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THE border trade between Myanmar and China through Muse border trade camp in Northern Shan State is projected to hit US$ 5 billion with an export volume of US$ 3.5 billion and US$ 1.5 billion of import volume in the fiscal year 2019- 2020 which started on 1 October, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The two neighbours’ trade volume via Muse border trade camp amounted to nearly US$ 650 million in the current financial year, increased by US$ 290 million when compared to the same period last year, the ministry said.
Total trade volume between Myanmar and China through four border gates during the current financial year reached over US$ 750 million, up by more than US$ 300 million when compared to the same period of the previous year.Border trade between Myanmar and China has seen a significant growth over the past couple of years.But due to import ban on rice, sugar and maize by China and ongoing armed clashes in Northern Shan State and Kachin State, the border trade volume between Myanmar and China via Muse border trade camp which is one of the biggest overland trading routes in Myanmar has been declined slightly when compared to previous years.China suspended the import of some agricultural products from Myanmar. The suspension resulted in a sharp drop in trade at Muse border trade camp, according to an official from the ministry.
China is the major rice export market for Myanmar and China offered Myanmar to officially purchase rice through border gates between the two countries, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation.
Myanmar conducts border trade with China through four border checkpoints in Muse and Chinshwehaw in Shan State, and Lwejel and Kanpeiktee in Kachin State. Myanmar mainly exports beans and pulses, sesame, maize, rubber, and marine products to China while pesticides, fertilizers, household items, and foodstuff are imported into the country through Muse border trade camp.In an attempt to boost bilateral trade between Myanmar and China, the two neighbours have been organizing trade exhibitions, seminars and workshops on a rotating basis.
Around 20 per cent of Myanmar’s total trade is conducted through its border gates and the remaining 80 per cent is done by sea route.
Myanmar’s total foreign trade amounted to 4.59 billion US dollars as of 15 November. 15 this FY, with 2.3 billion US dollars’ import value. During the period, Myanmar’s trade with foreign countries via sea route was valued at US$ 3.3 billion while its border trade saw US$ 1.29 billion.
According to the figures from the ministry, border trade between Myanmar and China amounted to US$ 4.3 billion in over eight months of the fiscal year 2018-2019 which ended in September. As of June this year, Myanmar’s exports through border checkpoints were valued at US$ 3 billion while its imports were worth US$ 1.3 billion.Both of these figures are down from last year, with the export number reaching US$ 2.6 billion and imports saw US$ 0.98 billion in 2018.Border trade volume between Myanmar and China via Muse border gate stood more than US$ 5.68 billion in the financial year 2017-2018 and over US$ 4.53 billion in the fiscal year 2018-2019.
China’s investment in Myanmar during the period from 1988 to date was valued at more than US$ 20 billion which is equivalent to about 26 per cent of total FDI in the country.Around 1,780 foreign enterprises from 50 countries around the world were permitted to invest in 12 sectors, with the total amount of US$ 81,597.743 million during the period from 1988 to the end of August 2019.Myanmar received US$ 9.4 billion of foreign direct investment in 2015-2016 FY, US$ 6.6 billion of FDI in 2016-2017 and US$ 5.7 billion of FDI in 2017- 2018 FY.
The largest sector of FDI came to oil and gas sector, accounting for 27.48 per cent of the total foreign investments, followed by the power sector with 25.95 per cent and the manufacturing sector with 14.01 per cent.-GNLM


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Coon Rapids Christmas in a Small Town promises to once again be a magical experience. In its 13th year, event organizers are adding live reindeer, lighted Christmas parade and drive-in movie to the line-up of family-friendly activities on Saturday, Dec. 5.
“We’ve been trying to get a reindeer and lighted Christmas parade set up here for years, and this year we pulled it off,” said Gayla McCool who has been on the Christmas in a Small Town Committee since it began. “It’s every kids’ dream to get to see a live reindeer at Christmas.”
Iowa Reindeer Rental will be downtown from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. with a live reindeer hooked up to a magical red sleigh. Families can sit in the sleigh and take their photo with the beautiful animal. Make sure to bring your own camera or cell phone.
The holiday shopping kick-off will begin earlier this year with retailers extending their hours from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. for holiday shopping. As you shop, stroll up and down the streets of downtown enjoying the holiday décor that will fill the windows and sidewalks. Businesses will fill storefront windows with finely ornamented trees. Creatively crafted pallet trees will be placed at businesses across town and an online contest will let the community judge their favorite trees. Look for the contest link to appear on the Main Street Coon Rapids (MSCR) Facebook page after Thanksgiving. The newly landscaped boulevard will also feature five lighted trees and a new 14’ lit evergreen.
If you’d prefer to ride instead of stroll, TAGA Ranch owned by Toni Robbins will be offering horse-drawn carriage rides from 1-5 p.m.
A Giving Tree will once again be placed at Frohlich’s SuperValu. Grab a tag(s) from the tree if you want to purchase Christmas gifts for kids in need. Frohlich’s staff will also have pre-filled bags of groceries that can be purchased for the Coon Rapids and Bayard Food Pantry. Stop by the Raccoon River Social Club (RRSC) to pick up a grab-and-go kids’ craft with cookie decorating and ornament making kits. Pre-order details are posted on the event webpage (www.coonrapidsiowa.com). While at the RRSC, purchase a raffle ticket for the Mighty Clover 4H Club’s Grocery Grab and Dash. The winning raffle ticket holder will be given one minute to dash around Frohlich’s SuperValu and put as many grocery items in his/her cart as possible. A second grab and dash participant will do the same but the grocery items will be donated to the Coon Rapids and Bayard food pantry. The Mighty Clovers will pay for the groceries for both participants.
Local restaurants will be open all day and into the evening offering Christmas dinners and other tasty meals. Make sure to spread some holiday cheer to our local chefs by supporting their businesses (free delivery, dine-in or take-out available). This year there will not be a community meal at the Legion building.
As the sun begins to set, get settled in your lawn chairs for Coon Rapids first lighted Christmas parade. The parade will be led by Coon Rapids finest, sirens blaring and lights blazing. Mr. and Mrs. Claus will make a grand appearance riding in a horse drawn carriage at the end of the parade. The parade will begin in front of Thomas Rest Haven on Main Street at 5:30 p.m. and travel up and down the streets of town ending back on Main Street. Check out the event webpage (www.coonrapidsiowa.com) for the exact parade route and details to register an entry. All varieties of vehicles are welcome to enter. The theme of the parade is “Christmas Movies”. Parade staging will begin at 4:30 p.m.
Following the parade, a drive-in movie will be set up in the Hartung parking lot (between 5th and 6th Avenues south of Main Street). Pile your kids or grandkids into the family vehicle to enjoy a showing of “The Grinch” provided by the Coon Rapids Library. Parking will begin at 7:00 p.m. and the show will start at 7:30 p.m.
Christmas in a Small Town is hosted by Main Street Coon Rapids and financially sponsored by over 40 local businesses. Check the event webpage for a list of sponsors. MSCR asks everyone to practice social distancing and wear a mask if that is not possible during Christmas in a Small Town.
In addition to the day’s festivities, MSCR and the Coon Rapids Development Group have employed Santa’s helpers to surprise local shoppers with $20 Coon Buck Gift Certificates between Thanksgiving and Christmas. If Santa’s helpers catch you patronizing a local business, you’ll be rewarded with more spending money. Over $2,500 will be given away.
Santa has also volunteered one of his Elf on the Shelf staffers to spend time watching over the community’s children from local retailers. Rumor has it, that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, his elf will move around to different storefront windows around town. MSCR will post his/her whereabouts on their Facebook page daily once he/she is discovered. Take your kids and grandkids to see the elf and tell him/her what good little boys and girls they’ve been this year.

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* Colgate-Palmolive Co., the consumer products company, extended its $14-a-share offer for the common stock of Vipont Pharmaceutical Inc. until Feb. 22.
* R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, a commercial printer, said the Federal Trade Commission had requested additional information on the company's proposed $487.5 million acquisition of Meredith-Burda Cos., Des Moines, a printing and publishing company.
* Edizione Holding S.p.A., the holding company of Italy's Benetton family, said it would sell its 50 percent holding in Prudential Holding S.p.A., an insurance company, to the Abielle Groupe of France.
* Enstar Group Inc., Montgomery, Ala., said it planned to distribute and sell all common shares of its American Savings and Loan Association subsidiary.
* Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., said the tender offer for Jaguar P.L.C. by its British subsidiary, Ford Motor Co. Ltd., would end on Feb. 28. It also said it would take a fourth-quarter charge of $424.3 million for the sale of its Rouge Steel Company.
* GAF Corp., Wayne, N.J., a chemicals company, completed the sale of certain chemicals businesses to Rhone-Poulenc Inc., Monmouth Junction, N.J., for $480 million plus assumption of certain liabilities.
* Meridian National Corp., Toledo, Ohio, a steel company, said it ended talks with Recontek Inc. over the acquisition of 80 percent of Meridian Environmental Services Inc.Continue reading the main story
* Walbro Corp., Cass City, Mich., a maker of fuel-system components, said it would buy Sharon Manufacturing Corp., a unit of Cooper Industries, Houston. Terms were not disclosed.Continue reading the main story


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Are mobile payments the future? COVID-19 could see it go either way
While the COVID-19 pandemic may have shuttered businesses, it has been a boon for most digital services, such as remote work apps, e-learning tools, and e-commerce solutions. One digital technology, however, isn’t faring too well – mobile payments.
Since the beginning of the year, Chinese mobile payment vendors have seen their numbers plunge.
Strict lockdowns and physical distancing measures have been keeping people indoors and cutting down on discretionary spending, leaving most bricks-and-mortar stores empty.
This makes mobile payment vendors unfortunate victims, as offline transactions make up the bulk of their business.
But Chinese payment giants remain steadfastly optimistic about the market outlook.
Alibaba’s Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Zhang, framed the epidemic and all its eventualities as a Black Swan event, and has sent a resolute message that the firm’s AliPay will indeed be hurt, but it will be a one-off event.
Tencent’s WeChat Pay also vowed to recover fast.
James Mitchell, Tencent’s chief strategy officer, said that while business dipped during the Lunar New Year Holiday, they are already rebounding with “supply coming back, although there is still some suppression in demand.”
China has been working hard to establish itself as a cashless society. The move to mobile payments was relatively smooth: convenience was the goal, digital maturity enabled it, and the technology was readily available.
Regardless of age group, the Chinese have widely embraced going digital – there are 800 million mobile phone users, with 86 percent of the population using e-wallets to pay for everything from clothes to food and taxi rides.
Going cashless has its benefits. For one, it’s convenient for both the merchant and the customer. Handling physical cash is cumbersome, easy to lose, and difficult to keep track off.
Businesses could also integrate incentive programs into mobile payment applications, enabling them to retain customer loyalty. There is also the obvious benefit of speeding up the transaction process. An additional plus, particularly in the current climate, is reducing contact as money changes hands.
But is mobile payment the future, and should we all look to follow in China’s footsteps?
While mobile payments are convenient, there are some negative effects. Loads of sensitive information is collected and stored each time we pay by phone, and that means we are placing trust in the robustness of providers’ security measures.
If retailers implement cashless policies, they are at risk of sidelining members of society that don’t or can’t use mobile payment tech. Or, for example, even lucrative tourists. In some parts of China, no amount of greenbacks can get a tourist a bottle of water – merchants only accept mobile payments, and without a Chinese bank account, foreigners cannot do so.
While providers may be seeing a dip in mobile payments now, many retailers that remain open are pushing customers to use contactless payment methods, due to them lowering the risk of transmission.
With retailers, and many customers, enjoying the added convenience, these sort of policies may stick around long after the current crisis resides. In this regard, the COVID-19 pandemic may actually kickstart a further movement towards mobile payment technology in the long run.


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More people are getting their video entertainment from Netflix and most will pay a little more for it.
The streaming service says the price of its standard tier will go up from $9.99 a month to $10.99, and the premium tier will go up from $11.99 to $13.99. The cost of the basic, standard definition video version of Netflix will remain at $7.99 a month.
Netflix confirmed the price move in an email to ConsumerAffairs, saying the new price structure is effective immediately for new customers but won't take effect for current U.S. customers until next month.
"From time to time, Netflix plans and pricing are adjusted as we add more exclusive TV shows and movies, introduce new product features, and improve the overall Netflix experience to help members find something great to watch even faster," a company spokesperson said.
Rate hike cheered on Wall Street
Wall Street is betting that the price increase will go over well with consumers, who have grown increasingly dependent on Netflix as they continue to "cut the cord" with cable TV. Netflix stock surged on the news Thursday, gaining 5.39 percent, a dime shy of its 52-week high.
Barton Crockett, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, told CNBC that investors fully expected Netflix to boost rates this year, and the company's increase "is right on target."
"Everything we're seeing is that the consumer likes the service and these guys are going to continue to have very robust subscriber growth," Crockett said in an interview.
Another reason consumers may be a little more accepting of the price hike, says Crockett, is that the company doesn't change its prices all that frequently, while continuing to add content.
Formal notice coming later this month
Starting October 19, current Netflix subscribers will start receiving formal notification of the price increase at least 30 days in advance, based on their billing date.
"The price change will roll out to members over the course of the next several months," the company said in a statement. "As always, members can view pricing information within their account settings."
Netflix was established in 1998 as a way consumers could order DVD movies online, with the discs delivered by mail. A year later it adopted a subscription model, with subscribers able to order an unlimited number of movies each month for a single rate.
In 2007, with a dramatic increase in broadband penetration in the U.S., Netflix began its current video streaming service.


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Launched in 2017, the company is the developer of a software-based tool that manages orders from delivery services like Grubhub Inc. and Postmates Inc. It’s a product that has become all the more vital to restaurants juggling to-go orders and struggling to stay afloat without in-person diners.
“Since day one, our focus has always been on helping restaurants shift to digital ordering,” said company co-founder and Chief Executive Alex Canter. “Especially for mom-and-pop restaurants, there’s not a ton of great resources out there to make that transition.”
Canter, heir to famous Los Angeles delicatessen Canter’s, said he started the company with restaurant operators in mind.
“The foundation from the beginning has been, ‘How do we make this easy for restaurants,’” he said. “How do we allow restaurants to do what they do best, which is cook food and crank out orders without thinking about logistics?”
That approach has been effective so far. The company said its platform has been incorporated into thousands of restaurants nationwide, and in October, Ordermark announced completion of a $120 million Series C funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund.
Investor enthusiasm in the company has been spurred on by the rollout of Ordermark’s virtual restaurant product, Nextbite, which the company introduced at the end of 2019.
Through Nextbite, restaurant brands can outsource food preparation to any restaurant with the kitchen space to take on additional orders. The company has launched 15 different Nextbite brands, including HotBox — a partnership with rapper Wiz Khalifa that gives customers the opportunity to order brisket ends, mac and cheese, and other Khalifa-approved items from nearby restaurants.
Canter said the Nextbite concept is ideal for restaurants with menus that don’t translate well to takeout.
“Restaurants that are not well-designed for delivery are the ones struggling the most right now,” he said. “Steak houses or fine dining or full-service restaurants — those are really hard to translate into a delivery-only model.”
Nextbite gives these restaurants the opportunity to keep serving up orders while their usual patrons aren’t dining out.
“We have a Morton’s steakhouse location in Houston running a couple of our brands out of the back of a fine dining kitchen,” Canter said. “They’re doing chicken sandwiches and grilled cheese.”
Canter said Nextbite will continue to be
“There are a lot of underutilized kitchens out there,” he said. “Picture a coffee shop that’s probably really busy in the morning shift when they get a ton of their volume. Then, after lunch, it kind of dies off. That’s a kitchen that’s sitting idle. We can come in and allow them to have a whole different order volume that they weren’t getting before.”
With the funding that the company pulled in last year, Canter said the company plans to double its staff in the year ahead and to explore expansion into new markets.


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Angie Prior's shop is right next door to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Store & Canteen in Axminster and she's quite pleased about that fact. "When I come here it was like Axminster won the Lottery," she says. "He had the financial backing to do something to a building that the average person could not do. It used to be a pub and need thousands spent on it." She adds: "What ever your view of Hugh, if you trade in the town he's fantastic."
Prior's shop is also pretty fantastic, with a steady stream of loyal and new customers on the Thursday that The Daily Telegraph canvassed her views on the Budget. "The good thing about this trade is that everyone can cheer themselves up for a £1," she says.
She points out that the town's Thursday market is still be big draw – it is now largely food and drink produce rather than cattle – as are the town's healthy range of independent shops.
"Axminster is really thriving because it has so many independent shops. People come here and want to open a shop. We are not overwhelmed by the national chains. People can find things that they want and buy things they never knew they wanted."
Having run the business for eight years, Prior says she is "very optimistic" about its future. This influences her opinion on what the Chancellor should do in his Budget. "I think George Osborne has to be strict" she says. We have to save money and it's going to be harsh but at the end of the day we will come out stronger from it," she says.
"Any increase in VAT or duty will always affect sales of cigarettes," she says, "and any improvement in business rates would be a bonus. But somewhere that money has to be recouped. If we don't pay business rates [referring to Labour's proposed one year holiday from October] it will still have to be paid somewhere else." She applies this same thinking to any decrease in the rate of corporation tax paid by smaller companies. "We shouldn't give tax giveaways that we can't afford," she says.


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Fall Detection, a feature introduced on Apple Watch Series 4, can recognize if a user has taken a hard fall. It can alert local emergency services if the user is still unresponsive after 60 seconds. This feature has helped save many lives since its release.
Now, a discovered patent has revealed that this feature might be upgraded soon with the ability to send users health data to emergency services so that medical professionals can get a sense of patients’ condition before an ambulance arrives to help them.
Patent to upgrade Fall Detection Feature
Recently, Patently Apple spotted a filing for expansion of Fall detention feature on Apple Watch with the ability to send health data, location, personal information, phone numbers, and other details to emergency health care responders as part of the audio message that alerts them of the fall. The company believes that the new ability will be beneficial in providing the care an individual needs at the time fall.
The filed document reads:
Apple contemplates that in some instances, this gathered data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to identify a specific person. Such personal information data can include demographic data, location-based data, online identifiers, telephone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, data or records relating to a user’s health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other personal information.
Apple recognizes that the use of such personal information data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefit of users. For example, the personal information data (e.g., users health information, physical location, etc.) can be used to help emergency service responders and technicians to identify when a user needs medical attention and/or where the user is located. For example, information about previous health conditions of the user can help emergency services identify what type of medical attention is needed, and what type of technicians to send to the location of the user.
Health metrics that may be computed using the electrodes include, without limitation, heart functions (ECG, EKG), water content, body-fat ratios, galvanic skin resistance, and combinations thereof.
Currently, the Apple Watch does not have enough sensors that can help it to gather this much data which is expected to be added in the next-generation Apple Watch models.
How Fall Detection Works on Apple Watch
When the smartwatch detects that the user has taken fallen, it triggers the following series a actions to try to help the collapsed individual to regain consciousness and to alert the others of the fall:
- Apple Watch begins a 30-second countdown while sounding an alert and tapping you on the wrist.
- As time prolongs, the alert gets louder so that the user or someone near them can hear it.
- Lastly, the watch detects immobility after the countdown and automatically calls emergency services, 911. During the call, an automated recording is played which communicates the person’s longitude and latitude coordinates for the paramedics to locate and reach the distressed individual, as soon as possible.
This feature is automatically turned on for users at the age of 65 or older. Users under the age of 65 have to set up this feature manually.
Apple has always marketed the Apple Watch as a health monitoring device rather than just a smartwatch. Therefore, it is expected that in the upcoming Apple Watch model, the company will feature sleep tracking, blood oxygen sensor, and more health tracking features.


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Here is the most recent information we have regarding Apple’s upcoming standard tablet, the iPad 2022.
The popular Apple tablet’s set to be replaced by the iPad 2022. And based on the speculations that have surfaced so far, we are far more enthusiastic about this model than we were in prior years.
Sources have claimed that the 2022 iPad model could be the one that finally brings Apple’s basic tablet some sorely-needed improvements, with a full-screen design and a USB-C connector both leading the rumor parade. If these claims turn out to be true, we’re going to be thrilled.
Read on for a summary of everything we’ve heard about the iPad 2022 so far. And check back again soon as we’ll be keeping this page updated with the latest details.
iPad 2022 latest rumors
- Here is what this means for the delivery date of the iPad and iPad Pro, which appear to have had brief production delays.
- In addition to a new iPad Pro model, the iPad and its reported makeover may be released in October.
- The iPad 2022 may have a new design with a larger screen, a flatter chassis, and no headphone port, according to leaked CAD renderings.
- According to a story from 9to5 Mac, the iPad 2022 will reportedly receive USB-C instead of Lightning, among other modifications.
- According Apple analyst Ross Young, the iPad 2022 will undergo a significant design update this year.
iPad 2022 potential release date and price
We should look out for the iPad 2022 to appear in fall like the iPad 2021 did last year and like previous basic iPads did in previous years.
There were no iPads during Apple’s September event when the iPhone 14 was unveiled, but there’s still a chance the new iPad may arrive in 2022. According to one speculation, the iPad 2022 may debut with a new iPad Pro at a different October event rather than the September one. According to a recent source, China’s power outages are to blame for the apparent small production delays experienced by the iPad and iPad Pro. However, it appears to be a little hiccup and might not delay the release of iPads.
Let’s hope that with the upgraded components, the rumors of which we’ll discuss in a moment, there isn’t a price increase. The $329/£319/AU$499 starting price of the iPad 2021 makes it very accessible for typical buyers, and Apple would be smart to keep it that low.
iPad 2022 design
The look of the iPad 2022 could be very different from previous versions, as Apple may be giving its tablet a long-overdue makeover.
The greatest information leak in that area was a series of CAD renderings purportedly representing the new iPad 2022 that were provided by MySmartPrice and confirmed by the Korean rumor-maker yeux1122. If true, they suggest the gadget will include, among other modifications, a bigger screen, flatter design, and wider bezels on all four sides.
The back of the tablet would still have a single camera, but it would have an LED flash and a camera island. The renders suggest the device would measure 9.7 x 7.0 x 0.27 inches — making it wider but slimmer than the current iPad’s 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.29 inches.
One interesting feature is the absence of the 3.5mm headphone port on the top or bottom of the device, which raises the possibility that it may be eliminated on this model to make the regular iPad more compatible with other iPads and iPhones. However, four speakers can be seen in the renderings, which suggests the new device will have audio capabilities on par with the iPad Pro (2021) and superior to the iPad mini 6 and iPad Air (2022).
The iPad’s charging connector is marked in red in the CAD renderings, but according to a different leak, Apple may replace the Lightning port seen on prior iPads with the far more flexible USB-C port. In that case, Thunderbolt 4 super-speed compatibility similar to that of the iPad Pro is presumably not going to be available, but USB-C would still make attaching devices like accessories or displays much simpler. Additionally, it will assist Apple in adhering to a newly adopted EU regulation that will make USB-C on mobile devices required by the end of 2024.
The existence of a home button on the latest iPad is still up for debate among leakers. No other iPad that Apple is presently selling has a home button, so it wouldn’t surprise us if the company intends to make all of its iPads appear like a cohesive family once more. If the iPad 2022 does not have a home button, it will likely switch to a Touch ID power button, like the most recent iPad Air and iPad mini versions.
That said, the renders above do show a home button — so if they turn out to be genuine then that’s one rumor put to bed.
iPad 2022 display
Along with the aforementioned redesigns, the iPad 2022’s screen size may increase, shifting from the present 10.2-inch model to perhaps a 10.5-inch one. The finest iPad covers now on the market would thus no longer fit the new device.
If the iPad’s screen does go bigger, it’s unlikely that other display attributes will be improved, such as brightness, colour gamut, or tiny LED panel like the iPad Air (2022) or iPad Pro. After all, Apple will want to conserve certain materials for its more costly devices.
iPad 2022 specs
The sources talking about the iPad 2022 currently claim that it will run on the A14 Bionic chip from the iPhone 12. That would mean there would be quite a performance gap between this and the iPad mini which uses an A15 chip like the iPhone 13 series. The gap would be even bigger when comparing an A14 iPad to the iPad Air and iPad Pro, both of which use Apple M1 chips with additional performance and extra abilities.
The A14 chipset would still apparently mean a 30% increase over the iPad 2021 though, which will help with running modern apps. Plus, the A14 chip is 5G-compatible, which would let the cell-connected iPad model reach faster data speeds than the current LTE model.
The iPad 2022 would use the recently revealed iPadOS 16 software, which is presently in beta, if it were to debut this autumn. The iPad Air and iPad Pro’s M1 processor is the only one that supports Stage Manager, therefore not all of iPadOS 16’s functions could be accessible.
iPad 2022 outlook
The iPad 2021 is still a good tablet but it really needs some updates to make it a proper rival to cheaper Android tablets. The rumored upgrades of a better chipset, larger display and updated port are exactly what Apple needs to make a tablet that would appeal to more discerning buyers.
However, we continue to be apprehensive about a possible price increase. It would be beneficial to see the iPad 2022 defy the trend, since several of Apple’s more affordable devices are seeing their prices rise. As September approaches, we anticipate learning more about the next basic iPad.


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SINGAPORE: Online video revenues in 14 markets of Asia-Pacific are expected to grow almost threefold from around $13bn in 2016 to $35bn in 2021, a new report has predicted.
Driven largely by China, that represents an annual growth rate of 22% and reflects the rapid penetration of broadband in the region, according to research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).
China is expected to account for three-quarters (76%) of all online video revenue in Asia Pacific by 2021, but the report also noted that Japan, Australia, Korea and India will be important markets with an aggregate 17% share, IndianTelevision.com reported.
Online video advertising, which accounted for less than 15% of Asia-Pacific adspend in 2015, is expected to see its share grow to 22% in five years' time.
That means online video sales will be worth $22bn in 2021, up from $9bn in 2016, after recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19%. China is forecast to take a huge 70% of these video ad sales.
By 2021, China is also expected to account for 80% of the rapidly developing subscription video on demand (SVOD) market, which is expected to grow from 177m paying customers to 360m across the region.
When translated into revenues, MPA said the Asia-Pacific SVOD market will be worth $13bn by 2021, after recording 28% CAGR from $3.7bn in 2016.
MPA also forecast that Asia-Pacific broadband subscriptions will reach 345m this year and then grow to 425m by 2021.
Elsewhere, average broadband household penetration is expected to grow over the same period from 35% to 41% while mobile broadband is forecast to reach nearly four-in-ten (79%) of Asia-Pacific consumers.
"The growth of broadband, combined with slow but progressive change in content licensing, is driving demand for online video services," said Vivek Couto, MPA's executive director.
Data from Warc's Global Adspend Outlook 2016/17, a free summary of future ad investment trends, show that mobile is a strong driver of total video growth in the region.
In China, mobile's share of total video adspend is expected to approach 50%, up from a share of just 20% in 2014. Chinese mobile video adspend reached a record RMB8.9bn (US$1.4bn) in 2015, the report notes.
Data sourced from IndianTelevision.com; additional content by Warc staff


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Facebook crosses 100M users in India; country becomes its second-largest market after US
Social networking giant Facebook has crossed 100 million users in India, making it the second largest market in terms of number of users for the company after the US, according to a top executive of the firm. In an interview with The Economic Times, Javier Olivan, VP of growth and analytics at Facebook also said that the social networking giant is now looking to hit 1 billion users mark in the country. He, however, didn't specify a timeframe as to when it plans to achieve this goal.
According Facebook, in order to grow its user base in India, the company needs to work towards increasing internet penetration, as well as work closely with telecom operators, technology firms and handset makers. Additionally, it will explore the idea of providing free basic internet services to mobile users and in turn increase the data usage. Facebook will also promote the idea of mobile-first approach when it comes to product development in the country.
According to Olivan, Facebook also needs to focus on the feature phone users in India, as a majority of people are still using low-end handsets in the country.
According to media reports, Facebook's monthly active user base grew 16 per cent to 1.23 billion for the quarter ended December 2013 compared to the same period in the previous year. Also, the number of people using the social site on a daily basis touched 757 million.
Headquartered in California, Facebook's India office is located in Hyderabad. Early this year, the firm had acquired Bangalore-based Little Eye Software Labs Pvt Ltd, which offers a performance analysis tool for developers that enables them to measure, analyse and optimise Android apps.


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Radio outfit GWR out of tune
RADIO group GWR, the owner of Classic FM and in the final throes of a £700m merger with Capital Radio, had a lacklustre run-up to Christmas, it revealed today.
With a warning that January advertising revenues look like being down 4% and that forward visibility is very short term, the news hit the entire radio sector.
Shares in GWR slipped 2p to 250p while Capital fell 11p to 422p.
GWR said the radio advertising market was relatively weak in October and November with only a slight pick up during December. Group revenue dropped 3% in the quarter. While Classic FM saw a 10% rise in December revenue, its quarterly figures dipped 7%.
Local radio stations, which account for 70% of its total take, saw a steep fall in advertising for nationwide campaigns and consequently were hit by a 3% revenue fall.
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The new ultrabook and other products come shortly after the company decided not to sell its PC business
IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard introduced Wednesday its first business ultrabook, offering nine hours of battery life, a solid-state drive, and a security chip that protects data in email and information on the hard drive.
The roll out by HP comes less than a month after the company said that its Personal Systems Group (PSG), which deals in PCs, smartphones and tablets, will stay with the company. HP had earlier talked about evaluating options for this business.
The company also expanded Wednesday its ultraportable consumer notebook PC line with the HP Pavilion dm4, including a Beats Edition. Beats Audio technology was developed by HP in collaboration with artist and producer Dr. Dre, and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, the company said.
HP also introduced Envy 15, Envy 17, and Envy 17 3D notebooks, which will be available in the U.S. on Dec. 7, besides two wireless accessories.
Read full story...


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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Mack’s innovative Twin Y air suspension has been named a finalist for the 2013 Swedish Steel Prize, and the company is hoping its fans will show their support to help make it a winner.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Mack’s innovative Twin Y air suspension has been named a finalist for the 2013 Swedish Steel Prize, and the company is hoping its fans will show their support to help make it a winner.
The award is presented by SSAB, the global leader in high-strength steel. It recognizes the most innovative design using high-strength steel.
Mack is one of four finalists for the award.
“We’re proud to be one of the finalists for the 2013 Swedish Steel Prize,” said John Walsh, Mack vice-president of marketing. “The Mack Twin Y is truly a game-changer for the industry. The design enables customers to have a smooth, stable ride offered in a lighter weight suspension, resulting in fuel efficiency benefits and a cost savings for our customers.”
The Twin Y is available on the Mack Pinnacle and is 400 lbs lighter than other air suspensions. The Y blades are joined to the axle with both upper and lower axle seats, which reduces suspension wind-up and improves tire traction and braking control. The axle seats are clamped to the axle housing using huck u-bolts and don’t require retorquing.
Customers claim to be seeing a 25% improvement in drive tire life. Folks can vote for the Twin Y to win the award here.
Truck News is Canada's leading trucking newspaper - news and information for trucking companies, owner/operators, truck drivers and logistics professionals working in the Canadian trucking industry. All posts by Truck News


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Kenora residents and business owners have waited for this day since the Ontario government laid out the Roadmap to Reopen plan back on May 20, 2021.
Today marks the start of Step One of the province's re-opening plan. One of the most notable items on the list of the Step One plan is outdoor dining is allowed with a maximum of four people per table, which residents haven’t been able to do in months.
Pam Viinikka, owner of the Cornerstone, and her staff are very excited for the re-opening of outdoor dining and have been gearing up for the opening of the patio since the announcement was made on Monday.
“We are very excited to feel like we're all heading in the right direction and that things are going to seem a little bit more normal, it's definitely a positive. A positive move for hopefully a future full opening,” said Viinikka
“You open the patio and that's a step closer to opening the restaurant, and that's you know, our ultimate goal is to be back to business and being,” she added.
The Cornerstone, like a lot of businesses in the area, has had to adjust to different ways of conducting business in the way of doing curbside pick-up and take-out and are happy to see some familiar faces back at the restaurant.
The Cornerstone will not be taking any reservations. All COVID-19 measures will be followed as tables will be spaced six feet apart, a sign-in sheet will be available for customers, hand sanitizer will be provided and masks are to be worn unless sitting down at the table.
Non-essential businesses are also able to open to the public with a 15 per cent capacity. Bryan Gustafson, owner of Lake Of The Woods Sports Headquarters, is excited to finally let people back into the store.
“We're pumped up, man. We've been doing the curbside thing for it seems like forever now. And you know that worked well for us, but you know it was like doing pretty much twice the work for half the money for a long period of time,” noted Gustafson
Customers may see a little different of a set up once in the store, as Gustafson and his staff have done some renovations and re-configuring of the store.
“I think people are going to be blown away when they get to come in,” added Gustafson
LOTW Sports Headquarters has had to adjust to doing over-the-phone sales and curbside pick-up and had to install more phone lines to take on the number of callers wanting to make orders.
Gustafson did say that everyone he has talked to can’t wait to come back into the store.
The province will be in Step One of the province's roadmap to reopen for 21 days and Step Two is targeted to start on July 5, as long as 70 per cent of the population has one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 20 per cent of the population are fully immunized.


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Aalborg, Denmark, September 20th, 2022, Trackunit’s commitment to connectivity has been boosted by breaking through the 1.4 million barrier of linked assets to make the biggest construction network ecosystem in the world.
Only one year ago, connected assets were less than 500,000, so the near tripling represents a significant spike in ecosystem growth. That has been spurred partly by the coming together with the industrial IoT division of Canada’s ZTR in November 2021, but also by organic growth as new business comes on board ahead of the return of the bauma event after three years.
“Trackunit is delighted to be back exhibiting at bauma,” said Trackunit SVP of products Dave Swan. “Trackunit solutions offer connectivity designed for the construction industry that provides wide and highly secure access that our partners and users need to increase their optimization.”
On the product side, Trackunit’s thriving partnership with Hilti sets a template for similar relationships with other OEMs while also scaling up the organization’s workforce. Together, that has enabled an expansion of the global network of equipment and connectivity to set a platform for building products that are most useful to the industry.
Product highlights we’ll showcase at bauma include:
Trackunit will welcome visitors to explore Trackunit’s Product Portal unveiled at the Eliminate Downtime Festival in June 2022. The Portal showcases where Trackunit is headed next, with new up-and-coming Product Developments that include:
“The Portal represents a construction industry first as the entry point for wide-scale, structured collaboration and provides direct access to the company’s innovation engine room with a transparent view of product roadmaps,” said Swan. “It is a demonstration of Trackunit’s belief in the industry’s capability to collaborate through the activities of the Eliminate Downtime Committee.
“Eliminating downtime continues to underpin everything we do,” said the SVP of products. “As long as that remains our foundation, I believe we can keep bringing products to the market that solve real industry problems.”
Trackunit can be found during bauma, October 24-30, in Hall A2, Booth 126.
More details about Trackunit’s second-generation Spot product.
More details about the current capabilities of Trackunit Kin.
More details about Trackunit’s Product Portal.
Trackunit is a technology company that orchestrates the data and infrastructure that connects construction.
The construction industry uses Trackunit’s software and hardware to connect to the ecosystem of construction from one platform connecting people, assets, and processes. Trackunit collects and analyzes machine data in real-time to deliver actionable, proactive, and predictive information, empowering customers with data-driven foresight.
Trackunit delivers an integrated operating platform with applications and services enabling construction professionals to increase business efficiency by optimizing machine utilization, operator safety, digitizing workflows, and ultimately eliminating downtime.
Trackunit promises to lead the technology engagement to help eliminate downtime. The mission is not only to recover from budget and schedule overruns but also to re-establish the reputation of the industry for innovation and leadership.
Trackunit services its customers worldwide from its offices in Denmark, Canada, Chicago, IL and Singapore, Sweden, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Germany, UK, Australia, and Japan.
Visit Trackunit.com to learn more.
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Those of us who still haven't kicked the sriracha crutch will have a new opportunity for tongue searing exploration now that a forthcoming hot sauce emporium has met its Kickstarter goal. Set to debut on April 18th on Wythe Avenue on the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border, Heatonist will bring a large selection of all-natural hot sauces to the neighborhood, with the added bonus of a knowledgeable hot sauce sommelier to help guide your palate.
In an interview with Greenpointers, the shop's proprietor Noah Chaimberg reveals plans for a multi-faceted enterprise that's part retail shop, part educational outlet and part party space. Up front, a retail shop selling around 150 varieties of liquid fire, none of which contain xanthan gum or capsaicin extracts. There'll be bottles from all over the country and world in smoky, sweet, salty and vinegary varieties.
Like their mustard forebears, the shop will have a hot sauce sommelier to help customer's pick out the perfect bottle. Out of store customers can use their specially-designed app to find a new hot sauce. "All of our team here put a lot of work into assessing and rating each sauce," Chaimberg explains. "So once people identify what they like the app should accurately guide them to a hot sauce they’ll love." Their tasting room—complete with a kitchen and a communal table—will also be used for education and visiting chefs, while a backyard garden will be space to grow their own chilies and host barbecues.


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Epic Games, the creator of the popular online video game Fortnite, just launched its first non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain-based game on its marketplace.
“Blankos Block Party” from Mythical Games is a free multiplayer game that revolves around collectible digital vinyl toys called Blankos. The game — inspired by designer and vinyl toy culture and co-developed by Mythical Games and Third Kind Games — is part of Mythical Games’ push towards creating games with playable NFTs where the characters are NFTs users can own.
In Blankos Block Party, toys come to life in the form of avatars and players can have adventures, build worlds, create games, socialize, and of course, have a block party. The NFTs in the game symbolize unique products like avatars, skins, and accessories that can be bought, sold, traded, and upgraded within the game.
Blankos Block Party was previously released on the developer’s own website in December 2020. Since release, the game has partnered with artists and brands including Burberry, Atari, and Deadmau5.
Unlike Epic Games’ rival Valve and its Steam marketplace — which has chosen to opt out of crypto and blockchain-based games — the CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney said that the company will permit creators to develop Web3 games if they comply with market norms and legal requirements.
The release of the title comes less than a year after a Series C funding round for Mythical Games that raised $150 million at a valuation of $1.25 billion. At the end of 2021, Epic Games Store reported over 190 million players.
Blockchain-Based Gaming Is a Growing Market
Although the gaming industry and gamers were initially skeptical of NFT and blockchain-based games, it appears the tides are turning. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve reported on several gaming developers investing in the NFTs and the metaverse.
Here are some recent headlines involving gaming and Web3:
- Gaming Creator of PUBG Krafton Jumps into NFTs & Metaverse
- Limit Break Raises $200M for Web3 MMO Gaming
- Epic Games & Lego Team up to Create Metaverse for Kids
- Immutable Announces $500M Fund for NFTs & Gaming
- GameStop Launches Gaming NFT Market on Loopring
- Square Enix Sells Tomb Raider for $300M to Focus on Blockchain Games
- Dr. Disrespect’s Game Studio to Build NFT Platform
Even in the bear market, Web3 games are becoming more popular. One of the main reasons is because NFT technology allows players to own in-game items that can be sold, stored, or traded on the blockchain. This adds a play-to-earn dynamic that was not possible before blockchain technology.
We’ll have to wait and see if the new NFT game launched on Epic Games’ marketplace will be a success. But either way, we think there’s a good chance this is just the beginning of blockchain-based titles entering the marketplace.


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Suez Canal Expansion Opens – An expansion to the Suze Canal opened this week. The project reportedly cost $8.2 billion to complete. Officials estimate that the expansion will cut average vessel waiting time of 8-11 hours down to 3 as well as allow larger vessels to traverse the canal.
Read more from American Shipper
US West Coast Volume Down – Container traffic through the U.S. West Coast remains down as cargo diversions continue. The ILWU-PMA contract dispute led many importers to seek alternatives to the popular West Coast gateways. For the first half of 2015, East Coast ports increased their share of U.S. imports from 40% to 43%. In the same time period Gulf Coast ports moved from 1% to a 6% share.
Read more from the JOC


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Over at Multichannel News, our own Rick Boucher has written a piece examining Netflix’s admission that it has reduced video speeds for the customers of two wireless providers. An excerpt:
Netflix’s stunning admission that, for five years, it reduced the video speeds of customers of Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless — while not doing so for customers of Sprint and T-Mobile — is little short of breathtaking. It was an exercise in hypocrisy to claim that broadband providers were degrading the quality of its video when, in fact, Netflix — without notifying its customers — was doing precisely that.
Recall the history here to understand why Netflix’s actions were so brazen and deserving of governmental review. Traditionally, peering agreements among content networks and last-mile Internet-service providers (ISPs) were never regulated, but were always negotiated between private parties.
For Netflix, arm’s-length negotiations posed a problem, because as the share of total bandwidth taken by its content grew (up to 37% at peak hours, according to one survey in March of 2015), its position became ever more untenable. It wanted ISPs to build more bandwidth to consumers for Netflx’s use, but it didn’t want to help pay for that. It didn’t want its own business model constrained.
You can read Boucher’s full piece, titled “Netflix’s ‘House of Cards’ Collapses,” over at Multichannel News.


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TA Associates Announces Minority Investment in Interswitch
TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced it has acquired a minority equity interest in Interswitch, an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Helios Investment Partners will remain the majority shareholder of Interswitch.
Founded in 2002, Interswitch is active across the entire payments value chain. A recognized leader in the payments space in Nigeria, the company owns and operates the country’s principal domestic debit card scheme, Verve, as well as serves as a third-party transaction processor for many of Nigeria’s largest banks. In addition, the company offers a number of B2B electronic payment services to public and private sector organizations and businesses, including government entities, hospitals, telecommunications companies and utilities, and also operates Quickteller, the leading B2C bill payments and digital commerce platform in Nigeria. Through add-on acquisitions, Interswitch also operates in Kenya and Uganda.
“By strategically partnering and aligning its interests with key banks, merchants and other institutions, Interswitch has become a leading provider for payments solutions in an emerging and rapidly growing market in Nigeria,” said Naveen Wadhera, a Managing Director at TA Associates who will join the Interswitch Board of Directors. “Interswitch is a unique, high quality and strategic asset located in one of Africa’s leading economies. We are delighted to expand upon our longstanding presence within the global payments industry through our partnership with the management team and Helios, and look forward to helping Interswitch continue to expand its business.”
“Since our founding, we have been committed to creating social, environmental and economic value by facilitating trade through forms of exchange that are secure, convenient and consistent,” said Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Managing Director at Interswitch Limited. “Keeping that in mind, we believe a partnership with a growth private equity firm such as TA Associates will prove highly beneficial to our ongoing efforts of consolidating the impact of our services and increasing financial inclusion for all. We welcome TA as our newest investor and look forward to benefitting from their experience in the payments space and their valuable insight and support.”
“With our investment in Interswitch in 2011, we backed a talented founder and management team, and have worked hand-in-hand with them to institutionalize the business and build the platform, spearheading growth not only in their core processing and card scheme businesses but also into mobile payments, expansion into East Africa and the launching of products and services to address the unbanked – driving financial inclusion. As the majority investor in Interswitch, we look forward to working with the company’s first-rate management team and TA Associates to drive the next phase of the company’s growth,” said AlykhanNathoo, Partner at Helios Investment Partners.
BabatundeSoyoye, Helios’s co-founder and Managing Partner, added, “For TA Associates to have made Interswitch their first investment in Africa we believe is a testament to Interswitch’s successful growth trajectory to date, and the quality and resilience of its brand and business model. We are confident that TA’s domain expertise and global reach will benefit Interswitch as we move forward together in partnership.”
The digital payments evolution is in the early stages of development in Nigeria, with cash used for 99% of transactions according to McKinsey & Company, versus approximately 50% for developed markets in North America and Europe. Despite the young market, the size of the Nigerian payments opportunity is underpinned by its continent-leading population and sizeable economy. Based on estimates from McKinsey & Company, Interswitch occupies a leading position in the emerging marketplace, especially in debit cards, which comprise 99% of all cards in Nigeria.
“We strongly believe in the global trend towards payment digitalization,” said AjitNedungadi, a Managing Partner at TA Associates who will also join the Interswitch Board of Directors. “Given Interswitch’s impressive reach into Nigeria’s payment ecosystem, we expect a continuation of the company’s impressive growth and are honored to have the opportunity to partner with what we believe to be a fantastic management team and a leading African investor.”
Interswitch joins TA Associates’ other current and past payment processing investments worldwide, including BluePay Processing, Cardtronics, IndiaIdeas.com (BillDesk), Procare Software, Retriever Medical/Dental Payments, W.A.G. payment solutions (Eurowag) and YeePay.
Latham & Watkins served as legal counsel to TA Associates. Debevoise& Plimpton served as legal counsel to Helios Investment Partners.
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The picture is looking brighter at the former Polaroid campus in Waltham.
Despite years of delays and multiple owners, work is expected to be completed by year's end to replace a portion of the former Polaroid headquarters with a 250,000-square-foot mixed-use development.
The latest tenant to sign a lease for 1265 Main, the new name given to the 120-acre campus, is Flank, the New American Beefsteak. WAAF morning radio personality Greg Hill, whose second career is a restaurateur, said the 8,000-square-foot steakhouse promises to “revive the raucous beefsteak dinner experience,” which he calls an all-you-can-eat-and-drink banquet where silverware is "optional."
Most of the development's 130,000 square feet of available retail space has been leased. In addition to Flank, deals have been inked for an 80,000-square-foot Market Basket that will be the lifestyle center’s anchor; a 25,000-square-foot Marshalls; a Starbucks; and a 6,000-square-foot Jake 'n Joe's Sports Grille.
“We jumped in there and said we need to get this going and get this done,” said Carmine Tomas, a lawyer for the development partnership 1265 Main Street LLC, an entity managed by James Lamp of Tewksbury. “We got our state and local permits and the approvals for the first phase on an fairly expedited basis, and we are actually building something which we are thrilled with.”
There are also plans for a 120,000-square-foot office building. While no tenants have leased space in the three-story building, Tomas said given the demand for office space in Waltham, they are confident that they can start construction without tenants ready to go.
A second development phase is in the planning stages, but details have not been determined.
The Polaroid site has had a troubled past and filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 following the company’s struggle with more than $900 million in debt.
Originally, a joint venture of bankrupt Polaroid Corp. and New York-based Related Cos., the firms had plans to transform Polaroid’s empty offices and manufacturing facilities into the Commons at Prospect Hill, a 1.6 million-square-foot office and retail space. But the credit markets collapsed and the development team failed to meet a deadline in 2009 to refinance its debt for the $500 million project. Helaba, the German bank that owned the $66 million note on the property, bought it at auction for $42.5 million in 2009.
In 2010, Boston developer Sam Park paid $40 million for the abandoned headquarters and manufacturing property, after it was sold at a foreclosure auction. Park proposed a first phase of 300,000 square feet of retail and office uses on the site, hoping to eventually create a project that would include 1 million square feet of retail, office or biotech space.
The new owners, a joint venture of the 1265 Main Street LLC, which bought the project two years ago from Sam Park & Co., for an undisclosed price, includes Retail Management & Development Inc., a company with family ties to Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.


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AOL UK inks major distribution deal with Kingfisher
You won't be able to move for CDs
AOL UK has signed a major distribution deal with Kingfisher that will see the ISP's 24/7 unmetered software CDs available in 2061 stores throughout the country.
The deal is part of a co-branding exercise and closer ecommerce ties between the two companies.
Under the agreement, specially co-branded CDs for AOL Flat Rate will be available in Comet, Woolworths and Superdrug stores from late December, and B&Q stores from February 2001.
In return, AOL UK will promote B&Q's range of home and garden products across its ecommerce channels.
The agreement is part of AOL UK's strategy to increase its exposure to potential consumers. And this deal certainly sets it up nicely against Le Freeswerve, which can attribute much of its success to having its software CDs available in hundreds of Dixons Group shops such as Dixons and PC World.
Interestingly, Kingfisher is also a strategic investor in ISP Libertysurf, which recently relaunched itself in the UK with a new limited unmetered product backed by a major TV advertising campaign.
Libertysurf CDs are available in Comet stores.
A spokesman for Libertysurf said he was "fairly relaxed" about the arrangement adding that this move was about "consumer choice".
He added that it wasn't a problem since AOL Flat Rate is "addressing a different market segment". ®


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Panaji: Issuing birth certificates and making corrections in certificates will be eased and speeded up and efficient civic administration will be prioritised, newly appointed Margao Municipal Council (MMC) chief officer Agnelo Fernandes said adding that procedures will be simplified for people of Goan origins.
Speaking to reporters, Fernandes said that “Instructions have been given to section heads to ensure efficient delivery of services. The results will be visible soon.”
Responding to complaints about fish vendors carrying out their trade by the roadsides, Fernandes said that MMC will begin a drive from next week. “The stock of fish will be confiscated and donated to orphanages and old age homes,” Fernandes said. Anti-plastic drives, deferred due to various reasons, will also be started soon, he added.
Talking on the collection of data on street vendors whose trade suffered due to the pandemic Fernandes said, “The data would facilitate the civic body to help vendors avail of the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme that entitles vendors to a loan of Rs10,000.”
Additionally, Fernandes informed MMC has identified two places – one near the power house, Aquem, and the other near the station road, Ravanfond – to set up street vending zones. It may be recalled that around 200 vendors have already been identified by MMC as beneficiaries of the scheme


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Courtesy Splendid ProductsThis is an example of the boxes that Splendid Products used to ship Daniella mangoes, which are now recalled because of possible salmonella contamination.The CDC’s outbreak update Aug. 29 did not specify a brand, but said 70% of the outbreak victims in the U.S. reported eating mangoes during the week before they became ill. Of the 103 sick people in the U.S., 62 had to be admitted to hospitals, the CDC said. The illnesses began July 1, according to data from CDC’s PulseNet system.
“Public health officials have not identified a specific type or source for the mangoes that are likely causing this outbreak, and therefore we do not have specific consumer advice at this time regarding eating mangoes.” the CDC update said.
California Department of Public Health remains the lead investigative agency for the outbreak in the U.S. Seventy-eight of the salmonella cases in the U.S. have been reported in California, the CDC update said.
“Among ill persons in California, approximately 80% are of Hispanic ethnicity. Many of the ill persons in California report purchasing mangoes from Hispanic markets or grocery stores. Investigations are ongoing to determine the specific type and source of mangoes that might be linked with illness,” said the CDC update.


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Beachbody, a health and wellness company, has tapped contact center solution provider SingleComm to improve call center efficiencies and drive revenue growth.
Registration opens for ISP Summit 2017
Beachbody saved approximately $100,000 annually on script-building costs alone.
SingleComm said its Dynamic Scripting & Conversation Platform has performed well for Beachbody, a direct sales company that often has as many as 75 promotional scripts active across a dozen call centers.
“Making modifications to scripts used to take an enormous amount of time, which posed a risk to our revenue stream,” said Lee Swanson, senior vice president of telemarketing at Beachbody.
SingleComm’s scripting technology has allowed Beachbody to modify its promotional scripts quickly using its own in-house personnel. Beachbody could reduce the need for outside programmers and saved time and money.
Modification of scripts for the purpose of improvement process takes between three to six weeks because the development teams of each individual call center need to make the changes on their individual decentralized platforms. SingleComm has streamlined this modification process, achieving in a few days against weeks.
“What’s more, we’ve put our clients in control of the process so they can make the script changes they want and have those changes become active, simultaneously, across multiple contact centers and multiple channels,” said Michael Puccinelli, CEO and co-founder of SingleComm.
SingleComm’s Dynamic Scripting & Conversation Platform provides real-time data and sales directors can determine the efficacy of their various offers and scripts. The platform allows companies to use this data to perform in-the-moment adjustments.
Savings on the script-building process are small relative to the increased sales made possible by a company’s ability to instantly activate more effective scripts.
SingleComm estimates that large direct sales companies can realize hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue each year by making script changes in real-time.


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NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski has joined the ranks of entrepreneurs in the metalworking industry while continuing his successful racing career.
Displaying 1-10 of 92 results for
Changes in health care are driving more innovative tooling, including new machining strategies and complex cutting tools that help deliver more patient-centered solutions.
Technology came to the aid of Detroit Tigers management when they hoped to recapture some of the magic of the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ World Series-winning season. The 50-year anniversary celebration, held September 7-9, 2018, included on-field festivities in which the 16 surviving members of the 1968 team were presented with replicas of the World Series’ trophy.
One of the key advantages of additive manufacturing is its digital thread, which allows for rapid communication, iteration, and sharing of a design model and its corresponding physical representation. While this enables an efficient design process, the flow of data opens vulnerabilities to cyber-attack.
The U.S. auto industry has been automated for decades. Production of cars and trucks is associated with large, hulking robots fenced off from human employees. Inside those fenced off areas, tasks such as welding are performed. The industry, though, is advancing on the automation front.
The growing skills gap is causing trepidation among manufacturers and the lack of millennials building careers within the industry is part of the concern.
The world of additive manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, is quickly changing. The technology allows companies to manufacture products faster, with greater variation, and often with entirely new forms and functions.
The state of manufacturing is always a combination of tried and true methods; improvements (sometimes dramatic) in traditional processes; and brand new technology few people even conceived of a few years ago.
My involvement in SME and its AeroDef event began in 2014, when I first presented an Adaptive Machining Overview at AeroDef 2014 in Long Beach, Calif. At the time, the conference was relatively small in terms of attendees and exhibitors in comparison to the explosion of other engineering conferences that began around that time.
In 2018, CNC Software Inc., Tolland, Conn., reached several milestones: its 35th anniversary as a company, 250,000th installation, a new user website and the introduction of Mastercam 2019.


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Citro?n unveiled on Wednesday (12) the production of two special editions of the DS3 for the UK market. Both are the result of a partnership between the automaker with Benefit Cosmetics and are geared towards the female audience.
The "EcoSport Hyundai" is coming. The ix25 will be based on the new generation i20 platform and will be presented in April during the Hall of Beijing. In the meantime, the prototypes run on testing in the snow, as shown in our act.


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Oct 25, 2006 (From the CalCars-News archive)
We talked for a long time with this reporter, who after decades of valiant skepticism on the nuclear industry and environmental topics, always always asks tough questions. We overcame concerns that electrifying transportation was a net environmental plus, but he remains doubtful about batteries. In the final story, he focuses only on straight payback on fuel costs, ignoring the possibility of improving batteries and of rebates that "monetize" social or environmental benefits or grid connectivity. And he unaccountably adds a $20,000 premium for a PHEV. Still, the article, on page 6 of a 36-page special "Autos" section, expands the conversation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/automobiles/autospecial/25battery.html The Hybrid Question Still Miles to Go for the Plug-In Vehicle By Matthew L. Wald Washington: : Published: October 25, 2006
CHARGED UP Hymotion sells a kit that adds a plug-in battery to the
The Hymotion L5 PHEV conversion module for the Toyota Prius.
THE electric system runs mostly on coal, natural gas and uranium, all relatively plentiful. Cars run mostly on oil, oil and oil, which lately has been expensive. Wouldn't it be nice to connect the two?
Commercially available batteries will not store enough electricity to move a full-size car more than about 60 or 70 miles, enough to meet most drivers' needs on most days but not a very attractive candidate in the auto showroom. So what about a car with enough battery power for its first few dozen miles, and a gasoline engine to handle the rest?
Enter the plug-in hybrid, or rather, the concept of a plug-in hybrid. The idea is to expand on the gasoline-electric hybrids already on the road, which charge the battery from the gasoline engine. With a bigger battery pack, charged from an electric outlet, drivers could go the first few gallons' worth every day on electricity instead, the theory goes.
Comparing total miles driven with the gasoline consumed, advocates say the plug-ins will travel 80 miles or more on a gallon. The rest of the energy will come from coal or natural gas, or, ideally, wind turning a windmill or water spinning a hydroelectric turbine.
"There's now a real and growing recognition that we face a national security crisis in energy dependency," said Frank J. Gaffney Jr., the president and chief executive of the Center for Security Policy, an advocacy group here, who has been campaigning for plug-ins. Mr. Gaffney, who has held various Pentagon jobs in Republican administrations, argued, "It makes eminent sense to make as rapid a transition to those plug-in hybrids as we can."
It also has economic appeal. At $2.50 a gallon, a vehicle that gets 20 miles to the gallon costs 12.5 cents a mile to run. But a car that goes four miles on a kilowatt-hour would cost just over 2 cents a mile to run, at the national average retail electricity price. But the price might be lower than average because electric companies could tap into cheap nighttime generation, getting new use from equipment that is usually idle for half the day.
Yet despite the hopes of policy makers, engineers say there is no prospect of this happening in the near future.
At Toyota, which dominates the hybrid market and builds the Prius, the hybrid that advocates want to convert to plug-in, David Hermance, the executive engineer for environmental engineering, is horrified.
He said he recognized the appeal. Plug-ins, he said, "have been put forward as the silver bullet solution for almost everything."
But, he said, plug-ins are "not yet ready for prime time."
And if Toyota sounds reticent, DaimlerChrysler is downright reluctant, even though it has built four test models, commercial-size vans that run on gasoline and electricity.
One drawback, said Deborah Morrissett, vice president of regulatory affairs, is "you're still hauling around two powertrains," meaning extra weight and complexity.
"It's not high on our list," she said.
But both companies, as well as General Motors, have said that they are looking at the technology.
A crucial problem is that the Prius battery will last well over 100,000 miles, but only because it is babied. It is seldom charged above 60 percent of capacity, or allowed to fall below 40 percent. If it were charged fully and allowed to run down, like a laptop battery, it would, over hundreds of cycles, lose its ability to hold a charge, Toyota says. That suggests a replacement cost in the thousands of dollars.
"It's going to be a real issue from a durability standpoint," Mr. Hermance said.
A recent study by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, while praising the plug-in goal, cast severe doubt on its practicality. When gasoline costs $3 a gallon and the driver goes 12,000 miles a year, the report said, a year's fuel is about $1,200 in a conventional car, but a Prius at 50 miles a gallon saves $480 of that. If the hybrid costs an extra $3,500, then the payback period is seven years, the report said.
But if the plug-in goes four miles on a kilowatt-hour, and does its first 40 miles on electricity, the incremental cost would be about $20,000, but the saving is only about $15 a year larger than for the Prius-type vehicle. The car could be registered as an antique before the owner earned back the additional investment.
Ricardo Bazzarella, president of Hymotion, a Toronto company that sells conversion kits, said that gasoline would probably have to hit around $5 to get a four-year payback. So for the moment, his sales are limited to people who are interested in technology, not money.
There is a market for such people. Felix Kramer, the founder of the California Cars Initiative, an advocacy group, pointed out a parallel in the energy world. "People will say it's worth paying a little more to get wind and solar into the marketplace," he said.
And batteries could improve. At the Electric Power Research Institute, a utility consortium in Palo Alto, Calif., Mark S. Duvall, the manager of technology development, said that nickel-metal-hydride batteries, which are big enough for cars and durable enough for years of use, could be built, but that the industry had never done so because there was no demand.
The institute has visions of a "smart grid," in which a plug-in hybrid, or pure electric, can plug in anywhere. The utility system will recognize it, charge it up and bill the owner of the car, not the owner of the outlet. The arrangement would be somewhat like a person with a telephone credit card using any phone at his own expense
Cars for a plug-in hybrid are a different problem than batteries for cars like a Prius. Engineers evaluate batteries on two main characteristics: how much they will store and how fast they will accept or deliver energy. Prius batteries are more like a shot glass, accepting and delivering a small quantity very quickly.
The battery providing the sole source of power for an electric car is shaped more like a decanter, with a large volume delivered and accepted at slower rates per pound of battery.
But batteries that wore out too quickly - or proved capable of occasional fires, like the ones now being recalled from laptop use - would sour the public on the plug-in concept, experts say. It also has to make economic sense.
"The cost-benefit relationship has got to be there," said Mr. Hermance of Toyota. "If you can't sell them, they can't do anybody any good."


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Celebrating the Return to Wellness
Dare to Be Aware Fair returns for 14th Year with 120 Exhibitors and 17 Workshops for Wellness, Successful Living, Personal Development, Spirituality, Lifestyle and more.
Over 120 exhibitors and 17 free workshops for Awareness, Enlightenment, Wellness and Successful Living
The 14th annual Dare to Be Aware Fair is happening April 15, 2023. The fair is returning to celebrate a focus on well-being, with over 120 exhibitors and 17 free workshops led by local and national experts in awareness, enlightenment, and healthy lifestyles. The fair is the largest of its kind in Wisconsin, expecting over 1,000 attendees.
After a great rebound in 2022, with close to 1,000 attendees, the Fair is moving to the Brookfield Conference Center, 325 S Moorland Rd, Brookfield, WI.
Brookfield Mayor Steven Ponto's office proclaimed April 15, 2023 as Dare to Be Aware Day in Brookfield and he will do a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of the fair to celebrate the move to Brookfield.
"If you want to know what's happening in southeast Wisconsin when it comes to natural wellness, the Dare to Be Aware Fair is where you'll find it all," says Patricia Clason of the Center for Creative Learning, the personal and professional development firm that organizes the fair.
Erik Swenson returns this year to open the fair with his popular Global Healing Circle. Note that attendees must arrive between 8:40 and 8:50 a.m. to participate in this free session. This year's keynote speaker is author and coach Marcus Kasinuch, speaking on Conscious Relationships. Markus and Erik will be signing their books after their presentations. Fair founder Jill Borsos' workshop "Be a Practical Mystic" is another of the 17 free presentations offered at the fair.
Exhibitors run the gamut from leaders in personal growth and wellness to astrology and tarot readings, from massage therapists and chiropractors to crystal, jewelry, aroma, and fun clothing vendors. Artists, psychics, and readers will have a more open, quieter area in the three rooms aside the Main Hall.
A new website has all of the information about the fair, how to purchase advance registration tickets and save money on admission and a whole lot more… http://www.daretobeawarefair.com.
Photos and videos of previous fairs are on the fair's facebook page…


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Covered California launches statewide campaign to help Californians stay covered if they lose their Medi-Cal eligibility
June 1, 2023 – SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Covered California launched a virtual media tour Wednesday to spread the word about Covered California’s upcoming Medi-Cal Enrollment Program and how it will help keep Californians covered.
With the end of the federal continuation coverage requirement, Medi-Cal resumed the renewal process for its more than 15 million members in April, and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) estimates that between 2 and 3 million people already they will not be eligible for coverage. As this process continues over the next year, Covered California is ready to enroll eligible Californians who are transitioning out of Medi-Cal.
“Covered California is working closely with DHCS to help keep Californians who lose their Medi-Cal coverage enrolled in quality, affordable coverage and to support them every step of the way,” said Jessica Altman, Executive Director from Covered California. “While everyone’s renewal date is different, there are important steps Medi-Cal members can take now to keep themselves and their families covered.”
we’ll keep you covered
Medi-Cal members must update their contact information if it has changed in the last three years by logging into their account online at BenefitsCal.com or MyBenefitsCalWIN.org. Members can also contact their local Medi-Cal office or visit KeepMedi-CalCoverage.org to find out how to get started.
While many Californians will transition to other forms of health insurance, such as coverage offered through their job or a family member’s employer, others will be eligible for coverage through Covered California and may receive financial help to lower the cost. of your coverage. Covered California offers quality health plans, all of which provide many of the same benefits and services as Medi-Cal, including free preventive care and exams, doctor visits, prescriptions, hospital stays, behavioral health care and more. .
“We know how much Medi-Cal members value their health coverage, so we want to make sure they know what their options are if they no longer qualify for Medi-Cal,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “Through Covered California, many will continue to have access to the comprehensive care they need and deserve.”
Many Medi-Cal members will be able to enroll in Covered California at no cost
Based on pre-pandemic trends, nearly half of consumers transitioning from Medi-Cal to Covered California will be able to get quality coverage at little or no cost.
Covered California is the only place Californians can go for financial help to make their coverage more affordable. Right now, 90 percent of Covered California’s 1.7 million members receive financial help, and many people pay $10 or less a month for their health insurance.
To simplify the process for eligible consumers, Covered California and Medi-Cal will collectively provide personalized information on how to maintain coverage through Covered California. For eligible consumers in transition, Covered California will automatically select a plan for the consumer that provides the most financial help.
Consumers will need to confirm their Covered California plan selection for their new coverage to take effect.
Eligible consumers will also be able to choose a different plan or connect with someone who can help them at any point in the enrollment process. Multilingual assistance is available online, by phone or in person from one of Covered California’s more than 11,000 enrollment partners embedded in communities across the state.
Check your mail and respond quickly to keep your coverage
DHCS and Covered California are collaborating to implement Senate Bill (SB) 260 (Chapter 845, Statutes of 2019), which authorizes Covered California to enroll people in a qualified health plan when they lose Medi-Cal coverage and gain eligibility for financial assistance through Covered California. California. Consumers who have gone through the Medi-Cal renewal process and are no longer eligible for Medi-Cal have already started receiving information in the mail about their new Covered California plan. These packets will continue to be sent each month until all Medi-Cal renewals have been processed.
Covered California urges Medi-Cal members to check their mail and respond quickly whether it’s confirming their new plan, changing their plan, or canceling their coverage.
“Get the word out, if you or someone you know may be losing their Medi-Cal coverage, to make sure they check their mail for a notice titled, Stay Covered with Covered California,” Altman said. “If you get this notice, Covered California needs to hear from you right away to make sure you don’t have a gap in health coverage.”
New advertising campaign to reach the diverse population of California
Covered California also launched a new advertising campaign to educate consumers and make sure they understand how they can stay insured. The campaign highlights how Covered California will help consumers at every step of their transition and provide quality coverage at little or no cost to many. Videos have been produced in a variety of languages, including:
In addition, Covered California created radio, digital and social media ads, as well as educational videos, that guide consumers through the process of creating an online account and choosing coverage options.
By the end of June, Covered California will be reaching out to eligible consumers directly via email, direct mail and text messages.
This campaign was developed in coordination with DHCS and its extensive efforts to reach out to Medi-Cal members throughout the renewal process.
About Covered California
Covered California is the state’s health insurance marketplace where Californians can find high-quality, affordable insurance from the best insurance companies. Covered California is the only place where people who qualify can get financial assistance on a sliding scale to lower premium costs. Consumers can then compare health insurance plans and choose the plan that best meets their health needs and budget. Depending on their income, some consumers may qualify for the free or low-cost Medi-Cal program.
Covered California is an independent part of state government whose job is to make the health insurance marketplace work for California consumers. It is overseen by a five-member board appointed by the Governor and the Legislature. For more information about Covered California, visit www.CoveredCA.com.
Source: Covered CA.


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More doom and gloom for the motorcycle industry, as Ducati Motor Holdings sales are slumping for the 2018 model year. Selling 32,250 motorcycles so far this year, the Italian brand is short 7.4% the volume it sold this time last year. To translate unit sales into fiat currency, the 32,250 motorcycles sold equals €448 million in revenue going into Audi’s coffers. Of note, Ducati’s revenue contribution to Audi AG accounts for 1.4% of the automaker’s total revenue. For the second quarter of this year, Ducati sales were down 8.9% compared to Q2 2017. This means that 20,319 Ducati motorcycles were sold in Q2 2018, compared to the 22,300 sold in Q2 2017. All segments for Ducati are down, except for its “Sport” category (SuperSport and Superbike models), which is up 29%.
Energica Motor Company S.p.A is reporting record sales results for the first-half of 2018, though the Italian brand is mum when it comes to disclosing actual sales numbers.
Thus making this a nebulous announcement, Energica says that its revenues have increased five-fold in the first half of 2018, compared to the same time period last year.
Sales are so good in fact, Energica says that the first six months of 2018 have already grossed twice as much as 2017 in its entirety.
With many doubting the sales efficacy of Energica and its three-bike lineup though, this news might not carry considerable weight. To its credit though, Energica has been making a strong sales push in 2018, thanks largely to its involvement in the MotoGP Championship.
The end of 2017 is here, which means that we will start to see the results from the year’s sales cycle (don’t expect good news).
As such, one of the first companies to report in is Triumph, which shouldn’t be too surprising, considering that the British brand closes its books at the end of June (it’s actually surprising that Triumph waited so long in reporting these numbers).
From July 1, 2016 to June 30 2017, Triumph Motorcycles sold 63,404 motorcycles to its dealerships making £498.5 million in revenue in the process. From that, Triumph was able to make £24.7 million, before taxes.
These numbers mean that Triumph has seen a 12.7% increase in unit sales to dealerships over the past financial period. It also means that on the money side, Triumph has seen increases of 22% (revenue) and 48% (income, pre-tax), which isn’t too shabby.
BMW Motorrad and KTM are two European motorcycle brands growing at an expeditious rate. KTM has eclipsed BMW in terms of motorcycle sales, with 180,801 KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles sold in 2015, compared to BMW’s 136,963.
That is a 32% unit sales advantage for KTM, which has brought the Austrians roughly €1.02 billion in revenue.
While that’s an impressive figure, it is BMW Motorrad that will be laughing all the way to the bank, as the BMW Group has disclosed that its motorcycle sales generated almost double the figure, with €1.99 billion in total sales for 2015.
MV Agusta reports today that the company’s annual unit sales are up 30% for 2015, continuing the growth that the Italian brand has seen over the past years.
With nearly 9,000 units sold worldwide in 2015, MV Agusta is seeing the most growth outside of Italy, with a 140% increase in the UK, 54% increase in Spain, 26% increase in Germany, and 20% increase in France.
MV Agusta also saw strong gains in the United States, with a 50% increase in units sales reported. Interestingly, sales in Italy remained fairly flat, with a 0.1% decrease when compared to figures from 2014.
Yamaha Motor USA is seeing a resurgence in its motorcycle market, with Yamaha posting a healthy 28% sales increase in the North American market, for the first-half of 2015.
Overall, Yamaha’s motorcycle business is seeing good growth, up another 14% in the European markets (boosted by the MT-09 Tracer), for a total increase of 7.6% in revenue (¥36.8 billion) across all markets.
Harley-Davidson’s Q1 2015 sales reports are in, and the Bar & Shield brand is reporting a 1.3% drop in unit volume sales, despite posting a $4 million increase in net income over last year ($269.9 million in Q1 2015).
Equally surprising is that the increase in net income comes despite a $60 million decrease in revenue ($1.67 billion in Q1 2015), which Harley-Davidson attributes to the growing currency divide between the dollar and the euro.
Harley-Davidson is using the currency issue, which in theory drives up the cost of American products abroad and allows foreign producers to discount in the USA, as a reason to adjust its year-end sales forecast, which the company now pegs at 2% to 4%, rather than 4% to 6%.
Just a year after being acquired by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer, Husqvarna Motorcycles posted an all-time sales record of 16,337 units. The tally is the most the Swedish brand has ever sold in its 111 year history, which is perhaps surprising considering the company’s tenuous history as of late. With those record sales, Husqvarna also posted over €100 million in revenue, a key metric for the brand, as it struggles to grow into KTM’s more exclusive and upscale counterpart. To put these numbers into perspective, Husqvarna sold 10,700 units in 2012, the last full-year where Husqvarna was under the BMW Motorrad umbrella. This means that in a two-year timespan at KTM, Husqvarna has seen 50% sales growth.
2014 is another banner year for KTM, as the Austrian brand set another all-time sales record, selling 158,760 to customers last year. That figure solidifies KTM’s position as the largest European brand, beating out BMW yet again, though Team Orange got a lot of help from its Indian operations with minority partner Bajaj. This sales figure includes sales from Husqvarna, so a little cheating is going on, but Husky’s contribution to KTM’s 28.2% sales growth is marginal at best. With that boost in sales, KTM is also reporting a 20.7% increase in revenue (€864.6 million), taking home €75 million (EBIT). KTM was fairly mum on details for this record year, but we know already from KTM that its Austrian operations produced over 100,000 of the bikes sold in 2014.
Good news for Triumph Motorcycles fans, as the British motorcycle marque is reporting a banner year for 2014 — with 54,432 units sold worldwide. That figure is up 4% over 2013’s sales figure of 52,089 units, which was the first time that Triumph broke the 50,000 unit mark since the company’s rebirth in 1984. Helping Triumph reach this new high-water mark was the company’s home market, where Triumph accounted for one-in-five motorcycles sold in the UK (over 500cc). Overall, Triumph saw 8% growth in the UK, as modest growth considering the British market was up roughly 10% last year. The news is not all good, however. Triumph previously reported that financial figures for the first-half of 2014 were down, with revenue down £364 million from £369 million, and net income at a loss of £8 million.
KTM continues to challenge BMW Motorrad as the top European motorcycle manufacturer (by sales volume), and has set a company record for sales in the first half of this year.
Selling 70,469 units in total, KTM is just shy of the 70,978 mark left by BMW Motorrad during the same sales period, so it will be interesting to see if the Austrian brand can close the gap in the final six months, as it has done the previous two years.
Friendly competition aside, the news is quite positive for KTM. The six-month sales figure represents a nearly 28% increase in unit volume, while top-line revenue is up 17.6% (€410.3 million, a record as well) and bottom-line income (EBIT) is up whopping 82.6% (€33.6 million). KTM has also increased its ranks by 204 people during the first half of 2014.