) decision makers in SMEs said that rising energy prices are the biggest threat to their business. A third (33%) see it as a “major” threat to their organization.
87% of SME decision makers see skyrocketing inflation as a challenge for their business. Another 82% are struggling with rising interest rates.
Not just energy prices
Other concerns for SMEs are increasing rental costs (72%) and difficulty accessing finance such as business loans, credit cards or investments (71%).
In fact, almost a quarter (24%) of SMEs believe rising interest rates have made it more difficult for their organization to access finance.
Meanwhile, 46% of decision makers in SMEs could not budget salary increases in line with inflation. The majority (57%) say their organization has increased the prices of goods and services in line with rising organization costs.
Connor Campbell, Personal Finance Expert at NerdWallet, said: “SMEs have faced countless challenges over the past two years. And unfortunately, NerdWallet’s research shows that there’s unlikely to be any respite anytime soon.
“Of course some tough decisions have to be made – raising the prices of goods and services, for example, is likely to be seen as an unfortunate necessity to keep businesses afloat. Therefore, the government needs to ensure that SMEs are aware of the tools available to ease the burden somewhat. Publicizing programs like start-up loans would be a good place to start. Alternatively, SMEs could use comparison websites to explore alternative financing options.
“There is no quick fix to the challenges businesses face. But there are tools that could offer something of a financial lifeline. Therefore, SMEs should be encouraged to remain as flexible as possible and use all the tools at their disposal to explore their options. This allows SMEs to gradually regain control of their finances.”
https://techround.co.uk/news/9-in-10-uk-smes-say-rising-energy-bills-is-their-biggest-challenge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=9-in-10-uk-smes-say-rising-energy-bills-is-their-biggest-challenge 9 in 10 UK SMEs say rising energy bills are their biggest challenge


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By Sofrigam S.A
To get in touch with Sofrigam brings end-to-end thinking to TCL 2017, simply fill out the form below.
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Sofrigam brings end-to-end thinking to TCL 2017
Rueil-Malmaison, France: – Temperature-controlled logistics and pharmaceutical cold chain packaging specialist Sofrigam S.A., will use the Temperature Controlled Logistics Europe (TCL 2017) conference in London to present latest thinking on cool chain shipping and storage.
Sofrigam is once again a prominent sponsor of the event, which has become a centerpiece of the cool-chain logistics industry.
The company’s exhibition stand at Booths 39/40 at London ExCel, open on Tuesday January 31 and Wednesday February 1.
End to end logistics
The stand will feature Sofrigam’s recently introduced ‘collections’ of temperature-controlled packaging solutions, including the hi-tech iBox insulated shipping container and its ability to maintain product temperature perfectly at between +2 and +8°C.
“We see two core topics that need to be highlighted at TCL 2017,” said Mr. Gilles Labranque, Sofrigam CEO.
“One is undoubtedly the issue of end-to-end pharmaceutical logistics, or how to guarantee maintaining medicines at constant temperatures across the whole supply chain, especially when the logistical circuits are increasingly complex, with multiples pharmaceutical hubs and people involved in logistics,” he explained.
Focus on usage and reuse
“The other key topic for 2017 is reusing insulated packaging solutions, with growing environmental concerns forcing manufacturers in the sector to innovate in order to reduce environmental impact across the logistics chain,” said Labranque.
“These themes have always been at the heart of our expertise. We will be happy to discuss them with our visitors and present our innovative solutions with optimized and secure end-to-end logistics,” said Mr. Labranque.
French-based Sofrigam S.A. designs and manufactures cool chain pharmaceutical shipping solutions and insulated boxes for the life sciences industries as well as for distribution and logistics companies.
The company was founded in 1979 by an industrial pharmacist and initially developed eutectic painkillers before specializing in the design and manufacture of insulated and refrigerated packaging, including pre-qualified insulated shipping and temperature management solutions. The company is headquartered in Ile-de-France with a production site at Arras.
Sofrigam offer solutions for the cold chain logistic problems experienced by the pharmaceutical industry. It offers a range of standard and made-to-measure thermal packaging products as well as customized services designed to achieve secure, cost effective and ecological cold chain logistics.
Sofrigam has become one of Europe’s leading cold chain specialists, sharing its expertise via seminars, publications and R&D collaborations. It also offers customized products and services designed to achieve cold logistics that are secure, cost-effective and comprehensively compliant.
Sofrigam partners with Ater Métrologie, a French-based ISTA and ISO 9001 certified laboratory that specializes in testing, validating and pre-qualifying temperature-controlled packaging and cooling systems. The laboratory carries out some 2,000 tests each year.
About TCL 2017
Temperature Controlled Logistics Europe is a major European event dedicated to the temperature-controlled logistics of biotechnology and pharmaceutical products. For 2017, the event moves to London for the first time.
The 16th annual conference, TCL 2017, is a four-day event, opening January 30 at the ExCel exhibition center in London Docklands, where it is expected to attract more than 500 delegates.
The conference will focus on the latest innovations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, featuring 60 expert speakers, 40 expert sessions and six topic streams. These include Cutting Costs, Operating in Emerging Markets, Reducing Supply Chain Risks, Regulation Compliance and Future Trends.
The co-located exhibition will feature 60 of the leading players in the industry, showcasing latest products and solutions.
The event is organized by IQPC. More information at: https://www.temperaturecontrolledlogistics.com


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Nation’s First All-Digital Airport Advertising Network Debuts at San Jose Airport
Clear Channel says the Silicon Valley airport is the perfect place to launch the first-ever all-digital airport advertising network.
Clear Channel Airports, a subsidiary of New York City-based billboard and signage giant Clear Channel Outdoor, announces the debut of what it says will be the nation’s first all-digital airport advertising network.
The company is deploying the network at the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), which is considered the fastest-growing airport in the U.S.
CCA says it will also offer the out-of-home industry’s first-to-market, integrated suite of audience planning, amplification and measurement solutions-what it calls CCO RADAR-to select advertisers at the airport.
The all-digital program includes inaugural foundation sponsors Google Cloud and Alaska Airlines and goes live this month. In a nationwide first for airport media, CCA will make the ad network available exclusively to foundation sponsors and a limited number of campaign advertisers, affording these advertisers the opportunity to engage with the more than 15 million passengers who pass through the San Jose airport annually.
“Alaska is thrilled to be a founding partner with Clear Channel Airports to help modernize the way guests interact with advertising at the San Jose Airport,” says Natalie Bowman, Alaska Airlines’ managing director of brand and marketing communications. “With Silicon Valley as a leading global innovation epicenter, the airport is a ripe area to target inbound and outbound flyers with cutting-edge technology solutions that will bring advertising to the forefront of the consumer experience.”
In addition to SJC’s foundation sponsors, other Silicon Valley leading tech brands have purchased advertising campaigns guaranteeing their messaging will run across SJC’s entire network of 82 new digital screens, totaling more than 5,000 square feet of displays. The exclusive foundation sponsorships and campaign advertising programs represent an industry pivot in transacting airport media from a screen-by-screen, terminal-by-terminal or even network-by-network basis to a complete airport-wide takeover.
“With San Jose as the world’s tech capital, this is the most appropriate place to launch the U.S.’s first all-digital airport advertising network,” says John Moyer, senior vice president, development and operations, for Clear Channel Airports. “We’ve worked on this foundation sponsor strategy over the past year and SJC’s team played an integral role developing the most advanced airport advertising program available in the U.S. Having tech and global giants like Google Cloud and Alaska Airlines on board to launch this industry-redefining program reflects the incredible innovation and modernization SJC can offer brands.”
The nation’s first all-digital advertising program at SJC also marks the first application of the company’s industry-leading suite of data-driven solutions for effective planning, amplification and measurement, known as Clear Channel Outdoor RADAR. CCO RADAR leverages anonymous, aggregated mobile location data to help advertisers understand consumer mobility, behavior and campaign outcomes.


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On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal said the cable TV programmer directed Vice Media, the operator of Vice News and other websites, to stop running ads for the MTV program “Revenge Prank” in articles that contained the words “protests,” “racism,” “hate” and “policing.”
The company also prohibited MTV ads from appearing in news stories related to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two Black individuals who were killed by police officers, the Journal said.
National retailer Target issued a similar edict to Vice Media. Both companies told the Journal their decisions to block ads from those specific news stories stemmed from a desire to appear more-sensitive to the issues and that they didn’t want their advertisements to come across as companies profiting off tragedy.
“This is standard practice we use with our media agency to ensure that our ads don’t come across as tone-deaf or disrespectful,” a ViacomCBS spokesperson said.
But Vice and other publishers who spoke with the Journal said they felt they were being punished for covering important topics of national interest.
“It’s de-funding our journalism at a time when it’s imperative for us to be the front lines doing this kind of work,” Vice Media executive Paul Wallace told the Journal. “The most frustrating part of all of this is that the brands that are [blocking their ads] are standing on a pedestal saying that they support BLM.”
Wallace said stories related to the Black Lives Matter movement and other social issues were some of the most-popular articles published by Vice News and related websites in June. But the company struggled to find financial support for those stories because ad buyers were specifically avoiding those topics.
So-called “block lists” created by big-named advertisers aren’t unheard of in the media industry: Many ad buyers have long blocked their commercials from being associated with stories related to terrorism and mass murder. But this year, buyers significantly ramped up their use of block lists — first to avoid stories concerning COVID-19 and later including prohibitions on coverage of social issues.
One unnamed publisher who spoke with the Journal said the desire to appear sensitive was understandable, but advertiser concerns lately have been overblown.
“It’s not like people are reading about [President Donald] Trump and they see a Home Depot ad, and then they think, oh, I hate Trump, so now I hate Home Depot,” the unnamed publisher said.
The timing could not be worse: Media advertisement buying has been severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, with some analysts predicting the pandemic will hammer the commercial market worse than the 2008 recession.
In March, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said nearly one in four ad buyers had completely paused their spending for at least six months while half of the remaining buyers surveyed had adjusted their spending to account for the crisis.
Digital ad spending had been cut by one-third while traditional advertisements were down by nearly 40 percent, IAB said.


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The Fresh Market is looking for seasonal holiday workers and is holding a national hiring event.
Applicants can come to any of The Fresh Market’s 160 store locations, including seven in Alabama, Oct. 18 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The specialty grocer is hiring for multiple positions, including some past the holidays, and qualified applicants can receive on-the-spot interviews. Applicants may apply online here and are encouraged to apply prior to the event if possible.
Employees receive a 20 percent employee discount.
Tracy L. Ward, director of talent acquisition with the company, said the month leading up to Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day is the busiest time of the year.


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Sep 24, 2023
iPhone 15 arrives; Amazon Product Event, October Prime Day, AI Book problems; Microsoft announcements, including Copilot AI; New AI created Coca-Cola flavor Y3000; Secret Disneyland Smellitzer Tech; Top 10 streaming
Sep 17, 2023
Marsha goes into depth on the casino security hacking and what you can do to protect yourself when your data appears on the dark web. Long time listener and guest, Mitch Goldstone from ScanMyPhotos.com, reminds us that our podcast will soon celebrate our 1400th episode! Mitch's business was featured in an AP story...
Sep 10, 2023
Narcan goes OTC; X(Twitter) No more Tweets; Threads slowly improves; Privacy and your car; iOS 17 clones voice; Lenovo Thinkvision monitor; Time to clear cache?; Polaroid comeback?; Amazon's new Prime Premiere; Top 10 streaming
Sep 3, 2023
X (FKA Twitter) news: Video calls, Likes; Apple News: Event, Support; Chromebooks have an expiration date; Amazon & Google Collaborate on a smart speaker; Fitbit security; Streaming top 10


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9 jailed for renting cars, selling them for Dh7 million in UAE
Abu Dhabi - The gang exported the luxury cars as new ones using fake documents.
Nine men, who stole dozens of luxury cars worth more than Dh7 million from car rental firms in the UAE and sold them abroad using forged documents, have been jailed for between one to 10 years.
The Abu Dhabi criminal court of first instance sentenced three of the men, all Emiratis, to 10 years in jail.
Five other men, who are Arabs, were each sentenced to three years in jail. The ninth man, also an Arab, was jailed for a year. The court also ordered the confiscation of the cars seized from the men's showrooms and the forged documents used in the resale of the stolen cars.
Official court documents stated that the three Emiratis and six Arabs were caught in 2016 after the police received complaints from rental car firms. The firms complained that the accused rented the cars but failed to return them.
Prosecutors said the men stole expensive cars including a Lamborghini, Range Rover, Mercedes, Nissan Patrols and others. Some of the cars were stolen from rental car firms in Abu Dhabi while others were stolen from Dubai.
Police investigations revealed that after renting the cars, the men took them to their friends, who helped in forging customs documents. The court was told that the men changed two digits in the vehicle's serial number before they issued a customs certificate for the car.
The gang then exported the luxury cars as new ones using fake documents. The police said the men shared the revenue earned from the sale of cars.
Prosecutors had charged the men with theft and forging official documents. They had denied the charges against them throughout their trial.
The owners of the stolen cars have been advised by the court to file civil lawsuits against the defendants for compensation for the financial damages they suffered.
The Arab nationals will be deported after serving their jail sentences.


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Daily Bread: Two sisters take over Crown Center with their bakery
“It’s just something about Thanksgiving,” says Jacqueline Buycks. “Our bread turns into gold.”
Buycks and her sister Joyce Brown own Big Momma’s Bakery. Their business venture was born in 2005, when the sisters took over a former donut shop, Village Donuts, in the heart of Raytown, Mo. The plan: to make cinnamon rolls according to their sister Jill’s perfected recipe.
The sisters played it conservative at first, retaining all the bakery’s original employees and keeping the old Village Donuts sign up for the first six months. But it didn’t take long for the shop to gain devotees. Soon, the new entrepreneurs counted Raytown’s mayor as a fan of their sugary creations. And then, one Thanksgiving, something happened that Buycks and Brown never saw coming: the bakery groupies arrived.
“My son drove up one day to help us out,” Brown says, “and he was scared to come in. He was like, ‘What are all those people waiting for outside?’”
While they love their spot in Raytown, two years ago, executives from downtown Kansas City’s Crown Center made Big Momma’s an offer that the sisters couldn’t refuse. “They came to our bakery in Raytown,” Buycks recalls. “They were all decked out in their suits; they came in, six or eight of them, and ordered everything up off the menu.”
And then, Brown says, finishing the story, “They said, ‘We were sent here to bring you back to Crown Center.’ It was a total shock.” The sisters learned that the Hallmark brass — the owners of Crown Center — are interested in fostering homegrown and unique businesses like Big Momma’s.
Naturally, the bakery’s main attraction is still the cinnamon rolls. But as the date of Thanksgiving nears, the sisters brace themselves for their busiest time of the year, when the demand for Big Momma’s dinner rolls looms large. So large, in fact, that Crown Center had to adapt in order to accommodate Big Momma’s holiday clientele.
Big Momma’s dinner rolls come by the dozen, and by pre-order only. “You can’t just walk in off the street and say, ‘I want a bag of dinner rolls,’” Brown says. “There’s none. We knew that Thanksgiving was huge for us in Raytown all four years we were there, but we didn’t think of it until our first Thanksgiving in Crown Center came.” That year, the line of people waiting on rolls wound out Big Momma’s front door, down the hallway, and into the mall’s front lobby.
The following year, Crown Center’s management set up a table in the front lobby of Crown Center just for Big Momma’s pick-up orders, and roped off an area so that the waiting line switched back and forth, like at an amusement park. Even then, Brown says, “People waited an hour at least. People with pre-orders. It was rough, but most of them didn’t mind. We had a few glitches.” Buycks and Brown exchange a look, and laugh.
Last year, in an attempt to beat the Thanksgiving rush, the sisters put pans of raw dough in the freezer a few days ahead of time, a method that worked on test runs the weeks before. But the night before Thanksgiving, the sisters opened the freezer and screamed. Hundreds of dozens of the rolls had fallen flat.
“They sunk!” Buycks says. “That meant, no good, can’t bake. We had to start all over, and these are orders that people are coming to pick up. It was just crazy. Then we ran out of our foil pans in the middle of the night.” The sisters baked through the night, but when morning came, they still hadn’t dug themselves out of their dinner roll hole. That day, the line of customers ballooned. The other employees manning the counter with Brown left, one by one, to check on the progress Buycks and her team were making in the kitchen. Brown found herself alone, staring down a hoard of hungry faces.
“No bread was coming out of the bakery, and I kept calling and calling the kitchen and nobody’s answering, and the line kept getting longer and longer,” Brown says. “I literally cried. I’m not kidding.”
“Every person who came to check on us, we were putting ‘em to work,” Buycks explains. “Butter! Put butter on those! Put those on the cart! Get ’em out! And as soon as a cart went out, all the bread was just swallowed up.”
Brown laughs. “We had people in the mall walking up, saying, ‘What on earth are all these people waiting for?’ And the people in line said, ‘We’re waiting on our bread.’ They said, ‘Bread? Is it that good? You must be crazy!’”
If loving Big Momma’s rolls is crazy, then the insanity is contagious. Last Thanksgiving, the sisters baked 2,000 dozen rolls. Take note: this year, the cutoff for pre-orders is Nov. 19.
In the Big Momma’s office, a sudden ringing of the phone cuts through the sisters’ laughter. Brown picks up the receiver and listens. “How many? And he wants them delivered? When? Oh my Gosh, next Saturday?”
“Oh Lord,” Buycks sighs, smiling. And so it begins.
Holiday order form available at www.bigmommasrolls.com.


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Toyota plans to construct a cutting-edge vehicle battery testing laboratory at its North American research center in Michigan, investing approximately $50 million in the project. The facility, located in York Township near Ann Arbor, will primarily focus on testing batteries designed for hybrid and electric vehicles. These batteries will be sourced from a new factory in North Carolina, as well as various battery suppliers. Instead of creating new employment opportunities, Toyota will assign existing workers from other departments and provide them with necessary training.
Scheduled to commence operations in 2025, the lab holds the potential for expansion in tandem with the production growth of electric vehicles. Its core functions will involve performance, quality, and durability testing, as well as assessment of charging capabilities. Jordan Choby, the group vice president of powertrain at Toyota, expressed excitement about the facility, emphasizing its capacity to facilitate experimentation and pursue new opportunities aligned with technological advancements and evolving business needs.
Toyota’s commitment to advancing electric vehicle production is further demonstrated by its recent announcement to invest an additional $2.1 billion in a battery factory currently being constructed near Greensboro, North Carolina. This investment brings the total expenditure on the Randolph County plant to $5.9 billion and aligns with Toyota’s ambitious objective of selling 1.8 million electric or hybrid vehicles in the United States by 2030. Ground was broken on the plant in 2021. Initially, the batteries produced at this facility will supply Toyota’s extensive complex in Georgetown, Kentucky, which will be responsible for manufacturing the company’s first domestically produced electric vehicle—an SUV with three rows of seats.
Under the leadership of President Koji Sato, Toyota has vowed to undertake an assertive shift toward vehicle electrification, including a stronger emphasis on hybrids. However, the company has faced criticism from environmental organizations for lagging behind in electric vehicle sales and relying heavily on gasoline-powered hybrids for future sales. These recent investments and initiatives indicate Toyota’s determination to overcome these challenges and establish a more prominent presence in the electric vehicle market.


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Apple on Monday released iOS 6.1.1 to address a number of bugs for iPhone 4S owners who recently ran into a handful of issues following the release of iOS 6.1 for all of Apple's mobile devices.
The release is currently available as a direct download here (968MB) or as an over-the-air download. It's available only to iPhone 4S users.
Apple said in a knowledge base article that the update "fixes an issue that could impact cellular performance and reliability for iPhone 4S." No release was issued for iPhone 5 or other models of the handset at this time, despite claims from iPhone 5 owners that they were also negatively impacted by the iOS 6.1 update.
Two weeks after Apple released iOS 6.1, a number of iPhone 4S users began reporting battery drain and overheating issues possibly related to the update. British wireless carrier Vodafone UK even sent out a warning telling iPhone 4S owners not to upgrade to the latest OS version because the carrier determined it to cause 3G performance problems.
For instance, Apple's Support Community forum battery drain and overheating problems after applying the iOS 6.1 update.
In particular, the carrier noted that iOS 6.1 was creating intermittent problems with iPhone 4S models, causing the handsets to experience 3G-related issues with making calls, sending texts and accessing the company's data network. The reports on Apple's support forums, however, suggested that the problems may not be limited to just iPhone 4S users and may also affect iPhone 5 users to some extent.
One iPhone 5 owner saw their battery drain of 35 percent overnight, while an iPhone 3GS user said Apple's latest update actually boosted battery life. It's unclear whether Apple is separately preparing an iOS 6.1.1 update for iPhone 5 owners.
Apple released iOS 6.1 on Jan. 28, delivering feature enhancements like added LTE support.


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Singaporean Households Can Collect $100 CDC Vouchers Online
The pandemic has been going on for 2 years now, heavily impacting the livelihoods of many.
In mid-October, the Community Development Council (CDC) announced they would be giving out $100 vouchers to 1.3 million Singaporean households to tide us through these challenging times.
They have since updated that the vouchers are available for digital collection from Monday (13 Dec).
The vouchers can be spent at 10,000 participating hawkers and heartland merchants anytime before the end of 2022.
CDC vouchers to thank Singaporeans for solidarity
On Monday (13 Dec), CDC announced in a press release that Singaporeans can now redeem their $100 vouchers online.
These vouchers can be used at participating hawkers and heartland merchants.
Upon claiming the vouchers, individuals will have a year to spend them. They will expire on 31 Dec 2022.
In total, CDC is giving out vouchers worth $130 million to 1.3 million Singaporean households.
The CDC Vouchers Scheme is part of a $900 million Household Support Package at Budget 2021.
It has 2 key objectives — to thank Singaporeans for their sense of solidarity during Covid-19, and support hawkers and heartland merchants affected by the pandemic.
CDC vouchers can be redeemed online using Singpass
Only 1 member of each household will be required to claim the vouchers online. Here’s what you need to do:
- Visit CDC’s website and log in with your Singpass
- Verify your personal particulars
- Once claimed, a CDC vouchers link will be sent to your registered mobile phone number
- Share the unique voucher link on the redemption website to your family members via messaging apps
Those with the link will be able to access the vouchers. They come in $2, $5 and $10 denominations.
Image by MS News
To spend the vouchers, you can click on the CDC vouchers link and select the amount you wish to use.
A QR code will then appear for the participating merchant to scan through the RedeemSG App.
CDC Voucher Scheme made user-friendly for elderly
Help will be available at Community Centres (CCs) to ensure everyone has access to the vouchers. Priority will be given to seniors without household members to help claim them.
Those without smartphones or who need help setting up their Singpass or resetting their password will also get the help they need at the CCs.
If need be, hardcopy vouchers can also be printed there.
Apart from CCs, assistance will be available at selected Residents’ Committee (RC) or Residents’ Network (RN) Centres. Areas with a higher concentration of elderly citizens will be chosen.
Additionally, Digital Ambassadors at SG Digital community hubs in selected CCs and public libraries islandwide will assist those who are not digitally savvy.
Silver Generation Office Ambassadors will also attend to queries or requests for assistance during house visits to seniors.
You can find more information on the vouchers on CDC’s website.
Redeem your vouchers soon
2021 has been a challenging year. As we enter yet another pandemic year, we’re glad the government has rolled out these vouchers to help Singaporeans.
Hopefully, this will offer both buyers and merchants some relief through these uncertain financial times.
So do remember to tell your friends and family to redeem their voucher before it expires.
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