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tech2 News StaffMar 14, 2017 13:04:48 IST
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued recommendations for complaints/grievance redressal in the telecom sector. These recommendations are based on a consultation paper that was issued on the same.
Trai's findings lead them to conclude that the establishment of an independent ombudsman to oversee consumer/grievance redressal is necessary for fair and impartial handling of complaints. Telecom Service Providers (TSP), however, are not very happy with the recommendation, reports Medianama.
The problem, according to Trai, is that over 10 million complaints are filed with TSPs every quarter. These issues are resolved on time and in-line with Trai guidelines issues in 2008, but, independent consumer groups allege that these issues are not resolved satisfactorily.
Existing redressal mechanism
Currently, telecom related redressals are addressed in a two-tiered manner. The first stage is contacting the TSP directly and having its complaints department resolve the issue. If the consumer is still not satisfied, the case can be taken to the relevant appellate authority.
While TSPs are adhering to the original Trai guidelines, consumer protection groups argue that TSPs are hastening the process and inadequately dealing with the issue. A lack of transparency in the process means that consumers are left in the lurch. Worse still, few consumers seem to be aware of the presence of an appellate authority.
Looking at data submitted by the TSPs themselves, Trai concludes that the appellate authority mechanism isn't working. This is because in many circles, the usage of the appellate authority is almost zero.
At the same time, Trai believes that the general sentiment is that of dissatisfaction with the TSPs handling of disputes. This is why Trai is recommending the establishment of an independent ombudsman to deal with disputes.
TSPs are opposed to this move and claim that existing mechanisms are adequate. They also attempted to sideline the recommendations by saying that Trai has no legal standing when it comes to the setting up of an ombudsman.
TSPs also argue that they primarily deal with technical issues rather than monetary ones. Any monetary issues also involve very small sums. This makes them different from banks and financial institutions, and thus, they don't require an ombudsman, argue the telcos.
Trai admits that the first stage of redressal, wherein a TSP's established complaints department deals with customer issues, is working perfectly. The Authority does also believe that the second stage is not working.
The underlying issue
Trai argues that the underlying issue is one of transparency and accountability. The lack of awareness and transparency has eroded consumer confidence, says Trai.
Since the redressal mechanism is handled by TSPs themselves, Trai belives that this is not right.
"The Authority believes that for any consumer redressal mechanism to be successful, it should not only be fair and transparent; but also appear to be so," reads the document. "No person can be a judge in a case in which they have na interest," adds Trai.
Trai recommends a 3-stage solution to the redressal problem.
The first stage will remain the same as the existing one. TSPs will, at their discretion, deal with consumer complaints as best they can. This is because they are best equipped to deal with most existing issues. Trai does add that the process will need to be more transparent.
Electronic means such as an online tracking process are best, says Trai. Methods of reporting issues should also be enhanced and support electronic means like a website, email or app.
If a consumer is not satisfied with the TSPs handling of the case, he can take it to the second level which is the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF).
The CGRF is to be a mediator and a fact-finder, says Trai. Its job will be to mediate between the TSP and customer and also to verify facts. The CGRF will have the authority and freedom to seek outside help with regards to clarification, dealing with technical issues, etc. It will also be required to submit a report on the result of its intervention, whether successful or not.
Only if the CGRF also fails to resolve the dispute will it be sent to the ombudsman for resolution. Trai recommends that the ombudsman have the authority to penalise a TSP as necessary and that his decision will be final and binding. This ombudsman will be independent with no affiliation to either the TSP or the consumers involved.
It's been suggested that the funding for the ombudsman come from licensing fees charged to TSPs and/or include government funding.
Trai believes that this will be the best way to go about addressing consumer complaints and grievances in the telecom space.
The entire consultation paper and Trai's recommendations can be found here (PDF).
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Briton living in Amsterdam, threatens till 5 years of prison. It is assumed that he exchanged bitcoins used to buy drugs for cash. According to investigators, he began to grow marijuana, but soon discovered that the business associated with the exchange of bitcoins, much more profitable.
Dutch Prosecutor demanded that the court sentenced the 38-year-old Briton to five years in prison for laundering about 11.5 million Euro in bitcoin in the period from 2014 to 2016. It is assumed that the money was derived from illegal deals with drug trade and other illicit goods on the darknet markets, said Wednesday the Prosecutor.
According to the prosecution, a British citizen living in Amsterdam, earned on the exchange of bitcoins that he received from their customers for cash, charging «extremely high» Commission from 5 percent to 8 percent. This high Commission was the price that its customers pay for anonymity, says the Prosecutor.
The suspect used a Bank account to trade bitcoins, and then withdraw cash money from ATMs for their customers. According to the Prosecutor, was thus exchanged several million euros. The Netherlands Times reports that legal income of the accused and his wife are extremely small. A British citizen, also is suspected of growing marijuana — the Dutch police found pictures of the plantations on the suspect’s computer.
«He thought he saw a niche in the market, and hastened to occupy it,» says the Prosecutor. «He started with cultivation of marijuana, sold the harvest on the darknet and received payment in bitcoins. He soon decided that he no longer need to engage in «gardening» to get a good profit.»
The defendant still maintains his innocence and claims that all of his clients were law-abiding citizens who have not been involved in any form of trafficking. It is expected that the Dutch court will announce its verdict in early March.

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July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Mashable's Pete Pachal and Bloomberg's Cory Johnson discuss Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's move to reduce redundancies at the company with Trish Regan on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
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Intesa CEO Messina Says Market Is 'Absolutely Crazy'
Morning Meeting: Goldman Sachs' Abandoned Calls
What to Expect From Janet Yellen's Testimony
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2022 ESPYs Fashion: Ciara, Chloe Kim, Steph Curry & More Stun On Red Carpet
The 2022 ESPYs were on Wednesday, and they brought the heat to the Los Angeles red carpet with some major sports legends stepping out on the red carpet. From Steph Curry to Ciara — Access Hollywood is breaking down the all-star looks of the night.
Originally published at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq780zKDxGw
Fashion - Trend Magazine originally published at Fashion - Trend Magazine


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HomeNewsAmazon tells Sebi to withdraw conditional nod to Future-RIL deal
Fight For Dominance The legal joust deepened further last week, when the Future Group filed a separate case against Amazon in the Supreme Court, seeking the clearance of its deal with RIL. Sebi, which had given a conditional nod to the proposed Rs 24,713 crore buyout of Future’s retail assets by India’s biggest conglomerate in January, had stated that a final go-ahead would be subject to the outcome of court proceedings in Indian courts.
Amazon objected to the proposed deal citing prior commitments made by the Future Group to the American major, with the origin of the dispute going back to Amazon’s investment of Rs 1,431 crore in Future Coupons, which held about 10% stake in the flagship Future Retail, in August 2019.
Following the announcement of the Future-RIL deal in August 2020, Amazon sent a legal notice to the Future Group in October and since then both parties have been fighting over the deal in Indian courts as well as at SIAC..


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With a very low probability the market will support RIM’s new mobile computing system, we believe RIM will eventually need to sell the company
Research In Motion Ltd.’s second quarter financial results may have proven to be a pleasant surprise for some investors who feared the worst for the embattled BlackBerry maker, but there remains plenty of skepticism about the Waterloo, Ont.-based company’s long term prospects for a turnaround.
On Thursday, RIM reported second quarter financial results which shocked Wall Street with losses that weren’t as steep as some analysts had expected. RIM said revenue for the quarter was US$2.9-billion with an operating loss of US$142-million or 27¢ per share. Analysts had been expecting RIM to post US$2.5-billion in sales and a loss of 47¢ per share.
As a result, shares of the Waterloo, Ont.-based technology firm jumped as much as 25% after hours, a welcome sign for investors who have watched RIM’s shares lose two thirds of their value over the past year alone.
The stock was up 9.9% in Toronto, 9.1% in New York at midday Friday.
Still, with the holiday shopping season fast approaching, RIM’s aging line of BlackBerry devices will face overwhelming competition from Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 5 and high end devices running on Google Inc.’s Android software in the coming months.
Indeed, RIM chief executive Thorsten Heins told investors on Thursday that RIM is expecting another operating loss for the current quarter.
While the first BlackBerry devices to run on RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 operating system — the linchpin of the company’s turnaround strategy — still aren’t scheduled to be released until the first quarter of calendar 2013, some analysts believe that RIM’s ability to grow its subscriber base over the past quarter (from 78 million to 80 million BlackBerry users) shows there may be money to be made as subscribers around the world upgrade from older BlackBerrys to RIM’s current BlackBerry 7 devices.
“The new management team is executing by maintaining the BlackBerry subscriber base, managing costs and cash and seemingly readying an early C2013 BB10 global platform launch,” National Bank financial analyst Kris Thompson wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
“This performance is nothing short of shocking as RIM has found a formula to entice its global carrier customers to sell product. RIM is offering aggressive BB7 pricing and may be discounting monthly network service infrastructure fees.”
RIM said it shipped 7.4 million BlackBerry devices in the three months ended Sept. 1, 2012, a dip of about 5% from the previous quarter, according to Mr. Thompson, who said that the roughly $230 ASP (average sale price) at which RIM sold its BlackBerrys was ahead of expectations.
Mr. Thompson raised his price target on RIM to $12/sh with an ‘outperform’ rating, up from an $8/sh and a ‘sector perform’ rating, adding that “we are more comfortable that the stock has found a short-term bottom.”
“Our thesis has been that RIM’s [subscriber] base would enter a period of accelerating decline leading to lower service cash flow to support BB10 transition plans,” he said. “We are now taking a leap and expecting management will continue to take necessary steps to maintain the [subscriber] base ahead of the BB10 launch.”
Mr. Thompson said the key risk to his estimates is RIM’s ability to have the new BlackBerry devices certified with carriers in a timely fashion, a process which Mr. Heins told investors on Thursday is set to begin next month.
However, not all analysts are convinced RIM will be able to execute a turnaround. Many believe the company has fallen too far behind rivals like Apple and Samsung, and that eventually Mr. Heins and his executive team will be forced to either break up the company into pieces or look for a buyer in an effort to unlock shareholder value.
“While RIM management remains committed to launching new BB10 smartphones in Q1/C2013, we do not believe BB10 devices will turn around its struggling business as high-ARPU consumers commit to competing ecosystems this holiday season,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
“With a very low probability the market will support RIM’s new mobile computing system, we believe RIM will eventually need to sell the company.”
Canaccord’s analysts maintained their ‘hold’ rating on the stock with an $8 price target.
For CIBC financial analyst Todd Coupland, while RIM shares will likely rally on the business stabilization and the impending launch of BlackBerry 10, questions still remain about the public’s appetite for the BB10 BlackBerrys and whether RIM is capable of taking market share from either Apple or Samsung.
“RIM’s share price is clearly rallying sharply on these results and the news earlier this week of fairly positive reviews for BB10 features such as Flow, Hub, Peek, and the new browser,” Mr. Coupland wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
“The important unknown is the sustainability of this recovery and how broadly will BB10 accepted World-wide. Early input from our carrier contact suggests that BB10 will benefit from upgrades from existing BlackBerry subscribers to higher-end Bolds. What is not clear is whether BB10 will have the appeal to win back lost market share from Samsung and Apple.”
Mr. Coupland retained his ‘sector underperform’ rating on the stock with an $8 price target.
For analysts with Raymond James –which maintains a ‘market perform’ on RIM shares — initial impressions of RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 user interface, which was on display this week at the company’s BlackBerry Jam Americas developer conference in San Jose, were positive, but concerns about the future of the BlackBerry ecosystem remain.
“We thought the event lacked buzz, likely a reflection of RIM’s US market share dwindling to 9.5% (comScore MobiLens survey, 3-month ending July 2012) and the announced delay in June of BB10 to C1Q13 did not help,” financial analyst Steven Li wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
“Given RIM’s successful device seeding program to date, we believe it is possible to have 50-60k BB10 apps around launch time (30k PlayBook apps readily portable + 20-30k BB10 apps). This compares to iOS (700k+), Android (675k+) and Windows (100k+) — an uphill battle.”
On Thursday, Mr. Heins told investors that his review of the company’s strategic options — including the licensing of the BB10 platform or other RIM technology to other manufacturers — remains ongoing.
“In our view, a sale would clearly unlock value. In the meantime however, the deteriorating fundamentals likely keep RIM’s stock range bound until we get more visibility around BB10’s nascent ecosystem,” Mr. Li said.
Correction (Oct. 1): Michael Walkley is the sole author of the Canaccord Genuity report referenced in this article. A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed the report to additional authors. This story has been updated to reflect that change.


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CAROLINA BEACH — The grocery wars in Carolina Beach between Harris Teeter and Publix move forward with an apparent victory for developers at the old Federal Point Shopping Center who were issued a building permit from the town earlier this month.
According to an announcement from the town, the developers behind the new Publix are planning to open around July of 2019.
The developers behind the two grocery stores have been battling in court since last year when the Town of Carolina Beach Town Council approved a conditional use permit for the construction of a then-unknown grocery store.
It has seen been noted in several official documents that the store planned for Federal Point Shopping Center is a Publix.
The developer behind the promised Harris Teeter was not happy with the town issuing the permit to the Publix developers and has attempted to stop the development from taking place through legal means — so far, it has only delayed the construction.
In November, after filing counterclaims against Harris Teeter, a hearing for a motion to dismiss Publix’s claims was held Dec. 6. Court documents have not yet been updated to reflect the judge’s ruling on the request and court staff did not have an answer on whether or not the motion was approved.


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Consumer confidence was up a little in October according to the Conference Board, and that may have given Ford Motor sales a boost. The company's sales in October were up 19% vs. the month last year for a total of 157,935. Year-to-date sales are up 21% vs. 2009.
There was broad strength in trucks (up 25%), cars (up 20%) and utilities (up 9%). Leading models were the F-Series pickup, up 24%; the Edge crossover, up 24%; the Fusion midsize sedan, up 29% (its best October ever); and the aging Focus compact, due to be replaced this spring, up 23%.
Notably absent on the leader board were Lincoln models, which the company has said will get renewed attention as Mercury fades away.
The company said it was pleased with the U.S. takeoff for its Fiesta subcompact that Ford is selling around the world. It had its best month here -- 3,846 sold -- since its U.S. launch last summer and Ford said 62% of buyers were new to Ford Motor vehicles.
"Fiesta is our strongest proof point yet that our global growth strategy is working," said Ken Czubay, head of U.S. marketing, sales and service. "Now, we're preparing to launch the (new) Focus – the next all-new product from Ford's global product development system."
Fred Meier/Drive On
Here's Ford's full sales release:
DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 3, 2010 – Consumer demand for Ford Motor Company's fresh lineup of high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles in October helped the company grow monthly sales 19 percent versus a year ago, with 157,935 units sold.
Year-to-date, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 1.6 million, up 21 percent – growing double the overall industry rate. Ford is on track to gain market share for the second year in a row – a result not achieved since 1993.
"Increasingly, consumers are choosing Ford," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "Ford's broad range of high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles offer buyers value that endures for the life of the purchase and when they trade their vehicle."
Ford has shown consistent improvement in vehicle quality and reliability for several years. For 2011, 90 percent of Ford vehicles tested average or above average in the Consumer Reports study. In the most recent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, Ford brand ranked fifth among all brands and first among non-luxury brands.
Ford's Balanced Vehicle Portfolio
In October, Ford car sales were up 20 percent, utilities were up 9 percent and trucks were up 25 percent. Year-to-date, Ford car sales were up 18 percent, utilities were up 15 percent and trucks were up 28 percent.
Fiesta highlighted the growth in car sales with its best sales month ever (3,846 units). Fiesta, the highly acclaimed, fuel-efficient subcompact, is bringing new customers to Ford with a conquest rate of 62 percent – the highest in Ford's product lineup – and a growing share of the small car segment.
"Fiesta customers love their new cars," said Czubay. "Fiesta is our strongest proof point yet that our global growth strategy is working. Now, we're preparing to launch the Focus – the next all-new product from Ford's global product development system."
Fiesta has helped Ford increase its share of the small car market, a key element in Ford's U.S. and global growth strategy. In October, Ford's share of the key small car segment increased more than 50 percent based on Fiesta and Focus combined share versus a year ago.
Also contributing to the growth in car sales was the Ford Fusion. The popular midsize sedan posted record October sales of 17,362, up 29 percent. Sales for the Ford Focus were up 23 percent, and Mustang sales were up 11 percent.
Sales for the Lincoln MKZ were up 11 percent versus a year ago. The MKZ Hybrid accounted for 25 percent of retail sales of the 2011 model MKZ.
Ford's new midsize crossovers, the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, are off to a strong start and capturing a larger share of their respective midsize crossover markets. These products are the first Ford models to offer MyFordTouch and MyLincolnTouch – state-of-the-art technology to better connect drivers with their vehicle information, entertainment and on-board technologies.
The new Ford Edge also features best-in-class horsepower and unsurpassed V6 highway fuel economy. The new Lincoln MKX offers best-in-class fuel economy and 305 horsepower – an increase of 40 hp versus the prior model.
Utilities were paced by the Edge, up 24 percent, and Escape, up 17 percent.
Ford's F-Series truck posted one of its highest sales months in the last two years and, in the process, became the industry's first product to eclipse the 400,000-vehicle sales milestone in 2010. October sales for the F-Series totaled 49,041, up 24 percent. Year-to-date sales stand at 434,920.
Production of the 2011 model F-150 begins this month with an all-new powertrain lineup of four new engines, including a 3.5-liter EcoBoost and a new six-speed transmission that will deliver class-leading capability and fuel economy. This truck lineup will provide up to 20 percent more fuel efficiency than the 2010 models. F-150 pickups with the new 3.7-liter V6, 5.0-liter V8 and 6.2-liter V8 will be in dealership showrooms later this fall. The F-150 with EcoBoost will be available for sale early next year.
Ford's commercial vans also made strong contributions to October's truck sales performance. Econoline, Ford's full-size van, had sales of 7,379, up 30 percent, and Transit Connect, the fuel-efficient, purpose-built van, delivered sales of 2,577, up 70 percent.
"We are pleased to see Ford's momentum continue as we start the fourth quarter," said Czubay. "We have several key product launches ahead, such as the new F-150 powertrains, Explorer and Focus, and we plan to continue the new product momentum into 2011 and beyond."
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Note: The sales data included in this release are based largely on data reported by dealers representing their sales to retail and fleet customers.
Chris Woodyard is an auto writer for USA TODAY who covers all aspects of motoring. He revels in the exhaust note of a Maserati and the sharp creases of a Cadillac CTS. Chris strives to live a Porsche life on a Scion budget. More about Chris


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World News – May 2019
NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev briefed the April 25-27 Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on the country’s infrastructure development and transport potential.
“Over the past ten years, Kazakhstan has invested about $30 billion on infrastructure development, transport and logistics assets and competence. Almost 3,000 kilometres of national railways and 12,500 kilometres of highways have been modernised or put into operation. Domestic sea and air harbours were reconstructed. As a result, the country has turned into a modern and competitive transit hub,” he said.
The Western Europe – Western China intercontinental highway now connects Europe and China through Russia and Kazakhstan, noted Nazarbayev, adding the highway was completed through cooperation between the country’s Nurly Zhol Programme and the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Nazarbayev also said China’s Belt and Road Initiative is in line with his own G-Global Initiative to address global economic challenges.
Nazarbayev praised the Belt and Road Initiative, saying it has succeeded where other efforts to revive the Silk Road over the last 30 years have failed.
“In a short period of time, together we have built economic corridors which avoided complex natural landscapes and geopolitical contradictions,” Nazarbayev said noting trade within the initiative has reached $5 trillion.
Nazarbayev said the initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Nur-Sultan (then called Astana) in 2013 has become a successful model for development despite current international political contradictions, sanctions and trade wars.
“It is clear that the world is already tired of conflicting geopolitical concepts and strive for geo-economics and joint development. The Belt and Road displays much more than a complex of new opportunities for economic cooperation. The initiative reflects a strong historical demand for security, trade and prosperity of more than 120 countries,” Nazarbayev said noting Kazakhstan has supported the initiative from its inception.
The former Kazakh President also congratulated the Chinese people during the forum on the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
The biggest challenge for a new terminal at Georgia’s Port of Poti will be ensuring there are feasible transport routes for delivering goods to key markets including central Asia, a finance expert has said.
Although the Port of Poti is the main port for Georgia and offers the quickest route to the Caucasus region and central Asia, PACE Group’s terminal project will need to negotiate cargo through several countries before it reaches its destination country, stated Kenneth Angell, managing director for project finance in small and medium-sized enterprise finance at the US-based Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and team leader for the PACE Terminal Project.
Speaking exclusively to Port Strategy, Mr Angell said: “One critical and important challenge will be to be able to get the goods to different countries, say in central Asia. You may have to go through another country to reach Uzbekistan, for example.
“You’ve got to have the co-ordination of road, rail, as well as customs. That’s being discussed but it’s not a smooth flow and I think that that will be a challenge to move goods to those areas.”
PACE Group handle 97% of the bulk that goes through APM Terminals-owned Port of Poti and having purchased old property with a shipyard adjacent to the port, PACE is converting it to accommodate bulk and some limited container trade and will undertake dredging to ensure it can handle vessels up to 50,000 tons.
Approved in December and committed in January, the terminal project’s loan agreement of $50m is in the process of being negotiated and is the largest loan OPIC has made to a single project in Georgia.
Construction for the project is expected to take two years and Mr Angell said there is certainly a case for development as more traffic wants to use Poti. “No other port around the Black Sea is able to match what Poti is able to do on distance,” Mr Angell said.
He said issues including congestion at Russian ports and Georgia’s ban on wheat transport by trucks from Russia requiring transport by rail or ferry ensures the terminal will be in demand, alongside strong cargo growth for the geographies it will serve. However, container traffic development could be a challenge for the terminal.
All OPIC projects require a minimum of 25% US involvement and the organisation looks for strong, viable projects that generates cash flow and offer development benefits. OPIC, which follows the International Finance Corporation guidelines for ports, assesses project, sector and country risks, plus which of these should be borne by the shareholders and which ones should be borne by the investors.
Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) welcomes five new members, one month after its establishment.
CMA CGM, Evergreen Line, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Yang Ming and ZIM are joining the new association in order to support the digital standardization in the box shipping industry.
According to a statement, CMA CGM confirms being a founding member of DCSA and hence, being part of the Supervisory Board. Evergreen, HMM, Yang Ming and ZIM enter into DCSA as members.
With the last addition of the five mega carriers, DCSA represent a major part of the industry. COSCO is the only Top 10 container shipping company which has not yet joined the digital union.
Thomas Bagge, CEO of DCSA, commented:
“We are thrilled to have additional members joining the DCSA on our journey to drive standardisation and interoperability in the industry, with CMA CGM joining as a founding member. It is critical for our success that the standards developed will be implemented, and the commitment and engagement of many container shipping lines is therefore crucial.”
DCSA, also, announced the appointment of Henning Schleyerbach as COO, as of July. He comes from a position as Senior Director Customer Relationship Management at Hapag-Lloyd.
Andre Simha, Chairman of the Supervisory Board commented:
“We are pleased to announce that in Henning Schleyerbach we have win another strong industry profile, who as COO will drive DCSA’s operational activities. With Henning Schleyerbach and Thomas Bagge, DCSA has a strong leadership team in place which is supported by all founding members and represents container shipping at its best across all aspects.”


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Applebee’s Is Serving $1 Vodka Raspberry Lemonade All Month Long
Summer is here and so is Applebee’s June Neighborhood Drink of the Month. This time, the chain is serving up a $1 Vodka Raspberry Lemonade cocktail—so it’ll only cost you like $10 to get a good buzz.
The seasonal libation is served in a 10-ounce mug and is made with Tropicana lemonade, raspberry juice, fresh lemon juice, and vodka.
“Our guests always enjoy a refreshing vodka and lemonade cocktail, and we’re delighted to add raspberry to the lineup for the first time,” said Patrick Kirk, vice president of beverage innovation at Applebee’s, said in a statement. “The $1 Vodka Raspberry Lemonade is sunshine in a glass and light on your wallet—put that extra money toward your summer vacation.”
While you’re there, you may want to try another one of Applebee’s new offerings: Loaded fajitas—packed with sirloin steak, chicken or shrimp, smothered in cheesy queso and topped with Applewood-smoked bacon—also recently debuted on the menu.


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The food-processing industry is one of the key sectors of the Australian economy. According to a report published by the Australian government, the food industry accounts for nearly 23.9% of the country’s total workforce. Today, we will look at some of the major challenges faced by this vital component of the economy and how e-learning can be used to resolve them.
Challenge 1: Impart good training in a cost-effective manner
The report, 2020: Industry at Crossroads, produced by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and A.T. Kearney Australia, reveals that the cost of manufacturing inputs and energy prices have been increasing considerably to the detriment of the nation’s food processing industry. This, coupled with the fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar, has affected the bottom-line of several firms in this sector.
This has resulted in many companies slashing their training budgets and looking for cost-effective means to equip their people with the needed knowledge and skills. E-learning can be a boon to these organizations, as the online medium provides the best ROI on training. According to a report published by IBM, firms which utilize e-learning tools and strategies have the potential to boost productivity by up to 50%. For every $1 that a company spends, it is estimated that it can receive $30 worth of productivity.
Challenge 2: Overcome the shortage of skilled workforce
According to the Department of Employment, Government of Australia, there is an acute shortage of skilled technicians in the food-processing industry. Another report released by the Food Technology Association of Australia (FTAA) stated that there is a considerable gap in the knowledge imparted to agriculture and food science graduates and what is needed by the industry.
The online medium can go a long way in helping resolve this problem. Online modules containing animations can be used to train technical staff on the working of a machine, in an engaging manner, while simulations can be used to provide hands-on experience to the employees. For instance, a dairy firm can use animations to explain how a pasteurizer works, and watch-try-do simulations can be used to help practice the steps of the procedure to operate the machine. Also, e-learning can be used to impart the needed skills to college and university graduates. For example, concepts related to the bio-chemistry of preservation of potato chips can be taught well online.
Challenge 3: Ensure compliance to applicable laws and regulatory norms
The food-processing industry is arguably the most regulated sector of the Australian economy. Companies could lose millions of dollars in fines due to noncompliance with the applicable statutes and regulatory norms. Therefore, it is necessary to deliver effective training on the laws and rules governing the industry.
E-learning can be used to impart highly effective compliance training to the staff of food companies. You could incorporate a wide variety of instructional techniques in e-learning courses. For instance, you could use scenarios and case studies to explain the implications of violating the AS 4674-2004, which deals with design, construction, and fit-out of food manufacturing premises. E-learning can also be used to make training on regulatory standards interesting and funfilled by the use of games. For example, a food-processing unit that exports its products to the United States can evaluate the knowledge of its people on FDA norms using a learning game, based on cricket. If the employee answers a question correctly, an animated character hits a six. If he gets the answer wrong, the ball hits the stumps.
Challenge 4: Conduct operations in an environmental-friendly manner
It is a well-known fact that the food-processing industry has a profound impact on environment. According to the report Effluent management guidelines for Australian wineries and distilleries, published by the Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, a winery can produce up to five kilolitres of effluent per tonne of grapes processed. Similarly, the dairy industry and meat-processing industry generate wastes, which if not treated properly, could cause serious harm to the environment.
How can the food-processing industry conduct its operations in an eco-friendly manner? Well, its people need to be trained on environmental sustainability. Online learning nuggets containing videos are very useful to highlight the need to conserve the environment. Life cycle diagrams provide an excellent overview of different processes with their steps, while infographics could be used to explain topics in an interesting manner. Interactivities such as slideshows, flip-cards and hotspots enable correct understanding of different concepts, while animations and games “inject” life into the training.
E-learning helps food-processing companies impart highly effective training at low cost. It helps overcome the problems caused by shortage of well-trained staff and deliver good compliance training. The online medium enables firms to train their people on environmental sustainability, and thereby, conduct their operations in an eco-friendly manner. Indeed, it is the ideal medium to train the food-processing workforce. What do you think?


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Instagram Threads, the new text-based messaging app from Meta, was launched a day early on July 5, 2023. The app was originally expected to launch on July 6, 2023. According to Mark Zuckerberg, more than five million people registered accounts for the app in the first four hours of its launch. The app is available for free download on the Apple App Store and Google Play online store in over 100 countries. In this blog post, we will discuss the impressive first-day sign-up numbers of the Meta Threads app.
The app’s user-friendly interface and features contributed to its popularity among Instagram users. The app allows users to create custom groups of close friends and share photos, videos, and messages with them. To sign up for the app, users can visit the Apple App Store or Google Play online store and search for “Threads by Meta”. Once downloaded, users can sign up for Threads using their Instagram account or phone number.
The app’s features include the ability to create custom groups, set statuses to let friends know what you’re up to, and share photos, videos, and messages with close friends. The app also has an “Auto Status” feature that uses location data to automatically update a user’s status.
The Threads app is set to take on Twitter by offering a rival space for real-time conversations online. The app appears to have many similarities to Twitter, emphasizing conversations, as well as the potential to build a following and connect with like-minded people.
The first-day sign-up numbers of Meta’s Threads app were impressive, with over 5 million sign-ups in the first four hours. The app’s user-friendly interface and features make it a great option for those who want to connect with their close friends in a private and secure way. With its popularity, it is expected to gain even more sign-ups in the coming days.


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While riding my bike back to Wageningen from a Phytopathology department lab outing to the nearby zoo in Rhenen, I almost fell off my bike when I saw this farm automat. Out by the road in front of the van Laar family’s Boerderij Welgelegen there is a unique sort of farm stand. This one is not on the honor system like so many road side stands in the US, but instead anyone with a hankering for fresh eggs, recently dug potatoes or farm-made jam feeds some Euro coins into the machine, punches in a code and retrieves their goodies. I was intrigued to say the least!
Automats have a long history in both the Netherlands and the US all the way back to the early 1900s. They are basically the same concept as vending machines, although for the hot snacks someone has to prepare the food and load it into the back of the machine. Belgium is working on a fully automated frittes (French fries, or should I say Belgian fries, with mayo) vending machine so hot food automats could become much more automated in the future. Both vending machines and automats sell almost anything you can imagine, I loved seeing the fresh bait vending machines in the Northeastern US that sold live worms for fishing. Besides being adorable and fun, automats have been in the food system news recently as many fear that the current struggle for living wages in the fast food industry in the US could create an incentive for more automation and eventually decrease employment opportunities.
Update: a fun video from Fans of Flanders on bread vending machines.


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Newly-created role filled by ex-HRS EMEA head of sales and marketing
Shiji Group combines four regions together under new boss
Global hospitality technology firm Shiji Group has recruited Wolfgang Emperger in a newly-created role that combines the regions of Europe, Africa and the UK & Ireland together.
He joins as senior vice president from hotel portal HRS where he was EMEA sales and marketing vice president.
Emperger has been brought on to further grow Shiji’s business in the region.
He assumes full responsibility for all the sales, account management, customer service and operational teams, supporting Shiji’s local hospitality clients.
Shiji employs more than 750 people in the region – working with over 29,000 hotels, including IHG, Peninsula Hotels, Radisson, Minor Hotels, Mandarin Oriental, Ruby Hotels and Sircle Collection.
Chief operating officer Kevin King said: “Wolfgang has a deep knowledge of the hospitality industry and good standing with many of the largest hotel operators in the region.
“Together this makes him uniquely qualified to provide our partners with the extra-special support they need as the rapid recovery creates some of the biggest operational challenges our industry has ever faced, where technology will play an increasingly important role.”
Emperger added: “Launching the Shiji Enterprise Platform in the region will bring this unique solution to a market that needs more automation.
“I am convinced that – more than ever before in our industry – technology lies at the core of solving almost every single challenge that we are facing.”


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"Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey has apparently placed the winning bid in Thursday's bankruptcy auction to buy the Tully's Coffee chain.
Dempsey, known as "McDreamy" on the hospital-themed television drama, visited Tully's Mercer Island, as well as three other Eastside locations at Clyde Hill and downtown Bellevue this morning, according to his Twitter feed.
Making his last stop of his whirlwind tour at the Mercer Island store around noon, Dempsey spent about half-an-hour at the coffee shop, greeted by an unofficial welcoming committee of around 100 fans and onlookers, including several Mercer Island High School cheerleaders. The Los Angeles resident told onlookers that he planned to return to the Seattle area as part of an ongoing commitment to Tully's at least 4 days a month.
Island resident and Tully's CEO & President Scott Pearson, beaming with pride amidst the excitement, said he hoped the deal would receive approval from a bankruptcy judge.
"Patrick's commitment has been across-the-board," he said. "He's pledged to keep all of these folks employeed, to keep the brand growing, and to keep up the buzz ... Even though he doesn't live here, he sure acts like a local."
And the buzz reverberated through Mercer Island all afternoon. Dozens of disappointed young women and high school students streamed in and out of the store hours afterwards, said Mercer Island Tully's barista Ilya Romanoff, who informed them that Dempsey had already left the building.
While he was in the store, Dempsey ordered a single shot of espresso, but wasn't able to drink it until he was able to walk out of the store a quarter-hour later. "I felt bad that he couldn't enjoy it," Romanoff said, surprised at the excitement. "There were people already waiting here for him when I arrived for work at 11:30 a.m."
The Associated Press reports Dempsey's placed the bid through his company Global Baristas LLC and plans to keep the Tully's brand. But Starbucks, which also participated in the auction, says it's in a "back up" position to buy about half of Tully's remaining 47 stores.
A final decision on the winning bid will be determined in court on Jan. 11.


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6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from 4Geeks, BITE-CON, INIT, Knight Foundation, Recur, Base, Starlims, Grubbr, Lab22c & more
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt to keynote at eMerge Americas, as Miami Tech Month rolls along
6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Osigu’s acquisition, Zurp’s card launch, plus news from Flow, Zigazoo, Endeavor Miami and more
Who needs sleep? Miami Tech Month is off and running. Catch up!
Be where tech happens, become a member today.Become a member


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Vietnam’s T&T group plans to buy the entire annual production of cashew nuts from Guinea-Bissau, of between 150,000 and 200,000 tons under a memorandum of understanding signed on 6 August in Hanoi, Vietnamese state radio reported.
The document was signed by the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Handicrafts of Guinea Bissau, Vicente Fernandes, and by the chairman of the board and chief executive of the T&T group, Do Quang Hien.
The memorandum stipulates that the government of Guinea-Bissau is responsible for production, quality control, dispatch, deadlines and payment channels, according to Portuguese news agency Lusa.
State-run radio Voice of Vietnam reported that during the negotiations leading to the signing of the memorandum of understanding, the possibility of Guinea-Bissau importing Vietnamese rice was also discussed.
Last July, Minister Vicente Fernandes said that an official delegation would be sent to Vietnam to analyse with the central bank ways of providing funds to finance companies in the country to buy part of the production of cashew nuts that has yet to be sold.
At the time, it was estimated that more than 100,000 tons of cashew nuts were still in the hands of Guinean farmers, given the “turbulence” experienced this year in the sale of cashew nuts.
Cashew nuts are the main export product of Guinea-Bissau and the driver of economic growth, but the product is not yet processed in the country and is exported in the rough. (macauhub)


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Brussels, 9 April 2021
On the 9th of April, Drewry Shipping Consultants published a report which shows that shipping lines’ profits are booming and that this trend would most probably continue for another two years, with port congestion and container equipment shortages persisting for most of 2021.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many among the world’s biggest container shipping lines have seen their incomes skyrocket because of high freight rates and low bunkering prices.
The report predicts that, while freight rates will drop in 2022, carriers will continue to see revenues and earnings increase and that 2021 will set a new record for the industry’s profitability records. While carriers have enjoyed substantial revenue booms, ports around the world have struggled to cope with the ensuing congestion.
Drewry also forecasts a lingering timeline for a “return to normal”, while port congestion and container equipment shortages will remain an unwanted feature throughout most of 2021, further limiting the availability of capacity and leading to substantially higher average spot and contract freight rates.


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Ticketing Platform stories
Account-based Ticketing (ABT) – the continued deep dive
New forms of travel media like biometrics and ultra-wideband will be easier to adopt without drastically altering the back office.
NFTs are ready to disrupt the ticketing world
NFTs are revolutionizing the events industry by offering secure, transparent, and scam-proof ticketing solutions. Here's how they work.
Masabi receives Accel-KKR investment for better ticketing commerce solutions
The funding is set to allow the company to provide further innovation within the Fare Payments-as-a-Service market.
eBay sells out: Viagogo buys ticketing platform StubHub for billions
eBay has ridded itself of its massive ticketing marketplace StubHub – and sold it to controversial ticketing platform viagogo.
Passphere capital raise heralds new dawn of event ticketing
Kiwi start-up Passphere plans to expand its ticketing platform to the New Zealand, Australian, and US markets.
Exclusive interview: Matt Cudworth on how Ticketek crunches big numbers
Ticketek CTO, Matt Cudworth, discusses the company's migration to the cloud and how they handle peak traffic events.
Ticketek migrates to MongoDB Atlas
Ticketek says they have partnered with MongoDB to take advantage of the flexibility and elastic scalability of MongoDB Atlas.
Event ticketing platform opens NZ office
Recent research conducted by Eventbrite in conjunction with CrowdDNA shows that New Zealanders attend the most events in the Western world.


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Facebook opened registrations to test the beta version of its virtual reality world called “Facebook Horizon” and the company announced that, as a security measure, it will record everything that happens on the platform.
The company introduced Facebook Horizon in 2019, where users have their own avatar and can meet other people immersed in the game, and it is now available on Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift in its beta version.
Facebook detailed the security measures implemented in Facebook Horizon and, among other things, the company will record and buffer everything that happens to avatars and review the content in case a user reports a problem. In this sense, when users send a report, they can include captured information of what happened as evidence, according to the company in an explanatory video.
“Your Oculus glasses will capture the last minutes of your Horizon experience through a continuous buffer that is processed locally on the device and overwrites over time,” the video states.
Likewise, the company affirms that the data captured in the buffer is not stored on its servers “unless a report is sent”, although it will be able to store other data about the experience of users in Horizon in accordance with the complementary data policy of the beta of Facebook Horizon”.
In the event of harassment or problematic behavior, users are provided with a wrist tool that includes a safety button. By pressing it, users enter a “safe zone”, where they can block, silence or report problems with other users. In this sense, if users report a problem, a specialist “could remotely observe and record the situation to ensure your safety.”


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At Joina City, central Harare's prime mall, its four floors full of shops are bustling with shoppers hopping though trendy stores, but only half of its 12 000m² of office space is occupied.
It is a picture seen across much of Harare's central business district: as the economy becomes ever more dominated by retailers, office space lies empty, whereas retail space is booming. The result is a marked shift in the profile of tenants in the central business district as retailers demand more space, pushing other businesses out of the centre of the city to office parks on the northern verges of the city.
"Retail space remains in high demand, both in the CBD and suburban locations. There has been an uplift in retail prime rents for new lettings in Harare of about 60% during 2012, but the sustainability of the achieved rents is doubtful in an environment of weak consumer spending," says leading agents Knight Frank.
Take-up of office space has been poor, Knight Frank reports, and tenants are struggling to meet rent and service charges. "Voids have increased, in some buildings to over 30%," it says.
Larger property investors are now looking outside the city centre for better-quality tenants and rentals. Old Mutual, the country's largest property owner, continues to look outside the city and is building a new office complex along Borrowdale Road in Borrowdale, an affluent area just outside Harare.
Just down the road from the Old Mutual building is the site of the proposed Mall of Zimbabwe, a large mall and office park. According to investors in the project, more than 60% of the leases with tenants have already been signed. The project will provide more than 68 000m² of mostly retail space, much of which has been taken up by South African retailers. Valued at $100-million, property agents say it is the largest single private property development so far in Zimbabwe. Construction had been expected to begin this month.
Rush for retail space
According to agents, another investor recently bought Pomona, a shopping centre in Borrowdale, for $7.8-million. Sugar company StarAfrica sold its headquarters in the same area for $3.55-million.
Although Knight Frank is cautious of how long the rush for retail space in the Harare city centre can last, Old Mutual, which has the largest property holdings in the city centre, is more optimistic about the economy, which it believes will sustain retail property.
"The central business district retail sector property is arguably the most thriving property sector in Zimbabwe, partly due to macroeconomic recovery strides supporting increased consumer spending," Old Mutual says.
With consumer spending rising, property owners are looking to attract retailers and are charging higher rent. Retailers, from large supermarket chains to small, independently owned stores, now dominate the city centre. "The future outlook suggests an increased redistribution of tenants, with more client-interfacing tenants filling up CBD retail, while less front- office-orientated tenants fill up the suburban office parks as more players in the respective sector enter the market," says Old Mutual.
But estate agents paint contrasting pictures on the state of the market. Though retail space is booming, there is some worry over the rate of rent defaults. The Estate Agency Council of Zimbabwe says the rate of rent defaults has risen to 60%, well above the 20% that is considered safe.
Quality of tenants
"The quality of tenants has significantly changed since the turn from the Zimbabwean dollar to the multicurrency system," the council's chairperson Oswald Nyakunika says. "We lost quality tenants during the Zimbabwean dollar era. But we are now seeing new blue-chip tenants and survivors of the crisis." Pearl Properties, one of the country's largest property owners, recently announced it was opening a new real estate agency to respond to growing demand for quality properties from some of its clients.
Like other investors, Pearl Properties had to look outside the city for growth. It got better returns than it expected when it refurbished a mall in Greendale, where it made Pick n Pay its anchor tenant. Managing director Francis Nyambiri this week said profit in the first four months of this year was 4.64% ahead of last year, and 9.69% above the forecast. Still, the company's expenses are up about 33% as it looks to refurbish some of its properties to attract more quality tenants.
But, like many property investors, the company has had to write off a lot of debt owed by tenants who are failing to pay rent. Still, the company is not giving up on the city centre. It is spending $50-million on a new taxi rank and mall in central Harare.
It is a strategy many investors are following: buying properties and refurbishing them for better tenants. It worked for Pearl, which saw the value of its investment properties growing 9.6% to $120-million last year due to refurbishments and increased rental income.
Foreign traders without licences to be expelled
If Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has his way, thousands of foreign-owned retailers will have to shut down — from the bargain clothing stores in downtown Harare to the $100-million shopping mall that is being built uptown. The government recently published a notice giving all foreigners in the retail sector six months to clear out, saying foreigners will no longer be allowed to operate in "sectors reserved for locals", one of which is retail.
These sectors range widely from primary production of food and cash crops, transport, retail and wholesale trade to bakers, advertising agencies and even hairdressers.
All businesses in these sectors have been given six months to get a compliance certificate from the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board, which oversees implementation of the empowerment regulations. According to the notice, foreign-owned companies will not be licensed. But it is hard to see how Zanu-PF could allow expulsions.
A mass expulsion of West African traders from Harare appears unlikely for a government still keen on having friends. And, if it follows the law to the letter, the planned Mall of Zimbabwe — the largest private property development by one investor in the country — will have to stop construction. The mall, according to developers, has already signed up much of its store space to large South African retailers looking to jump in on what some see as a consumer spending boom.
The law would also have to shut down the Long Cheng Plaza, a large shopping mall built by Chinese company Anjin, which has a joint venture with the military in the Chiadzwa diamond fields.
"Any person who operates a business referred to [in the law] without an indigenisation compliance certificate with effect from January 1 2014 shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level four, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment," the notice reads.
Bargain clothing stores face closure
If the law is implemented radically, many of the bargain clothing stores that dominate downtown Harare will have to shut down. This would pander to pressure from Zanu-PF-aligned groups, among them the Affirmative Action Group and Upfumi Kuvadiki, an outfit that held demonstrations against West African store-owners in last year.
But though Zanu-PF may curry favour with those groups with the regulations, it is unlikely to actually implement the law in its radical form, according to the head of one of the country's largest retailers, who declined to be named. "In its present form, the law would make it illegal for Pick n Pay or Edgars to operate in Zimbabwe, even if their local operations are majority owned by locals. I do not think they [the government] want that," he said. "From discussions, it's clear [they want] to appear to be caring for local small businesses."
But Zweli Lunga, general manager for compliance at the National Indigenisation Economic Empowerment Board, said the regulations were meant to bar foreigners from the targeted sectors.
"We will only give indigenous Zimbabweans [a compliance certificate] because these are sectors we feel do not require huge capital investments. Foreigners who apply will be turned down and we will ask them to close shop," said Lunga. The law has some oddities; according to Lunga, a foreign-owned restaurant that does not serve local food could be exempted.
This would likely save the many Chinese restaurants in Harare. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Oswald Binha said his group backs the move, but cautioned against rash implementation. "As much as we don't want to destabilise the economy, we welcome the move and we are behind the government in implementing it. We must do it in a manner that does not cause chaos."


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Two technologies enjoying significant growth, accelerated by changing consumer trends, are streaming consumption and autonomous driving. Audiences are canceling their traditional linear cable services in their droves and shifting to consuming video over OTT. When it comes to OTT, a recent Conviva report shows us that year-on-year consumption of video over a Connected TV device (Smart TVs, consoles, streaming sticks, Set Top Boxes) is greater than both web and mobile combined.
With the success of companies such as Tesla and the significant investment that continues to be poured into the autonomous vehicle industry, many drivers look set to be making a shift to a car with some level of autonomous driving capability. The autonomous vehicle (AV) industry seems to be on a path that will reach a point whereby we are no longer required to control a car as it drives us to our destination.
At the intersection of the evolution of video consumption and autonomous driving lies 5G, a technology that promises to ‘connect virtually everyone and everything together’ and provide a seamless, low latency streaming experience.
So, what does this mean for the sports experience and Connected TV in an autonomous vehicle?
The notion that a driver may no longer be required has seen car manufacturers place more effort into reimagining the in-car experience. The recent CES 2022 was a particular hotbed for autonomous vehicle announcements. Sony unveiled the vision-S 02 concept electric SUV, with 5G driving tests having already begun in April 2021. Since CES2022, the rumours that Apple are developing an autonomous vehicle are gaining traction. If you believe the hearsay, the car manufacturer behind this could be Porsche. Not to mention that Google and Amazon are of course working on or have acquired companies that aim to build self-driving vehicles.
What’s interesting about the most recent revelations from Sony and Apple, and the efforts from Amazon and Google, is that tech and media companies have well and truly entered the space. As a result I’d expect to see some serious disruption, not just in the way a vehicle behaves, but also in the relationships we have with our vehicles.
It’s not a long shot for us to believe that today’s driving experience will largely be replaced by something entirely different, when there is no longer a requirement to be engaged in the activity of driving itself. As Sony have shown with the vision-S 2, the experience in the vehicle is likely to transform into a more casual, relaxing, and luxurious experience that is extensively personalised. Something akin to the experience you currently enjoy in your living room at home.
How closely can we compare tomorrow’s in-vehicle experience with the living room? There are very obvious differences of course. However, in the vehicle with nothing to do, while you (and perhaps friends or family) journey to your destination, it is likely that you’ll be sitting down, in a lean-back setting, enjoying some form of content that involves a screen.
Get in the driver’s seat and join the in-car entertainment raceContact us now
When it comes to Connected TV, it’s likely that larger tech companies will incorporate their own operating systems into vehicles, including Apple tvOS, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV (Fire TV Auto already exists in some vehicles). For those that don’t have experience in this space, I’d expect them to opt for third party alternatives such as RDK, Android TV (operator tier) or perhaps Vewd for automotive.
This opens up some incredibly exciting opportunities within the Sports OTT space in particular, and of course comes with its challenges.
For the fan it means that they will be in a world whereby their next live sports match could be viewed from within an autonomous vehicle. For those fans that attend the game, how about watching the highlights reel on the way home? For sports teams and leagues it provides another setting in which to engage the fan, and they’ll need to begin to think not only about the live experience being consumed within a vehicle, but also the traveling fan experience immediately before and after a game.
For the OTT platforms it means another potential distribution method to increase reach and engagement, but with it comes a multitude of technical challenges. Perhaps most importantly, device fragmentation is likely to become more of a challenge across Connected TV, as the various devices are embedded into vehicles with the aforementioned operating systems and a variety of differing hardware resources. Combined with the reality that the average lifespan of a car is likely to be greater than the average lifespan of a Smart TV and we could find that OTT platform providers are expected to build applications that support devices that are significantly older than those they are expected to support today.
It will be interesting to see how rapidly this space develops, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the larger OTT platforms are already in conversation with car manufacturers and enhancing their OTT offering to incorporate this future Connected TV experience.
It’s a very exciting world we’re moving towards, but we need to tread carefully to avoid finding ourselves in a position whereby the challenges of launching an OTT application are compounded further by the ever growing problem of device fragmentation. The optimist within me believes we can move to a place where device fragmentation is less of an issue, but the realist in me is already observing it getting more complex.


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The Mizuho Research Institute’s survey on shortage of accommodations in Japan toward the governmental goal of 40 million international visitors finds that international visitors to Japan in 2020 are expected to increase by around 10% to 38.84 million compared to 2015, and a share of those may rise from about 10% in 2015 to 20% in 2020 according to a standard scenario out of the Institute’s setting nine upward or downward scenarios.
Out of 36 markets, a share of China is expected to rise from 26% in 2015 to 42% in 2020. A share of Europe or U.S. is expected to reduce from 13% in 2015 to 9% in 2020, and a share of NIEs including Korea and Taiwan also from 49% to 39%. Estimations of international visitors by 2020 are as follows:
The standard scenario shows that the total number of guests in Japan in 2020 may increase by 10% to 550 million compared to 2015, which means about 44,000 rooms may be short in 13 prefectures. More serious conditions will be found in Tokyo (short of 17,728 rooms) and Osaka (short of 14,272 rooms). In Hokkaido, Chiba, Aichi or Kyoto, more than 1,000 rooms are expected to be short.
The map below shows expected shortage of rooms nationwide in 2020 according to the standard scenario:
The survey is based on statistics reported by Japan Tourism Agency, JNTO and IMF for Korea, Taiwan Hong Kong and Singapore as NIEs, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippine and Vietnam as ASEAN and U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.S.A., Canada and Australia as Europe or U.S.In Japanese


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Marketing tech group raises $200m
Marketing tech group You & Mr Jones has raised $200 million Series B funding and has been valued at $1.3 billion.
The funding round follows an initial $350m raised from six investors in 2015 when the company was launched to help big brands do their marketing better, faster and cheaper using technology.
Following four years of exponential growth, You & Mr Jones has built a workforce of 3,000 in 40 countries and counts Unilever, Adidas, Microsoft, Reebok, PayPal, Hertz, Marriott, Renault-Nissan, Danone and Google among its clients.
The group has made six acquisitions and 34 investments in 21 tech companies.
“We launched You & Mr Jones in 2015 based on the strong belief that due to the mobile revolution clients needed a totally new kind of marketing partner: one that was expert in both brand and technology,” said founder and CEO David Jones.
“Since then, we have seen a radical realignment of the marketing industry, with massive declines in the valuations of the established order as they have fundamentally failed to adapt, and the arrival of interesting new entrants – even including the head of the largest traditional legacy business who launched last year emulating our positioning.
“Our focus is to further scale our ability to use technology to deliver better, faster and cheaper marketing for our clients and to capitalise on the huge opportunity that the market disruption affords us.”
Returning investor Baillie Gifford also has major stakes in Amazon, Tencent, Alibaba, Tesla and Netflix.
Its head of global equities James Anderson said: “David and the team demonstrated an early understanding that the marketing industry was being fundamentally disrupted by technology and they have created a compelling proposition for the world’s leading brands.”
Ben Silberman, co-founder and CEO of Pinterest says: “You & Mr Jones sit in a unique position at the intersection of the brand and tech worlds.
“They have been able to introduce us to leading global brands and help us better understand what brands need from technology platforms like Pinterest.”
Mich Mathews, You & Mr Jones board member and former Global CMO of Microsoft, says: “The You & Mr Jones team saw this very early, at a time when the traditional legacy businesses were still announcing record results, and this has given them a huge head-start on everyone else.
“They’ve scaled impressively since launch and are now able to deliver a brand new model for global brands and help them deliver technology-driven 21st century marketing.”


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Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies have made investors optimistic about the future. However, many analysts and investors are hoping for the same as last year when the crypto coins recorded a new all-time high.
While thinking about the crypto boom period, a Twitter user with the username @cocochaneladair shared the previous chart of Dogecoin when the cryptocurrency reached $0.74.
“Can’t wait to see this again #Dogecoin #DogecoinToTheMoon,” the Twitter user said.
The tweet caught the attention of outspoken Dogecoin founder Billy Markus, who retweeted in response, saying that there is a chance that DOGE enthusiasts will not see the crypto coin at its all-time high again.
According to Marcus, Dogecoin had a fantastic year that resulted in many achievements for the cryptocurrency, including massive adoption among retail and institutional investors.
“Might never see [DOGE at $0.74] again. 2021 was a weird f.cking year, and dogecoin was swept up in the dystopia,” Marcus said.
Has Dogecoin Really Fallen?
The Dogecoin founder makes a valid point. Currently, the memecoin lacks a fixed supply like other digital currencies in the market.
Despite calls from the community, project developers have ignored these calls because any effort to correct the issue may jeopardise the coin’s security.
In addition, the dog-themed memecoin could hit up $0.74 last year due to the cryptocurrency’s massive support from famous Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
On several occasions, before the coin hit its peak, Musk made positive tweets about the memecoin, which bolstered its price.
Currently, Musk’s actions toward Dogecoin have earned him a $258 billion lawsuit, with the plaintiff alleging that he promoted a pyramid scheme in the form of DOGE.
DOGE Continues to Slump
After hitting an all-time high of $0.74, the memecoin has declined quickly, breaking the hearts of many investors who thought it could hit $1. Since the beginning of 2022, things have not gotten any better as the token has dropped to 6 cents, representing a 92% fall from its all-time high.


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Three law firms filed a class-action lawsuit against payment processor RBS Worldpay this week, following reports that an intrusion into the company's network resulted in the brazen theft of $9 million from ATMs in 49 cities worldwide.
On November 8, low-level thieves — known as "cashers" — descended on more than 130 ATMs in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Montreal, Moscow, Hong Kong and 43 other cities and depleted 100 accounts of about $9 million, Fox News reported this week. At the same time, online criminals lifted the restrictions on withdrawals that would have limited the losses to $500 per card, the report stated.
RBS Worldpay, the U.S. payment processing arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland, learned two days later that the financial information used in the theft was stolen from its servers. Not until December 23, two days before Christmas, did the company notify its customers that the personal and financial details of 1.5 million cardholders and the social security numbers of 1.1 million workers had been compromised.
"RBS was intimately familiar with industry-wide duties and standards regarding data security," a copy of the lawsuit obtained by SecurityFocus states. "Ironically, as part of its business, RBS offers data breach protection services to its merchant clients."
The suit follows other legal actions filed this year against insecure payment processors. Last week, a Pennsylvania law firm filed a lawsuit against payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, following a major intrusion that tapped into the company's network, which processes approximately 100 million payment transactions a month.
The lawsuit could potentially make public details about how attackers gained access to the processors' networks as well as the size of the thieves' data haul. Two years ago, following the disclosure of a breach of retail giant TJX, numerous lawsuits were filed on behalf of banks and consumers. Evidence presented in one lawsuit revealed that the number of accounts exposed by the compromise was double -- nearly 100 million -- what had publicly been stated.
The lawsuit against RBS Worldpay involves law firms in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington D.C. The lawsuit combines earlier individual suits filed by the firms on behalf of their clients.
If you have tips or insights on this topic, please contact SecurityFocus.
Posted by: Robert Lemos


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Lawrence Stroll's Racing Point F1 outfit will become the works Aston Martin team from 2021 following the Canadian billionaire's acquisition of a 16.7% stake in the luxury car manufacturer.
It was announced on Friday that Stroll and a consortium of investors will invest approximately 182 million pounds in Aston Martin and help revive the fortunes of the ailing manufacturer whose share price and profits have plummeted since the company's floating in October 2018.
Overall, Aston Martin is set to raise a total of 500 million pounds which will include 318 million pounds derived from a rights issues subscribed by the company's shareholders, an injection that should raise Stroll's stake in the company to 20 percent.
Stroll's consortium will also give £55.5m in short-term working capital to Aston which will be refunded at a later date, while the Canadian will join the company's board as executive chairman.
Aston Martin Chief Executive Andy Palmer said Stroll who made his fortune in the fashion industry with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors will bring several benefits to the automaker.
"He brings with him his experiences and access to his Formula 1 team," Palmer told Reuters.
"We've talked a lot in the past few years about wanting to be clearly rooted in luxury and obviously Mr Stroll knows an awful lot about luxury."
As a by-product of Stroll's investment in Aston, the company will terminate its current partnership with Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2020 season and receive equity in Racing Point F1, which will become the works Aston Martin team.
The legendary manufacturer has also agreed a five-year commercial sponsorship deal with Racing Point.
Following today's announcement, Red Bull Racing said that it has agreed "to release Aston Martin from its Formula One exclusivity clause which in turn has allowed it to generate the necessary investment required to re-finance and pursue alternative opportunities within the sport."
Furthermore, Red Bull Advanced Technologies will continue to work with Aston Martin in order to deliver the Valkyrie hypercar, with the first cars scheduled for delivery at the end of the year.


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When Wal-Mart opened its store last year, it didn't exactly devastate the neighborhood. Instead it filled the very space Macy's abandoned and brought cheaper-priced items to the area. It also brought 450 jobs; the average pay is more than $9.50 according to Kanelos, just above the $8.71 average wages earned by unionized workers in a typical Vons or Safeway. For an area with unemployment rates in the double-digits, Wal-Mart seems to many a godsend.
"For years the complaint has been that many small mom-and-pop stores often provide poor quality at high prices and in many instances with service that is not acceptable. But you go into Wal-Mart and you find the prices are good, the service is great, and the store is spotlessly clean," said former L.A. Police Chief-turned-city councilman Bernard Parks, an opponent of the anti-Wal-Mart ordinance, to the Business Journal last year.
Future poor neighborhoods could benefit from Wal-Mart's expansion as well, in part because of the land-intense nature of its superstores. Each one, which will take up 200,000 square feet in space, requires 25 acres of land. The best source of available land? Some of the abandoned buildings that dot much of South Central and East L.A.
Will any of this come into play when L.A. officials gets around to considering the anti-big box ordinance? Likely not.


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Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s Essential reveals ‘Gem’ phone with completely new design
Think all smartphones nowadays look the same? Andy Rubin’s Essential showcases the next big evolution of phones.
Essential, led by Android co-founder Andy Rubin, on Wednesday showcased prototypes of what could be the next design standard for phones. Dubbed as GEM, these smartphones have unique slender design. The screen is rather tall than wide, almost half of width of current brick-like large screen phones.
The phones are seen with new UI optimised to make most of the new full screen. The UI gives access to multiple apps simultaneously. The screen design allows bigger real estate to these multi-tasking applications.
Another hardware innovation is the floating colors design. Called ColorShift, the rear panel changes colors when you look at it from different angles. The panel is quite different from the usual reflective panels we see on some of the premium and mid-range smartphones. There's a cut out for camera on the top left corner but that's pretty much similar to several punch-hole camera design.
Essential is expected to reveal more information about its prototype in the coming weeks. The company said it had "been working on a new device that's now in early testing with our team outside the lab. We look forward to sharing more in the near future."
Even as Essential's new phone is far away from an official launch, but the new prototypes are certainly unique. The industry is likely to give a good look at the feasibility of the design. It may be recalled Essential was the first company to launch a notched Essential Phone, long before Apple iPhone X made the design mainstream.
Andy Rubin's Essential has had a rocky start since its inception. While the co-founder was caught in multiple controversies, Essential had to cut employees and abandon plans for next gen Essential Phone 2 owing to cash crunch. The company, however, seems to be back on track. Interestingly enough, Essential is looking to expand its footprints to India. The company recently posted job openings for designers and engineers in Bengaluru.
Catch all the Latest Tech News, Mobile News, Laptop News, Gaming news, Wearables News , How To News, also keep up with us on Whatsapp channel,Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. For our latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.


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Peugeot Is Preparing for a U.S. Comeback as Nafta Deal Emerges
(Bloomberg) -- PSA Group, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, will decide in the coming months whether to return to the U.S. market, a move that will depend in part on the newly inked North American trade deal.
“We are now preparing for our U.S. comeback,” Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavaras said in an interview on Bloomberg TV, ahead of the Paris Motor Show. The trade accord is part of what the carmaker needs to know before making the final decision, he said, calling the new trade deal “very timely.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign a successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement that will make modest revisions to a deal he once called a “disaster,” easing uncertainty for companies reliant on tariff-free commerce. The 24-year-old Nafta will now be superseded by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, covering a region that trades more than $1 trillion annually.
PSA has been plotting a return to the American market within a decade -- first with a car-sharing service, then actually selling vehicles -- after leaving in 1991. The company has already started engineering its future models to meet U.S. safety and emissions rules, yet hasn’t decided whether to mount a comeback with the brands Peugeot, Citroen, or its luxury line DS. The French carmaker also owns the Opel and Vauxhall brands, which it acquired from General Motors Co. last year.
“We will adapt our plans and our strategy to the conditions that will be set by the U.S. administration,” Tavares said. Plans won’t be accelerated as the company wants to go step-by-step after learning about consumer expectations and preparing engineering and distribution strategies, he said.
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.


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JAB Holding Co. has agreed to buy a majority stake in National Veterinary Associates for an undisclosed price, the companies announced this June in a joint statement, marking the German-owned firm’s second major investment in the U.S. pet care sector this year.
Founded in 1996 by Dr. Stanley Creighton, National Veterinary Associates is one of the world’s largest veterinary and pet care service companies. It is the owner-operator of more than 670 veterinary hospitals and 70 pet resorts in 43 states, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and employs 2,500 veterinarians and 4,000 other staff members.
In February, JAB bought Compassion-First Pet Hospitals for $1.2 billion. Compassion-First operates specialty, emergency, and general practice veterinary hospitals in a dozen states.
The NVA purchase puts JAB more directly in competition with Mars Inc. Mars not only is one of the world’s biggest sellers of pet food with its Pedigree, Iams, and Royal Canin brands, but also has been acquiring veterinary clinic chains in recent years, purchasing VCA Animal Hospitals for $9.1 billion in 2017 and AniCura Holding AB in Europe last year.
Companion animal practices are seen as a relatively safe investment offering respectable returns. Pet care spending in 2018 reached a record high of $72.56 billion, compared with $69.51 billion in 2017, an increase of over 4%, according to the American Pet Products Association. Veterinary care spending accounted for the second-highest source of spending in the pet care industry at $18.11 billion, surpassing growth in all other categories with an increase of 6.1% from 2017.
NVA is being sold by the private equity group of Ares Management and its minority partner OMERS Private Equity to JAB Investors—an investment vehicle comprised of JAB Consumer Fund and JAB Holding.
JAB Holding is owned by the Reimann family—one of the wealthiest families in the world, according to Forbes. The company has a controlling interest in several food and beverage companies, including Einstein Bros. Bagels, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
Lire la suite: www.avma.org


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Microsoft is reinventing itself with innovative products that looks behind the core of the company and maybe looks a bit like what rival Google has been trying to do for a while now. However, we don’t expect most of the new Microsoft announcements to come to India or work here, as the Redmond-based company hasn’t really looked at India as a market for products like Surface.
For instance, while the super-intelligent Cortana has made its way to the PC, Microsoft’s voice-activated service is yet to make its way into the Indian market, at least not in a way users can use it out of the box. While you can get it to work in India, it has taken its time to be relevant for the Indian users. So we doubt if the feature on web will be available in India from Day 1. Interestingly, Microsoft seems to be pushing Cortana on the web like a replacement for the Start Menu. In fact, it seems to be able to do everything the Start Menu can.
An Indian launch for the HoloLens, a unique headset that lets users view and interact with three-dimensional images, is also unlikely. None of the VR devices are available in India at the moment directly, with the exception of the may be the affordable Google Cardboard.
It’s three versions old, but Microsoft has not yet brought in Surface to India. So it would be foolhardy to think they will do so for the larger, more expensive Surface Hub, a team collaboration device. The one thing that we are sure to get is the free upgrade to Windows 10. But don’t go ahead for a free upgrade if you are not sure whether you are running an authentic version of Windows or not. If you got a local PC guy to load the OS on your assembled desktop, the chances are you have no chance of an upgrade. However, for those who will get to upgrade free there will be a lot of new stuff on offer. The most exciting at the moment seems to be the new browser, given that it’s time someone got us to get back to Internet Explorer. The annotation feature is really cool, especially for those who still have to use Internet Explorer. For others, we have been doing this for a few years with Evernote and other apps.
Overall, while there are a lot of new features like continuum and universal apps, Microsoft seems to have lost an opportunity to awe its large user base with some cutting edge features.


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Sculley took over Apple from founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and made Apple's Macintosh personal computer almost as well known across the globe as Pepsi-Cola.
Sculley, 54, had fallen into disfavor in recent months, however, as Apple became mired in a personal computer industry price war that saw both its profits and its stock price plummet.
In July Apple reported its worst quarterly loss ever, $188 million, and Sculley stepped down as chief executive, but he retained the chairmanship.
Veteran Apple manager Michael Spindler became chief executive and has run the company's day-to-day operations out of its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters while Sculley oversaw future planning from an office in Connecticut.
Sculley is being succeeded as chairman by A.C. Markkula, 51, a vice chairman and one of Apple's founders.
Twenty-four hours before Sculley resigned Friday, the company reported a 97 percent drop in third-quarter earnings from a year earlier, to $2.7 million, among the weakest results in the company's history.
After reaching a high of $70 a share in February 1992, Apple stock closed Friday in the wake of Sculley's resignation at $28.25, up $4.50.
Analysts explained the jump by noting that most observers had expected Apple to show a small loss for its latest quarter rather than the $2.7 million profit. Sculley's exit, they said, had been expected since early summer, when he stepped down as chief executive. Since then Apple has laid off 2,500 workers.
Predictions of a small loss for this quarter had been predicated on the price war that has hit virtually all computer-makers since it began in June 1992.
Starting with a move by Houston-based Compaq Computer Corp. to slash its IBM-compatible personal computer prices almost in half, the computer industry has seen repeated rounds of price cuts.
The result has been plunging profit margins and weak earnings even as sales continue to be brisk.
For example, Apple's slim $2.7 million profit came on record revenues of $2.14 billion, up from $1.77 billion a year earlier, dramatizing the industry's narrow margins.
When the period of weak profits set in, Sculley was deeply involved in futuristic projects that he has repeatedly said are the key to the company's survival.
Much of those efforts have focused on Newton, the company's newly released "personal digital assistant" that incorporates handwriting recognition and a number of software programs in a hand-held computer.
Apple has sold only about 50,000 of the Newtons at a suggested retail price of $800. Many of the early reviews have complained that the machine's handwriting recognition is error-prone.
By contrast, in 1984, the year Sculley directed the introduction of the Macintosh, the company sold 1 million of the machines at about $2,400 each.
In a prepared statement Friday, Sculley said, "I've had some wonderful years at Pepsi, an extraordinary journey at Apple, and now I'm ready to head off to new challenges." He added, "I'm tremendously grateful for the support of so many phenomenal Apple people. I wish everyone at Apple great success in the years ahead."
In recent talks to stock analysts, Spindler has focused on the company's plans to follow the highly popular Macintosh with machines based on the PowerPC microprocessors being produced in a cooperative venture with International Business Machines Corp. and Motorola Inc.
In response to Sculley's resignation, Spindler praised his predecessor for his "intelligence, vision and profound understanding of the incredible potential of high technology."


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Fruit is flying out of many a display case at Chicago-area chicken and fish takeout joints.
It's not a health thing. Wrong spots for that.
Chicagoans are rushing the restaurants to get their hands on taffy grapes — candy- or frosting-coated seedless green grapes with a nut topping that's made to taste like a taffy apple.
Folks are buying them in 25- to 30-piece containers in multiples at the shops.
"People buy three, four, five at a time," said Eric Gilbert, a cook at a Bronzeville Harold's Chicken. "We always get calls from people before they come in to make sure we have them."
Those customers need to act fast, he said.
Gilbert expected the 40 containers that had just arrived at the 124 E. 35th St. store on a recent Tuesday evening would be gone before close of business that day.
Vendors across the city — from restaurants to barber shops and beauty salons, from parks to comedy nights at clubs — all say they see the same demand and sell out their inventory every time.
Though their origin isn't quite clear, the grapes — around for about six years — are a South Side thing that has now hit the West Side of the city and the south suburbs. And it's spreading.
Makers are using the technique with other fruits and branching out with other flavors, such as cookies and cream, and red velvet.
The demand has restaurant owners scrambling to link with suppliers of the labor-intensive snacks — each piece is hand-dipped.
Makers are often one-man or one-woman operations, some working from their homes. But the snack's increasing popularity is leading some to become full-time operations with employees.
At the suggestion of a Wingz Around the World restaurant, Dominique Bryant shifted her Upcake Cupcakes business from baked goods to taffy grapes two years ago.
Bryant now offers grapes, pineapple and strawberries, selling to 21 stores — including 14 Sharks Fish & Chicken locations that came aboard in November — in Chicago, Dolton, Harvey, Matteson and Maywood.
In the past few months, business has doubled, and she's had to hire five employees to help make, package and deliver the 1,000 to 1,500 containers a week.
"It got to the point where I was out until midnight delivering grapes," said Bryant, who lives in the Grand Crossing area and also runs a day care business.
Another six restaurants and grocery stores are on a waiting list as she adds employees.
Sales have typically been driven by word of mouth and social media. Now, the treats are higher profile, with UberEats users seeing them listed on menus.
Tamara Brown said she began creating taffy grapes as an outgrowth of her event-planning business in 2011, taking inspiration from a grape, nut and goat cheese platter she'd seen and riffing on that for a sweets table for a client.
She took to the kitchen to pull together ingredients for her vision, calling on her grandmother for tips, she said. And the vanilla-coated, mixed-nut-topped grapes were a hit at events she catered. Attendees wanted to know where they could buy them.
"I didn't even have a name for them," said Brown, a project manager for Pepsi. "But the response was overwhelming. The business part of me started thinking that I need to get these out there and start marketing."
Brown named that part of the business Nadia's Gourmet Grapes and delved into other flavors. Nadia's now has more than 30 toppings, including Key lime, banana pudding, toffee, cookies and cream, and red velvet. They are fully robed in toppings, while most taffy grapes on the market are half dipped.
Business was going so well that Brown opened a store at 841 W. 103rd St. in 2015. She hired her mother and three other workers to staff it. Recently, she's begun selling through takeout restaurants, although only Nadia's original nut-topped grapes are available in those outlets.
Her customers include five Sharks stores; among them, Super Sharks Fish & Chicken, 8306 S. South Chicago Ave., whose owner contacted her in April after customers kept asking him to carry taffy grapes.
"I had so many customers come and ask, 'Do you guys sell taffy grapes?' I had to go to Google and look it up," said Ayman Mohd, who orders 200 to 250 cups of Nadia's grapes a week and sells them for $4.39 in 10-ounce cups at his stores in Chicago, Calumet City, Homewood and Harvey.
Eat. Watch. Do.
"They always move fast," he said.
The grapes, in 12-ounce cups, sell for $6 at Brown's 2,200-square-foot shop. She moves about 600 cups per month there, where customers are limited to three of the ready-to-go containers. Nadia's also sells online and does custom orders.
Brown said she is aiming to get her products into the likes of Mariano's and wants to move beyond the flavors that are already offered.
There's a concept grape she's particularly excited about: maple and bacon.
"We use our creativity," she said. "We see what folks like to eat. And if the combo is right and we can mix it up and put it on a grape, we will."
Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.


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Quế Lâm Group will cooperate with a Japanese corporation to build a microbiological factory in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province next year. Photo for illustration. — VNA/VNS Photo
HÀ NỘI — A fertiliser company is teaming up with Sky Life, a Japanese corporation to build a microbiological factory in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.
The announcement was made by Nguyễn Hồng Lam, chairman of Quế Lâm Group's board of directors.
The 15ha plant has an estimated capacity of 5,000 tonnes of microorganisms per year and will be built in 2020 to serve fertiliser production, animal husbandry and environmental treatment.
The production of microorganisms in Việt Nam is important and necessary to reduce costs for farmers, according to Lam.
He said the plant will include a complex area including breeding, cultivation, processing and ecotourism with an investment capital of VNĐ500 billion (US$21.7 million).
Quế Lâm Group is among the leading firms producing and trading organic fertiliser. It is now operating nine organic fertiliser plants across Việt Nam, providing 500,000 tonnes of products each year.
Lâm said the group will soon increase its organic fertiliser production capacity to one million tonnes per year.
The company aims to produce 1.5 million tonnes of organic fertiliser by 2020, two million tonnes by 2025 and 3.5 million tonnes by 2035. — VNS


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HSBC Sri Lanka has been named the ‘Best Consumer Internet Bank’ for the sixth consecutive year and ‘Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Bank’ for the fourth year by Global Finance, in its competition of the World’s Best Internet Banks 2011.
Other winners in the category of ‘Best Internet Banks’ included HSBC Brunei and Hong Kong, while ‘Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks’ were awarded to HSBC Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Vietnam. Regionally, HSBC was awarded ‘Best On-line Cash Management,’ ‘Best Website Design,’ ‘Best Integrated Corporate Bank Site’ and ‘Best Information Security Initiatives’.
“Internet banking is another first that was introduced by HSBC locally and I am glad that our customers see this platform as innovative, convenient and cost-effective that provides superior value to all our stakeholders. The internet has changed the conventional method of banking for consumers and businesses today and made banking more convenient than before. We hope our award winning internet platform will create more customer confidence and re-define personal internet banking services as well as corporate and institutional banking services to enable custom solutions at one’s fingertips,” HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO Nick Nicolaou said.
The reason for winning is due to HSBC’s continuous commitment to developing, and providing its customers with world-class solutions through its internet banking platform.
In Global Finance’s awards programme, winning banks were selected based on the strength of strategy for attracting and servicing customers on-line, success in getting customers to use web offerings, growth of online customer base, breadth of product offering, evidence of tangible benefits gained from internet initiatives and website design and functionality.
Winners were chosen among entries evaluated by a world-class judging panel. The first round winners will be published in the September issue of Global Finance. Regional and global winners will be announced at an awards ceremony held in New York and published in the December issue of Global Finance.


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The skies of England may still be
overcast, but the sun was out on Thursday night thanks to a bright
appearance by Catherine Tyldesley.The
Coronation Street star arrived in fifties vintage style to the British
Animal Honours wearing a yellow lace dress by Azagury.And with her hair pulled back into a retro updo, Catherine certainly pulled off the Doris Day look she wanted.
The actress tweeted a picture
Shining: Catherine Tyldesley brought the sun out in a fifties looking lace dress of bright yellow
of her outfit before setting off for the awards show: 'Loving my
#azagury dress #animalhonours #dorisday :-) (sic)'.Catherine finished off the outfit with some simple nude court shoes and a rose pink lip colour.Joining her at the event was co-star, Paula Lane, who also looked to the past decades for style insipiration.
Doris Day: The actress's aim to look like the Hollywood legend certainly came through
Vibrant: Paula Lane joined Catherine for the awards ceremony in similarly stand out fashion
And Paula too made a vibrant statement in a purple dress with red accessories.The Corrie actresses and travelled down to London together for the event at Elstree Studios.Catherine
The colour purple: The Corrie star also looked
to the past for style inspiration, pairing her midi dress with red
accessories and shoes
and Paula - who play Eva Price and Kylie Pratt in the long-running ITV1
soap - rubbed shoulders with a number of other British TV
Wearing his heart on his shirt: Rupert Grint arrives to the awards in romantic fashion
Cute pair: Ashleigh Butler's cream babydoll dress complemented her famous dog Pudsey's light colouring
Potter star, Rupert Grint arrived in romantic fashion, wearing a heart
design T-shirt with a blazer jeans and dirty Converse trainers.
Ashleigh Butler's outfit was far less grungy, choosing a cream babydoll
dress that complemented her talented dog Pudsey's shaggy coat.
Kelly Holme showcased looked chic in a floral print shift dress, but
her make-up looked a little heavy duty thanks to an abundance of black
Kate Garraway's simple teal
Heavy duty: Dame Kelly Holmes went slightly OTT with the kohl eyeshadow but her outfit was tasteful feminine
Reserved: Kate Garraway and Arlene Phillips were stylishly dignified in their dresses Thursday night
number and Arlene Phillips' floral dress may have looked completely
different but they similarly gave each wearer a stylishly dignified air.And
Anita Dobson and Brian May proved they were as loved up as ever,
holding each other close as they attended the event at Elstree studios.The
awards event is presented by Paul O'Grady and celebrates Britain’s most
extraordinary animals and the people who dedicate their lives to them.The show will broadcast Thursday 18th April at 8pm on ITV.
Still going strong: Married since 2000, together since the eighties, Anita Dobson and Brian May looked as loved up as ever
- 2013/04/12(金) 10:21:07|